Module 5

Research Ethics

Sharon S. Andrew

Christ College Institute of Management

Executives of a firm interested in acquiring information about union

members’ attitudes towards management keep a microphone in

the coffee lounge to observe unobtrusively

Is there a moral question here?

A researcher who has sampled 100 CA firms for a survey on accounting

practices believes that one firm is inefficiently managed. He discards

it questionnaire, eliminating the firm from the analysis.

Is this proper?

What are Research Ethics?• Ethics are norms or standards of behavior that guide

moral choices about our behavior and our relationships with others

• The goal is to ensure that no one is harmed or suffers adverse consequences from research activities

• Research Ethics are principles of conduct that govern research

What are Research Ethics?...

Research Ethics are guidelines and principles that help us uphold our values to decide which goals of research are most important to reconcile values and goals that are in conflict

Edward Deiner & Rick Crandall

What are Research Ethics?...

Where does one draw the line between a researcher’s need for info and the rights of the respondents/subjects

Ethical Treatment of Participants

• 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

Privacy in Business & Management

• Right – Not to participate– Not to be harassed or offered inducements to

participate or extend scope of participation beyond that freely given

– Not to be contacted at unreasonable times– Of participants to determine, within reason,

when they will participate– Of participants not to answer any question

Privacy in Business & Management…

• Right – Of participant not to be subjected to

questions that cause discomfort– To expect agreed anonymity and

confidentiality to be observed strictly both in relation to discussions with other research or organizational participants and during the reporting of findings (including from those who gain subsequent access to data)

Rights / Obligations of Respondent

• Obligation to be truthful

• Privacy

• Right to be informed

Rights / Obligations of Researcher

• The purpose of research is RESEARCH

• Objectivity

• Misrepresentation of research

• Protecting right to Confidentiality

• Dissemination of faulty conclusions

Deception

• The participant is told only part of the truth or when the truth is fully compromised

• To prevent biasing the participants before the survey or experiment

• To protect the confidentiality of a third party

Justification to Deception

• No physical harm or danger to respondents

• The researcher takes the responsibility of informing the respondent after the research project ends

Issues Related to Protecting Participants

• Informed consent– An individual understands the reason for

research and waives his/her right to privacy

• Debriefing– Includes explaining the truth to the

participant and describing the major goals of the study

Issues Related to Protecting Participants…

• Right to Privacy/Confidentiality

– PRIVACY – issue of whether a respondent chooses to answer a researcher’s question

– CONFIDENTIALITY – obligation on the part of the researcher not to reveal the identity of a research subject

Privacy Vs.

ConfidentialityA person who waives his/her right to

privacy by agreeing to answer a researcher’s question nonetheless has a right to expect that his/her answers and

his/her identity will remain confidential

Issues Related to Protecting Participants…

Data Collection in Cyberspace

Geocities

• The Federal Trade Commission investigated several Internet companies for possible privacy violations

• In 1998 FTC cited Geocities (now part of Yahoo!) for privacy violations in connection with a children’s Internet Club that Geocities had developed to collect personal information and transfer it to a direct marketing company partly owned by Geocities

Geocities…

• Internet legal expert Bart Lazar representing Geocities said that their policies were no different from other web organisations operating at that time

• Jodie Bernstein, Director, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection says, “ Geocities misled customers, children and adults by not telling them the truth about how it was using their personal information” and directed them to make this info public immediately

• The key issue confronting Internet companies is to be able to recognise and avoid potential privacy violations before launching a product/service

TRUSTe.org

This is a 3rd party vendor organization that evaluates websites’ privacy

policies, certifies websites and issues a SEAL OF TRUST to organisations

that meets its privacy standards

TRUSTe.org• TRUSTe classifies sites into 3 categories

– No exchange – sites where no personal user data are collected

– 1 – 1 Exchange – sites that collect user data (Credit card #, Names, Addresses) for own purposes but do not share them with 3rd parties

