Consider the following situations. For each, discuss whether or not the action was morally ethical under the three methods of ethical reasoning (i.e., utility, rights, and justice approaches).
a. The director of research for a financial institution, noting that the deadline for an important research report was fast approaching, decided to cut the required sample size in half and instructed her researchers not to mention the sample size on any of the slides that would be prepared for presentation to decision makers. She justified her actions by explaining that the research wasn't all that important anyway and "certainly not worth the cost of potentially having to fire workers if the report wasn't issued in time."
b. One of the researchers in the previous example also recognized that the project wasn't going to be completed by the deadline. Fearing for his job-and working on his own-he proceeded to complete a number of surveys-106 in total-at home so that the project could move forward much more quickly.
c. Knowing that many respondents want to "help" a researcher by supplying the answers that they think the researcher wants to hear, a marketing researcher for a well-known department store began sending surveys from the unknown "Taylor Research Group" instead of using the company's name on the cover letter. He noted that after making the change, the responses to customer satisfaction questions became less positive.
d. A researcher is studying how children play with a new toy that is in development. She is afraid, however, that if the children or their parents know that the toy is new they might give it more attention than they might under normal circumstances. She solved this potential problem by giving several free samples of the new toy to a nearby day care center, asking workers to just place the toy with other toys. She then stopped by the center about a week later to observe the kids playing with the toy and to get feedback about the toy from day care center workers.