Ethical Covert Research

The president has heard rumors that there is a plan to unionize her employees. It is therefore ethically tenable that she precisely finds out the truth before taking any action. It would also be obvious that since the employees have not officially informed her of this decision, they do not want her to know and neither will they want anybody to avail this information to her. Owing to these, a covert investigation into the matter seems most appropriate, that is, the researcher passively observes and reports what others are doing

A covert research besides its criticism fits best in this situation. If the employees are told openly that they are being investigated, they will probably protect their interests. Besides, when the aim of a research is to make observations of a particular conduct it is advisable that disclosure be limited. It should not be wrong if everything is done without deceptions.

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It may be difficult for someone outside or a very conspicuous member of the company to perform this research because once the employees notice them around they will hide information, whether they do it in an overt or covert way (Wiles et al, 2006). The president’s decision to use a trainee to help her learn more is a good idea; with the trainee, there will be fewer doubts and since it is covert research a lot will be freely unearthed (Spicker 2011). The trainee will probe much since he is bound to spend more time with the employees and his queries will be taken for a learning anxiety. With this support, I would freely be willing to assist the president learn the truth about the rumor hoping that she would use it to make a prudent decision for the good of the company.

References

Spicker, P. (2011). Ethical covert research. Sociology, 45(1), 118-133.

Wiles, R., Charles, V., Crow, G. & Heath, S. (2006). Researching researchers: Lessons for research ethics. Qualitative Research, 6(3), 283-299.