Towards Candor, Cooperation, & Privacy in Applied Business Ethics Research: The Randomized Response Technique (RRT)

1992 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan R. Dalton ◽  
Michael B. Metzger
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Randomized Response Technique ◽  
Randomized Response ◽  
Empirical Inquiry ◽  
Ethics Research ◽  
Sensitive Issues

Virtually every empirical inquiry of issues relevant to applied business ethics involves the asking of questions that are sensitive, embarrassing, threatening, stigmatizing, or incriminating. Accordingly, questions of this sort are likely to result in unsatisfactory outcomes: 1) many individuals will not respond; and/or, 2) many individuals will not respond candidly. An obvious objective, then, is to use a method to collect information which increases participation, provides absolute anonymity, and does not jeopardize subjects’ privacy. The randomized response technique (RRT) is a method designed to realize this promise. We provide here an overview of RRT approaches and applications which may be effectively used in empirical examinations of potentially sensitive issues in business ethics.

Candor, Privacy, and “Legal Immunity” In Business Ethics Research: An Empirical Assessment of the Randomized Response Technique (RRT)

1996 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan R. Dalton ◽  
James C. Wimbush ◽  
Catherine M. Daily
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Randomized Response Technique ◽  
Randomized Response ◽  
Empirical Assessment ◽  
Ethics Research

AbstractMany areas of business ethics research are “sensitive.” We provide an empirical assessment of the randomized response technique which provides absolute anonymity to subjects and “legal immunity” to the researcher. Beyond that, RRT techniques provide complete disclosure to subjects, unconditional privacy is maintained, and there is no deception.

Normative And Empirical Business Ethics: Separation, Marriage Of Convenience, Or Marriage Of Necessity?

1994 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary R. Weaver ◽  
Linda Klebe Trevino
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Practical Reasons ◽  
Theoretical Integration ◽  
Empirical Inquiry ◽  
Ethics Research ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract:This paper outlines three conceptions of the relationship between normative and empirical business ethics, views we refer to as parallel, symbiotic, and integrative. Parallelism rejects efforts to link normative and empirical inquiry, for both conceptual and practical reasons. The symbiotic position supports a practical relationship in which normative and/or empirical business ethics rely on each other for guidance in setting agenda or in applying the results of their conceptually and methodologically distinct inquiries. Theoretical integration countenances a deeper merging of prima facie distinct forms of inquiry, involving alterations or combinations of theory, metatheoretical assumptions, and methodology. This paper explicates these positions, summarizes arguments for and against each, and considers their implications for the future of business ethics research.

Randomized Response Technique: Applications to Research on Rape

1986 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen L. Soeken ◽  
Shirley Petchel Damrosch
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Students ◽  
Baccalaureate Nursing ◽  
Baccalaureate Nursing Students ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Randomized Response Technique ◽  
Randomized Response ◽  
Total N ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Sensitive Issues ◽  
Graduate Nursing

Research on rape is handicapped by a paucity of accurate information on frequency of rape. The randomized response technique (RR), designed to produce reliable information in surveys of sensitive issues, is advocated as a means of uncovering true frequencies. RR surveys were conducted on initial and replication samples of undergraduate baccalaureate nursing students (total n = 292) and 76 graduate nursing students. The estimates of prevalence of rape victimization were 15.1% in the initial and 12.1% in the replication samples, with the difference not significant ( z = 1.25, p > .05). The findings are discussed in the context of results from traditional surveys.

scholarly journals The Validity Of The Randomized Response Method In Tax Ethics Research

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernest R. Larkins ◽  
Evelyn C. Hume ◽  
Bikramjit S. Garcha
Keyword(s):  
Tax Compliance ◽  
Survey Questionnaire ◽  
Randomized Response ◽  
Decision Context ◽  
Ethics Research ◽  
Survey Technique ◽  
Response Method ◽  
Response Biases ◽  
Sensitive Issues ◽  
The Given

The survey questionnaire often is used to obtain data in research involving tax compliance and tax ethics issues. The use of the randomized response (RR) survey technique has been suggested for mitigating response and non-response biases in studies regarding sensitive issues. This study compares tax preparer responses using a traditional questionnaire to responses using the RR method. The results indicate that RR does not reduce response or non-response biases in the given decision context. Thus, tax preparers may not be good subjects for a randomized response methodology.

Comparison of Data Gathered on Sensitive Questions via Direct Questionnaire, Randomized Response Technique, and a Projective Method

1980 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 743-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Bégin ◽  
Michel Boivin
Keyword(s):  
Randomized Response Technique ◽  
Randomized Response ◽  
Sensitive Questions ◽  
Projective Method ◽  
Response Data ◽  
The One ◽  
Response Method ◽  
Sensitive Issues

1266 students participated in an interview on sensitive issues. Three very sensitive hypothetical situations were assessed by means of three methods, the direct questionnaire, the randomized-response technique, and a “most people” projective-form questionnaire. The data indicate that the first two methods yielded similar proportions of endorsement. However, the projective method yielded much higher proportions of endorsement. These data indicate that the former two methods seem to assess the same concept which is quite different from the one measured through the projective questionnaire. Since the randomized-response method assures the subjects of the confidentiality of their responses, the authors believe that the direct questionnaire and randomized-response data are closer to reality, that is, more valid.

