A dissertation completed at
The Center for Education, Widener University,
One University Place, Chester, PA 19013 		 
DEVELOPMENT OF AN INSTRUMENT FOR ETHICAL ASSESSMENT
Holly Jean Frank, Ed. D.
November, 1998

RETURN
edited 12/21/00

 


ABSTRACT

The study of ethics existed long before business disciplines were formally subjected to scientific research. Before such time, two philosophies dominate the literature. The Deontologic approach which deals with universal statements of right and wrong with respect to the duties and rights of individuals, and the Utilitarian approach which requires individuals to perform a social cost/benefit analysis with the resulting action based on its outcome.

Business ethics research is centered on the normative concept which focuses on how individuals "ought" to behave and the contextual or environmental concept whose focus lies within the workplace and how it influences behavior. in addition, the Human Development Perspective (how decision making processes are acquired and developed), and the Feminist perspective (ethic of care) are found in the literature.

The four approaches most often used to assess ethical performance include self-report questionnaires, vignettes, interviewing and researching illegal behavior (corporate crime). The instrument developed for use in this research employed the vignette approach. Vignettes are short, hypothetical cases that enable the researcher to obtain some measure of difference between the espoused ethics and likely ethical behavior (Cavenagh & Fritzche, 1985).

The purpose of this study was to develop and standardize an instrument for the measurement of ethical awareness of professionals employed in the securities industry. A two part research instrument was developed for this study measuring preferences regarding ethical judgments via situational vignettes and statements graded on a likert scale. Surveys were sent to vi a random sample of licensed securities brokers employed by the National Association of Securities Dealers member firm selected for this study.

The results of this study indicated that each part of the research instrument measured unique attributes about ethical awareness among securities professionals. Specifically, Part A measured ethical awareness with respect to rule violations, broker judgment, supervisory approval and client disclosure. Part B measured ethical awareness with respect to false representation, the covering up of mistakes, churning, and broker disclosure. Although demographic data provided needed information for purposes of clearly identifying the sample population, no link between the demographics identified in this study and ethical behavior were found.

This study will be useful to those who are responsible for the evaluation of curriculum and the outcomes of further education and training in the securities profession by facilitating a more thorough understanding of what areas to include in the yet to be developed curriculum.

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