Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
D. M. Randall
A. M. Gibson
depicted in Figure 1 are summarized. When weaknesses are noted, suggestions for a more defensible
methodology are offered.
Methodology
An attempt was made to locate all published studies
that empirically investigated ethical beliefs and
behavior in organizations. Three computerized data
bases were searched: Management Contents, the Social
&iences Citation Index (SSCI), and the BusinessPeriodicals Index (BPI). Management Contents indexes 500
U.S. and international journals on a variety of
business-related topics from 1974 to present. Using
tides and descriptors, the following key words were
searched: ethical conduct, ethical decision(s), and
ethical situation(s). The SSCI contains over one
million citations from articles in key social science
journals and selected journals in related fields from
Theory
HypOthesis
Formation
Conceptualization
!
~
1niceof
ResearchMethod t
Operatio!nalizario/
Observation
Popula~onand
Sampling
Science Quarterly.
Annetta M. Gibson is a doctoral student in accounting in the
Department of Accounting and Business Law at Washington
State University. She has a CPA and has worked as an auditor
for a number of years. Her research interests include impression
management and ethical issues in auditing, accounting, and
management.
Data Pr!cessing
and Analysis
* Adapted from Babble (1986).
Fig. 1. An overview of stages in the research process*
458
Overview o f articles
Methodology
459
TABLE I
Journals publishing articles on ethical beliefs and behavior in business
g of
articles
(%)
32
5
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
l
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
34.0%
5.3%
3.2%
3.2%
3.2%
3.2%
3.2%
3.2%
2.1%
2. I%
2.1%
2.1%
2.1%
2.1%
2.1%
2.1%
2.1%
1.1%
1.1%
1.1%
1.1%
1.1%
1.1%
1.1%
1.1%
1.1%
1.1%
1.1%
1.1%
1.1%
1.1%
1.1%
1.1%
1.1%
1.1%
1.1%
1.1%
1.1%
Total
94
100.0%
Name of journal
* As reported in Cabell's DirectoryofPublishing Opportunitiesin Businessand Economics, 1988 ed.; na - not available.
acceptance
rate*
21--30%
10% or less
11--20%
20--25%
5% or less
6--10%
6--10%
na
21--30%
6--10%
10%
21--30%
na
11--20%
21--30%
na
6--10%
6--10%
11--20%
6--10%
na
15--18%
11--20%
6--10%
6--10%
na
na
11--20%
na
na
50% or more
10%
na
na
na
ng
na
na
460
16
14
12
!-,,4
Q.)
,.O
21
1961
1963 1965
1967 1969
1971 1973
Year of Publication
* Incompletedata available
Fig. 2. Businessethics articlesby year
tional members. With the exception of the Journal of
Marketing, each of the remaining journals referenced
in Table 1 published a maximum of three relevant
articles.
Methodological critique
While one might anticipate that empirical articles
published in academic journals would provide fairly
detailed methodological description, the review of
articles revealed that this was not the case. There was
a surprizing amount of missing detail. Full methodological description appeared in less than one half
(45) of the 94 articles. While several studies neglected
to report only one or two methodological details,
other studies (e.g., Allen, 1980; Bezilla et al., 1976)
reported only two methodological details - who was
sampled and the number of participants in the study
- without any other methodological description.
