Development and psychometric properties of the Ethics Environment Questionnaire.
OBJECTIVE
The author reports on the development and the psychometric properties of the Ethics Environment Questionnaire (EEQ), an instrument by which to measure the opinions of health-care providers about ethics in their clinical practice organizations. The EEQ was developed to increase the number of valid and reliable measures pertaining to ethics in health-care delivery.


METHODS
The EEQ is a 20-item self-administered questionnaire using a Likert-type 5-point format, offering ease of administration. It is applicable to a cross-section of health-care practitioners and health-care facilities. The mean administration time is 10 minutes. The EEQ represents testing on 450 respondents in acute care settings among a cross-section of acute care facilities.


RESULTS
Internal consistency reliability using Cronbach's alpha coefficient is 0.93, and the test-retest reliability is 0.88. Construct, content, and criterion validity are established. The scale is unidimensional, with factor loadings exceeding the minimum preset criterion. Mean score is 3.1 out of 5.0, with scores of 3.5 and above interpreted as reflective of a positive ethics environment.


CONCLUSIONS
The EEQ provides a measure of ethics in health-care organizations among multi-practitioners in clinical practice on a valid, reliable, cost effective, and easily administered instrument that requires minimum investment of personnel time.
McDaniel
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Center for Business, Religion, and Professions, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Pennsylvania 15206, USA.
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D030881:Disclosure; D004991:Ethics, Institutional; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006739:Hospital Administration / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015279:Organizational Culture; D010564:Personnel, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D028743:Professional Misconduct; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012941:Social Responsibility; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D035642:Whistleblowing