scholarly journals Measuring Moral Reasoning using Moral Dilemmas: Evaluating Reliability, Validity, and Differential Item Functioning of the Behavioral Defining Issues Test (bDIT)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youn-Jeng Choi ◽  
Hyemin Han ◽  
Kelsie J Dawson
Keyword(s):  
Moral Reasoning ◽  
Differential Item Functioning ◽  
Concurrent Validity ◽  
Moral Dilemmas ◽  
Defining Issues Test ◽  
Test Duration ◽  
Item Functioning ◽  
Two Measures ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Acceptable Reliability

We evaluated the reliability, validity, and differential item functioning (DIF) of a shorter version of the Defining Issues Test-1 (DIT-1), the behavioral DIT (bDIT), measuring the development of moral reasoning. 353 college students (81 males, 271 females, 1 not reported; age M = 18.64 years, SD = 1.20 years) who were taking introductory psychology classes at a public University in a suburb area in the Southern United States participated in the present study. First, we examined the reliability of the bDIT using Cronbach’s α and its concurrent validity with the original DIT-1 using disattenuated correlation. Second, we compared the test duration between the two measures. Third, we tested the DIF of each question between males and females. Findings reported that first, the bDIT showed acceptable reliability and good concurrent validity. Second, the test duration could be significantly shortened by employing the bDIT. Third, DIF results indicated that the bDIT items did not favour any gender. Practical implications of the present study based on the reported findings are discussed.

A Note on Ethics Educational Interventions in an Undergraduate Auditing Course: Is There an “Enron Effect”?

2004 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine E. Earley ◽  
Patrick T. Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Moral Reasoning ◽  
Moral Dilemmas ◽  
Educational Interventions ◽  
Defining Issues Test ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
The Public ◽  
Reasoning Abilities ◽  
Accounting Scandals ◽  
Accounting Courses ◽  
Context Specific

In light of recent accounting scandals and the ensuing “crisis in confidence” facing the public accounting profession, there is a new challenge to accounting educators: how to effectively incorporate ethics into accounting courses, and increase the moral reasoning abilities of their students. Providing accounting students with the ability to reason effectively with respect to moral dilemmas may help to minimize future judgment errors in accounting and auditing settings. This article describes several different educational interventions that were adopted in an undergraduate auditing course. Students' moral reasoning was assessed both at the beginning and the end of the course to determine whether their moral reasoning scores improved based on the interventions. This was done over two semesters: one occurring in 2001 (“pre-Enron”), and one occurring in 2002 (“post-Enron”). Accounting context-specific scores were collected in both semesters (using Thorne's [2000] Accounting Ethical Dilemma Instrument [AEDI]), and general moral reasoning scores (Rest's [1979] Defining Issues Test [DIT]) were also collected in the post-Enron semester. Results indicate increases in AEDI scores, which were robust over both semesters. There was no corresponding increase in DIT scores, which is consistent with previous research; however, students' DIT scores were not significantly different than AEDI scores, which is contrary to the findings of Thorne (2001). In addition, the educational interventions appear to be equally effective in both the pre-Enron and post-Enron semesters, indicating the absence of an “Enron effect.”

Correction of Differentially Functioning Items: Basis for Maintaining and Enhancing Test Validity and Reliability

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
Jose Q. Pedrajita
Keyword(s):  
Differential Item Functioning ◽  
Internal Consistency ◽  
Private School ◽  
Content Validity ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Concurrent Validity ◽  
Test Validity ◽  
Internal Consistency Reliability ◽  
School Type ◽  
Item Functioning

This study looked into differentially functioning items in a Chemistry Achievement Test. It also<br />examined the effect of eliminating differentially functioning items on the content and concurrent validity,<br />and internal consistency reliability of the test. Test scores of two hundred junior high school students<br />matched on school type were subjected to Differential Item Functioning (DIF) analysis. One hundred<br />students came from a public school, while the other 100 were private school examinees. The<br />descriptive-comparative research design utilizing differential item functioning analysis and validity and<br />reliability analysis was employed. The Chi-Square, Distractor Response Analysis, Logistic Regression,<br />and the Mantel-Haenszel Statistic were the methods used in the DIF analysis. A six-point scale ranging<br />from inadequate to adequate was used to assess the content validity of the test. Pearson r was used in<br />the concurrent validity analysis. The KR-20 formula was used for estimating the internal consistency<br />reliability of the test. The findings revealed the presence of differentially functioning items between the<br />public and private school examinees. The DIF methods differed in the number of differentially<br />functioning items identified. However, there was a high degree of correspondence between the Logistic<br />Regression and Mantel-Haenszel Statistic. After the elimination of the differentially functioning items,<br />the content and the concurrent validity, and the internal consistency reliability differed per DIF method<br />used. The content validity of the test differed ranging from slightly adequate to moderately adequate in<br />the number of items retained. The concurrent validity of the test also differed but all were positive and<br />indicate moderate relationship between the examinees’ test scores and their GPA in Science III.<br />Likewise, the internal consistency reliability of the test differed. The more differentially functioning<br />items eliminated, the lesser was the content and concurrent validity, and internal consistency reliability<br />of the test becomes. Elimination of differentially functioning items diminishes content and concurrent<br />validity, and internal consistency reliability, but could be use as basis in enhancing content, concurrent<br />as well as internal consistency reliability by replacing eliminated DIF items.

scholarly journals Differential item functioning due to gender between depression and anxiety items among Chilean adolescents

2011 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 386-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Bares ◽  
Fernando Andrade ◽  
Jorge Delva ◽  
Andrew Grogan-Kaylor ◽  
Akihito Kamata
Keyword(s):  
Differential Item Functioning ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Adolescent Females ◽  
Adolescent Males ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Item Functioning ◽  
Males And Females

