RESEARCH APPROACH

Business ethics research can be divided into two main categories: descriptive (empirical) research and normative (prescriptive) research (Vitell, 1986; Weaver & Trevino, 1994). A third category – meta-ethics – is also proposed in the literature (Barkhuysen & Rossouw, 2000; De George, 2006); however this has been regarded as a part or an extension of normative business ethics research, as it concerns and studies the meanings of terms and formal language used in normative ethics (Weaver & Trevino, 1994).

Descriptive (empirical) research is referred to as research that „describes and explains

what exists‟ (Robertson, 1993, p. 586). It describes how things are generally done and

addresses questions like „What‟ and „How‟, in an attempt to describe and explain a phenomenon. On the other hand, normative (prescriptive) research is „involved in

determining standards of right and wrong‟ (Robertson, 1993, p. 586). Normative

(prescriptive) studies, with the purpose of investigating attitudes that help to establish what is right and wrong, proliferate in business ethics research; however, they are „not a

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As previously mentioned in the literature review, just a few studies address codes of ethics‟ use and to date, these studies do not present conclusive findings about the effects of codes of ethics on the marketing research practitioners‟ behaviour.

For this reason, the present study addresses codes of ethics‟ effects using a descriptive approach. The study attempts to describe the perceptions of marketing research practitioners about codes of ethics used in marketing research and to explain the effect that such codes have on their behaviour in client relationships. The conceptual framework developed in Chapter Three of this thesis led to the development of the research questions designed for this particular purpose and can be best addressed through qualitative research.

Qualitative research is grounded in an essentially constructivist philosophical position – it is concerned with how the complexities of the socio-cultural world are experienced, interpreted and understood in a particular context and at a particular point in time. The purpose of qualitative research is to examine a social situation; this allows the researcher to enter the world of others and attempt to achieve a holistic rather than a reductionist understanding (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005; Locke, Silverman, & Spirduso, 2007; Marshall & Rossman, 2006; Maxwell, 2004; Schram, 2003).

Consequently, the study mainly uses a qualitative research methodology – an inductive qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews of twenty-nine marketing research practitioners was undertaken. However, mixed research methods are used in this study. Because it was identified that studies in New Zealand marketing research are very few, and those examining the use of codes by New Zealand marketing research practitioners are non-existent, in its first stage the study is designed to describe and understand the New Zealand marketing research industry. Therefore a survey with a more quantitative approach was also undertaken. The purpose of the survey is to provide a general overview of the New Zealand marketing research industry and organisations operating in this industry, and to generate a preliminary understanding about the use of codes in New Zealand marketing research organisations. In this preliminary stage, no attempt to generalise the findings is made, but to inform and create a platform for the additional qualitative investigations. A detailed explanation of the research design is offered in a

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subsequent section of this chapter. Nevertheless, the main stance of the present study is a qualitative one and the following section explains the rationale for the selected epistemological stance.

There are two main types of inquiries / approaches used in business ethics research and these are positivism and interpretivism (Crane, 1999). A positivist approach contends that „there is reality out there to be studied, captured and understood‟ (Denzin & Lincoln, 2003, p. 14) and the only authentic knowledge is scientific knowledge; such knowledge can only come from positive affirmation of theories through strict scientific methods. „The use of quantitative, positivist methods and assumptions has been rejected

by a new generation of researchers‟ (Denzin & Lincoln, 2003, p. 14) who assert that

positivism is inadequate for the understanding of human action and behaviour. In comparison, postpositivism recognises that reality can never be fully apprehended but only approximated, and relies on multiple methods as a way of capturing as much of a reality as possible (Bryman & Bell, 2007; Denzin & Lincoln, 2005).

Crane (1999, p. 237) argues that „it is business ethics tradition of positivist, and highly

quantitative approaches that may be at the root of problems‟. He continues suggesting

that „more interpretive approaches may offer substantial liberating potential in the

development of a stronger and more theory-rich empirical base‟.

Within the framework of a qualitative approach, the present study is most suited for an interpretive design. An interpretive approach offers an interpretation of human behaviour, favours close involvement of the researcher, use of interviews, and thus emphasises participants‟ perceptions and explanations (Denzin & Lincoln, 2003, 2005).

Therefore, the study uses an interpretive approach so that an account or interpretation of human conduct and beliefs can be offered by the researcher. This particular methodology permits the researcher to provide a detailed description of events and to interpret these events based on the participants‟ explanations and perceptions which are then incorporated into the description. The interpretive research favours close involvement of the researcher and observation of the activities for gathering rich data.

