Ethics in Business Research

Fundamentals Of Research Methods
Ethics in Business
Research
PresentedBy:ViqarA.Usmani
Learning Objectives
Understand . . .
What issues are covered in research
ethics.
The goal of no harm for all research
activities and what constitutes no harm for
participant, researcher, and research
sponsor.
Learning Objectives
Understand . . .
Differing ethical dilemmas and
responsibilities of researchers, sponsors,
and research assistants.
Role of ethical codes of conduct in
professional associations.
PulsePoint:
Research Revelation
The percent of consumer PCs

infected with spyware.
Data Collectors Face

Responsibilities
[Privacy pragmatists are] often willing to allow
people to have access to, and to use, their
personal information where they understand
the reasons for its use, where they see tangible
benefits for so doing, and when they believe
care is taken to prevent the misuse of this
information.
Humphrey Taylor
chairman of The Harris Poll
Harris Interactive.
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 next slide.
For some researchers, ethical and legal norms are
the same.
We feel that legal constraints are the minimum
standard but not the ideal.
Types of Ethical Violations
Violating
disclosure
agreements
Misrepresenting
results
Breaking
confidentiality
Deceiving
participants
Padded
invoices
Avoiding
legal liability
Procter & Gamble

Admits to competitive
intelligence gathering
Contracted BI firm
took documents from
Unilever trash
receptacles
Out-of-court
settlement rumored
(and reported) at
$10m
In April 2001, Procter and Gamble notified its

competitor Unilever that more than 80 discarded
documents detailing Unilevers marketing plan for
its hair care business had been collected by P&G
information agents.
Unilever sought financial restitution and
restrictions on P&Gs marketing activities, but the
two companies settled out of court.
Ethical Approaches
Deontology
Ethical
standards
Ethical
Relativism
10
There is no single approach to ethics.

Deontology advocates that ethical behavior should
be directed by duties regardless of the positive
circumstances that might result from behavior that is
in contradiction to the duty.
An example might be Do not lie, even when lying
might result in a positive outcome.
Another approach is that of ethical relativism.
Ethical relativism is based on an individuals sense
of morality.
Therefore, each person decides for his or herself
what is ethical behavior.
A middle ground is necessary and provided through
ethical standards of behavior for researchers.
11
Ethical Approaches
How would you assess the P&G case using
the two ethical approaches?
Ethical
Relativism
Deontology
12
Three organizations offering codes

specifically for researchers are the :
Marketing Research Association (MRA),
The American Marketing Association
(AMA), and
The Council for American Survey
Research Organizations
(CASRO).
The logos in the next slide are linked to the
respective organizations website where you
can view the codes of ethics.
13
Ethical Codes of Conduct
14
PulsePoint:
Research Revelation
The amount, in millions,

that employers will lose
this year due to employee
fraud.
15
Ethical Issues at all Stages of the

Research Process
16
Sponsored research activities may require access to

information that is proprietary or otherwise
considered by the sponsor to be privileged and
confidential.
Such information must be specifically identified by the
sponsor and must be determined to be confidential
Sponsors usually require formal agreements prior to the exchange

of confidential information (nondisclosure or secrecy agreements)
17
Business Research Methods
18
Sponsors Right to Quality Research

An important ethical consideration for the
researcher and the sponsor is the sponsors right
to quality research.
This right entails:
Providing a research design appropriate for
the research question.
Maximizing the sponsors value for the
resources expended.
Providing data handling and reporting
techniques appropriate for the data
collected.
19
Sponsors Right of Purpose Non Disclosure

A research sponsor may be testing a new idea
that is not yet patented and may not want to
know of its plans:
It may be investigating employee
complaints and may not want to spark
union activity or
The sponsor might be contemplating a new
public stock offering, where advance
disclosure would spark the interest of
authorities or cost the firm heavily.
20
Researchers Right to Absence of Sponsor

Coercion
Sometimes researchers will be asked by sponsors to
participate in unethical behavior.
To avoid coercion by sponsor the researcher should:
Educate sponsor to the purpose of research
Explain researchers role
Explain how distortion of the truth leads to
future problems
If necessary, terminate relationship with
sponsor
21
Participant Deception
Deception occurs when the participants are told
only part of the truth or when the truth is fully
compromised.
Two reasons suggested for deception are:
1. To prevent biasing the participants before
the survey or experiment; and
2. To protect the confidentiality of a third
party (e.g., the sponsor)
22
to nform
'Y
23
Participants Right of informed Consent

Securing informed consent from participants is a
matter of fully disclosing the procedures of the
proposed survey or other research design before
requesting permission to proceed with the study.
If there is a chance the data could harm the
participant (offering only limited confidentiality, a
signed form detailing the types of limits should be
obtained.
For most business research, oral consent is
sufficient.
24
Participants Right to Privacy (Refusal)

Privacy is more than confidentiality.
A right to privacy means one has the right to refuse to
be interviewed or to refuse to answer any question in
an interview.
To address these rights, ethical researchers do the
following:
Inform participants of their right to refuse to
answer any question or participate in the study.
Obtain permission to interview participants.
Schedule field and phone interviews.
Limit the time required for participation.
Restrict observation to public behavior only.
25
Researchers Right to Safety

