Assignment
Ethics in Business Research
Introduction
Ethics are norms or standards of behavior guiding moral choices about behavior and relationship with others. Ethics differs from legal constraints. The goal of ethics in research is to ensure no one is harmed or suffers adverse consequences from research activities. Several ethical considerations must be balanced:
- Protecting the rights of the participant or subject.
- Ensuring the sponsor receives ethically conducted and reported research.
- Following ethical standards when designing research.
- Protecting the safety of the researcher and team.
- Ensuring the research team follows the designs.
Course Competencies Met in This Unit
- Competency 5: Compare foundational theories and concepts from the business literature that support stated business problems, research purposes, and research questions.
- Competency 7: Analyze different approaches to the creation of literature reviews that support applied business research.
- Competency 8: Analyze requirements of ethical research.
Objectives
To successfully complete this learning unit, you will be expected to:
1. Analyze the goal of "no harm" for all research activities.
2. Identify what constitutes no harm for the participants, researcher, and research sponsors.
3. Describe the role of ethical codes of conduct in professional associations.
Ethical Study Processes and Procedures
By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
- Competency 7: Analyze different approaches to the creation of literature reviews that support applied business research.
- Write in standard American English appropriate for audience using correct grammar and current APA format.
- Competency 8: Analyze requirements of ethical research.
- Evaluate each research proposal based on ethical research practices and standards.
- Support with appropriate sources the decision to approve or reject each research proposal.
Readings
Use your Business Research Methods textbook to read the following:
- Chapter 2, "Ethics in Business Research," pages 26-47.
Remember, your e-book is available for reading via VitalSource Bookshelf. You can access Bookshelf from the Course Tools menu or via the optional downloaded application.
Multimedia
- Click To Be Avoided: Reasons That Research Plans are Deferred to look through an accordion providing helpful recommended resources you can use to check and correct common potential problems.
- Click Resources Toolbox to access resources that provide links, information, and tools useful for DBA learners. The Toolbox is provided in every unit of this course.
Supplemental Resources
Refer to your copy of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association to format and style your submissions in this course.
Optional Readings
You may wish to obtain the following books:
- Christensen, L., Johnson, R., & Turner, L. (2014). Research methods, design and analysis (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
- Creswell, J. (2012). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Optional Resources
You may wish to access the following resources:
- Refer to the Site Permission iGuide page to learn about what is involved if you propose studying information from your employer.
- Refer to the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) Web site.
ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
Imagine you are reviewing studies for IRB ethical processes and procedures. Review the five research proposal synopses and decide whether to approve or reject the submission based on ethical research practices and standards. In addition to making a determination of approval or no approval, use appropriate sources to support your decision. Write your response to each proposal in no more than 100 words, for a total of 500 words for the assignment.
- Research Proposal Summary 1: A learner has identified that stakeholders of publicly traded corporations do not understand that the relationship between firms' return on equity, annual revenue, and CEOs' compensation is a business problem requiring a research response. Using archival data from financial records of publicly traded companies located in North America, she proposes a quantitative, correlational study to examine the relationship between these variables. Because the information is available online, the learner contends that neither organizational nor site permission is needed to conduct the research study. Should the learner's proposal be approved? Why or why not?
- Research Proposal Summary 2: The learner, whose field of specialization is business intelligence, posits that a business problem exists at her organization-finding qualified personnel for scientific-based projects and jobs. The learner submits a proposal to conduct research wherein she seeks to utilize a qualitative exploratory case study of her organization, which she specifically identifies by name. Should the learner's proposal be approved? Why or why not?
- Research Proposal Summary 3: Citing a peer-reviewed resource, a learner claims a business problem is that company leaders do not fully appreciate the importance of adopting green building technologies as a means of cost savings. She proposes a quantitative, quasi-experimental study to examine the energy usage in an office building located in the western United States, both before and after the installation of green technologies. While preparing her proposal, she obtains an e-mail from the building's manager granting approval to study data obtained from the site before and after the installation of the technologies. Should her proposal be approved? Why or why not?
- Research Proposal Summary 4: The learner submits a proposal stating he will keep all participant data obtained or generated during his study on an encrypted USB drive. The USB drive will then be stored in a safety deposit box for five years following completion of the study. At the end of the five-year period, the learner states he will destroy the data on the drive, in accordance with Department of Defense directives. Should the learner's proposal be approved? Why or why not?
- Research Proposal Summary 5: The learner, whose specialization is human resource management, cites peer-reviewed sources identifying a business problem existing with managers lacking an understanding of leadership strategies that increase employee job performance and satisfaction. As part of his qualitative study proposal, the learner presents a copy of a flyer he wants to distribute in an effort to recruit employees to participate in private interviews. He includes a copy of the informed consent on the back of the flyer to help individuals understand what he is asking them to do. Should the learner's proposal be approved? Why or why not?
Refer to the Ethical Study Processes and Procedures Scoring Guide to ensure you meet the grading criteria.
Additional Requirements
To achieve a successful experience and outcome, you are expected to meet the following requirements:
- Written Communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message, follows standard American English usage, and uses language appropriate for the intended business and scholarly doctoral audiences.
- Formatting: Paper, references, and citations are formatted according to current APA style and formatting guidelines.
- Length: 200 words minimum per research proposal, 1250 words minimum total, double-spaced.
- Font and Font Size: Times New Roman, 12-point.