What are Ethics?

Ethics are norms or standards of behavior that guide moral choices about our behavior and our relationship with others. As in other aspects of business, all parties in research should exhibit ethical behavior. The goal of ethics in research is to ensure that no one is harmed or suffered adverse consequences from research activities.

This objective is usually achieved. However, unethical activities are pervasive and include violating non disclosure agreement, breaking respondent confidentiality, misrepresenting results, deceiving people, invoicing irregularities, avoiding legal liability, and more.

As research is designed, several ethical issues must be balanced.

Ethics are norms or standards of behavior that guide moral choices about our behavior and our relationships with others. Ethics differ from legal constraints, in which generally accepted standards have defined penalties that are universally enforced. The goal of ethics in research is to ensure that no one is harmed or suffers adverse consequences from research activities.

As research is designed, several ethical considerations must be balanced:

• Protect the rights of the participant or subject.
• Ensure the sponsor receives ethically conducted and reported research
• Follow ethical standards when designing research 
• Protect the safety of the researcher and team
• Ensure the research team follows the design

In general, research must be designed so a respondent does not suffer physical harm, discomfort, pain, embarrassment, or loss of privacy. Begin data collection by explaining to respondent the benefits expected from the research. Explain that their rights and well being will be adequately protected and say how that will be done. Be certain that interviewers obtain in the inform consent of the respondent. The use of deception is questionable; when it is used, debrief any respondent who has been deceived.

Many sponsor wishes to under take research without revealing themselves.
Sponsors have the right to demand and receive confidentiality between themselves and the researchers. Ethical researcher provides sponsors with the research designed needed to solve the managerial question.

The ethical researcher shows the data objectively, despite the sponsors preferred outcomes.

The research team’s safety is the responsibility of the researcher. Researcher should require ethical compliance from team members in following the research design, just as sponsors expect ethical behavior from the researcher.

Many companies and research firms have adopted a code of ethics. Several professional associations have detailed research provisions. Of interest are the American Association for Public Opinion Research, the American Marketing Association, the American Political Science Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Sociological Association. Federal, state, and local governments have laws, policies, and procedures in place to regulate research on human beings.

Examples:

There is no single approach to ethics. Advocating strict adherence to set of laws is difficult because of the unforeseen constraint put on researchers. Because of Germany’s war history, for example, the government forbids many types of medical research. Consequently, the German people do not benefit from many advances in biotechnology and may have restricted access to genetically altered drugs in the future. Alternatively, relying on each individual’s personal sense of morality is equally problematic. Consider the clash between those who believe death is deliverance from a life of suffering and those who value life to the point of preserving it indefinitely through mechanical means. Each value system claims superior knowledge of moral correctness.

In Bangladesh, a soap company is advertising that their soap is made with 100% vegetable fat soap no animal fat or chemical but after some days they prove this statement wrong and they lose their market share for using their unethical title that they produce 100% pure soap in reality they cant prove their soap is pure. This is unethical government must regulate it.

Star Ship Condense Milk also advertise that their condense milk is produced by 100% Milk fat but they prove this wrong actually they using vegetable fat for manufacturing Milk. So this is very illegal business and it harm the health of people who are drink their milk. Government should restrict this thing.