A complete disclosure of methods in any empir-
Theoreticframework
Theory is a necessary component of the research
process. Positivists advocate a deductive approach to
theory development in which a theoretic framework
is the appropriate starting place for empirical research. Once a theoretic base has been established,
business ethics researchers can make predictions
about what beliefs and behavior would likely occur
under given conditions, logically develop a research
Methodology
461
Hypothesis offered
Hypotheses
Conceptualization
The conceptualization phase of the research process
involves defining the meaning of theoretic constructs. This stage is particularly troublesome in
ethics research as there is little consensus regarding
what constitutes "ethical" beliefs or "ethical" behavior in an organizational setting (Baumhart, 1961;
Ferrell and Gresham, 1985; Vitell and Festervand,
1987). Not only are ethical standards constandy
changing over time, but they vary from one situation
or organization to another (Barnett and Karson,
1987; Ferrell and Gresham, 1985). As an illustration
TABLE II
Summary of methodological decisions
Tkeoreticframework
no theory development
unclear if theory present
weak theory development
strong theory development
no
yes
ff~ %
60 64
2 2
8 9
24 26
71 75
23 25
Conceptualization
Definition offered to readers of article
Definition offered to study participants
21 22
7 7
Operationalization
concern for reliability of instrument mentioned
concern for validity of instrument mentioned
instrument pretested
18 19
18 19
19 20
63 67
24 26
7 7
Sample design
design not specified
other
convenience sampling
random sampling
13 14
11 12
39 42
31 33
Response rate
not reported
below 10%
10-19%
20-29%
30-39%
40-49%
50-59%
60-69%
above 70%
not applicable
10 11
0 0
2 2
10 11
8 9
10 11
4 4
4 4
4 4
42 45
Research design
survey research
lab experiment/simulation
in-person interviews
in-person interviews and survey
not reported
76 81
6 6
4 4
3 3
5 5
Analytic teclmiques
univariate techniques
bivariate techniques
multivariate techniques
33 35
43 46
18 19
462
Operationalization
Operationalization decisions involve timing reliable
and valid measures for theoretical constructs. The
articles reviewed reflected surprisingly little concern
for either the validity or reliability of the research
instruments (Table II). It appears that most business
ethics researchers assumed that their instruments
were reliable and had face validity. Unfortunately, as
little consensus exists about the definition of ethical
beliefs and conduct, one researcher's judgment of
validity of an instrument may not be the same as
another's. In addition, if ethical beliefs and conduct
are multidimensional constructs, face validity will
not assure that an instrument taps all relevant
dimensions.
Some researchers did demonstrate a concern for
the reliability and validity of the research instruments. For instance, Chonko and Hunt (1985)
sought to enhance the reliability of their instruments
Methodology
type of sample is drawn, what an acceptable response
rate is, and what size of sample is needed.
463
highly appropriate. In those instances where researchers are interested in exploring the ethical
decision-making process, student samples can be
substituted without a major threat to generalizability.
464
research is troubling as the data may not be representative of the population surveyed. For most
studies, Babble (1986) advised that a response rate of
at least 50% is adequate for analysis and reporting, a
response rate of 60% is good, and 70% or more is very
good. However, in research on sensitive topics, a
response rate of even 70% may be a severe problem,
as nonrespondents are more likely to be similar in
important characteristics, thus introducing substantial nonrandom error. Moreover, factors such as cost
of reducing the nonresponse bias need to be taken
into consideration.
The typical response rate to surveys in the
business ethics articles was low (Table II). The mean
response rate was 43%, ranging from 10% in a
Business and Society Review survey (1975) to 96% in a
study by McNichols and Zimmer (1985), with a
median of 40%. A large number of factors may
contribute to the low response rate. Bailey (1982)
contended that response rates to social science
research are declining due to saturation. However,
the articles reviewed revealed an insignificant relationship between time and response rate to ethics
research (r = -0.08,p > 0.31, n = 42).
The cause of the low response rate to surveys in
business ethics research probably lies more in the
nature of the research topic. Business ethics is a
particularly delicate topic to research. Managers may
not want to have their "ethics" observed or measured
directly (Trevino, 1986), and few employees may be
willing to divulge information to researchers that
might be incriminating to them or to their friends.
Thus, people willing to participate in an experiment
or survey about ethics might have very different
attitudes than people more reticent to respond.
Due to the importance of acquiring an adequate
response rate, business ethics researchers may want
to consider three suggestions. First, they may want to
use "stronger" techniques to encourage a higher
response rate. These techniques might include
personal interviewing (which typically has a higher
response rate than survey research), targeting and
intensively surveying a subpopulation (for a more
personalized appeal), persuading respondents of the
importance of the research topic and their candid
answers (in the cover letter as well as on the questionaire), or flee gifts provided with the survey (such
as financial incentives or donations to charities) (see
Dillman, 1978, for a more complete discussion of
Methodology
these and other techniques to enhance the response
rate).
Second, researchers could seek to determine if
nonrespondents differ in any significant way from
respondents. For example, Armstrong and Overton
(1977) discussed the feasibility of using subjective
estimates and extrapolation methods to estimate
uonresponse bias. Of the business ethics studies
reporting a response rate less than 60%, only one
study (Chonko and Hung, 1985) compared demographics of respondents and nonrespondents to assess
the possibility of a response bias. A number of
other studies (e.g., Browning and Zabriskie, 1983;
Carroll, 1975; Fritzsche and Becker, 1984; Vitell and
Festervand, 1987) cited extensive demographic detail
on the respondents, but failed to state how those data
compared with characteristics ofnonrespondents.
