Chapter 02

Ethics in Business Research

Research means the exploration of new knowledge to solve a problem. Ethics are the moral
standards that guide our behavior toward others and which are accepted by society. In doing
research, a researcher should consider ethical issues relating to the research area. A researcher
must remember that the research activities harm or adversely affect nobody. Research must be
designed based on protecting the rights of the participants so that respondents do not suffer from
any social problems, physical assault, and political pressures. When conducting a survey or
interviewing respondents, the researcher should briefly discuss the research objectives, benefits,
and purposes, and take the consent of the respondent. As a result, respondents will feel at ease
and answer the questions truthfully. Researchers have to maintain the privacy of respondents and
keep their responses and personal information such as name, phone number, address, etc,
confidential. When research is designed, follow ethical standards, protect the rights of
respondents, protect the safety of the team members, and examine the research activities to
ensure whether the research is done according to the research design. For example, some
students in the banking and insurance department are doing research on covid-19 impact on
consumer expenditure. They collect information either by doing surveys or interviewing
consumers. They have maintained ethical standards and protect consumer privacy by maintaining
the confidentiality of those responses. Some researchers do unethical activities by violating
ethical standards, deceiving people, misrepresenting the information and also the findings, not
maintaining confidentiality, etc. Data collection procedures must be appropriate. If the data are
not correct, then the result will be incorrect which does not represent the real scenario of the
problem.
Sometimes the sponsors want to maintain confidentiality without revealing themselves. A
sponsor has the right to receive the research which is conducted following ethical standards.
Because of the internal management problem or dilemma, the sponsor gives the research
responsibility to the outside researchers to conduct the research. Sponsors want to keep the
research a secret either because they want to test new ideas or do not want their competitors to
know it. Sponsoring managers have to tell the researcher adequate information about the
company, specifically identify the problem and give access to the company resources.
Researchers also must design research creatively which answers all of the management
questions. Researchers analyzed the data and must point out the limitations of the research.
Sometimes creates a gap between the researcher and the sponsor because of the level of
knowledge, job status, and report quality. Sometimes, the sponsor asked the researcher to make
an unethical or false report. For example, conducting research on false data which are not
appropriate for this research or giving interpretations or suggestions which is not under the
research area. Some researchers may be biased when making decisions. Team members’ safety is
another ethical responsibility of researchers. Design research in such a way that all parties’
(sponsor, researcher, respondent, team members) safety will be protected. Team members must
behave ethically. But sometimes team member behavior is unethical. For example, when doing
surveys, they fill out the survey paper or questionnaire on their own instead of actual
respondents. Which will lead to false results and adverse impacts on society.

Chapter 3
Thinking like a Researcher
For the best possible outcomes, researchers and participants in the study should collaborate
throughout the entire process. Therefore, in order for a fruitful collaboration to materialize, it is vital
for the provider to be familiar with the background of the customer. When carrying out research, it is
beneficial to have a solid understanding of the jargon used in the subject. Concepts, structures, and
definitions are sometimes misunderstood, thus having a clear grasp on the jargon is essential. A
notion is an interpretation that is generally accepted of some aspect, or some combination of aspects,
of events, objects, conditions, situations, and behaviors. Ideas can come from a wide variety of
places, including one's own life, other languages, different fields of study, and so on. A construct is a
made-up model or a group of hypothetical factors that has been developed for the purpose of
scientific investigation or the advancement of theoretical ideas. When an idea or image cannot be
found in the wild, it may be feasible to create it by piecing together several concepts that are easier to
understand and more tangible. The term "construct" refers to the ideas in and of themselves. The
development of hypothetical frameworks necessitates the collection of data. We say that a definition
is operational when it defines a term in terms of specific criteria for testing or measurement. This is
what we mean when we state that the definition is operational. When we talk about definition in this
chapter, we're referring to an operational definition.
A quantity that may shift in some way during the course of an investigation or problem is referred to
as a variable in mathematics. There are numerous categories of variables to choose from. These are
briefly covered in the next section. Because it may be investigated independently of the other
components, it is referred to as an independent variable. The age of a person is an example of an
independent variable that could be used. A dependent variable is anything that may be measured and
is influenced in some way by the experiment. There is a correlation between the independent and
dependent variables. When something is dependent, we say that its value "depends" on another
component that is more important. A moderator variable is either a qualitative (like gender or
socioeconomic position) or quantitative (like social support) variable that alters the direction and/or
strength of the link between an independent (predictor) and a dependent (criterion) variable. Some
examples of qualitative moderator variables include gender and socioeconomic position, while
examples of quantitative moderator variables include social support. An "extraneous variable" is a
term that refers to any factor that is not directly related to the dependent variable that is the subject of
the study. The term "confounding variable" refers to an arbitrary third factor that effects both the
dependent and the independent variables. An intervening variable is a word that is used in the
scientific community to define or characterize the interactions that occur between independent
factors and dependent variables. Examples of such intervening variables are gravity, appetite,
learning, and intelligence, as they are frequently cited in the literature.Research in scientific fields is
built on the solid foundation of hypotheses. The assertions that are made in a research study them are
the primary yardstick that is used to evaluate the dependability of the study. The hypotheses that the
researchers come up with can shed light on a variety of topics, including the veracity of the study's
definitions, measures, associations, and confounding factors, among other things. A hypothesis is a
statement that explains the anticipated results of an investigation. This is just a crazy assumption that
has absolutely nothing to do with the real research topic that you posed. For some studies, developing
a number of hypotheses that each address a different aspect of the research problem at hand may be
required. When the investigator is trying to figure out what's going on, it directs their thinking, which
increases the likelihood of a resolution being found. Researchers can use hypotheses to both identify
and foresee correlations between the variables in their studies by drawing on theoretical concepts
and/or actual evidence. Competent hypotheses outperform competing ones, are relevant to the
circumstances at hand, and can be tested. Before a hypothesis can be incorporated into a model, the
hypothesis itself needs to be modeled. When there is sufficient evidence to support a hypothesis, that
hypothesis will eventually be elevated to the level of a theory. The term "paradigm" refers to a
theoretical framework that has proven to be valid over an extended period of time. A hypothesis is
easy to understand since it contains concrete examples and very few, if any, ad hoc assumptions. The
act of theorizing is distinguished by the use of abstract justification, a large number of variables, and
complex claims. A model contains representations of the system.Inference is the fundamental
building block of scientific research. Its principal purpose is to support the dual process of reflective
thinking, which is used to produce and evaluate hypotheses. This function allows it to fulfill both of
its other functions more effectively. Because it demands you to examine and appraise things that
have happened in the past, reflective thinking might be considered a sort of critical thinking.
Learning is nothing more than adjusting one's behavior in response to novel experiences or concepts.
After that, one uses the hypothesis to infer further evidence, which can then be utilized to either
verify or reject the hypothesis.