Deck 2: Research Ethics

Question 1

Think about the guidelines for creating an informed consent document.According to the text,how many of the guidelines shown below apply to this document?
- use 14 point fonts
- present the study purpose early in the document
- use words that are familiar to the reader
- organize the text into just a few large blocks of text

A)0
B)1
C)2
D)3
E)4

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Consider the groups shown below.
- respondents
- management and clients
- society as a whole
- research suppliers
Researchers have an ethical responsibility to how many of these groups?

A)0
B)1
C)2
D)3
E)4

Answer 2

E

Question 3

________ have been written to help advertisers determine the most appropriate course of action.

A)Codes of situations
B)Codes of ethics
C)Statements of situational ethics
D)Ethical metaphors
E)Ethical syllogisms

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Under what circumstances is informed consent required?

A)Only when private information is being collected
B)Only when public information is being collected
C)When both public and private information are being collected
D)Informed consent is never required,it is always optional

Question 5

How many of the characteristics below are appropriate for a written informed consent form?
- words and terminology are consistent throughout the document
- sentences are short,simple and direct
- avoid the use of personal pronouns
- verbs are in active voice

A)0
B)1
C)2
D)3
E)4

Question 6

Which of the following is NOT a requirement of informed consent?

A)Telling respondents what is required for them to participate
B)Telling respondents how long the interview will take
C)Telling respondents the name of the person in charge of the research
D)Telling respondents what will be done with the data
E)Telling respondents what they are expected to do

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT a component of informed consent?

A)Making it clear you are asking for participation in a research study
B)Explaining the purpose of the research
C)Noting who is conducting the research
D)Explaining research timing and budget
E)Explaining what is required to participate in the research

Question 8

The ethical principal of autonomy means that all individuals involved in the research have ________.

A)the right to be paid for participation in the research
B)the right to know why the research is being conducted
C)the right to know who is conducting the research
D)the option to review the research results prior to dissemination
E)free deliberation and decision power regarding their participation in the research

Question 9

The ethical principal of beneficence states that one has an obligation to ________.

A)remove all identifying information from the survey or questionnaire
B)provide detailed information on the research findings
C)remove existing harms,to confer benefits,and to minimize risks wherever and whenever possible
D)conduct the research in a timely manner
E)conduct the research within the budget

Question 10

The ethical principal of nonmaleficence states that one has an obligation to ________.

A)remove all identifying information from the survey or questionnaire
B)complete the research project within the agreed upon time frame
C)remove existing harms,to confer benefits,and to minimize risks wherever and whenever possible
D)avoid intentionally inflicting harm on others
E)conduct the research within within the budget

Question 11

________ are moral principles that help determine when a course of action is either right or wrong.

A)Platitudes
B)Metaphors
C)Ethics
D)Analogies
E)Syllogisms

Question 12

A well written informed consent statement makes it clear that participation in the research is voluntary.

Question 13

Karl wants to conduct research.Consider the following situations.
I.The research uses a survey to obtain information on
Television viewing habits.
II.The research uses observation of individuals in a park.
For which (if any)situations is informed consent required?

A)I only requires informed consent
B)II only requires informed consent
C)Both I and II require informed consent
D)Neither I nor II require informed consent

Question 14

Research codes of ethics incorporate the principles of autonomy,nonmaleficence,and ________.

A)beneficial planning
B)beneficence
C)parity
D)modesty
E)synchronicity

Question 15

You pay respondents $10 at the start of a research study to increase participation.Vern,a respondent,wants to quit half-way through the survey.What is the appropriate course of action?

A)Allow Vern to quit and keep the $10
B)Allow Vern to quit but take back the $10
C)Try to talk Vern out of quitting,and tell him you will give him another $10 to continue
D)Try to talk Vern out of quitting,but provide no additional monetary incentive
E)Tell Vern that if he quits,he will need to pay a penalty of $5

Question 16

It is unethical to design or conduct a research study in a way that prevents a respondent from exercising his or her right to withdraw or refuse to answer at any stage of the interview.

Question 17

Informed consent is required ________.

A)only for quantitative research
B)only for qualitative research
C)both qualitative and quantitative research
D)neither qualitative nor quantitative research

Question 18

Betty wants to conduct research.Consider the following situations.
I.The research uses a observation to track brand
Comments in online blogs.
II.The research uses focus groups to learn about brand perceptions.
For which (if any)situations is informed consent required?

