Research Methods –STA630 VU
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Lesson 14
ETHICAL ISSUES IN RESEARCH (Cont)
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. This objective is usually achieved. However, unethical
activities are pervasive and include violating nondisclosure agreements, breaking respondent
confidentiality, misrepresenting results, deceiving people, invoicing irregularities, avoiding legal
liability, and more.
Deception: Deception occurs when the respondents are told only part of the truth or when the truth is
fully compromised. Some believe this should never occur. Others suggest two reasons for deception:
(1) to prevent biasing the respondents before the survey or experiment and (2) to protect the
confidentiality of a third party (e.g. the sponsor). Deception should not be used in an attempt to
improve response rates.
The benefits to be gained by deception should be balanced against the risks to the respondents. When
possible, an experiment or interview should be redesigned to reduce the reliance on deception. Use of
deception is inappropriate unless deceptive techniques are justified by the study’s expected scientific,
educational, or applied value and equally effective alternatives that do not use deception are not
feasible. And finally, the respondents must have given their informed consent before participating in
the research.
Informed Consent: Securing informed consent from respondents is a matter of fully disclosing the
procedures of the proposed survey or other research design before requesting permission to proceed
with the study. There are exceptions that argue for a signed consent form. When dealing with children,
it is wise to have a parent or other person with legal standing sign a consent form.
If there is a chance the data could harm the respondent or if the researchers offer any limited protection
of confidentiality, a signed form detailing the types of limits should be obtained. For most business
research, oral consent is sufficient.
In situations where respondents are intentionally or accidentally deceived, they should be debriefed once
the research is complete.
Debriefing:
It involves several activities following the collection of data:
• Explanation of any deception.
• Description of the hypothesis, goal, or purpose of the study.
• Post study sharing of the results.
• Post study follow-up medical or psychological attention.
First, the researcher shares the truth of any deception with the participants and all the reasons for using
deception in the context of the study’s goals. In cases where severe reactions occur, follow-up medical
or psychological attention should be provided to continue to ensure the participants remain unharmed by
the research.
Even when the research does not deceive the respondents, it is a good practice to offer them follow-up
information. This retains the goodwill of the respondent, providing an incentive to participate in future
research projects. For surveys and interviews, respondents can be offered a brief report of the findings.
Usually they would not ask for additional information.
For experiments, all participants should be debriefed in order to put the experiment in context.
Debriefing usually includes a description of the hypothesis being tested and the purpose of the study.
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