Business Research Methods William G. Zikmund

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Business Research MethodsWilliam G. Zikmund

• Chapter 5
• Ethical Issues in Business Research

2
Ethical Issues

• Philosophical questions
• Societal norms
• Codes of professional ethics and practices (e.g.,
  American Association for Public Opinion Research,
  American Marketing Association, etc.)

3
Rights and Obligations of the Respondent

• The obligation to be truthful
• The right to privacy freedom to choose
• whether to participate in research
• Anonymity
• Confidentiality
• The right to be informed
• Informed Consent
• The right to safety
• Respondent rights protected by IRB (Institutional
  Review Board)

4
Deception

• Disguising the purpose of the research to avoid
  possibly biased responses.
• Avoid if possible
• If not, two conditions should be met
• No physical of psychological harm to respondent
• Researcher informs respondent of deception once
  the respondent has provided answers

5
Rights and Obligations of the Researcher

• The right to expect honest from clients and
  subjects
• The obligation to insure the purpose of research
  is research not selling (i.e., sugging)
• The obligation to be objective
• The obligation to NOT misrepresent research
• The obligation to protect the right to
  confidentiality of both subjects and clients
• The obligation to NOT disseminate faulty
  conclusions
• The obligation to avoid using the intellectual
  contributions of other researchers who bid on the
  job

6
Rights and Obligations of the Client Sponsor
(User)

• Ethics between buyer and seller
• The obligation to encourage research objectivity
  via an open relationship with research suppliers
• The obligation to honestly represent the research
  findings
• The obligation to respect the privacy of
  respondents
• The obligation to be committed to research before
  soliciting proposals.
• The obligation to avoid baiting researcher with
  pseudo-pilot studies

7
Advocacy Research

• Research to support a specific legal claim
• Can the researcher search out the truth when the
  sponsoring client wishes to support its position
  at a trial?