Ethical conisiderations in business research

Ethical Considerations in Business ResearchMehdi Daryaei

Business Research For Decision Making, Duane Davis, Canadian Edition

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What is Ethics in Research & Why is it Important?Most common way of defining "ethics": Norms for conduct that distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable behavior. The distinguishing between right and wrong.

• The Golden Rule ("Do unto others as you would have them do unto you")

• Code of professional conduct Hippocratic Oath ("First of all, do no harm")

• A religious creed like the Ten Commandments ("Thou Shalt not kill...")

www.niehs.nih.gov

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Most people learn ethical norms at home, at school, in church, or in other social settings.

Although most people acquire their sense of right and wrong during childhood, moral development occurs throughout life and human beings pass through different stages of growth as they mature.

www.niehs.nih.gov

What is Ethics in Research & Why is it Important?

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E t h i c sProper conduct of the research process in business inquiry rights and responsibility of various parties involved in the research

Affects the rights of individuals The quality of data obtained

Four parties have rights:◉ Society◉ Subjects◉ Clients/managers◉ Researchers

Definition


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◉ Telephone privacy◉ Do not call listing◉ Electronic monitoring◉ Data privacy◉ Internet privacy◉ Antispam legislation◉ Mugging (Marketing under the guise of research)

Issues


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The conduct of the business research requires the participation of general public.

It is important to affect the willingness of the public to participate

So it is important to conduct the research in an ethical manner

The effect of Ethical and Unethical Business Research on Public Acceptance


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C o m m o n R i g h t s

Societal Rights Subjects’ Rights Clients’/Managers' rights Researchers’ rights


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S o c i e t a l r i g h t s

The rights to be informed The rights to expect objectives research

result The right to privacy


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T h e r i g h t s t o b e i n f o r m e d

Factors that may affect the health and well-being

i.e. Arsenic in Mohsen Rice Report



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T h e r i g h t s t o e x p e c t o b j e c t i v e s r e s e a r c h r e s u l t

General public expectations Findings should be unbiased, objective, scientifically

sound



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T h e r i g h t t o p r i v a c y

The right to be let alone Personal information gained should not be disclosed EU legislation on privacy



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S u b j e c t s ’ r i g h t s

The rights to choose The right to safety The right to be informed


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T h e r i g h t t o c h o o s e

Should be informed of the study they are participating Awareness of the right not to participate Awareness of the adequate information to make an

informed choice Awareness of opportunity to end participation, if so

desired. C1: All subjects must be aware of the right to choose C2: All individuals must be given adequate information

beforehand C3: About the condition



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T h e r i g h t t o s a f e t y

Avoid any physical and mental harm Guarantees of protection of anonymity



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T h e r i g h t t o b e i n f o r m e d

Debriefing Research data should be available to the participants The consequences of not being informed



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C l i e n t s ’ / M a n a g e r s ' r i g h t s

The right of confidentiality The rights to be expect high-quality

research


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T h e r i g h t o f c o n fi d e n t i a l i t y

Confidentiality of proprietary data Confidentiality of anonymity of client



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T h e r i g h t s t o b e e x p e c t h i g h - q u a l i t y r e s e a r c h Protection against unnecessary research Protection against unqualified research Protection against misleading presentation of data



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R e s e a r c h e r s ’ r i g h t s The right to expect ethical client behavior The right to expect ethical subject behavior


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T h e r i g h t t o e x p e c t e t h i c a l c l i e n t b e h a v i o r The right to the honest solicitation of proposal The right to expect the accurate representation of

findings The right to expect confidentiality of proprietary

information

R e s e a r c h e r s ’ r i g h t s


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T h e r i g h t t o e x p e c t e t h i c a l s u b j e c t b e h a v i o r The right to expect accurate reporting of data The right to expect confidentiality of data

R e s e a r c h e r s ’ r i g h t s


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Ethical Issues in a High-Technology Environment

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Technology is changing fast Researchers are posing new set of ethical concerns Unethical direct marketing Consequences lead to breakdown in public trust and

responses Consider research Vs direct marketing quagmire

R e s e a r c h V s D i r e c t M a r k e t i n g


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P r o t e c t i o n o f s u b j e c t s ’ r i g h t s

The tracking capability of using internet The ability to trace respondents via “cookies” How should we deal with IoT and high-tech devices Associations that may help us: CASRO Council of American Survey Organization ESOMAR esomar.org I World Association of Opinion and

Marketing Research Plagiarism.org www.imro.org/profstds/code.cfm I Interactive Marketing research

Organization http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/resources/bioethics/whatis/



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Q u a l i t y o f R e s e a r c h



The ease of requesting sample on the net

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Don’t act like spammers Individuals who are doing research shouldn't be engaged with

direct marketing affairs



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C o d e s o f E t h i c s

American psychological association The essentials of knowing ethical codes for Iranian researchers



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M a n a g e r i a l C o n s i d e r a t i o n s Managers are responsible to set the tone C1: Communicate the benefit of research to subjects and society

and adopt ethical research practices Develop or adopt codes 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 the formal procedure to check that all research performed

or bought be the organization follows the highest ethical standards as dedicated by the code of ethics.

Conduct periodic ethical audits to ensure that the research function is in fact being performed to the highest standers.



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A plausible explanation:People interpret, apply, and balance them in different ways in light of their own values and life experiences.

For example, two people could agree that murder is wrong but disagree about the morality of abortion because they have different understandings of what it means to be a human being

On the other hand, if morality were nothing more than commonsense, then why are there so many ethical disputes and issues in our society?


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Mehdi Daryaei

@KDaryaei

https://www.linkedin.com/in/daryaei

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