The author purposes to stimulate discussion on the unique dilemmas experienced by public policy researchers in marketing, who investigate sensitive topics with vulnerable populations. After a brief description of what constitutes sensitive research, the author discusses the impact of this sensitivity on the conduct of such investigations. He then examines how findings should be disseminated to audiences beyond the academic realm and concludes with a call for research using a critical theory perspective.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AdlerPatricia A., and AdlerPeter (1993), “Ethical Issues in Self-Censorship: Ethnographic Research on Sensitive Topics,” in Researching Sensitive Topics, RenzettiClaire M., and LeeRaymond M., eds. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 249–66.
2.
BeckerHoward S. (1967), “Whose Side Are We On?”Social Problems, 14(3), 239–47.
3.
BlauJoel (1992), The Visible Poor: Homelessness In The United States.New York: Oxford University Press.
4.
BlaunerBob, and WellmanDavid (1982), “The Researcher and the Researched—Decolonizing Social Research,” in A Handbook of Social Science Methods, Volume 2: Qualitative Methods, SmithRobert B., and ManningPeter K., eds. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publishing, 101–13.
5.
BroadheadRobert S. (1984), “Human Rights and Human Subjects: Ethics and Strategies in Social Science Research,”Sociological Inquiry, 54(Spring), 107–23.
6.
BroadheadRobert S., and RistRay C. (1976), “Gatekeepers and the Social Control of Social Research,”Social Problems, 23(February), 325–36.
7.
BrajuhaMario, and HallowellLyle (1986), “Legal Intrusion and the Politics of Fieldwork,”Urban Life, 14(January), 454–78.
8.
BurtonScott, NetemeyerRichard G., and LichtensteinDonald R. (1995), “Gender Differences for Appearance-Related Attitudes and Behaviors: A Socialization Perspective,”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 14(Spring), 60–75.
9.
CeciStephen J., PetersDouglas, and PlotkinJonathan (1985), “Human Subjects Review, Personal Values, and the Regulation of Social Science Research,”American Psychologist, 40(September), 994–1002.
10.
ChannelsNoreen L. (1993), “Anticipating Media Coverage: Methodological Decisions in Criminal Justice Research,” in Researching Sensitive Topics, RenzettiClaire M., and LeeRaymond M., eds. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 267–280.
11.
CostaJaneen Arnold (1994), “New Books in Review:Researching Sensitive Topics” Journal of Marketing Research, 31(August), 437–38.
12.
DingwallRobert (1980), “Ethics and Ethnography,”Sociological Review, 28(4), 871–91.
13.
FelsonRichard B. (1991), “Blame Analysis: Accounting for the Behavior of Protected Groups,”American Sociologist, 22(Spring), 5–23.
14.
FichterJoseph H., and KolbWilliam L. (1953), “Ethical Limitations on Sociological Reporting,”American Sociological Review, 18(October), 544–50.
15.
GentryJames W., KennedyPatricia F., PaulKatherine, and HillRonald Paul (1995), “The Vulnerability of Those Grieving the Death of a Loved One: Implications for Public Policy,”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 14(Spring), 125–39.
16.
HesslerRichard M., and GalliherJohn F. (1983), “Institutional Review Boards and Clandestine Research: An Experimental Test,”Human Organization, 42(Spring), 82–87.
17.
HillRonald Paul (1995), “Blackfellas and Whitefellas: Aboriginal Land Rights, the Mabo Decision, and the Meaning of Land,”Human Rights Quarterly, 17(2), forthcoming.
18.
HillRonald Paul (1994), “Bill Collectors and Consumers: A Troublesome Exchange Relationship,”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 13(Spring), 20–35.
19.
HillRonald Paul (1994), “The Public Policy Issue of Homelessness: A Review and Synthesis of Existing Research,”Journal of Business Research, 30(May), 5–12.
20.
HillRonald Paul (1993), “A Primer for Ethnographic Research with a Focus on Social Policy Issues Involving Consumer Behavior,” in Advances in Consumer Research, RothschildMichael, and McAlisterLeigh, eds. Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, 59–62.
21.
HillRonald Paul (1992), “Transition in Turmoil: When Becoming an Adult Involves Criminal Behavior,” in Advances in Consumer Research, SherryJohn, and SternthalBrian, eds. Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, 399–401.
