1. Ethics in Business Research
Lecture 4
Ethics in Business Research
This chapter explains the ethical issues faced by researchers.

2. Ethics Norms or standards of behavior Guide moral choices
Behavior and relationships with others
Ethics and legality

3. ETHICAL ISSUES PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTIONS SOCIETAL NORMS
CODES OF BEHAVIOR

4. Types of Ethical Violations
Violating
disclosure
agreements
Misrepresenting
results
Breaking
confidentiality
Deceiving
participants
Ethics are norms or standards of behavior that guide moral choices about our behavior and our relationships with others. The goal of ethics in research is to ensure that no one is harmed or suffers adverse consequences from research activities.
Unethical activities are pervasive and include many types of activities. Some of these are listed in the slide.
For some researchers, ethical and legal norms are the same. The text authors feel that legal constraints are the minimum standard but not the ideal.
Padded
invoices
Avoiding
legal liability

5. Ethical issues at all stages of the research process
Exhibit 5-1 highlights the many ethical issues that arise at all stages of the research process.

6. Ethical Treatment of Participants
Explain study benefits
Explain participant rights and protections
Research must be designed so that a participant does not suffer physical harm, discomfort, pain, embarrassment, or loss of privacy. This slide lists the three guidelines researchers should follow to protect participants.
When discussing benefits, the researcher should be careful not to overstate or understate the benefits.
Informed consent means that the participant has given full consent to participation after receiving full disclosure of the procedures of the proposed study.
Obtain informed
consent

7. Rights and Obligations of the Respondent
The obligation to be truthful
Privacy
Deception
The right to be informed

8. Rights and Obligations of the Researcher
The purpose of research is research
Objectivity
Misrepresenting research
Protect the right to confidentiality
of both subjects and clients
Dissemination of faulty conclusions
Advocacy research

9. Rights and Obligations of the Client
Sponsor (User)
Ethics between buyer and seller
Open relationship with research suppliers
Open relationship with interested parties
Privacy
Commitment to research
Pseudo-pilot studies

10. Components of Informed Consent
Identify researchers
Describe survey topic
Describe target sample
Identify sponsor
Describe purpose of research
Promise anonymity and confidentiality
Give “good-faith” estimate of required time commitment
State participation is voluntary
State item-non response is acceptable
Ask for permission
Exhibit 5-2 illustrates the informed consent procedures used by the Indiana Center for Survey Research. The components highlighted in its procedures are listed in the slide.

11. Characteristics of Informed Consent
Competence
Elements
Knowledge
Voluntary
Since 1966, all projects with federal funding are required to be reviewed by an Institutional Review Board (IRB). An IRB evaluates the risks and benefits of proposed research. The review requirement may be more relaxed for projects that are unlikely to be risky – such as marketing research projects. Many institutions require that all research – whether funded or unfunded by the federal government – be reviewed by a local IRB.
The IRBs concentrate on two areas. First is the guarantee of obtaining complete, informed consent from participants. The second is the risk assessment and benefit analysis review.
Complete informed consent has four characteristics and these are named in the slide.
The participant must be competent to give consent.
Consent must be voluntary, and free from coercion.
Participants must be adequately informed to make a decision.
Participants should know the possible risks or outcomes associated with the research.
Informed

12. Ethical Responsibilities
Special guidelines apply to children!
Informed consent means parental approval
Special consideration is necessary when researching the behavior and attitudes of children. Besides providing informed consent, parents are often interviewed during the selection process to ensure that the child is mature enough and has the verbal and physical capabilities necessary.

13. Deception Disguising non-research activities Camouflaging
true research
objectives
Deception occurs when the participants are only told part of the truth or when the truth is fully compromised. Deception can take two forms. One form relates to disguising nonresearch activities as opinion or business research. For instance, research might be used to collect data that are used to sell merchandise. Personal information could be collected for illegal purposes.
Sometimes researchers use deception as part of a research design. It involves camouflaging the true research objects or the identity of the sponsor. This form of deception is used to prevent biasing respondents or to protect the confidentiality of a third party.
Some researchers believe that deception should never occur. It is generally accepted in the industry that the benefits to be gained by appropriate research design-based deception should be balanced against the risks to the participants.

