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Appendix B: Outcome Measures for Assessing Integrity in the Research Environment
Pages 143-166

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From page 143...
... The emphasis will be on outcome measures that are theoretically grounded, that are at least indirect measures of behavior, and that either have been effectively used or have good potential for linking the development of aspects of integrity (e.g., ethical sensitivity, moral reasoning and judgment, and identity formation) to institutional effectiveness.
From page 144...
... METHODS AND MEASURES FOR ASSESSING INTEGRITY IN THE RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT Two bodies of literature contribute to the understanding of moral climate and its importance for the assessment of integrity in the research environment. The first is the literature on individual moral development, indicating that individual characteristics are not sufficient as an explanation for ethical behavior.
From page 145...
... Melissa Anderson, in a National Science Foundation-funded longitudinal study of doctoral students' acquisition of the concepts of science and its norms, uses interview questions similar to those used to elicit 1Examples of groups with morally defective collective norms might include repressive totalitarian states, fanatical cults, violent gangs, and organized crime. 2Psychologists use the term prosocial behaviors to distinguish behaviors that are clearly beneficial to another and support societal or communal norms from behaviors that may be norm or rule based (as in a teen-age gang or criminal group)
From page 146...
... Organizational Literature Building on the early work on moral atmosphere, which attempted to define collective norms operating in the environment, Cullen and colleagues argued, "that corporations, like individuals, have their own sets of ethics that help define their characters. And just as personal ethics guide what an individual will do when faced with moral dilemmas, corporate ethics guide what an organization will do when faced with issues of conflicting values" (sullen et al., 1989, p.
From page 147...
... measure is well validated, and their studies confirm that ethical climates are perceived at the psychological level and that individuals within organizations are able to describe the moral atmosphere that prevails in their work units. The kinds of moral climates that prevail differ dramatically among organizations.
From page 148...
... Because the study was a first attempt to assess the ethical climate of the executive branch the study focused on overall awareness rather than an analysis of the climate within individual executive branch agencies. The OGE survey was based on the IntraSight Assessment, an assessment tool developed by Arthur Andersen researchers and academic researchers in the fields of business ethics and organizational behavior.
From page 149...
... ; collects descriptions of the educational programs and activities that inform students, faculty, and administrators about academic integrity on campus; conducts focus groups for administrators; and facilitates the collection of data on perceptions of the moral climate from students and faculty. The center conducts surveys using the Student Academic Integrity Survey and the Faculty Academic Integrity Survey designed by Donald McCabe.
From page 150...
... The 27item questionnaire is intended for use by individual schools to assess the organization's ethical culture. Summary It is apparent from the number of measures of moral climate that have been developed that scholars, at least scholars in organizational development, accept the notion that institutions differ in the kinds of moral and ethical climates that prevail and that the moral and ethical climate of an institution can influence a broad range of outcomes for which a given institution may be held accountable.
From page 151...
... The interaction replicates professional interactions and provides clues to a professional ethical dilemma. For example, the Racial Ethical Sensitivity Test (Brabeck, 1998)
From page 152...
... about what ought to be done in a situation (Bebeau and Brabeck, 1987; Bebeau et al., 1985; Brabeck et al., 2000~. Consequently, one cannot assume that education that focuses on ethical reasoning will transfer the ethical reasoning ability to the interpretive process.
From page 153...
... In addition to notes that provide the instructor with guidance on leading case discussions, the booklet includes a handout for students that details the criteria used to judge the adequacies of moral arguments. As its title implies, Moral Reasoning in Scientific Research is designed to facilitate improvements in moral reasoning skills, as well as to facilitate assessments of such improvements.
From page 154...
... Of all of the measures that have been designed to show the impact of higher education on important learning outcomes, DIT stands out as one of the best indicators of learning outcomes that can be linked back to institutional effectiveness. The Defining Issues Test Developed by the late lames Rest (Rest, 1979; Rest et al., 1997, 1999a)
From page 155...
... In addition to the P Index, the test also determines the proportion of times that an individual selects arguments based on two other problemsolving strategies: the PI Index (where PI represents personal interests) describes the proportion of times that a respondent selects arguments that appeal to personal interests and loyalty to friends and family, even when doing so compromises the interests of persons outside one's immediate circle of friends, and the MN Index (where MN represents maintaining norms)
From page 156...
... The correlation of the results of DIT-1 with those of DIT-2is 0.78, approaching the test-retest reliability of DIT-1 with itself. Using DIT to Assess Educational Effects Because DIT has been used to assess the effects of interventions in professional ethics and research ethics (Heitman et al., 2000)
From page 157...
... In other words, their DIT profiles indicated that they were not distinguishing less adequate from more adequate moral arguments as well as students who had completed their ethics program were. As a consequence of this recent observation and a recent meta-analysis of the effects of interventions on moral judgment development (Yeap, 1999)
From page 158...
... Development of a Prototype Intermediate Concept Measure Tests like DIT are valuable for assessment of a general reasoning ability that is a critical element of professional ethical development, but they may not be sensitive to the specific concepts taught in a professional ethics courseor, indeed, in a research ethics course. Referring to teacher education, Strike points out: "It is no doubt desirable that teachers acquire sophisticated and abstract principles of moral reasoning [as measured by DIT]
From page 159...
... Such measures have been developed in some professions to assess identity formation and its relationship to ethical action. Professional Role Orientation Inventory The Professional Role Orientation Inventory (PROI)
From page 160...
... Patterned after DIT and the Medical Ethics Inventory, the test consists of 10 case vignettes, to which respondents provide three alternative actions and seven reasons to explain the action chosen. Actions are arranged from the least to the most intrusive, and the reasons represent one of seven values commonly used to resolve an ethical dilemma.
From page 161...
... Although further validation work needs to be done with this measure, the test is cited because its format shows promise for the design of a measure of role concept. Ethical Implementation In terms of the implementation of programs on professional ethics, Braxton and Baird (2001)
From page 162...
... The second purpose is to describe measures and methods developed in other settings of education in professional ethics that could be used directly or that could be adapted for use in the assessment of the effectiveness of courses on the responsible conduct of research or the effectiveness of an institution's efforts to promote integrity in research. The following criteria were used for the selection of measures for the latter category: the measures had to be theoretically grounded in a well-validated psychological theory of morality, were at least indirect measures of behavior, and either had been effectively used or have good potential to link the development of aspects of integrity (e.g., ethical sensitivity, moral reasoning and judgment, and identity formation)
From page 163...
... Given the paucity of suitable methods for the assessment of integrity in the research environment and the skepticism that education in the responsible conduct of research can make a measurable difference in important abilities related to the responsible conduct of research, there appears to be a clear need for work on the development of measurements that would serve the research community. There is also a need to design, modify, or adapt methods and survey measures to evaluate the culture and climate that promotes integrity in research.
From page 164...
... 2000. Increasing ethical sensitivity to racial and gender intolerance in schools: Development of the racial ethical sensitivity test.
From page 165...
... Rest JR, Narvaez D, ed. Moral development in the professions: Psychology and applied ethics.
From page 166...
... 2001. Ethical Climate Assessment Survey.


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