Fielding hot topics in cool settings: The study of corporate ethics

Abstract

This paper describes the methods used to gain access and conduct research on corporate ethics in two large corporations. To date, only a small number of social scientists have pursued such sensitive and highly intrusive field research because of substantial obstacles to gaining access and completing meaningful investigations. Detailed discussion of how we framed the study and then sold the research to the two sites points to the conclusion that the merging of science and action is both difficult and fruitful. This study highlights the need to establish appropriate balance between scholarly and applied objectives, to build collaborative relations with research participants, and to bring an interdisciplinary approach to contextually based studies of corporate ethics and deviancy.