While academic institutions have guidleines and policies such as Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and human subject protections for conducting research, the corporate world has few research regulations or standards. It is important that anyone conducting Human Resources Development (HRD) research and/or evaluations within their organization maintain research integrity.
Hatcher (2005) outlines the following ethical principles to ensure research integrity in organizations.
1) Respect for persons, beneficence, and justice
2) Guidelines on conflicts of interest and conscience
3) Activities of peer review
Respect, beneficence, and justice are carried out via research practitioners taking on the role of "guardians and guarantors of the protection of the participants in (...) research, beginning with their knowledge-able, voluntary, and informed consent." (Hatcher, 2005) Informed consent is achieved only after participants have been given adequate information outlining the research including participant selection criteria, and full accounting of any risks involved in participation. Two potential risks of participation in HRD studies include loss of privacy and/or ownership of intellectual proerty. Persons are then given the option to participate or not participate in the study.
Guidelines for conflicts of interest are necessary contracts to be sure researchers do not compromise their professional judgment for financial or personal gain. Many "researchers base their behaviors on tacit or implied knowledge or assumptions that may not be ethically correct in every case," (Hatcher, 2005) so it is especially important to use peer reviewers to ensure research integrity. "Peer review works because it can screen for weaknesses and inadequacies in design, method, or interpretation of results." (Hatcher, 2005)
Check out this additional resource: #lrnchat March 31st, both early and late chats. Peruse the answers to: Q1) What learning data does your org collect? Q2) Are there ethical issues in collecting learning data?
Reference:
Hatcher, T. (2005), Research integrity: Ensuring trust in the academy. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 16: 1–6. doi: 10.1002/hrdq.1120
