Information Systems Ethics in the Triad - Research Proposal Example

INFORMATION SYSTEMS ETHICS IN THE TRIAD id] [Module and number] [Submitted to] SUMMARY The paper is based on a study conducted to assess the ethical issues involved in Information Systems. Information is meaningful data. Information is often personalized and needs to be properly dealt with. The criterion for the proper handling of information is often based on the ethical norms of the regions to which the information belongs. Since different communities have different ethical norms information handling is also done differently in the respective regions. In order to observe and study the effects of different cultures on information handling the world is divided into a triad. The three regions selected comprise of the Americas, The EMEA and the Asia. Three countries, one from each of the triad regions were selected for study. These States, respectively, were: The USA, The Sultanate of Oman and South Korea. Clarification of cultural norms is proposed so as to promote effective cross cultural communication among the regions. Ethics in USA. Dominated by universal Business ethics and are thus able to intermingle with the ethical norms elsewhere. Ethics in Oman. The ethical values of all Arab nations lie primarily upon the principles of Islam. Islam coins the word ‘Akhlaq’ to represent ethics. The ethical values of Oman are thus based upon those prescribed by the religion of Islam. Their compatibility with ethical values in the rest of the triad countries is fluent as the Islamic ethics are no different. Ethics in South Korea. The Korean Cultural preferences benefit Organizations over individuals. Perfectly compatible with global ethical norms, the Korean ethics emphasize upon the building up of relationships and organizational harmony. In order to determine the ethical fronts affecting the Information Systems a number of variables are chosen. The included culture, age, gender and job rank among other factors. These factors were designated as affecting IS and end user response about them was sought. The responses obtained were transformed into Chronbach’s Alpha Reliability Coefficient. For that purpose Questionnaire was distributed among respondents. The questionnaire was distributed only in the banking sector of the selected nations. Analysis was done by deploying the statistical test of ANOVA was used to compare the obtained results. The non-cultural variables like age, gender etcetera affecting the responses they were put through multiple regression tests. For this purpose the cultural variable was recorded into three dummy variables for each of the triad countries. Findings Targeting the factors that are effecting the IS usability and are similar and different in the three selected countries ethically obtained responses. Banker’s responses were the dependent variables while culture was independent variable. Demographics of the 520 respondents are stated next: Since the questionnaire was divided into three sections namely the employees using employer’s IS resources for their personal use during work, employees using employer’s IS resources for their personal use after work and employers deploying observation upon employees restricting their activities to office work only. Conclusions The cultural variable was indeed seen as a strong factor that affected the responses of the respondents. It was observed that the three countries had a number of similarities in their ethical values. However it was observed that there were certain disagreements as well and it was sought that negotiations and accommodations would be planned so as to minimize those differences and introduce an eventual universal code of ethics for the usability of Information Systems worldwide. ROLE OF RESEARCH METHODS IN COMPUTING Research possesses integral importance in any field of life. With respect to computer science the domain of research becomes even more important. This is owing to the fact that computing devices have become inevitable for the human race. Each and every step taken by the human beings is assisted by computers. Thus the outcomes of research done in the field of computing are prone to affect the human society as a whole. RESEARCH METHODS AND DESIGNS Although there are numerous ways of classifying research methods and designs, the usual categorization comprises of three main classes of research methods and designs: Experimental: For a research method or design to be truly experimental it is necessary that the participants are assigned randomly to control and experimental groups. This research method calls for a single or multi perspective comparison of two groups of participants namely the control group and experimental group. The characteristic based matching of two groups is essential. For example a medical researcher wants to observe the effectiveness of two different treatments using two groups. The conventional treatment goes for the control group whereas the experimental group gets treated with the new treatment. For this research to be fruitful it is necessary to have same types of groups. In this case the similarity can be established on the basis of age, health conditions and daily routines of the participants. Quasi Experimental: This method basically rules out one or two main conditions that are necessary to establish experimental research method or design. This research method allows two types of comparisons that are, the comparison of non-equivalent groups or partially different groups, and the pretest and posttest of the same group. Non Experimental or Qualitative Design: Due to the absence of control group in this research method or design, the degree of certainty of results vary greatly unlike the other two designs that are mentioned above. The usefulness of this design can be seen in the research areas where the qualitative issues are to be analyzed with quantification. The experimental and quasi-experimental designs cannot be employed in such scenarios due to the absence of known properties and behaviors of control groups. The research under focus is also an example of Non experimental or qualitative research method. The major components of this research are data description and correlations. The approaches that are used widely in order to conduct this type of research are surveys, observations, case studies and focus groups. The nature of this research does not comply with the requirements and characteristics of a case study or focus groups or observations. The case study requires a complete analysis of an individual or a group of individuals using comprehensive and focused data acquisition techniques. Focus groups totally rely on the analysis and re-analysis of transcripts of discussions of a group of people related to the research issue. This approach is mostly employed for product marketing. The observations are to be recorded in person for each individual. There are lots of issues related to the authenticity of data collected through observations due to the change of behavior of the participants during supervised observations. Secret recording of observations raises ethical issues. The approach that is employed in this research paper is a questionnaire based survey with Likert scale responses. The Likert scale responses are ordinal with a difference of degree of extent like highly satisfactory, satisfactory, unsure, unsatisfactory and extremely unsatisfactory. The responses in this research are further analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation and regression. ETHICAL ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS The number of ethical issues found that were attempted to be addressed. Due to the low extent of correctness of research that is caused by the limitations of research design and sample characteristics like demography, it would not be ethical to interpret the results at highly conclusive levels. Moreover as the research domain comprises of the subliminal comparison of multiple national characteristics and cultures under restricted domains it would be highly unethical to conclude signs of negative behaviors specific to a nation of the world. The research demands the positive aspects to be highlighted for erection of better ethical information systems infra structures. REFERENCE LIST Bochmann, G. V. 2009. How to do Good Research. The Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan, China. website [Accessed 21 November 2011]. Dietterich, T. G. 1996. Research Methods in Computer Science. website [Accessed 21 November 2011]. Harvey, V. S., and Carlson J. F. 2003. Ethical and Professional Issues with Computer Related Technology. School of Psychology Review, 32(1), pp. 92-107. Johnson, C. n.d. Basic Research Skills in Computing Science. Available through: Glasgow Interactive Systems Group (GIST). Department of Computer Science. Glasgow University. website [Accessed 21 November 2011]. Lynch, M. 1994. Ethical Issues in Electronic Information Systems. Department of Geography, University of Texas at Austin. website . [Accessed 21 November 2011]. Marczyk, G., DeMatteo, D., and Festinger, D. 2005. Essentials of Research Design and Methodology.  Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & sons Inc. Nelson, A. n.d. About Computing Science Research Methodology. website [Accessed 21 November 2011]. Read More