WORKSHOP 6 Page 1 of 14
SECTION 6
A- ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN BUSINESS RESEARCH
6.1 ETHICAL ISSUES IN BUSINESS RESEARCH
The law usually provides the background and sets the limits on most ethical conduct. In recent years, various legislative actions have been designed to ensure ethical conduct in research.
Figure 6.1 graphically presents the relationship among business inquiry, public acceptance, and research participation by the public. The ethical level of business inquiry is shown on the horizontal axis. Overall public acceptance and subsequent participation are plotted on the vertical axis. In the model, public acceptance may be positive, resulting in research participation, or negative, leading to nonparticipation.
Three scenarios are presented in Figure 6.1.
In scenario 1, general public acceptance is low because of exposure to unethical research methods. This results in the worst-case scenario, where participation is limited to unethical research experiences and public acceptance of research quickly becomes negative.
In scenario 2, public acceptance is more positive, with participation at a higher level.
Scenario 3 is the best-case situation, with the greatest level of public acceptance and participation.
To organize the issues, a framework is outlined in Figure 6.2.
As this framework shows, the four participants in any research endeavor are society, the subject of inquiry, the clients/managers requesting the research, and the researchers.
6.1.1 Societal Rights
Business is a social phenomenon. Therefore, business research has certain responsibilities to society, whose rights are presented in Exhibit 6.1.
There are three major rights that society can expect of business:
1. The right to be informed of critical research results
2. The right to expect objective results
3. The right to privacy
6.1.1.1 The Right to Be Informed
If business research uncovers factors that may affect the health and well-being of the general public, society deserves to be informed of this finding.
For example, if an automobile manufacturer found out through research that a certain make of car had a high probability of exploding if it was struck in a certain fashion, that organization would have the responsibility to inform the general public of this danger.
6.1.1.2 The Right to Expect Objective Research Results
The second right is closely related to the first one. If results are publicly reported by an organization, the general public has the right to expect they will be objective, complete, unbiased, and scientifically sound.
Sometimes, so-called research results have been used to confirm or deny a particular claim. However, these are often not truly research findings but rather statements designed to persuade some people to act in a particular fashion. This behavior is unethical; it violates a basic right of society.
6.1.1.3 The Right to Privacy
The third right, the right to be let alone, poses a dilemma for business research. Although the continued application of research can have a positive effect on the efficiency of business in meeting society's needs, it can also have a negative effect.
For example, technology has made it possible to compile large household lists that include names, addresses, and a great deal of individual specific data. Ford Motor Company has a database estimated to include more than 50 million names; General Foods' database includes 25 million names; and Citicorp has in excess of 30 million names.
This database technology has the potential to threaten privacy in a free society. Society has the right to expect that personal information gained through research endeavors will not be disclosed.
Organizations such as the Red Cross, AT&T, and Reader's Digest have recognized this right, and they refuse to sell personal information to other firms.
6.1.2 Subjects' Rights
Subjects' rights are often overlooked in the conduct of business research. This is unfortunate and must be addressed, for three major reasons.
First, the individual subject is the cornerstone of social research. Without his or her full cooperation, the results obtained may be distorted. Cooperation and trust on the part of the subject are a necessary condition for the collection of relevant and accurate research data.
Second, business researchers are increasingly being faced with the problem of subjects refusing to respond. The guise of research is often used to gain entrance to homes for solicitation purposes.
Third, and most important, the subject has the right to be informed of his or her participation in an experiment. Research is a means of obtaining knowledge, but it is not philosophically above the rights of the people who participate.
Exhibit 6.2 summarizes the major areas of privilege applicable to subjects' rights in research.
6.1.2.1 The Right to Choose
Three major areas are involved in this right to choose.
First, all subjects must be aware of the right to choose. They must know that they can refuse further participation if they so desire.
Second, all individuals must be given adequate information beforehand to decide whether or not participation in the study is desirable for them.
The third component of the right to choose involves having some say about the conditions a respondent will be subjected to. If the conditions are objectionable at any time during the research, the subject has the right to avoid that particular aspect of the study.
6.1.2.2 The Right to Safety
First and foremost here is the subject's right to avoid any physical and mental harm. Any procedure that may harm an individual in any way should be critically examined. If the possible benefits from the study are not greater than its consequences, and the individual is not fully informed of the procedure, the inquiry should be scrapped. Every person has the right to safety.
Safety also includes the guarantees of protection of anonymity, freedom from stress, and freedom from deception.
All subjects have the right to be free from stress in any setting to which they are exposed. Any procedure that is designed to induce stress and cause the subject discomfort should be carefully evaluated for its necessity and usefulness.
Also included in safety is the right to be told the truth about the purpose of the investigation. Deception to obtain consent is totally unethical and should not be employed by any researcher. Deceiving a subject may place him or her in a stressful situation that might have been avoided if the individual had been aware of the true nature of the research project.
6.1.2.3 The Right to be Informed
The right to be informed is a carryover of the first two rights. Individuals have the right to be debriefed concerning the project they have participated in. Debriefing consists of informing subjects of all relevant information concerning the procedures in which they were involved.
Debriefing is an important method for reducing experimental stress and assessing the effectiveness of the study's procedures.
If researchers do not inform respondents of their part in the overall research project, the next time research is performed; there will be distorted information or refusal to respond.
6.1.3 Clients' /Managers' Rights
Just as subjects have rights, so do clients: confidentiality and the expectation of high- quality research. These rights are presented in Exhibit 6.3.
