IDENTIFY AND EXPLAIN ANY 6 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN RESEARCH.

DISCUSS THE POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES OF VIOLATING RESEARCH ETHICS

Introduction Ethics refers to moral principles or values that generally govern the conduct of an individual or group. Researchers have responsibilities to their profession, clients, and respondents, and must adhere to high ethical standards to ensure that both the function and the information are not brought into disrepute. The Marketing Research Association, Inc. (Chicago, Illinois) has instituted a code of ethics that serves as a guideline for marketing ethical decisions. The Council of American Survey Research Organization (CASRO) has also established a detailed code of marketing research ethics to which its members adhere.

In recent years ethical considerations across the research community have come to the forefront. This is partly a result greater awareness of human rights and data protection and also a result of increased public concern about the limits of any inquiry. There has also been enhanced concern for responsible behaviour within the workplace Many large organisations are expressing a desire for higher ethical standards in any research project and in the way business is done. This increased concern for accountability in these spheres has led to a high demand for good ethics where it comes to any research as well as access to and the management of information. This current reconsideration of research ethics matches a contemporary mood in both the public and private sector and is helping to enhance responsible behaviour.

Definition of Terms: Research? Research

This is the systematic process of collecting and analysing information to increase our understanding of the phenomenon under study. It is the function of the researcher to contribute to the understanding of the phenomenon and to communicate that understanding to others.

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Ethics

Ethics are the principles and guidelines that help us to determine and uphold what is morally justifiable

Background

Ethics in Research Writers differ widely on ethical issues in research. They often disagree on what is and is not ethically acceptable in social research. Debates about research ethics emphasized certain extreme cases of alleged ethical transgression, while in fact the potential for unethical research is much larger. Some cases of unethical research are often associated with particular research methods, such as disguised observation and deception in experiments. Obviously, ethical issues can be raised throughout all phases of research, notably problem definition, stating research objectives/ hypotheses, literature review, choice of research design, questionnaire design, data collection procedures, data editing and cleaning, choice of statistical methods, data analysis, conclusions and recommendations, and even referencing.

Ethics apply at every stage of the research. Upholding of ethics is particularly important in research as the research industry is mainly dependent on the following;

Goodwill- This is the goodwill of the individual respondents for their willingness to volunteer personal information on their awareness, attitudes and behaviours

Trust- Decision makers trust researchers to provide accurate information professionalism and confidentiality

This paper discusses the importance of ethics in research, ethical considerations researchers must observe and the consequences of violating them. Research must be conducted in a safe and ethical manner.

This paper discusses six ethical considerations in research and the consequences of violating them. The author feels that when carrying out research it is extremely important that the research is conducted in a safe and ethical manner. Researchers must ensure that the rights of the research subjects are not violated in any way.

All researchers have good intentions, but if they are not careful, their studies can place individuals in situations that involve risk" (Gall: 1996). Data collection, and analysis, subject selection, research procedure, credibility of the researcher and the worth of the study are all ethical issues that those wishing to perform a study face. Often researchers are the victims of poor planning or inexperience and their subjects suffer for it. " ( David B. Resnik)

The ethical considerations I am going to examine are as follows: 1. Informed Consent

A researcher should have the permission of the people who they are studying to conduct research involving them. When carrying out a research, one should be sure they are not taking

advantage of easy-to-access groups of people (such as children at a day-care) simply because they are easy to access. Sound ethical conduct suggests that it is the duty of researchers to preserve and protect the privacy, dignity, well-being and freedom of research participants. This means explaining to potential participants the purpose and nature of the research so they can freely choose whether or not to become involved. Such explanations include warning of possible harm and providing explicit opportunities to refuse to participate and to terminate at any time.

Where the research involves students and minors, permission should be obtained from the parents and guardians. The students and minors shall not be allowed to participate unless their parents or guardians have been counselled with respect to their participation.. Parents or guardians shall have the right to withdraw their children from the research Project at any time.

Not all types of research require permission or informed consent howeverfor example, if one is interested in analysing something that is available publicly (such as in the case of commercials, public message boards, etc.) you do not necessarily need the permission of the authors

2.

