Effects of training in the responsible conduct of research: A survey of graduate students in experimental sciences

In recent years, programs for training in research ethics have become wides pread, but very little has been done to assess the effectiveness of this tr aining. Because initial studies have failed to demonstrate a positive impac t of research ethics training, this project defined two new outcome variabl es to be tested in a sample of graduate students at the University of Calif ornia, San Diego. Trainees were surveyed to assess the role of ethics train ing in altering their perceptions about their own standards, or their knowl edge of options available to them if faced with ethical problems that might arise in conducting and reporting research. In response to a mailing of 50 5 anonymous questionnaires, 283 replies were received. Similar to previous studies, perceptions of standards were not significantly affected by hours spent in informal discussions about research ethics, in attending courses o n research ethics, or in discussions of case studies. However, self-reporte d knowledge of options for facing research ethics problems was significantl y increased in association with increased hours of discussion, class time, or case study discussion. Taken together; this study emphasizes the need fo r increased attention to the definition and assessment of the goals of rese arch ethics training.