1.3 Ethics in Business Research ( Nov 2015)

·        1.3  Here is a checklist to help you anticipate and deal with business research ethical issues. ( Saunders et al. , 2009)

      ✔  Attempt to recognize potential ethical issues that will affect your proposed research.

✔ Utilise your university’s code on research ethics to guide the design and conduct of your research.

✔ Anticipate ethical issues at the design stage of your research and discuss how you will seek to control these in your research proposal.

✔ Seek informed consent through the use of openness and honesty, rather than using deception.

✔ Do not exaggerate the likely benefits of your research for participating organisations or individuals.

✔ Respect others’ rights to privacy at all stages of your research project.

✔ Maintain objectivity and quality in relation to the processes you use to collect data.

✔ Recognise that the nature of an interview-based approach to research will mean that there is greater scope for ethical issues to arise, and seek to avoid the particular problems related to interviews and observation.

✔ Avoid referring to data gained from a particular participant when talking to others, where this would allow the individual to be identified with potentially harmful consequences to that person.

✔ Covert research should be considered only where reactivity is likely to be a significant issue or where access is denied (and a covert presence is practical). However, other ethical aspects of your research should still be respected when using this approach.

✔ Maintain your objectivity during the stages of analysing and reporting your research.

✔ Maintain the assurances that you gave to participating organisations with regard to confidentiality of the data obtained and their organisational anonymity.

✔ Consider the implications of using the Internet and email carefully in relation to the maintenance of  confidentiality and anonymity of your research participants and their data, before using this means to collect any data.

✔ Protect individual participants by taking great care to ensure their anonymity in relation to anything that you refer to in your project report unless you have their explicit permission to do otherwise.

✔ Consider how the collective interests of your research participants may be adversely affected by the nature of the data that you are proposing to collect, and alter the nature of your research question and objectives where this possibility is likely. Alternatively, declare this possibility to those whom you wish to participate in your proposed research.

✔ Consider how you will use secondary data in order to protect the identities of those who contributed to its collection or who are named within it.

✔ Unless necessary, base your research on genuinely anonymised data. Where it is necessary to process

personal data, comply with all of the data protection legal requirements carefully.

✔ Utilise your university’s code on research ethics to guide the design and conduct of your research.

✔ Anticipate ethical issues at the design stage of your research and discuss how you will seek to control these in your research proposal.

✔ Seek informed consent through the use of openness and honesty, rather than using deception.

✔ Do not exaggerate the likely benefits of your research for participating organisations or individuals.

✔ Respect others’ rights to privacy at all stages of your research project.

✔ Maintain objectivity and quality in relation to the processes you use to collect data.

✔ Recognise that the nature of an interview-based approach to research will mean that there is greater scope for ethical issues to arise, and seek to avoid the particular problems related to interviews and observation.

✔ Avoid referring to data gained from a particular participant when talking to others, where this would allow the individual to be identified with potentially harmful consequences to that person.

✔ Covert research should be considered only where reactivity is likely to be a significant issue or where access is denied (and a covert presence is practical). However, other ethical aspects of your research should still be respected when using this approach.

✔ Maintain your objectivity during the stages of analyzing and reporting your research.

✔ Maintain the assurances that you gave to participating organisations with regard to confidentiality of the data obtained and their organisational anonymity.

✔ Consider the implications of using the Internet and email carefully in relation to the maintenance of  confidentiality and anonymity of your research participants and their data, before using this means to collect any data.

✔ Protect individual participants by taking great care to ensure their anonymity in relation to anything that you refer to in your project report unless you have their explicit permission to do otherwise.

✔ Consider how the collective interests of your research participants may be adversely affected by the nature of the data that you are proposing to collect, and alter the nature of your research question and objectives where this possibility is likely. Alternatively, declare this possibility to those whom you wish to participate in your proposed research.

✔ Consider how you will use secondary data in order to protect the identities of those who contributed to its collection or who are named within it.

✔ Unless necessary, base your research on genuinely anonymised data. Where it is necessary to process personal data, comply with all of the data protection legal requirements carefully.