A)I only requires informed consent
B)II only requires informed consent
C)Both I and II require informed consent
D)Neither I nor II require informed consent

Question 19

Codes of ethics are written by members of a specific trade or profession.

Question 20

Jason wants to conduct research.Consider the following situations.
I.The research uses a survey to obtain information on the
Use of social networking sites.
II.The research uses observation to track brand comments in Tweets.
For which (if any)situations is informed consent required?

A)I only requires informed consent
B)II only requires informed consent
C)Both I and II require informed consent
D)Neither I nor II require informed consent

Question 21

According to Bruckman,when faced with a trade-off between the needs of subjects and the integrity of the research,priority should be given to the integrity of the research.

Question 22

Respondents' expectations that their responses will be treated confidentially are absolute unless they are explicitly informed otherwise.

Question 23

Think about Stanton's "Bill of Rights" for virtual world research.How many of the following are part of this "Bill of Rights?"
- the right to know that I am a subject
- the right to learn the benefits of the research
- the right to participate as my avatar
- the right to teleport

A)0
B)1
C)2
D)3
E)4

Question 24

Think about the criteria that indicate respondent mistreatment.According to the text,how many of behaviors shown below would be considered respondent mistreatment?
- frequent,repeated attempts to contact the respondent
- overly long surveys not described as such
- asking personal questions for "information's sake"

A)0
B)1
C)2
D)3

Question 25

Pete is monitoring blogs to determine attitudes toward his company.Informed consent requires that he obtain informed consent from the blog owners prior to conducting this research.

Question 26

Jeff is supervising a research project.Over the weekend he realizes that a change needs to be made in the questionnaire because respondents are having a difficult time answering several questions.His client,for whom the research is being conducted,cannot be reached until Monday.What should Jeff do?

A)Allow the project to continue as is and then talk with the client on Monday
B)Stop the research and then talk with the client on Monday about solutions
C)Change the questionnaire and inform the client of the changes on Monday

Question 27

Tom is conducting research with children.Some of the children recruited for the research are very hesitant to participate once they hear what they must do.Tom promises these children a toy if they change their minds.Tom's actions would be considered ethical.

Question 28

You inform respondents that all their information will be treated confidentially.Under which (if any)circumstances can the explicit assurance of data confidentiality be broken?

A)It can never be broken.
B)It can be broken after the data is more than a year old.
C)It can be broken in order to maintain good client relations.
D)It can be broken if the data released is not personal in nature.
E)It can be broken if no harm is done to the respondents.

Question 29

Kelly puts invisible (to the respondent)identifiers on the survey to keep track of who has or has not responded.After the research has concluded,the client asks to see the questionnaires.What should Kelly do?

A)Keep and refuse to send the questionnaires
B)Shred the questionnaires
C)Send the questionnaires without any modification
D)Send the questionnaires after the identifiers have been removed
E)Send the questionnaires without any modification,but only if the client pays associated costs

Question 30

How many of the behaviors shown below indicate a misleading or unethical data presentation practice?
- only a partial set of the data is reported
- the data has been manipulated to accentuate positive outcomes
- the axes of data graphs use very small increments
- the data is rounded to one decimal point

A)0
B)1
C)2
D)3
E)4

Question 31

Jean is writing the informed consent form for a research study.She puts in her contact information in case respondents have questions.Then she adds the line: "If you leave the survey to contact the principal researcher,Susan Jones,then you will not be able to return to the survey and participate in the prize drawing." This additional detail makes the conditions of the research:

A)Acceptable
B)Unacceptable

Question 32

There are clear and explicit ethical guidelines for conducting research in online communities.

Question 33

There are clear and explicit legal guidelines for conducting research in online communities.

Question 34

Consider the chart below. This chart ...

A)is totally acceptable as shown
B)exhibits a problem only with the "Y-Axis" - the test scores
C)exhibits a problem only with the "X-Axis" - the names of the schools
D)exhibits problems with both axes

Question 35

Stanton takes the point of view that conducting research in virtual worlds is unethical and should be avoided.

Question 36

How many of the practices below reflect unethical behaviors with research suppliers?
- issuing a call for bids after a supplier has been selected
- using the proposal process to obtain free advice
- making false promises to lower costs
- issuing a call for more than three proposals

A)0
B)1
C)2
D)3
E)4

Question 37

Larry has just completed work on a client-sponsored research project.After the research is concluded,Larry receives a call from a local newspaper.During the interview Larry realizes that the client's research would provide important insights.What should Larry do?