Invasion of Privacy and confidentiality

In the case of marketing research, many consumers feel positively about it and believe that it serves a useful purpose. Some actually enjoy being interviewed and giving their opinions. However, others strongly resent or even mistrust marketing research. A few consumers fear that researchers might use sophisticated techniques to probe their deepest feelings and then use this knowledge to manipulate their buying. Or they worry that marketers are building huge data bases full of personal information about customers.

Other respondents may have been taken in by previous research surveys that actually turned out to be attempts to sell them something. Still other consumers confuse legitimate marketing research studies with telemarketing efforts and say no before the interviewer can even begin. Most, however simply resent the intrusion into their private opinions and perceptions. They dislike mail or telephone surveys that are too long or too personal or that interrupt them at inconvenient times. Increasing customer resentment has become a major problem for the research industry. Any business that deals with respondents information has to take privacy issues seriously. Some researchers view privacy as way to gain competitive advantage as something that leads consumers to choose one company over another. The best approach is for researchers to ask only for the information they need, to use it responsibly to provide value, and to avoid sharing information without customers permission.

Many types of research, such as surveys or observations, should be conducted under the assumption that you will keep your findings anonymous. Many interviews, however, are not done under the condition of anonymity. A researcher must let the subjects know whether the research results will be anonymous or not.

The researcher must agree not to reveal the identity of the participant to anyone other than the researcher and his staff who have access to the data.

Respondents are more willing to express their views and opinions if they know that the information is going to be used in a confidential manner (i.e. the participation will not result in the respondent becoming subject to sales calls, political lobbying or fund raising The identity of individuals from whom information is obtained in the course of the research project shall be kept strictly confidential. At the conclusion of the project, any information that reveals the identity of individuals who were subjects of research shall be destroyed unless the individual
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concerned has consented in writing to its inclusion beforehand. No information revealing the identity of any individual shall be included in the final report or in any other communication prepared in the course of the Project, unless the individual concerned has consented in writing to its inclusion beforehand.

3.

Deception

Deception happens when the researcher provides misleading or withholding information from participants about the project. Deception is allowable when the benefits outweigh the costs. This occurs when researchers present their research as something other than what it is. Deception should be minimized and when necessary, the degree and effects must be mitigated as much as possible. Researchers should carefully weigh the gains achieved against the cost in human dignity. To the extent that concealment or deception is necessary, the researcher must provide a full and accurate explanation to participants at the conclusion of the study, including counselling, if appropriate. An example is when a researcher pretends to be who they are not in order to study a certain class of people.

This method can also result in a serious invasion of privacy and the researcher obtains information they would probably never have known. An example was given during the lectures of a prominent academic who disguised herself as a maid in order to study housewives and maids behaviours. This position gave her access to the couples private lives which she would have never known had she used direct questions. When the deception method is used, debriefing becomes a must at the conclusion of the project. Debriefing is a post study interview in which all aspects of the research are revealed. Any reasons for deception are explained and any questions are answered.

4.

Protection from Harm

You dont want to do anything that would cause physical or emotional harm to your subjects. This could be something as simple as being careful how sensitive or difficult questions are worded during the interviews. The researcher should take the responsibility to protect the subjects from whatever harm which might befall them e.g. physical discomfort, emotional stress, humiliation, embarrassment or any other situation that puts the participant at a disadvantage. There should be no harm to participants career prospects, development or selfesteem.

Data Protection

Routine collection and storing of electronic data and use of data mining techniques has raised new concerns about confidentiality of information. The information may be used for different purposes than what it was collected for. Personal data must be processed fairly and lawfully. The data must be obtained only for one or more specified and lawful purposes and not further processed in any manner incompatible with the original purpose. Personal data must be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose or purposes for which they are processed. The data must be accurate and where necessary, be kept up to date and must not be kept longer than necessary. Data must not fall into the wrong hands as this will be a breach of confidentiality. The researcher must put in place measures to ensure data is protected from unauthorised or unlawful processing and against accidental loss or destruction of or, damage. Results must not be falsified. When reporting at the end of the research the correct results must be accurately presented. What was observed or what the researcher was told must be reported in an honest and accurate manner. Interview responses must not be taken out of context and not discussed in small parts of observations without putting them into the appropriate context.

6.

