Microsoft Word Bachelor-Thesis-bl-pi-klar docx

4.7 Ethical issues
 
Ghauri & Grønhaug (2005) defines ethics as “moral principles and values that influence the 
way a researcher or a group of researchers conduct their research activities” (Ghauri & 
Grønhaug, 2005, p19). Ethics are applied to any situation or social setting where potential 
harm may occur to anybody (Ghauri & Grønhaug, 2005). Discussions about ethical issues 
occur when conducting business research. It may involve how to treat the participants of a 
study and how to behave against them. Ethical issues may occur when the researchers 
conceals the purpose with an investigation for a specific reason (Jacobsen, 2002). Bryman & 
Bell (2011) mentions four main issues within ethical issues that the researcher should take 
under consideration when conducting the interviews: (1) 
Harm to participants
may include 
mental harm as well as physical harm. The participants should never feel that the researchers 
have lowered their self-esteem or that their identity has been exposed during an investigation. 
Confidentiality is something the researchers need to take under consideration in order to 
minimize the risk of the participants being identified. (2) 
Lack of informed consent
means that 
if the researcher asks people to participate in a study, the respondents should receive complete 
information about the research process. Furthermore, the MRS’s
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Code of Conduct states that 
if the researchers decide to record the interview, the participants should be informed and 
asked about it prior to the interview. The principal of this is that the respondents should be 
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Marketing Research Society, professional association, which formulates codes of ethics.

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informed in fully about the research and have an opportunity to accept or decline