– 3rd party exchange – sites that share info with others

www.esomar.nl/directory

World Association of Opinion and Marketing Research Professionals

Directory of 1500 Research Organisations in 100 countries

Ethical Issues related to the Client

• Sponsor non-disclosure

• Purpose non-disclosure

• Findings non-disclosure

• Right to quality research

Ethics Related to Sponsor• 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 researcher’s role– Explain how distortion of the truth leads to

future problems– If necessary, terminate relationship with

sponsor

Ethical Issues related to Researchers and Team

Members• Safety

• Ethical behavior of assistants

• Protection of anonymity

AVIS Vs. HERTZ

A magazine CORPORATE TRAVEL published the results of a consumer survey of the travel industry. The magazine declared AVIS the winner of the first annual Alfred Award,named for Alfred Kahn former Chairman of the Civil Aviation Board. Avis quickly launched an advertising campaign touting its standing…

AVIS Vs. HERTZ…

…The VP for Govt. & Public Affairs at HERTZ was not amused. He confronted the editors. It turned out that the person who had overseen the poll had mysteriously left the organisation. The survey responses had disappeared under mysterious circumstances. There was also no statistical tabulation or record of responses…

AVIS Vs. HERTZ…

…Eventually, Hertz filed a suit against the publisher and against AVIS, charging false advertising. The parties settled with AVIS agreeing to stop calling itself the car rental company of choice among business travelers.

Code of Professional Ethics & Practices Association for Public Opinion Research

• Principles of Professional Practice in the Conduct of Work– Due care in developing research design and

survey instruments, in collecting, processing, analysing data –a to assure reliability and validity of results

– Description of methods and findings accurately and in appropriate detail

Code of Professional Ethics & Practices Association for Public Opinion Research

• Principles of Professional Responsibility in our dealings with people– The Public, Clients, The profession, the respondent

• Standards for minimal disclosure– To make available with the report essential info of how

the research was conducted• Sponsor, questions, sample selection, size, precision of

findings, sampling error, method/location of data collection

Sparks & Hunt

A researcher working on a project for a new client needs background information on competitive trends in client’s industry and contacts an ad firm friend who formerly had the account of the clients chief competitor

What is your opinion??????

Sparks & Hunt…

• J D Sparks & S D Hunt conducted a study that found evidence of how a person’s ethical sensitivity can influence his/her perception about what is ethical and what is not

• They presented the research case scenario to MR practitioners and students

• The respondents were asked to briefly discuss issues that this scenario raised. They were not prompted to focus on ethical, technical or managerial issues

Sparks & Hunt…

• 65% did not recognise the violation of confidentiality as an ethical problem as they believed it was their responsibility to make use of all available information

• To the remaining 35% seeking information for someone who had acquired it in confidence constituted a violation of professional ethics

• What about you?

What Is Ethical?????

It is not easy

Only one’s conscience operates to inhibit any questionable practice

Crawford & Shelby

The Human

Side of

Decision making

Star Trek

Star Trek

programs & movies

have been popular

for years

Why this fascination?

Star Trek…

• Reason: Each show is based on a decision that Capt Kirk must make

• It involves uncertainty, turbulence and too little or too much data

• Capt always seems to make the right decision but in different ways

Star Trek…

• Star Trek provides a useful model for decision making

• Capt has 2 aides• Science Officer Spock

– Unemotional, logical, precise– Deals with the ship’s computer– Represents

• Data gathering• Alternative generation• Implementation

Star Trek…

• Lt. Comm. Mc Coy

– Emotional, logical, precise

– Deals with humans and their relationships

– Represents

• Communication

• Human relationships

• The gamut of human emotions

Star Trek…

• Capt. Kirk makes decisions that balance analytical with human relationships

• Both the Mr. Spock and the Dr. McCoy roles are needed by all managers to make effective decisions

• Kirk is needed to balance their inputs appropriately to make the best decision