How Do We Know What Works? A Review and Critique of Current Practices in Ethics Training Evaluation

ABSTRACT

Training is a costly investment. As such, it is of great interest to know the extent to which that investment is yielding a positive return. Recent meta-analytic efforts have observed that ethics training programs are, indeed, having a positive effect, leading to the conclusion that the programs are working. However, they have also uncovered considerable variability in the effectiveness of ethics training programs, which leads to the purpose of the present study—to review current practices in ethics training evaluation. Through this review of 243 studies, consisting of 380 ethics trainings, we identified major themes in evaluation practices and training design. The tradeoffs associated with these evaluation procedures and designs are discussed, along with directions for future research.

KEYWORDS:

• Criterion
• ethics training
• evaluation
• measurement
• training
• training design

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Allison Antes, Jason Borenstein, Jeffrey Engler, Michael Kalichman, Brian Martinson, and Michael Verderame for their contributions to the present effort. Contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Department of Health and Human Services or the Office of Research Integrity.

Funding

This research was made possible by grant # ORIIR140010-01-00 from the National Institutes of Health and the Office of Research Integrity.

Notes

¹ We thank an anonymous reviewer for suggesting other outcomes that can be achieved through systematic evaluation of ethics training.

* References marked with an asterisk indicate studies included in the review.

Additional information

Funding

This research was made possible by grant # ORIIR140010-01-00 from the National Institutes of Health and the Office of Research Integrity.