Applicants’ Self-Presentational Behavior

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Jansen ◽  
Cornelius J. König ◽  
Eveline H. Stadelmann ◽  
Martin Kleinmann
Keyword(s):  
Personnel Selection ◽  
Randomized Response Technique ◽  
Randomized Response ◽  
Self Presentation ◽  
Actual Use

This study contributes to the literature on self-presentation by comparing recruiters’ expectations about applicants’ self-presentational behaviors in personnel selection settings to applicants’ actual use of these behaviors. Recruiters (N = 51) rated the perceived appropriateness of 24 self-presentational behaviors. In addition, the prevalence of these behaviors was separately assessed in two subsamples of applicants (N1 = 416 and N2 = 88) with the randomized response technique. In line with the script concept, the results revealed that recruiters similarly evaluated the appropriateness of specific self-presentational behaviors and that applicants’ general use of these behaviors corresponded to recruiters’ shared expectations. The findings indicate that applicants who use strategic self-presentational behaviors may just be trying to fulfill situational requirements.

Empathy as moderator of gender differences in Chinese insurance agents' business ethical sensitivity

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 1029-1042 ◽  
Author(s):  
Na Zhang ◽  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Jing Wang
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Business Ethics ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Ethical Sensitivity ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Insurance Agents ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Ethics Research ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

To expand the business ethics research field, and to increase society's understanding of Chinese insurance agents' business ethics, we investigated how gender differences are related to agents' business ethical sensitivity and whether or not these relationships are moderated by empathy. Through a regression analysis of the factors associated with the business ethical sensitivity of 417 Chinese insurance agents, we found that gender played an important role in affecting business ethical sensitivity, and empathy significantly affected business ethical sensitivity. Furthermore, empathy had a moderating effect on the relationship between gender and business ethical sensitivity. Both men and women with strong empathy scored high on business ethical sensitivity; however, men with strong empathy had higher levels of business ethical sensitivity than did women with little empathy. The findings add to the literature by providing insight into the mechanisms responsible for the benefits of empathy in increasing business ethical sensitivity.

On Getting to the Future First

2000 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne B. Ciulla
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Present Problem ◽  
American Business ◽  
Management Research ◽  
Job Tenure ◽  
Know How ◽  
The Past ◽  
Basic Assumptions ◽  
Ethics Research ◽  
Management Thinking

Abstract:This paper will discuss the uncertainty of job tenure, inequality of wages in American business, and the challenges for a creating a new social and moral compact between employer and employee. I begin by arguing that business ethics scholars missed some of the disturbing trends in management thinking because they often focused on current problems in business rather than questioning some of the basic assumptions about the way businesses are managed. As Rochefoucauld observed (albeit in a different context) we were overtaken by the evils of the present and I would argue, this was because we didn’t pay attention to the past. Business ethics research, like management research, is often ahistorical and hence tells only part of the story. If we don’t know how we got to a certain problem, it’s really difficult to see where the present problem and our solutions to it might lead us.

The engagement with business ethics

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 286-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Callaghan ◽  
Greg Wood
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Corporate Culture ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Regulatory Requirement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Ethics Research

Purpose – The aim of this research was to determine the evolution of engagement with business ethics in the top 500 Australian corporations operating in the private sector from 1995 to 2010. Design/methodology/approach – Primary data were obtained via a non-sponsored and unsolicited self-administered mail questionnaire distributed to a census of the top 500 Australian companies operating in the private sector administered in both 1995 and 2010. This paper examines and compares the responses of the companies that possessed a code of ethics at those times. Findings – This paper finds that business ethics has continued to evolve over the period of the study and that, in most cases, such an evolution has been positive, with the majority of companies exhibiting high levels of engagement. Research limitations/implications – While the responses provided a rich picture of the evolution of Australian corporate engagement with business ethics, further longitudinal research exploring international and cross-cultural contexts would add to this understanding of organisational engagement. Practical and social implications – It would seem that codes of ethics have evolved beyond a regulatory requirement and are now considered an integral component of the corporate culture and commercial practice in the majority of Australia’s top 500 companies. Originality/value – Despite a history of business ethics research, longitudinal studies seeking to understand the evolution of corporate engagement to business ethics are exceedingly rare. This paper, unique and original in its focus on an Australian context, provides a basis for future studies focused on exploring international and cross-cultural contexts. This paper makes a substantive and valuable contribution to the literature as it quantifies the evolution of corporate engagement over a 15-year period.

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