A)Because of the good publicity,Larry should feel free to discuss the research results with the reporter.
B)Contact the client and ask for permission to share the results prior to providing the data.

Question 38

Your client pays to conduct research among his franchisees,who were promised confidentiality.At the conclusion of the research the client asks to see the actual questionnaires with identifying information.Because the client paid for the research,it is not necessary to remove each respondent's name or other identifying information from the questionnaires.

Question 39

How many of the behaviors shown below reflect ethical responsibilities toward clients?
- research recommendations should be appropriate
- clients should be kept informed of all study changes
- research budgets should be kept to less than $10,000
- all gathered information is proprietary

A)0
B)1
C)2
D)3
E)4

Question 40

You ask respondents to view a commercial,after which you ask them their opinions.This aspect of their participation in the research was fully explained as part of informed consent.At the end of the survey,you give each respondent three bottles of shampoo as a "thank you" for participating and no further explanation is provided.These bottles are also part of the research as you plan to call each respondent a week later to get his/her reactions to the shampoo.Which of the following best describes this situation?

A)This situation would be considered ethical because respondents are getting products for free.
B)This situation would be considered ethical because respondents could decide not to take the shampoo.
C)This situation would be considered unethical because respondents were not fully informed with regard to this portion of the research.
D)This situation would be considered unethical because not all respondents will eventually use the shampoo.
E)There is not enough information to determine the ethics of this situation.

Question 41

Larry is soliciting proposals from seven research suppliers.What is the ethical course of action in this situation?

A)Inform all companies that theirs is one of seven proposals being solicited.
B)Inform none of the companies that other proposals are being solicited.
C)Inform only the losing companies that theirs was one of seven proposals solicited.
D)Inform only the winning company that theirs was one of seven proposals solicited.

Question 42

Marge wishes to conduct an observation study of individuals eating meals at McDonald's.Does she need to obtain informed consent from those being observed?

Question 43

Carey,the agency researcher,conducts research to determine consumers' reactions to the client's latest advertising campaign.Carey remembers that the selection of the campaign's spokesperson was a controversial decision,with the client only grudgingly going along with the agency recommendation.The results show that consumers are very positive toward the campaign with one exception: they absolutely hate the spokesperson.Cary asks: "Since overall reactions are so positive,why don't I eliminate from the full report the survey questions that explore reactions to the spokesperson? Why bring up a controversial issue that everyone agrees is settled?"
Is Carey acting ethically?

Question 44

Peter is working on a press release for a research study his agency has just conducted.The press release notes that a full report is available.John plans to only include in the report the data that is favorable to his agency.Is this an ethical practice?

Question 45

It is unethical to falsely say to a research supplier "If you give us a break on this research,I know that I can throw a lot of business your way later this year."

Question 46

John is an advertising researcher planning a new project.He looks at the legal requirements and constraints for the project.John's point of view is that so long as the project is legal,then it is also ethical.Do you agree or disagree with John?

Question 47

John wants to report the research findings as "Our advertising awareness increased 200%." Mary wants to say "Our advertising awareness increased from 3% to 6%." Provide a point of view on which approach is the preferred approach.

Question 48

Consider the chart below. This chart ...

A)is totally acceptable as shown
B)exhibits a problem only with the "Y-Axis" - the number of hurricanes
C)exhibits a problem only with the "X-Axis" - the years for which the data is presented
D)exhibits problems with both axes

Question 49

Mary is the moderator for a focus group.The group consists of many shy individuals.Mary wants to avoid making these individuals feel uncomfortable,so she decides not to mention that the groups are being filmed and that individuals are watching the group from behind a one-way mirror.Would Mary's omission of this information be considered ethical?

Question 50

Mary has written a long telephone survey and,because of the length,many respondents are hanging up before the survey is completed.Mary has asked her interviewers to try to talk respondents out of quitting by referring to their "obligation" to complete the survey.Would Mary's actions be consistent with the criteria for the ethical treatment of respondents? Why or why not?

Question 51

You hire a firm to contact individuals about water quality.When contacted by phone,each individual is invited to participate in what you are calling the "National Water Quality Attitude Survey." When people agree to participate they are asked six questions.Based on their answers,those who indicate that they are concerned about water quality are asked,at the end of the interview,if they would like see a demonstration of a home water purification system,available only to them because they answered the survey questions.This approach to promoting the water purification system would be considered ethical.