Business Research Ethics

Business Research Ethics

Business Research Ethics

Business research can be very beneficial to any organization when trying to answer questions that are more complex than a simple yes or no. However in some cases unethical research behaviors can turn into lawsuits that not only affect the researchers but also the people involved in the research. I read an article titled “Obliged to be Unbiased” about a Doctor who conducted the Measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. The hearing was the longest in history, about Doctor Andrew Wakefield.

The unethical research behavior that he was involved in was how he was supposed to be conducting unbiased research but did not. The research that was conducted was considered unethical on young children. The article states “The GMC has yet to decide whether showing callous disregard for children’s suffering, making misleading claims in medical journals, dishonesty, financial irregularity and failing to declare conflicts of interest” (Greenhalgh, 2010) in order to revoke the doctors medical license to practice.

The article talks about how the Doctor documented inaccurate information in the journals from the research about how the MMR vaccine may or may not cause autism in children and gastrointestinal symptoms if the children received the MMR vaccine. The doctor tested and studied 12 children and put them through invasive testing.

The parties that I believe to be the most affected by the research would be the children that underwent the testing, the families that had to deal with the children’s pain, the journal that posted the articles, and the company that he worked for and represented. I believe that his unethical research also had ill-effects on the companies that were funding the research.

Due to the Doctors research I believe that the unethical behavior has affected the organization because of the trust that they put into the doctor has now been shattered. People who find out about the case and the negligence of the doctor...