Finally, when a low response rate is obtained and
comparable data on respondents are not available,
researchers may want to warn readers not to generalize beyond the sample. For instance due to an
unexpectedly low (40%) response rate, Lincoln et al.
(1982) cautioned readers not to generalize to firms
beyond those in the sample. However, even if a
caveat is incorporated into the article, one might
question the utility of the study and its contribution
to the literature.
Selection of researchdesign
As reflected in Table II, survey research was clearly
the most common research design used by business
ethics researchers (81% of the studies). Other designs,
utilized much less frequently, included lab experiments and simulations (6%), in-person interviews
(4%), and a combination of in-person interviews and
surveys (3%).
465
would behave in that situation. Most often respondents were presented with 12 scenarios (with as few as
one scenario and as many as 37), with each scenario
averaging five sentences in length.
The key problem with both the direct question
and scenario formats is vagueness and generality.
The problem situation is described so briefly to the
respondent that it is difficult for him or her to
evaluate and for the researcher to attain any reasonable degree of within-subject reliability. Ethical
choice is commonly believed to be situationally
specific; the "best" action is not based on pre-existing
values, but upon specifics of the action choice
(Barnett and Karson, 1987). Contextual variables,
such as the influence and actions of peers and
managers, available rewards and punishments, and
the probability of detection, may be essential pieces
of information for realistic decision-making.
Two examples from the literature illustrate the
problem of ambiguous and vague questions and
scenarios. Using a previously developed instrument,
Norris and Gifford (1988) asked respondents to
express their agreement or disagreement with the
action taken in the following situation: "A customer
calls the retailer to report that her refrigerator
purchased two weeks ago is not cooling properly and
that all the food has spoiled. Action: The customer
should be reimbursed for the value of the spoiled
food." Hawkins and Cocanougher (1972) asked
students how ethical or unethical the following
situation was: "A large manufacturer of technical
equipment requires that all its salesmen dress 'conservatively' in dark suits with white shirts." When
provided with such one-sentence descriptions and
no other contextual information, the only defensible
answer to the question, "What would you do?" is
probably, "It depends." (Frederiksen, Jensen, and
Beaton, 1972).
Scenarios and questions clearly need to be developed with a greater concern for realism. Fredrickson
(1986) suggested a detailed methodology for developing scenarios in strategy research which can also
be very appropriate in business ethics research.
Structured interviews are conducted to identify
issues facing the industry and possible actions on the
part of respondents. A scenario is developed using
industry-specific terminology, usually with enough
detail for five, single-spaced pages. A pilot test is
then conducted to ensure that the scenario and
466
Methodology
Observation
In business ethics research, self-report data are
almost invariably used as an observation technique as
few alternative techniques exist. In fact, the review of
empirical research revealed that self-report data
were relied upon in almost 90% of the research
articles (all research designs involving surveys or
interviews).
Unfortunately, major differences often occur
between what people say they would do and what
they actually do. The use of self-report data raises
problems in that respondents may organize their
responses in light of what they feel "others" will
expect is appropriate for someone like them in a
particular kind of situation. Somewhat apprehensive
about the confidentiality of their responses and the
relationship of researchers to managers, respondents
may be sensitive when answering questions about
their ethical beliefs and conduct.
The tendency of respondents to deny socially
undesirable traits, to claim socially desirable ones,
and to say things which place the speaker in a
favorable light has been termed a "social desirability"
bias (Nederhof, 1985). A social desirability bias may
cause individuals to overreport actions that are
perceived to be socially desirable ("ethical" conduct)
and to underreport behavior ("unethical" conduct)
perceived to be socially undesirable. It is also possible
that respondents may overstate the difference between their ethical beliefs and actions and the beliefs
and actions of others.
A number of empirical research articles have
employed questions that are highly susceptible to a
social desirability bias. For instance, Brown and King
(1982) asked respondents to indicate agreement or
disagreement with the following statement, "Ethical
practices are good business in the long run." When
asking respondents what they would do in a particular situation, Krugman and Ferrell (1981) gave
respondents such options as, "Manipulating a situation to make a subordinate look bad," or "Divulging
confidential information." The wording of such
statements would clearly seem to encourage a social
desirability bias.
It is admittedly difficult to counter social desirability biases. Phillips and Clancy (1970) contended
that the usual precautions for eliminating the
possible effects of the bias (e.g., assuring anonymity
467
Analytic techniques
Data processing and analysis refer to the transformation of data into a form suitable for analysis and
drawing conclusions regarding the specified theory
or hypotheses. One data analytic technique is not
necessarily superior to another; the appropriateness
of the technique depends primarily upon the theory,
research hypotheses, and available data. In descriptive studies and especially exploratory ones, univariate statistics (means, modes, percentages, or
standard deviations) may be in order. If the interrelation of two or more variables is the object of interest,
a bivariate or a multivariate presentation of data may
be more appropriate.
