I’ve had a lot of discussions recently with colleagues about ethics, some specifically regarding market research, some more broadly focused. We’re living in unusual times, and ethics have become a particularly fraught issue. Public health imperatives are going to require aggressive testing and contact tracing protocols among the population for the foreseeable future, and this will inevitably raise privacy concerns, particularly when you consider the technology-based solutions being proposed. We’ve also come face-to-face with such issues as the allocation of resources and the economic value of a human life. Market research is facing ethical challenges as well. Many clients are justifiably interested in understanding how the current public health crisis is influencing consumer attitudes and perceptions, as well as openness to new product and service ideas. However, this can raise difficult questions about how we identify, select, question and compensate the individuals participating in our research.
Most of the research I’ve done in the past three months has been healthcare related, and I’ve encountered situations in which some difficult ethical issues arose. Some of these involved how we recruited research participants, some related to the use of those participants’ personal information, and some were about the interpretation of research findings. In none of these situations was there a single, clear, correct answer. As often happens, we were working in those all-to-common grey areas.
I’m not the only one who’s preoccupied with ethics these days. The European Union and the State of California, to name just a couple, are also interested. Both have passed legislation intended to bring more ethical practices to the treatment of personal information, and more such regulation is sure to come.
As the philosopher Will Durant once pointed out, “we are what we repeatedly do.” His point was that excellence is habitual, but he could have just as easily been talking about ethics—the key to being ethical lies in habits. But what, on a practical level, does that mean? Many years ago, I learned from a very wise man, Rabbi Charles Kroloff, that ethics can be less bedeviling if you get in the routine of asking yourself a series of questions when contemplating a dubious course of action. Here they are.
How does this thing you’re thinking of doing square with accepted codes of conduct?
Is it legal? Is it allowed by your company’s policies? Is it consistent with your industry’s ethical standards? The market research world has no shortage of codes of conduct, and they’re worth reviewing periodically (I’ve included links to several at the end of this post). Personally, I’m a big fan of the golden rule – “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” —do you risk violating that? You might decide to proceed despite your intended action being against some rule or other, but it’s a good idea to devote a few minutes’ thought to whether this is wise.
How would you feel if your actions became widely known?
Would you be comfortable with that? Would you want your clients, or colleagues, or friends to know? How about your spouse, or kids, or siblings? What if your mother found out? If the idea of people whose opinions you value knowing what you’ve done makes you uneasy, that’s a pretty big red flag—proceed with caution. I’ve never accepted a finder’s fee for referring another supplier to one of my clients, because I wouldn’t be comfortable with my client knowing about it.
What if everybody did this?
Would the world be a better place, or would it be diminished? Dropping your used gloves on the asphalt isn’t a big deal if you’re the only one who does it, but if everyone coming out of the store follows suit, things will get messy in a hurry. Misleading research participants about the nature of the study in which they’re participating might not do too much damage if you only do it occasionally, but if we all start doing it all the time, the whole research world could blow up. If your contemplated action being emulated by everybody in your industry would cause problems, it’s probably not OK for you to do it either.
What are the potential consequences of my actions?
This is probably the most important question of all: what could happen if you do this thing? Do you risk prison? A fine? A lawsuit? Losing your job? Being run out of town on a rail? Dirty looks from people you don’t care about? Another great philosopher—Maimonides—once wrote … “a wise man is one who knows the consequences of his actions.” I think we often find ourselves in sticky situations because we didn’t take some time to think carefully about the possible endpoints where our actions might lead. Avoiding the conscious contemplation of outcomes is a very human thing to do—it’s uncomfortable, and often requires you to rethink your plans. That’s why this is a particularly valuable habit to develop. I’ve always suspected that the Enron disaster might have been averted if somebody had just said, ‘hey everybody, there’s no way this ends well.’
So, there you have it: four simple questions for worrisome situations. If you make them a habit, you’ll make ethical behavior habitual as well.
Links to various research industry codes of conduct:
