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Ethical Reasoning in Action: Validity Evidence for the Ethical Reasoning Identification Test (ERIT)

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Abstract

Professionals in business and law, healthcare providers, educators, policymakers, consumers, and higher education practitioners value ethical reasoning (ER) skills. Because of this, we concentrated campus-wide reaccreditation efforts to help students actively engage in ER. In doing so, we re-conceptualized the ER process, implemented campus-wide ER interventions designed to be experienced by all undergraduate students, and created the ethical reasoning identification test (ERIT) to measure students’ ability to engage in a foundational step in the ER process. Using factor analysis, we demonstrated internal validity evidence for ERIT scores. More specifically, confirmatory factor analysis provided support for a unidimensional factor structure, meaning stakeholders can report and analyze ERIT total scores. The unidimensional factor structure was replicated using two independent samples. Across all samples, ERIT scores demonstrated reliability consistent with professional standards. In addition, we collected external validity evidence for ERIT scores. The ERIT was sensitive to slight differences in ER training. That is, students experiencing a 75-min intervention performed better on the test compared to students without this experience. Overall, results suggested that our ER intervention may effectively increase students ER abilities and the ERIT demonstrated great potential for assessing foundational ethical reasoning skills. To further examine validity, researchers should consider known groups analyses with varying “doses” of the ER intervention, as well as measurement invariance studies.

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Notes

  1. The analyzed tetrachoric correlation matrices were too large to include in this article, but are freely available upon request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Assessment & Research Studies, James Madison University, 298 Port Republic Rd., Harrisonburg, VA, 22807, USA

    Kristen Smith, Keston Fulcher & Elizabeth Hawk Sanchez

  2. Department of Graduate Psychology, James Madison University, 70 Alumnae Dr., MSC 7401, Harrisonburg, VA, 22807, USA

    Keston Fulcher

  3. School of Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication, Harrison Hall, MSC 2103, Harrisonburg, VA, 22807, USA

    Elizabeth Hawk Sanchez

Authors
  1. Kristen Smith
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  2. Keston Fulcher
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  3. Elizabeth Hawk Sanchez
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Correspondence to Kristen Smith.

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Smith, K., Fulcher, K. & Sanchez, E.H. Ethical Reasoning in Action: Validity Evidence for the Ethical Reasoning Identification Test (ERIT). J Bus Ethics 144, 417–436 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2841-8

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