14. Debriefing Explain any deception Describe purpose Share results
In situations where participants are intentionally or accidentally deceived, they should be debriefed once the research is complete. Debriefing describes the goals of the research, as well as the truth and reasons for any deception. Results are shared after the study is complete. Participants who require any medical or psychological follow-up attention will receive it during the debriefing process.
Provide follow-up

15. Participant Confidentiality
Obtain signed
nondisclosure
Non-
disclosure of data subsets
Restrict access to ID
All individuals have a right to privacy, and researchers must respect that right. Once a guarantee of confidentiality is given, protecting that confidentiality is essential. Researchers protect participant confidentiality in several ways.
Obtaining signed nondisclosure documents – only researchers who have signed nondisclosure forms should be allowed access to the data.
Restricting access to participant identification.
Revealing participant information only with written consent.
Restricting access to data instruments where the participant is identified.
Nondisclosure of data subsets.
Methods 2-5 deal with minimizing the chance for a participant to identified and matched with his or her responses. Links between data and identifying information must be minimized. Interview response sheets should be inaccessible to everyone except the editors and data entry personnel. Data collection instruments may be destroyed once data are in a data file. For very small groups, data should not be made available if it would be easy to pinpoint a person in the group.
Minimize instruments requiring ID
Reveal only with written consent

16. Prior permission to interview
Right to Privacy
Right to refuse
Prior permission to interview
For researchers to fully address participants’ right to privacy, they must also 1) inform participants of their right to refuse to answer any questions or participate in the study; 2) obtain prior permission to interview or observe participants; and 3) limit the time required for participation to limit the amount of information collected to only that which is deemed critical.
Limit time required

17. Confidentiality Sponsor Nondisclosure Purpose Nondisclosure
Some sponsors wish to undertake research without revealing themselves. They have a right to several types of confidentiality.
Sponsor nondisclosure is used when the sponsor of the research restricts revealing the sponsorship. In this case, the sponsor may hire an outside firm to complete the research projects.
Purpose nondisclosure is used when the sponsor camouflages the true research objective of the study.
Findings nondisclosure is used when the sponsor restricts the researcher from discussing the findings of the research project.
Findings Nondisclosure

18. What to do if coerced? Educate Explain on problems purpose Emphasize
fact-finding
role
Terminate
relationship
Occasionally, researchers may be asked by sponsors to participate in unethical behavior. What can the researcher do to remain ethical? There are four suggestions provided in the slide. The researcher can attempt to 1) educate the sponsor to the purpose of the research, 2) explain the researcher’s role as a fact-finder, 3) explain how distorting the truth or breaking faith will lead to future problems, and 4) if the others fail, terminate the relationship.

19. Effective Codes of Ethics
Enforceable
Regulate
Protect
Many organizations have codes of ethics. A code of ethics is an organization’s codified set of norms or standards of behavior that guide moral choices about research behavior. Effective codes are those that 1) are regulative, 2) protect the public interest and the interests of the profession served by the code, 3) are behavior-specific, and 4) are enforceable.
Specify Behavior

20. ADVOCACY RESEARCH
RESEARCH TO SUPPORT A SPECIFIC LEGAL CLAIM

21. PSEUDO-PILOT STUDIES
THE RESEARCHER IS TOLD THAT THE STUDY IS THE FIRST OF MANY IN A MORE COMPREHENSIVE STUDY

22. MISSION STATEMENT
IDENTIFIES THE RESEARCH DEPARTMENT’S PURPOSE WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION

23. Continuum of Business Research Sophistication
Intuition-Centered
Decision Making
Stage of intuitive
decision making
Stage of
sophistication
Research-Centered
Decision Making
Stage of development

24. Managers
Researchers
1. Decision oriented
1. Technique oriented
2. Intuitive
2. Analytical
3. Managers like to confirm
3. Researchers like to explore
4. Time orientation toward:
a. project immediacy (“I need
it now.”)
b. results about future behavior
(“what will sales be next year?”)
4. Time orientation toward:
a. Prolongation of project (“later
when we have time for a complete
study”)
b. results about past behavior
(“our trend has been . . .”)
5. Frugal (“keep the cost down”)
5. Not cost conscious (“you get what
you pay for”)
6. Results orientation:
a. managers do not like surprises--when they are surprised they tend to reject the results
b. concern (“aren’t we number one yet?”)
c. certainty (“is it or isn’t it?”)
6. Results orientation:
a. researchers love surprises
b. abstraction (“our exponential
gain. . .”)
c. probability (“may be”)
7. Reactive
7. Proactive

25. Probable Areas of Top Management-Business Research Conflict
Research responsibility
Research personnel
Budget
Assignments
Problem definition
Research reporting
Use of research

26. RESEARCH SUPPLIER
A COMMERCIAL RESEARCH SERVICE THAT CONDUCTS BUSINESS RESEARCH ACTIVITIES FOR CLIENTS
SYNDICATED SERVICE
STANDARDIZED SERVICE
PROVIDES CUSTOMIZED RESEARCH

27. CONSIDERATIONS FOR HIRING OUTSIDE SUPPLIERS
Expertise
Urgency of the decision
Personnel resources
Economic factors
Objectivity
Confidentiality
Quality control