Enhancing Perception in Ethical Decision Making: A Method to Address Ill-Defined Training Domains

Abstract

A mixed-method research approach was developed to address description, definition, and measurement in ill-defined training domains. A series of research efforts were conducted to demonstrate the approach and assess its viability. The ill-defined domain that served as the vehicle for this effort was the sense-making (perceptual and interpretive) process of the ethical decision making experience among United States Military Academy Cadets. Here, we empirically derived a thematic model of the ethical decision making experience based on a sample of written accounts. Using the thematic model, the Ethical Perceptions Scale (EPS) was developed to measure individual and group perceptual/interpretive preferences for ethical decision making with respect to military specific ethical dilemmas. A confirmatory factor analysis supported that the Ethical Perception Scale is measuring in accord with the thematic model. We also tested the reliability and construct validity of the scale; reliability was good and construct validity indicated that the scale measures in the correct conceptual domain. The model and scale are applicable to Professional Military Ethics training for Officer Cadets and newly commissioned junior officers to cover ROTC, OCS, and USMA. The research method demonstrated may be applied to address other ill-defined domains in Army, and other, research and training contexts.

Far Transfer of Leadership Training: Concepts, Experiences, and Applications

“…The thematic framework was used to guide development of the Leadership Knowledge Application Scale (LKAS), designed to measure how cadets attended to different aspects of their target situation when they applied knowledge and skills learned in PL300. To translate the thematic framework into a measurement tool, we used techniques described in Graves et al (2010) and in Graves, Rauchfuss, and Wisecarver (2012). We used a variety of psychometric techniques for construct validation (confirmatory factor analysis) and reliability analysis (Cronbach's alpha and item-total correlations) to evaluate how well the LKAS measures in accord with the thematic framework on which it was developed.…”

“…We did not want to assume what knowledge and skills cadets would have retained from PL300, nor how they would have experienced using what they learned. Instead, we designed the questionnaire to ask cadets to tell us how they applied the knowledge and skills they acquired in PL300 to their personal and professional lives (Graves et al, 2010;. This allowed the graduates of the course to determine the relationship between what they learned and how they applied it.…”

“…For this analysis, we focused on identifying how participants made sense of and communicated about their transfer experiences (Graves et al, 2010;. The method was text-based and interpretive, and allowed us to identify patterns of themes in the written narratives using thematic analysis (Pollio, Henley, & Thompson, 1997;Boyatzis, 1998).…”

“…The team worked with the draft framework to explore and to revise it. Final decisions on the framework were made with reference to the cadets' specific descriptions to ensure the fidelity of the interpretation (see Pollio, Graves, & Arfken, 2005;Graves et al, 2010).…”

“…A thematic framework is comprised of a set of specific, related themes. Themes are meanings that repeat across individual narratives when they are read together as a whole text (Graves et al, 2010). When each individual's narrative is read on its own, it may exhibit one, or more themes, instead of a comprehensive set of themes.…”