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In addition, the rationale for choosing an interpretive approach is explained by the trends in latest empirical research in the area. Studies in marketing research ethics have used various descriptive empirical data, but mostly quantitative research methods were employed (i.e. surveys based on questionnaires, scenarios) hence quantitative data was gathered by researchers (Akaah, 1990; Giacobbe & Segal, 2000; Hunt et al., 1984; Kelley, Ferrell, & Skinner, 1990; Lund, 2001; Segal & Giacobbe, 2007). Those examining the use and effects of ethical codes have also been conducted mainly using a quantitative design (Chonko et al., 2003; Cleek & Leonard, 1998; Ferrell et al., 1998; Glenn & Van Loo, 1993; Rallapalli, Vitell & Barnes, 1998). Few qualitative research methods (i.e. interviews) were used by researchers but on a much smaller scale (Badaracco & Webb, 1995; Fisher, 2001; Schwartz, 2004).

In recent years it has been pointed that greater plurality and diversity is needed in empirical research methodologies in businesses ethics research (Crane, 1999; Kaptein & Schwartz, 2008). The research seeks to address and overcome the shortage of qualitative studies on ethical codes‟ effectiveness.

Consequently, it was determined that for this particular study the research questions would be best addressed with the use of qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews. There are several reasons supporting this decision:

a) Nature of study and its topic sensitivity:

This research aims to understand the processes which lie behind patterns of behaviour, people's emotions or their opinions and beliefs regarding certain ethical situations. It uses different ways of collecting data (e.g. the words and phrases people use in interviews) and employs themes and content analysis procedures. The research topic has a sensitive aspect attached to it, as it attempts to understand people‟s beliefs and feelings about situations charged with ethically sensitive issues; in-depth interviews are therefore considered the most appropriate tool for collection of such data.

108 b) Purpose of study:

The main objective of this study is to examine the use of codes of ethics and their effects on marketing research practitioners‟ behaviour; for this objective to be achieved it is necessary to allow participants to express their own opinions and feelings regarding the usefulness of ethical codes, providing a setting in which they can openly relate to client relations experiences and discuss what role such codes played in these relationships. The purpose of interviews, as opposed to other research methods of data collection, is to establish the perspective of the person being interviewed (Patton, 2002). As such, interviews provide the researcher the opportunity to explore and stimulate the discussion in a direction that will provide sufficient in-depth data for later analysis; they also provide the opportunity to investigate new ideas and concepts brought up in the discussion by the participant. c) Nature of data to be collected:

Research questions and/or propositions as opposed to objectives and/or hypotheses are typically found in qualitative studies (Creswell, 2008). In this study, several research questions have been developed based on a conceptual framework. In order to answer the research questions, rich qualitative data is necessary to be collected. Again, this is made possible with use of in-depth interviews.

d) Triangulation of data:

As previously identified, research into codes of ethics‟ use and effectiveness has produced conflicting results and it is suggested that the tradition of positivist and highly quantitative approaches may be causing such epistemological problems (positivist methodologies favour the testing of theory and therefore may be inappropriate for studies in business ethics; in addition, in a positivist approach a strong emphasis is placed on measurable data but in research related to morality and ethics in business the development of such assessment instruments proves difficult) (Crane, 1999). Furthermore, deficiencies in the empirical data and methodologies used may also be at fault. A recent study by Kaptein and Schwartz (2008) identified that empirical studies into codes‟ effectiveness usually only used one method. These studies predominantly use questionnaires; only four studies that used multiple research methods have been identified. These studies have used a combination of interviews, document reviews, questionnaires and participant observation. It is believed that more research using multiple methods that will provide triangulation

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of data is needed for better and more rigorous findings (Kaptein & Schwartz, 2008). For this reason, this research employs a multiple method approach in which in-depth interviews provide the possibility of collecting rich data.

e) Generation of robust qualitative data to support the design of a conceptual framework for future research in marketing research ethics:

As mentioned above, research in business ethics around codes of ethics‟ use and effects calls for more robust qualitative data in order to generate credible findings as a basis for generation of frameworks and theory.

Therefore, to obtain the participants‟ explanation and insight about codes‟ of ethics use and effects semi-structured in-depth interviews are used so that participants can express their thoughts while relating their experiences. The in-depth interviews allow a theme(s) to then be identified and analysed by the researcher. In-depth interviews also provide the advantage and the opportunity to identify and develop new and emerging themes and constructs that can later be analysed by the researcher. Moreover, when the participants indicate important issues in the interview during the exploration of themes, their emotions can also be noted and explored directly. Thus, the research is qualitative and allows the researcher to form an inductive argument.

The use of this methodology gives depth and colour to what is reported by the researcher, rather than just the essence of what occurs. In addition, identification of a theme(s) can provide the basis of a framework that can be used in future research. The limitations of the research method employed in this study are addressed in Section 4.10.

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