Estimating the incidence of wrongdoing and whistle-blowing: Results of a study using randomized response technique

Student cheating and reporting of that cheating represents one form of organizational wrong-doing and subsequent whistle-blowing, in the context of an academic organization. Previous research has been hampered by a lack of information concerning the validity of survey responses estimating the incidence of organizational wrongdoing and whistle-blowing. An innovative method, the Randomized Response Technique (RRT), was used here to assess the validity of reported incidences of wrongdoing and whistle-blowing. Surprisingly, our findings show that estimates of these incidences did not vary significantly when RRT questionnaire results were compared to those obtained from standard surveys. In fact, a large number of business undergraduates admitted cheating while only a small percentage reported peers' cheating when they observed it. These results should be sobering for managers and their implications are considered in some detail.Brian K. Burton is a doctoral student in strategic management as well as managing editor ofBusiness Horizons, the interdisciplinary business journal published by Indiana University. His research interests include business ethics, stakeholder analysis, corporate political activity, and nontraditional approaches to management.Janet P. Near is Professor and Chairperson, Management Dept., and Adjunct Professor, Sociology Dept., Indiana University. Her research interests include: (a) whistle-blowing in organizations and (b) the relationship between work and non-work domains of life, focusing especially on the correlation between job satisfaction and life satisfaction. She has published several articles on these topics and, with Marcia Miceli, a book on whistle-blowing.