Making Professional Decisions in Research: Measurement and Key Predictors

Abstract

The professional decision-making in research (PDR) measure was administered to 400 NIH-funded and industry-funded investigators, along with measures of cynicism, moral disengagement, compliance disengagement, impulsivity, work stressors, knowledge of responsible conduct of research (RCR), and socially desirable response tendencies. Negative associations were found for the PDR and measures of cynicism, moral disengagement, and compliance disengagement, while positive associations were found for the PDR and RCR knowledge and positive urgency, an impulsivity subscale. PDR scores were not related to socially desirable responding, or to measures of work stressors and the remaining impulsivity subscales. In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, lower moral disengagement scores, higher RCR knowledge, and identifying the United States as one’s nation of origin emerged as key predictors of stronger performance on the PDR. The implications of these findings for understanding the measurement of decision-making in research and future directions for research and RCR education are discussed.

Professional decision-making in medicine: Development of a new measure and preliminary evidence of validity

“…The distribution of scores was negatively skewed (S1 Fig). There was a tendency towards higher scores and a few quite low scores in the long left tail. This is consistent with findings from the PDR [18,23,37]. We expected the PDM to be a "mastery test" in which performance indicates that an individual has or has not attained mastery of a subject [54].…”

“…The physician's decision in this situation is not straightforward. Handling complex professional challenges requires reasoning strategies that compensate for novelty, complexity, and uncertainty [18,23,24].…”

The Professionalism and Integrity in Research Program: Description and Preliminary Outcomes

“…This gap was particularly problematic given that standard training programs in responsible conduct of research (RCR) and human subjects protections often fail to achieve their goals. 12 – 14 Many of the most effective programs focus on knowledge rather than professional decision making or behavior, 15 , 16 when decision making and behavior clearly need to be targeted following disciplinary action.…”

Assessing clinical research coordinator knowledge of good clinical practice: An evaluation of the state of the art and a test validation study

“…Training programs can be expensive and time-consuming [5]. Evidence indicates that training programs in research ethics differ significantly in effectiveness: While programs in general are not associated with any positive outcomes [7,8], some programs are associated with improved knowledge and decision-making skills [9]. It is therefore essential to assess training programs to determine whether they are effective [10,11].…”