Affiliation and conflicts of Interests

Ethical implications arise when research is finally underwritten by a source that has a vested interest in the results. This does not mean that it is automatically biased; rather it may be perceived to be biased and hence may be discredited. Research studies can be powerful persuasion tools; companies often use study results as claims in their advertising and promotion. Today, however, many research studies appear to be little more than vehicles for promoting the sponsors products. In fact, in some cases, the research surveys appear to have been designed just to produce the desired results. Subtle manipulations of the studys sample or the choice or wording of questions can greatly affect the conclusions reached.

In some cases, so-called independent research studies are actually paid for by companies with an interest in their desired outcome. Small changes in the study samples or in how results are interpreted can subtly affect the direction of the results.

Recognizing that surveys can be abused, several associations have developed codes of research ethics and standards of conduct. However, in as much as legislation is put in place, unethical or inappropriate actions cannot be totally eradicated. Each company must accept responsibility for policing the conduct and reporting of its own marketing research to protect consumers best interests and its own.

Consequences of Violating Ethics

There are drawbacks to violation of ethics. An example is given of the methodological argument against deceptive research which contends that

deception increases the suspiciousness of future research subjects, thereby exhausting the pool of nave participants (Ortmann & Hertwig, 1997).

This view reflects the concern that as the incidence of deception continues to rise; participants growing sophistication about deceptive practices may cause them to behave unnaturally in the research. By extension, if the prevalence of deception over the years has decreased naivet among prospective participants, this would diminish the methodological value of using deception in the first place. Further, even honest investigators might not be trusted by participants who view apparent openness with suspicion (Resnick & Schwartz, 1973).Such participant expectations could have a counter-productive effect on future research projects and their results, and also motivating individuals to behave in ways that do not reflect their natural behaviours or compelling them to behave in uncooperative ways in active attempts to undermine the research. (Tessar, 1994).states that

In light of research showing that consumers evaluate some unethical practices (such as misrepresentation of interview length or study purpose) as inappropriate, it is feared that they not only will be less likely to participate in future research, but that their research experience will negatively influence their image of the study sponsor, at least in commercial market research contexts It is further argued that the very practice of violating ethics and of justifying such procedures can weaken researchers respect for their participants and undermine their own integrity and commitment to the truth. At the same time, the publics confidence in research projects and in the credibility of those who engage in it is likely to be weakened, thereby jeopardizing community support for future researches. If ethics are violated the respondents feel denigrated and this may create anger and hostility in the participants hence jeopardizing future cooperation.

Conclusion

Simply put, ethics in research involves considering what is right or wrong, and then doing the right thing -- but "the right thing" is not nearly as straightforward as conveyed in a great deal of
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business ethics literature. (Many ethicists assert there's always a right thing to do based on moral principle, and others believe the right thing to do depends on the situation -- ultimately it's up to the individual.) Many philosophers consider ethics to be the "science of conduct." Twin Cities consultants Doug Wallace and John Pekel (of the Twin Cities-based Fulcrum Group; 651-714-9033; e-mail at jonpekel@atti.com) explain that ethics includes the fundamental ground rules by which we live our lives. The way ethical conduct is perceived differs among individuals. What becomes an ethical guideline today is often translated to a law, regulation or rule tomorrow. Ethical consideration in research therefore has come to mean various things to various people, but generally it's coming to know what it right or wrong in the workplace and doing what's right -- this is in regard to effects of products/services and in relationships with stakeholders.

Attention to research ethics is critical. Values that were previously taken for granted are now strongly questioned. Many of these values are no longer followed. Consequently, there is no clear moral compass to guide researchers through complex dilemmas about what is right or wrong. Attention to ethics in research sensitizes participants on to how they should act. Perhaps most important, attention to ethics in research helps ensure that when researchers are struggling in times of crises and confusion, they retain a strong moral compass which is necessary to maintain the participants faith in future researches

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Bibliography

Alemaheyu Dekeba: (2001-2011) Basic Marketing Research Methods: Globus publishing, Berlin

Carter McNamara: Complete Guide to Ethics Management: An Ethics Toolkit for Managers: http://managementhelp.org/ethics/

Internationally Indexed Journal VolII, Issue -3 March 2011; www.scholarshub.net Allan Wilson: Ethics in Marketing; An integrated approach: 2006 2nd Edition Prentice Hall

Alan Byman and Emma Bell: Business Research Methods: 2007 2nd Edition Oxford University Press

Social Research Association: Ethical guidelines: 2003

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