Background: Although much is known about the higher prevalence of anxiety and depressive disorders among adolescent females, less is known about the differential item endorsement due to gender in items of scales commonly used to measure anxiety and depression. Aims: We conducted a study to examine if adolescent males and females from Chile differed on how they endorsed the items of the Youth Self Report (YSR) anxious/depressed problem scale. We used data from a cross-sectional sample consisting of 925 participants (mean age = 14, SD 1.3, 49% females) of low to lower-middle socioeconomic status. Methods: A two-parameter logistic (2PL) IRT DIF model was fit. Results: Results revealed differential item functioning (DIF) by gender for six of the 13 items, with adolescent females being more likely to endorse a depression item while males were found more likely to endorse anxiety items. Conclusions: Findings suggest that items found in commonly used measures of anxiety and depression symptoms may not equally capture the true levels of these behavioural problems in adolescent males and females. Given the high levels of mental disorders in Chile and the surrounding countries, further attention should be focused on increasing the number of empirical studies examining potential gender differences in the assessment of mental health problems among Latin American populations to better aid our understanding of the phenomenology and determinants of these problems in the region.

Psychometric Evaluation of the Personal Feelings Questionnaire–2 (PFQ-2) Shame Subscale Among Spanish-Speaking Female Sex Workers in Mexico

Assessment ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 107319112098176
Author(s):  
Cristina Espinosa da Silva ◽  
Heather A. Pines ◽  
Thomas L. Patterson ◽  
Shirley Semple ◽  
Alicia Harvey-Vera ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Differential Item Functioning ◽  
Internal Consistency ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Concurrent Validity ◽  
Female Sex Workers ◽  
Good Reliability ◽  
Response Options ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
Female Sex ◽  
Item Functioning

Shame may increase HIV risk among stigmatized populations. The Personal Feelings Questionnaire–2 (PFQ-2) measures shame, but has not been validated in Spanish-speaking or nonclinical stigmatized populations disproportionately affected by HIV in resource-limited settings. We examined the psychometric properties of the Spanish-translated PFQ-2 shame subscale among female sex workers in two Mexico–U.S. border cities. From 2016 to 2017, 602 HIV-negative female sex workers in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez participated in an efficacy trial evaluating a behavior change maintenance intervention. Interviewer-administered surveys collected information on shame (10-item PFQ-2 subscale), psychosocial factors, and sociodemographics. Item performance, confirmatory factor analysis, internal consistency, differential item functioning by city, and concurrent validity were assessed. Response options were collapsed to 3-point responses to improve item performance, and one misfit item was removed. The revised 9-item shame subscale supported a single construct and had good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = .86). Notable differential item functioning was found but resulted in a negligible effect on overall scores. Correlations between the revised shame subscale and guilt ( r = .79, p < .01), depression ( r = .69, p < .01), and emotional support ( r = −.28, p < .01) supported concurrent validity. The revised PFQ-2 shame subscale showed good reliability and concurrent validity in our sample, and should be explored in other stigmatized populations.

Preference for Moral Reasoning and Conflict Compromise Theory

1981 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 501-502 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Muehleman ◽  
Terry Barrett
Keyword(s):  
Moral Reasoning ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Moral Dilemmas ◽  
Defining Issues Test

The Defining Issues Test was administered to 55 male and 55 female undergraduates under three instructional sets: “decide which would be the most important issues” (a) for you, (b) for others (your fellow students), and (c) that you would most admire. As predicted from conflict compromise and value theories, there was a significant effect of instructional sets, and the pattern of the means was in the expected order other < self < most admired. The results were interpreted as evidence that higher staged issues are positively valued and that persons are motivated to be above average in their preferences for issues. Conflict compromise and value theories may be helpful in understanding the process by which persons respond to the test and in predicting conditions under which group discussion of moral dilemmas will result in shifts in preferences for higher staged reasoning.

DIFFERENTIAL ITEM FUNCTIONING FOR MALES AND FEMALES ON SAT®-VERBAL READING SUBSCORE ITEMS

1988 ◽  
Vol 1988 (1) ◽  
pp. i-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ida M. Lawrence ◽  
W. Edward Curley ◽  
Frederick J. McHale
Keyword(s):  
Differential Item Functioning ◽  
Item Functioning ◽  
Males And Females

Judging Moral Issues in a Multicultural Society

2013 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 235-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Passini ◽  
Paola Villano
Keyword(s):  
Moral Reasoning ◽  
Social Dominance ◽  
Moral Dilemma ◽  
Social Dominance Orientation ◽  
Moral Dilemmas ◽  
Defining Issues Test ◽  
Multicultural Society ◽  
Moral Issues ◽  
Postconventional Reasoning ◽  
Observation Results

People’s reactions to crimes sometimes change depending on whether the perpetrators are members of their own ingroup or an outgroup. This observation results in questions concerning how moral reasoning works in intergroup situations. In this research, we analyzed the combined effect of the nationality of the protagonist in a moral dilemma and the participant’s social dominance orientation (SDO) attitudes on the participant’s level of moral reasoning. A total of 230 Italian participants responded to two moral dilemmas taken from the Defining Issues Test, which had been modified so that one was about an Italian and the other about a Romanian. The results showed a significant interaction between the dilemma, the protagonist’s nationality, and the participant’s SDO: The P scores (postconventional reasoning) of low-SDO participants were on the same level when they were judging people of either nationality, while high-SDO participants tended to have a higher P score when judging Italians as opposed to Romanians.

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