The business ethics articles reflected a heavy
reliance on univariate and bivariate statistics (Table
II). Thirty-five percent (33) of the articles reported
only univariate statistics (with 27 articles reporting
only percentages, three articles reporting only means,
and two articles reporting only rank orders). Fortysix percent (43) of the articles used some form of
bivariate statistics (primarily t-tests), and 19% (18) of
the articles used some form of multivariate analysis
(e.g., analysis of covariance, multiple regression, or
loglinear logit analysis.)
Without complete methodological detail and an
understanding of the purpose of the research project,
it is difficult to specify which form of statistical
analysis should have been used. However, one might
anticipate that as research on business ethics progresses, the reliance on multivariate statistics will
increase. Indeed, a strong empirical relationship
between the passage of time and use of multivariate
statistics (r = 0.39, p < 0.001, n = 94) can be
detected.
468
TABLE III
Relative strengths and weaknessesof research decisions
Research stage
Theory development
Hypotheses
Conceptualization
Operationalization
reliability
validity
pretesting
Population and
sampling decisions
study population
relative strength
possible improvements
weak
weak
weak
Specificationof theory
Specification of hypotheses
Offer definition of ethical
conduct to reader and study
participants
weak
weak
weak
strong
sample design
moderate
sample size
moderate
response rate
weak
weak
laboratory research
strong
in-person interviews
moderate
Observation
weak
moderate
Methodoloaoy
cism, establishing a shaky foundation for decisions
made in subsequent steps of the research process.
Thus, methodological improvement in these initial
steps in the research process should have the highest
priority at this time.
To encourage more methodological rigor in
empirical research, editors of journals publishing
empirical business ethics research may consider
adopting a structured referee rating form asking
reviewers to assess the methodological rigor of the
study. Such a form would not supplant traditional
substantive reviews; it would be provided as supplemental to the open-ended responses typically solicited from reviewers.
Editors of journals might also invite a methodologist in addition to substantive reviewers to
comment on papers submitted for review, ask that
one of the substantive reviewers specifically review
the paper for methodological adequacy, or solicit
commentaries to be published along with the paper.
Such modifications in the review process should
encourage greater attention to and consideration of
methodological issues on the part of potential
authors, reviewers, and editors.
While all empirical articles need to demonstrate a
concern for more methodologically rigorous articles,
TheJournal of Business Ethics may want to take a lead
in this effort as it is regarded as the "flagship'journal
in ethics research. Yet, a comparison of the 32
articles published in Journal of Business Ethics against
the remaining 62 articles across all the methodological dimensions discussed above revealed no substantive methodological differences, with one exception.
The Journal of Business Ethics tended to publish fewer
studies using mail survey research than non-Journal
ofBusiness Ethics articles (i.e., 28% of Journal of Business
Ethics articles used a mail survey approach vs. 56% of
non-Journal of BusinessEthics articles).
It was also interesting to note that the more
"rigorous" journals, in terms of lower acceptance
rates, did not generally publish more methodologically rigorous articles. No substantive methodological differences were detected between studies published in high and low acceptance journals, with
again the one exception of research design. Journals
with low acceptance rates (i.e., more rigorous journals) tended to publish more mail surveys than
journals with high acceptance rates (i.e., less rigorous
journals). Specifically, 68; of the articles in journals
with low acceptance rates used a mail survey
469
Acknowledgement
The authors wish to thankJ. Scott Armstrong for his
comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.
Notes
1 Because the search was not exhaustive, no argument is
made that all empirical research articles on ethical beliefs
and behavior have been included. For instance, research on
business ethics appearing in books, book chapters, and
conference papers have not been analyzed.The data gathering procedure also suffers from whatever limitations may be
said to accompany the publication decisions of the journals
incorporated within the data bases.
2 Limited empirical investigation of ethical beliefs and
behavior has taken place (Trevino, 1986). Most articles
approach ethics from a nonempirical perspective, e.g.,
developing theoretic models of ethical decision-making (e.g.,
Trevino, 1986; Bommer et al., 1987), specifying taxonomies
of moral rules (e.g., Forsyth, 1980), or providing practical
guidance to managers (e.g.,Laczniak, 1983).
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