22.
HirschmanElizabeth C., and McGriffJoyce A. (1995), “Recovering Addicts’ Responses to the Cinematic Portrayal of Drug and Alcohol Addiction,”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 14(Spring), 95–107
23.
LaczniakRussell N., MuehlingDarrel D., and CarlsonLes (1995), “Mothers’ Attitudes Toward 900-Number Advertising Directed at Children,”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 14(Spring), 108–16.
24.
LeeRaymond M., and RenzettiClaire M. (1993), “The Problems of Researching Sensitive Topics: An Overview and Introduction,” in Researching Sensitive Topics, RenzettiClaire M., and LeeRaymond M., eds. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 3–13.
25.
MurrayJeff B., and OzanneJulie L. (1991), “The Critical Imagination: Emancipatory Interests in Consumer Research,”Journal of Consumer Research, 18(September), 129–44.
26.
MurrayJeff B., OzanneJulie L., and ShapiroJon M. (1994), “Revitalizing the Critical Imagination: Unleashing the Crouched Tiger,”Journal of Consumer Research, 21(December), 559–656.
27.
OzanneJulie L., and MurrayJeff B. (1995), “Uniting Critical Theory and Public Policy to Create the Reflexively Defiant Consumer,”American Behavioral Scientist, 38(4), 516–25.
28.
PattersonMaggie Jones, HillRonald Paul, and MaloyKate (1995), “Abortion in America: A Consumer-Behavior Perspective,”Journal of Consumer Research, 21(March), 577–94.
29.
PenalozaLisa (1995), “Immigrant Consumers: Marketing and Public Policy Considerations in a Global Economy,”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 14(Spring), 83–94.
30.
RenzettiClaire M., and LeeRaymond M. (1993a), “Part II: Designing Research on Sensitive Topics,” in Researching Sensitive Topics, RenzettiClaire M., and LeeRaymond M., eds. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 27–32.
31.
RenzettiClaire M., and LeeRaymond M. (1993b), “Part V: Disseminating Sensitive Research Findings: Structural and Personal Constraints,” in Researching Sensitive Topics, RenzettiClaire M., and LeeRaymond M., eds. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 229–34.
32.
SieberJoan E. (1982a), “Ethical Dilemmas in Social Research,” in The Ethics of Social Research: Surveys and Experiments, SieberJoan E., ed. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1–29.
33.
SieberJoan E. (1982b), “Part I: Experimental Social Research and Respect for the Individual,” in The Ethics of Social Research: Surveys and Experiments, SieberJoan E., ed. New York: Springer-Verlag, 31–38.
34.
SieberJoan E. (1982c), “Part II: Survey Research and Protection of Privacy and Confidentiality,” in The Ethics of Social Research: Surveys and Experiments, SieberJoan E., ed. New York: Springer-Verlag, 145–50.
35.
SieberJoan E. (1993), “The Ethics and Politics of Sensitive Research,” in Researching Sensitive Topics, RenzettiClaire M., and LeeRaymond M., eds. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 14–32.
36.
SieberJoan E., and StanleyBarbara (1988), “Ethical and Professional Dimensions of Socially Sensitive Research,”American Psychologist, 43(January), 49–55.
37.
SnowDavid A. (1980), “The Disengagement Process: A Neglected Problem in Participant Observation Research,”Qualitative Sociology, 3(Summer), 100–20.
38.
SomersRobert H., MannheimerDean, KlemanMarianne, and MellingerGlen D. (1982), “Structured Interviews: Technical & Ethical Problems,” in A Handbook of Social Science Methods, Volume 2: Qualitative Methods, SmithRobert B., and ManningPeter K., eds. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publishing, 145–61.
39.
ThomasJim (1993), Doing Critical Ethnography.Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
40.
ThomasJim, and O'MaolchathaA. (1989), “Reassessing the Critical Metaphor: An Optimist Revisionist View,”Justice Quarterly, 6(June), 143–72.
41.
WalumLaurel Richardson (1975), “Sociology and the Mass Media: Some Major Problems and Modest Proposals,”American Sociologist, 10(February), 28–32.
