Research Ethics

Progressive has been running for over twenty years now and has conducted numerous research projects for the public sector including the Scottish Government. We are well accustomed to working within the guidelines of the departments within this sector. We are also accustomed to being responsible for ensuring there is no contravention of the Data Protection Act 1998, and that all ethical issues are addressed.

Our membership of professional bodies (ISO 20252, MRS Partner) ensures that all our research is conducted honestly, without causing any harm or unwelcome intrusion to respondents, and that its purpose is to collect and analyse information, not to influence the participants or to sell them anything.

We believe the following ethical issues are particularly relevant to our primary research work.

Integrity of the Research Data and Outputs

When conducting social research it is essential that a robust methodology is used and that all data and outputs are of the highest standards. Our quality assurance accreditation and membership of professional bodies ensure this will be the case if Progressive is commissioned to conduct this study. In addition to these, any press releases are also checked by a director and carry technical notes, indicating methodology, fieldwork dates and sample sizes.

Confidentiality and Anonymity

As stated previously Progressive is bound by both the Data Protection Act and the MRS Code of Conduct. This means that the data collected is for one purpose (in this case research) and is not used for any other and that the data cannot be linked to individuals. As previously stated, all staff are aware of the Data Protection Act and its implications for their job. All participants are ensured of complete confidence and anonymity and all data is given unique identifiers to ensure that respondents cannot be individually identified.

Withdrawal of Participant

It is important that the respondents are aware should they wish to stop the interview / discussion at any time either during or after they have completed their interview, they have the right to withdraw. As all respondents are given unique identifiers, if a respondent does decide they do not wish to take part, their data can be removed from the sample without any difficulty.

Sensitivity and Impartiality

All our interviewers and recruiters are trained using IQCS guidelines. They have regular re-training sessions, are quality assessed and are randomly observed to ensure they are conducting the interview in an appropriate manner, and that all aspects addressed in the interviewer brief (conducted at the beginning of the project) are adhered to.

Complaints Procedures

As previously stated, we completely adhere to all aspects of the MRS Code of Conduct, ISO 20252 and we follow IQCS guidelines. The Professional standards committee, MRS, is available to investigate or censure any allegations of misconduct within the research we conduct. In addition, Progressive has its own quality guidelines, designed to ensure that we can rectify any issues as soon as possible and prevent re occurrence. If a complaint is received from a participant, this is immediately transferred to a Director who deals with any issues.