Ethics in Business Research

Chapter 2

Ethics in Business Research

This chapter explains the ethical issues faced by researchers.

2 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.

3 Learning Objectives

Understand . . .

Differing ethical dilemmas and responsibilities of researchers, sponsors, and research assistants.

Role of ethical codes of conduct in professional associations.

4 Pull Quote Angelique Carson, CIPP/US,

“Today, it would be remiss to say that the privacy profession is anything but flourishing. Companies are
increasingly hiring privacy officers and even elevating them to C-suite positions; the European
Commission has proposed a statute in its amended data protection framework that would require data
protection officers at certain organizations, and, at the International Association of Privacy Professionals
(IAPP) membership recently hit 10,000 worldwide.”

Angelique Carson, CIPP/US,

International Association of Privacy Professionals

5 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.

Think: what is the difference between legal and ethical?

6 Ethical Issues and the Research Process

7 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
8 Ethical Codes of Conduct

These organizations offering codes specifically for researchers. Some of the logos in the slide are linked
to the respective organization’s website where you can view the codes of ethics.

9 Ethical Treatment of Participants

Do no harm

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

10 Components of Informed Consent

Researcher Intro

Describe Survey Topic

Describe geographic sample

Reveal sponsor

Describe purpose

Good Faith Time Estimate

Anonymity & confidentiality

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.

Voluntary Participation

Item nonresponse acceptable

Permission to begin

11 Characteristics of Informed Consent

Competent to

Give Consent

Elements

Knowledge

of Risks

Voluntary

Consent

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.

Adequately 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 participants are told only part of the truth or when the truth is fully
compromised.

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 Protect confidentiality

Reasons for Deception

Prevent biasing

participants

Protect confidentiality
of the sponsor

Deception occurs when participants are told only part of the truth or when the truth is fully
compromised.

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.

15 Describe hypothesis, goal or purpose

Debriefing

Explain any deception

Describe hypothesis, goal or 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

16 Protect 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

17 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

18 Sponsor 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

19 Unethical Behavior to Avoid

Violating participant confidentiality

Changing data

Creating false data

Changing data presentation

Changing data interpretations

Injecting bias in interpretations

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.

Omitting sections of data

Making recommendations beyond scope of data

20 What To Do If Coerced? Educate Explain on problems purpose Emphasize

fact-finding

role

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

educate the sponsor to the purpose of the research,

explain the researcher’s role as a fact-finder,

explain how distorting the truth or breaking faith will lead to future problems, and

if the others fail, terminate the relationship.

Terminate

Relationship

21 Principles of 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.

Exhibit 2-5 provides additional sources for ethics resources.

Specify Behavior

22 Key Terms Code of ethics Nondisclosure Confidentiality Debriefing

Deception

Ethics

Informed consent
Nondisclosure

Findings

Purpose

Sponsor

Right to privacy

Right to quality

Right to safety

23 Snapshot: Location Based Services

Know data collection, sharing procedures

Appoint privacy trained personnel to ensure privacy

Treat LBS as sensitive information

Demonstrate informed consent

Sensitive to parent expectations

Stay current on privacy developments

24 Snapshot: Ethics of Mobile Surveys

Recruiting

Financial Disadvantage

Privacy & Intrusion

Tracking Behavior

25 Ethical Approaches Deontology Teleology (Ethical Relativism) Ethical

standards

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 individual’s 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.