Key Terms
Code of ethicsConfidentialityDebriefingDeceptionEthicsInformed
consent
NondisclosureFindingsPurposeSponsorRight to privacyRight to
qualityRight to safety
This chapter explains the ethical issues faced by
researchers.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.In April
2001, Procter and Gamble notified its competitor Unilever that more
than 80 discarded documents detailing Unilevers marketing plan for
its hair care business had been collected by P&G information
agents. Unilever sought financial restitution and restrictions on
P&Gs marketing activities, but the two companies settled out of
court. 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
individuals 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. Three organizations offering codes specifically for
researchers are the Marketing Research Association (MRA), the
American Marketing Association (AMA), and the Council for American
Survey Research Organizations (CASRO). The logos in the slide are
linked to the respective organizations website where you can view
the codes of ethics.Exhibit 5-1 highlights the many ethical issues
that arise at all stages of the research process. 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.Exhibit 5-2 illustrates the informed consent
procedures used by the Indiana Center for Survey Research. The
components highlighted in its procedures are listed in the slide.
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.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.
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.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.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.
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. The convenience of
collecting data online has created new ethical issues. Data mining
offers infinite possibilities for research abuse. The primary
ethical data mining issues in cyberspace are privacy-related
including consent to information collection and control of
information dissemination. Legitimate data miners publicly post
their information security policies. The EU countries have passed
the European Commissions data protection directive. Under the
directive, commissioners can prosecute companies and block Web
sites that fail to live up to its strict privacy standards. Exhibit
5-3 identifies the seven basic principle that companies must comply
with to be granted immunity from legal action under the EUs
directive. These seven principles are highlighted on the next
slide.Notice: Companies must notify consumers/participants about
what information is being collected, how that information will be
used, who that information will be shared with, and how individuals
can contact the organization with inquiries or complaints.Choice:
Consumers/participants must be provided with an opt-out mechanism
for any secondary uses of data and for disclosures to third
parties. For sensitive information, participants must opt in before
providing data that will be shared.Access: Individuals must have
access to personal information that the organization holds and be
able to correct, amend, or delete information where it is in
accurate, except where the burden or expense of providing access
would be disproportionate to the risks to the individuals
privacy.Security: Organizations must take reasonable precautions to
protect personal information from loss, misuse, and unauthorized
access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction.Onward transfer:
Companies disclosing personal data to a third party must adhere to
the notice and choice principles. A third party must subscribe to
the safe-harbor principles.Data integrity: Reasonable steps must be
taken to ensure that data collected are reliable, accurate,
complete, and current.Enforcement: Companies must ensure there are
readily available and affordable independent mechanisms to
investigate consumer complaints.
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.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 1) educate the
sponsor to the purpose of the research, 2) explain the researchers
role as a fact-finder, 3) explain how distorting the truth or
breaking faith will lead to future problems, and 4) if the others
fail, terminate the relationship.Many organizations have codes of
ethics. A code of ethics is an organizations 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.
