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Ethics in
Research
 Ethics in Research
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▪ Ethics is defined as a branch of philosophy, which is concerned with morality,
good or bad, right or wrong, justice and injustice, virtue and vice in human
behavior in various aspects.

▪ As research is an activity that is carried out by the researcher in various stages,

ethics in research may mean that the researcher follows an acceptable norm at
these steps with respect to a moral standard.

▪ Moreover, as research is conducted by individuals, teams, or organizations,

there could be ethical standards that have to be followed at all these levels.

▪ Although there may not be a universally accepted set of norms for all those
who are involved in research there could be a few guidelines that should be
followed by the researchers at various aspects in research starting from the
literature review to the final conclusions.
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Contd….
▪ Ethics is that what is morally and legally right
▪ According to the research excellence framework (2014),
“Research is a process of investigation leading to new insights,
effectively shared”.
▪ Research Ethics are the common denominator for researchers’
relations with respondents and colleagues.
▪ Social Research Association’s ethical guidelines, first drafted in
1980, with a revised draft in 2003.
▪ Research must be conducted with honesty, objectivity and
integrity.
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Ethics in Different Aspects
Ethical Issues could be addressed in various aspects of
research which are as follows.
a) Ethical Issues in Research Process

b) Ethical Perspectives at the Individual or Team Levels

c) Ethical Perspectives in Sponsored Research

d) Ethical Issues in Submission and Acceptance of the

Report
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Overview of Ethical Issues in Marketing
Research (1 of 3)
I. Problem Definition
• Using surveys as a guise for selling or fundraising
• Personal agendas of the researcher or client
• Conducting unnecessary research

II. Developing an Approach

• Using findings and models developed for specific clients or projects for other projects
• Soliciting proposals to gain research expertise without pay

III. Research Design

• Formulating a research design more suited to the researcher’s rather than the client’s
needs
• Using secondary data that are not applicable or have been gathered through
questionable means
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Research (2 of 3)
III. Research Design [Continued]
• Disguising the purpose of the research
• Soliciting unfair concessions from the researcher
• Not maintaining anonymity of respondents
• Disrespecting privacy of respondents
• Misleading respondents
• Disguising observation of respondents
• Embarrassing or putting stress on respondents
• Using measurement scales of questionable reliability and validity
• Designing overly long questionnaires, overly sensitive questions, piggybacking
• Using inappropriate sampling procedures and sample size

IV. Fieldwork
• Increasing (dis)comfort level of respondents
• Following (un)acceptable fieldwork procedures
 Overview of Ethical Issues in Marketing
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Research (3 of 3)
V. Data Preparation and Analysis

• Identifying and discarding unsatisfactory respondents

• Using statistical techniques when the underlying assumptions are
violated
• Interpreting the results and making incorrect conclusions and
recommendations
VI. Report Preparation and Presentation

• Incomplete reporting
• Biased reporting
• Inaccurate reporting
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Research Ethics towards Participants
▪ Informed consent

▪ All the risk associated must be informed

▪ The knowledge gap between the researcher and the

respondents must be considered
▪ Privacy, anonymity and confidentiality of the data must be given
due consideration
▪ Participants must be given option of rejecting data gathering
devices like audio/ video recorder
▪ Interest of respondents should be protected
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General Ethics
▪ Controversial topics must be dealt with carefully

▪ Harmful researches must be avoided

▪ Each author must be credited in the manuscript

▪ Avoid Plagiarism

▪ Avoid fabrication, falsification, misrepresentation of data or result

▪ Raw data should be retained

▪ Should not be any personal attack against any individual, culture, religion etc.

▪ Ensure transparency and accountability

▪ Follow copyright laws

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Ethical Issues in India

▪ Indian researchers should give utmost importance to the

cultural diversity & religiosity.

▪ Must work within a framework suitable for all the customs,

traditions, languages, castes, creed, colors, classes, region
etc.

▪ The researcher must keep in mind the wide economical,

knowledge and technological gap between the people of India
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International Marketing Research

Few Cases in support:

▪ Kellog’s in India

▪ Surf in Japan

▪ Ketch up in Japan
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International Marketing Research

▪ International marketing research shares many

commonalities: Problem Definition, Methodology,
Field work, Final report preparation etc

▪ Major differences spring from political, legal,

economic, social and cultural differences across
countries and the problem of comparability of
research results (Kumar, 2000)
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Globalization & Market Research

▪ Risk of failure and cost associated

▪ Global marketing strategies

▪ To address global marketing challenges

▪ New business avenue for MR firms

International Market Research Association online
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AMA : American Marketing Association (www.ama.org)

ARF : The Advertising Research Foundation (https://thearf.org)
IA : Insights Association (www.insightsassociation.org)
QRCA : Qualitative Research Consultants Association (www.qrca.org)
MMRA : Mobile Marketing Research Association
(www.mmra-global.org)

ESOMAR : European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (www.esomar.org)

MRS : The Market Research Society (UK) (www.mrs.org.uk)

AMSRS : The Australian Market & Social Research Society (www.amsrs.com.au)

MRIA : The Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (Canada) (mria-arim.ca)

AAPOR : American Association for Public Opinion Research (www.aapor.org)