The development and validation of the ethical climate index for graduate and professional school programs

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a perceptual instrument to measure the ethical climate of an institution's graduate and professional school programs, the Ethical Climate Index (ECI). The theoretical framework of the ECI involved the application of five ethical principles to three major environments within graduate and professional school programs. Items were developed by meeting with graduate and professional school students and reviewing related environmental instruments and sources. The items' content validity was evaluated by an expert in the university ethical climate area and two item review panels. The 122-item ECI was further validated by distributing it to 852 graduate and professional school students at a large midwestern university. The reliability estimate of the ECI was found to be .97. Students' perceptions of the ethical climate differed significantly across the major academic areas of the institution surveyed. The relationship between these findings and previous research is discussed along with ideas for further research.