A business school professor with a sizeable research budget would like to study attitudes of corporate leaders concerning effective leadership strategies that have allowed their companies to thrive. A corporate leadership training firm has agreed to forward the study invitation to its clients. Participants are to fill out an online questionnaire that lasts about 45 minutes, including details about their company’s size, revenue and net profits, as well as open-ended questions about successful business strategies. Given the value of corporate leaders’ time and the need to attract sufficient participants, the professor proposes to pay participants $200.

Developed for use at an October 2016 CENTRES workshop on the Social, Behavioural and Educational Research. © 2016 National University of Singapore. All rights Reserved.

Questions for Discussion

1. Can the payment be considered undue inducement?
2. Are there any concerns about the recruitment method?
3. Would it make a difference if the subjects were, instead, low-income Hawker stall workers?