A research article submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of Witwatersrand, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration Johannesburg, 2018 / MT 2019

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The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the educational concerns that help or hinder the acquisition and practice of intellectual courage. Compared against some more narrow accounts of intellectual courage found in the philosophical literature, this examination broadens the concept of intellectual courage, and illuminates how a motivation for cultivating intellectual courage means being committed to the distinct motivations of other intellectual virtues. Furthermore, intellectual courage has an inseparable moral and epistemic dynamic. Thus an understanding of intellectual courage shows that the beliefs we hold—and the intellectual character we cultivate—directly impact the way life is led in a social environment, and in the classroom. Intellectual courage is the motivation to pursue knowledge despite possible risk, and the skills to navigate such threatening obstacles virtuously.

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Dissertation in compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Journalism, Durban University of Technology, 2013. / Ethical behaviour by investigators is the cornerstone of scientific research. Recognizing, declaring and avoiding a conflict of interest are key responsibilities for biomedical researchers, particularly since commercial enterprises, such as pharmaceutical companies, have become major funding sources of research. Proactive disclosure of researchers' financial relationships is now a requirement for publication in most scientific journals. The question that arises is whether this same increased scrutiny of financial disclosure and potential for conflict of interest has extended to the mainstream press in Canada. A content analysis of biomedical research articles that appeared in Canadian daily newspapers from 2001 to 2008 showed that 82 per cent of the articles failed to identify the financial connection that existed between the researcher(s) and the commercial funder, and nearly half of the articles did not even identify the commercial funding source of the research. A text analysis showed that 94 per cent of the articles were positive about the drug/device cited by the research, and positive, optimistic words such as “breakthrough”, “significant”, “hope” and “promising” were often used in the news articles. Reporters frequently frame biomedical research articles using a battle-like template that describes a fight between good and evil. Another common approach was to frame the article as a message of hope for the future. A genre analysis showed that the genre of medical research news articles published in newspapers is highly dissimilar to the genre of medical research articles published in scientific journals. It is likely these two genres have been constructed to appeal to very different target audiences. The study results show overwhelmingly that readers are not provided with key information about potential financial conflicts of interest involving the researchers and the commercial sources of funding for the research. Such lack of transparency thwarts the reader’s ability to reach informed conclusions about whether or not the research has been either explicitly or implicitly influenced by the researcher’s potential conflict.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the ethical decision making self-efficacy of a sample of state-credentialed psychologists and counselors. A questionnaire was constructed which asked respondents to rate the confidence they possessed in relation to thirty items (reflecting ten a priori ethical decision-making domains). The items described ethical knowledge and ethical decision-making tasks and situations. The questionnaire also included eight questions pertaining to respondents' personal characteristics and professional education, training, and experience. The questionnaire was mailed to 400 Arizona-licensed psychologists and 340 Arizona-certified counselors. Although no formal, a priori hypotheses were established prior to the survey, it was expected that the extent and quality of professional ethics training might be associated with higher scores on factors generated by an exploratory factor analysis performed on survey results. In particular, it was anticipated that a values-clarification component of ethics training would be associated with higher ethical decision-making factor scores. Approximately 50% of the total sample responded to the survey. The factor analysis of scorable questionnaires resulted in a six-factor model of ethical decision-making self-efficacy. The six factors were: (1) Knowledge, (2) Behavior, (3) Thinking, (4) Awareness, (5) Resources, (6) Authorities-Conflict Analysis/Resolution. Having taken an ethics course as a student was associated with higher scores on factors 1, 5, and 6. Having taken an ethics training seminar as a postgraduate was associated with higher scores on factors 1, 2, and 5. Those respondents with a values clarification component to their ethics training scored higher on factors 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6. Study results suggest that further development of an Ethical Decision Making Self-Efficacy Scale and pursuit of a national survey of psychologists and counselors addressing issues raised in this study are warranted.