Safety
Ethical behavior of assistants
Protection of anonymity
Researchers are bound by a code of ethics that includes the
following protections for subjects
1.Protected from physical or psychological harm (including
loss of dignity, loss of autonomy, and loss of self-esteem)
2.Protection of privacy and confidentiality
3.Protection against unjustifiable deception
4.The subject must give voluntary informed consent to
participate in research.
Guardians must give consent for minors to participate.
In addition to guardian consent, minors over age 7 must also
give their consent to participate.
26
27
Ethical Treatment of Participants
Explain study benefits
Explain participant
rights and protections
Obtain informed
consent
28
Research must be designed so that a participant

does not suffer physical harm, discomfort, pain,
embarrassment, or loss of privacy.
The previous 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.
29
Begin data collection by explaining to the

participant the benefits expected from the research
Explain to the participants that their rights and
well-being will be adequately protected, and say
how this will be done
Be certain that interviewers obtain the informed
consent of the participant
30
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
The informed consent procedures used by the Indiana Center for Survey
Research
31
Characteristics of Informed Consent
Competence
Knowledge
Elements
Voluntary
Informed
32
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.
.
33
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.
1.The participant must be competent to give consent.
2.Consent must be voluntary, and free from coercion.
3.Participants must be adequately informed to make a decision.
4.Participants should know the possible risks or outcomes
associated with the research
34
Ethical Responsibilities
Special guidelines
apply to children!
Informed consent
means parental
approval.
35
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
36
Deception
Disguising nonresearch activities
Camouflaging true
research objectives
37
Debriefing
Explain any deception
Describe purpose
Share results
Provide follow-up
38
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.
39
Participant Confidentiality
Obtain signed
nondisclosure
Nondisclosure of
data subsets
Restrict
access to ID
Minimize
instruments
requiring ID
Reveal only
with written
consent
40
As discussed before;
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.
1.Obtaining signed nondisclosure documents
only researchers who have signed nondisclosure forms should
be allowed access to the data.
2.Restricting access to participant identification.
3.Revealing participant information only with written consent.
4.Restricting access to data instruments where the participant is
identified.
5.Nondisclosure of data subsets.
41
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.
42
Right to Privacy
Right to refuse
Prior permission to
Prior permission to
interview
interview
Limit
Limittime
timerequired
required
43
The U.S. Safe Harbor

Agreement
Notice
Choice
Access
Security
Onward
Transfer
Data
Integrity
Enforcement
44
The convenience of collecting data online has

created new ethical issues.
Data mining offers infinite possibilities for research
abuse.
The primary ethical data mining issues in
cyberspace are privacy-related including consent
to information collection and control of information
dissemination.
Legitimate data miners publicly post their information
security policies.
The EU countries have passed the European Commissions data
protection directive.
Under the directive, commissioners can prosecute companies
and block Web sites that fail to live up to its strict privacy
standards.
45
Exhibit 2-3 identifies the seven basic principle that

companies must comply with to be granted
immunity from legal action under the EUs directive.
These seven principles are:
Notice: Companies must notify consumers/participants about
what information is being collected, how that information will be
used, who that information will be shared with, and how
individuals can contact the organization with inquiries or
complaints.
Choice: Consumers/participants must be provided with an optout mechanism for any secondary uses of data and for
disclosures to third parties. For sensitive information,
participants must opt in before providing data that will be shared.
Access: Individuals must have access to personal information
that the organization holds and be able to correct, amend, or
delete information where it is in accurate, except where the
burden or expense of providing access would be
disproportionate to the risks to the individuals privacy.
46
Security: Organizations must take reasonable

precautions to protect personal information from
loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure,
alteration, and destruction.
Onward transfer: Companies disclosing personal
data to a third party must adhere to the notice and
choice principles. A third party must subscribe to the
safe-harbor principles.
Data integrity: Reasonable steps must be taken to
ensure that data collected are reliable, accurate,
complete, and current.
Enforcement: Companies must ensure there are
readily available and affordable independent
mechanisms to investigate consumer complaints.
47
Confidentiality
Sponsor Nondisclosure
Purpose Nondisclosure
Findings Nondisclosure
48
What To Do If Coerced?
Educate
on
purpose
Explain
problems
Emphasize
fact-finding
role
Terminate
relationship
49
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 researchers 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.
50
Effective Codes of Ethics
Enforceable
Regulate
Specify
Behavior
Protect
51
Many organizations have codes of ethics.

A code of ethics is an organizations 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.
Exhibit in previous slide provides additional sources
for ethics resources.
52
Key Terms
Code of ethics
Confidentiality
Debriefing
Deception
Ethics
Informed consent
Nondisclosure
Findings
Purpose
Sponsor
Right to privacy
Right to quality
Right to safety
53

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Fundamentals Of Research Methods

The percent of consumer PCs

Data Collectors Face

Ethics are norms or standards of behavior that guide

Types of Ethical Violations

Procter & Gamble

In April 2001, Procter and Gamble notified its

There is no single approach to ethics.

Three organizations offering codes

Ethical Codes of Conduct

The amount, in millions,

Ethical Issues at all Stages of the

Sponsored research activities may require access to

Sponsors usually require formal agreements prior to the exchange

Business Research Methods

Sponsors Right to Quality Research

Sponsors Right of Purpose Non Disclosure

Researchers Right to Absence of Sponsor

Business Research Methods

Participants Right of informed Consent

Participants Right to Privacy (Refusal)

Researchers Right to Safety

Business Research Methods

Ethical Treatment of Participants

Explain study benefits

Research must be designed so that a participant

Begin data collection by explaining to the

Ask for permission

Characteristics of Informed Consent

Since 1966, all projects with federal funding are

The IRBs concentrate on two areas.

Special consideration is necessary when

Disguising nonresearch activities

In situations where participants are intentionally

Methods 2-5 deal with minimizing the chance for a

The U.S. Safe Harbor

The convenience of collecting data online has

Exhibit 2-3 identifies the seven basic principle that

Security: Organizations must take reasonable

Occasionally, researchers may be asked by sponsors

Effective Codes of Ethics

Many organizations have codes of ethics.

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