6.1.3.1 The Right of Confidentiality
The nature of the research process requires open lines of communication between the client and vendor if the inquiry is to be effective. When a client enters into a working relationship with a research vendor, certain types of proprietary data will be discussed. The vendor has an ethical responsibility to hold the nature of their relationship confidential.
6.1.3.2 The Right to Expect High-Quality Research
Although this right may seem rather obvious, some important concerns must be addressed. Researchers use their own specialized language, which can be bewildering to the manager. This sometimes puts the client at the mercy of researchers. Therefore, researchers have certain ethical responsibilities to produce high-quality research.
First, clients have the right to expect protection from unnecessary research. Because researchers are experts, they should have some knowledge as to when and where research is necessary and will be valuable.
The second dimension of this right involves protection from unqualified researchers. Again, the responsibility falls on the research community.
Finally, the client or manager has the right to be protected against misleading presentation of data. Researchers have the ethical responsibility to truthfully and objectively present the results of their investigations.
6.1.4 Researchers' Rights
On the assumption that researchers act ethically, they too have certain rights in the conduct of their work. These rights, presented in Exhibit 6.4.
6.1.4.1 The Right to Expect Ethical Client Behavior
Clients have three major responsibilities to researchers and their related organizations.
First of all, they have the responsibility to honestly solicit proposals for research problems.
The next responsibility relates to the accurate representation of findings by the client.
The final responsibility of the client relates to the confidentiality issue.
Researchers may reveal analytical techniques or solution strategies that are competitively sensitive. In these instances, the client has the responsibility and the researchers have the right to demand confidentiality of proprietary information.
6.1.4.2 The Right to Expect Ethical Subject Behavior
Subjects have certain ethical responsibilities in research also. If subjects demand and obtain their rights in the research process, they should reciprocate with equally ethical behavior. What researchers can expect here involves the accurate reporting and the guaranteed confidentiality of the data.
6.2 ETHICAL ISSUES IN A HIGH-TECHNOLOGY ENVIRONMENT
All major research associations are attempting to be proactive in regard to Internet-based research and E-commerce. Although all of these issues ultimately fall under the major ethical issues in business research identified earlier, technology has brought new aspects to already existing ethical dilemmas in the research field.
These issues gravitate around three major concerns: the protection of subjects' rights, quality of research issues, and the research versus direct marketing quagmire.
6.2.1 Protection of Subjects' Rights
Protection of the rights of subjects is the key issue in ethics relating to the advancements of technology in business research. Here, the "cookies" of the Internet and the ability to track respondents electronically must not take precedence over subjects' right to be informed or their right to privacy. If we violate the basic trust here, the research field is doomed for any future endeavors.
6.2.2 Quality of Research
The quality of research issue has been brought previously. The ease of requesting samples on the Internet, coupled with the ability to almost instantaneously distribute these results has created an environment with immense potential for being abused. Firms, politicians (we already know they lie!), individuals, or others can create online biased questions that confirm what they want, or would like, to hear.
The good, bad, and ugly of the Internet. The value of information sources varies wildly on the Internet. One must be extremely careful in accepting and using Inter- net data. This will continue to be an issue as long as the Internet is viewed, at the same time, as a gold mine and a junkyard.
6.2.3 Research Versus Direct Marketing
The essence of this issue goes back to the reasons why the two needed to be separated in the first place.
First, the validity of research depends on the willingness of subjects to participate in a non-threatening and anonymous environment, without fear of being solicited or identified in any manner.
Second, the legalistic and moral concerns are different for these two activities. If research professionals fail to separate themselves from "spammers," direct marketers, and other forms of E-commerce, the credibility is gone for the researcher and the organization sponsoring the research.
6.3 CODES OF ETHICS
The public is angry about abuses of research, so government will continue to legislate ethical conduct for researchers if the researchers do not adequately regulate themselves. Formal codes of ethics are now common among professional societies and other organizations involved in business research. The American Psychological Association was a leader in the adoption of a code of ethics for research activities.
6.4 MANAGERIAL CONSIDERATIONS
The managerial considerations in the field of business research ethics are extremely important. Managers are responsible for setting the tone of ethical behavior in their organizations. Specifically, managers have five key concerns to help promote ethical research in their businesses:
· Communicate the benefits of research to subjects and society, and adopt ethical research practices.
· Develop or adopt a code of ethics that will serve as the corporate policy in the conduct of business research.
· Communicate ethical behavior down through the organization hierarchy through the use of formal sanctions.
· Institute a formal procedure to check that all research performed or bought by the organization follows the highest ethical standards, as dictated by the code of ethics.
· Conduct periodic ethical audits to ensure that the research function is in fact being performed to the highest standards.
These considerations should help guide the firm in becoming ethically oriented in its research endeavors. These basic concerns are restated in a series of key managerial questions in Exhibit 6.5.
B- RESEARCH REPORTING AND EVALUATION
6.5 WRITTEN RESEARCH REPORTS
The written research report is the end product of the research process. It is a formal statement of the background of the problem being investigated, the nature of the study itself, and the relevant findings and conclusions drawn from the research process.
6.5.1 The Outline
There is no one universally accepted format, but the outline presented as
Exhibit 6.6 includes the salient parts of a well-developed business research report. The specific makeup of a report depends on the individuals to whom it is directed.
6.5.1.1 Title Page
The title page identifies the subject of the report, to whom it is directed, who prepared it, the date, and other relevant contact information (addresses, fax and telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and so on). The title page is designed to convey critical information in a concise format.