Ethics in Management Research
Ethics in Management Research
Ethics in Management Research
Introduction
What are ethics? What are ethical principles Ethical business behaviour Brief history of evolution of ethics in research Ethical principles
Deal
Good: honesty, keeping promises, helping others, respective rights of others Bad: lying, stealing, deceiving, harming others
Universality of ethical principles: should apply in the same manner in all countries, cultures, communities Relativity of ethical principles: vary from country to country, community to community
Ethical Relativism
Defined
by
Various periods of time in history A societys traditions The special circumstances of the moment Personal opinion
Meaning
given to ethics are relative to time, place, circumstance, and the person involved
public expectations for business Prevent harming others Improve business relations Improve employee productivity Reduce penalties Protect business from others Protect employees from their employers Promote personal morality
accuracy Marketing ethics (Professional Codes of Conduct in Marketing & Information Systems from American Marketing Association) Information systems ethics Others
the past not given attention Changed with Nuremberg trial findings
Nuremberg Code (1948)
Thalidomide
(late 1950s) Declaration of Helsinki (1964) Tearoom Trade (1960s) Milgram (1963) Tuskegee Syphilis Study (1932-1972)
to protect the wider society or community within which the research is being conducted
Mechanisms of Protection
Ethical Law Universal
regulations or guidelines
Ethical Principles
In research, help to make and to justify decisions Are abstract and difficult to implement in practical situations Key phrases:
Human Subjects
Canada
Research Council of Canada Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) http://www.pre.ethics.gc.ca/english/policystatement/polic ystatement.cfm
for human dignity Respect for free and informed consent Respect for vulnerable persons Respect for privacy and confidentiality Respect for justice and inclusiveness Balancing harms and benefits Minimizing harm Maximizing benefit
1. Human Dignity
The selection and achievement of morally acceptable ends The morally acceptable means to those ends
Protect the multiple and interdependent interests of the person (bodily, psychological, cultural integrity)
2. Consent
Presumption that individuals have capacity and right to make free and informed decisions In research = dialogue, process, rights, duties, requirements for free and informed consent by the research subject Your research cannot proceed without consent Consent must be maintained throughout
3. Vulnerable Persons
Entitled to special protection, special procedures to protect their interests Entitlement (based on grounds of human dignity, caring, solidarity, fairness) to special protection against abuse, exploitation, discrimination
to human dignity Standards protect the access, control, dissemination of personal information Helps to protect mental, psychological integrity 9-11
critical to ethics of human research Foreseeable harms should not outweigh anticipated benefits Harms-benefits analysis affects welfare and rights of subjects
justice
7. Non-malfeasance
Duty
to avoid, prevent or minimize harm No unnecessary risk of harm Participation must be essential to achieving scientifically and societally important aims that cannot be realized without the participation of human subjects Minimizing harm requires smallest number of human subjects that will ensure valid data
8. Beneficence
The
duty to benefit others The duty to maximize net benefits Produce benefits for subjects themselves, other individuals Produce benefits for society as a whole and for the advancement of knowledge (usually the primary benefit)
Quantitative
Logic rests on generalizability & representativeness Sample size is criterion for judging rigour Respondents can refuse to answer questions Designed to best reflect experiences Therefore most qualitative research less formally structured Logic rests on notice of saturation the point at which no new insights are likely to be obtained Saturation guides sample size
Qualitative approaches
Qualitative Issues
More
invasive therefore ethical issues more subtle Tendency to investigate more completely Reliance on observations, interviews, stealthy methods can lull subjects Easy to violate confidentiality and trust Power and status differentials
Quantitative Techniques
Qualitative Techniques
Can be easier Anonymity of the firm sometimes impossible Pseudonyms common but do not eliminate problem
Smaller sample sizes Informed consent more critical Problems with data presentation/ publication
code of ethics
to informed consent Obligation to be truthful Right to privacy Right to confidentiality Right to no harm Right to be informed
conduct between buyer and seller Obligation to reduce bias Do not mis-represent data Privacy Commitment to research Pseudo-pilot studies Advocacy
Language
The
language you use is very, very important. What may be clear to you may not be clear to the reader. The reader, who is your prospective participant, is in a different world than you dont expect the reader to read your mind, to know your intentions.
Cases
Questions?