Assignment #1

GB 302 Research Methods

Professor:

Dr. Fely Cruz

Submitted by:

Mohamed Shalykhan Razakhan

 SUMMARY

ETHICS IN BUSINESS RESEARCH

In Summary, this portion the chapter details about 4 areas of

Business research ethics. 1) the issues are covered in research ethics, 2)
The goal of “No harm” for all research activities, participants, The
researcher(s), The Research sponsor(s). 3)The different ethical dilemmas
and responsibilities of researchers, sponsors and assistants. 4)The role of
ethical codes of conduct in professional associations.

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 such things as:

 Violating nondisclosure agreements

 Breaking respondent confidentiality
 Misrepresenting results
 Deceiving people
 Invoicing irregularities
 Avoiding legal liability

These above-mentioned items were discussed with an example of Jason’s

dilemma as a researcher in an organization. Also, this part of the chapter
covers the work flow of the Ethical issue and the research process thru a
flow chart.
 The varies areas of Business research Ethics are also covered,

Research participants: The research participants should be explained

with the Benefits of the research, explain the rights and protection, obtained
informed consent.

Benefits: Here the focus is on the benefits of the Business research

ethics Whenever direct contact is made with a participant, on… what to
discuss, how to introduce, what to disclose and not to disclose, what to
reveal with the participants, the purpose of the research and benefits. The
need for concealing objectives leads directly to the problem of deception.

Deception: It summarizes the two reasons for deception. To prevent

biasing the participants, to protect the confidentiality in all areas,
redesigning on the experiment or interviews to reduce reliance, participants
rights for well being and protection, sensitivity about the medical related
researches, participants consent before participation.

Informed Consent: It’s wise to get signed consent on while dealing

with sensitive topics like child related, Medical, Psychological, data related
& financial related. Other than this on most part an oral confirmation
suffices. In situations where respondents are intentionally or accidentally
deceived, they should be debriefed once the research is complete.

Debriefing Participants: This involves several activities... from the

description of the hypothesis, goal, or purpose of the study. Sharing of the
results post study and follow-ups, it explains the reasons for using
deception in the context of the study’s goals. For experiments, all
participants should be debriefed to put the experiment.
 This also covers the Rights to Privacy, Data Collection in Cyberspace
and data mining ethics.

Ethics and The Sponsor: This area of the chapter summarizes

whether undertaking product, market, personnel, financial, or other
research, a sponsor has the right to receive ethically conducted research.
Confidentiality – This includes Sponsor nondisclosure, Purpose
nondisclosure, Findings nondisclosure. There are times the organizations
don’t want to reveal them to be part of the research. Exploring new market
and not tipping the competitors. Purpose nondisclosure involves protecting
the purpose of the study or its details.

Apart from this, this part of the chapter covers the Sponsor-
Researcher Relationship, decision choices, providing background
information, gatekeepers need to be in place. Knowledge gab – Training
needed on the research industries for the leaders and managers. This can
be worked out due the technology development happed in the past years in
the research industries. Inappropriate Research – Research helps
managers and leaders to make a better decision, at the same time… not all
the decisions need to go thru research. Potential market, risk and
profitability involves some extend level of research. If not, some decisions
can be made without research.

In Addition, this part of the chapter covers about the Sponsor’s ethics
as well. There are times the sponsors may ask to participate in unethical
research. Like, unethical data gathering, violating confidentiality,
manipulating data or omitting a portion of the data, etc.
 Researcher and Team Members – This area covers about the Safety,
Ethical Behavior of assistants, protection of the anonymity. Professional
standards and Resources of the ethical awareness. All these items were
discussed with a case and a discussion questions.

Thank you!