Advancing the Use of Professional Decision-Making Strategies in a Culturally Diverse Research Community

Project Summary

The overarching goal of this project is to develop educational programming focused on decision-making skills and Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) that is relevant and effective for diverse researchers. The three project objectives include: (1) To identify similarities and differences in decision-making strategies among East Asian and U.S. researchers using qualitative think-aloud interviews. (2) To (a) refine an RCR training curriculum focused on decision-making skills to make it culturally inclusive, (b) deliver the training program, and (c) assess learning outcomes: decision-making strategies, behavioral indicators of strategy use, and implementation intentions. And, (3) To (a) evaluate whether training participants apply the decision-making strategies in their daily research activities, (b) test the effect of a monthly learning transfer intervention on strategy use over time, and (c) use the resulting information to further refine and evaluate training.

Project Leadership

Tristan McIntosh
Bioethics Research Center, Washington University in St. Louis

Alison Antes
Bioethics Research Center, Washington University in St. Louis

Recipient Institution 

Bioethics Research Center, Washington University in St. Louis

Start and End Date

September 1, 2020 - August 31, 2023

Contact Information

Tristan McIntosh (t.mcintosh@wustl.edu) 
Alison Antes (aantes@wustl.edu)

Project Website

Click here.

Publications, Presentations, and Other Projects

We have presented our findings at two conferences (citations below). The first conference presentation focused on preliminary findings from our baseline survey data at the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH) 2021 conference, which was held in November 2021. The second conference presentation focused on preliminary findings from our think-aloud interviews at the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) 2022 conference, which was held in February 2022. 

Crollard, N. Z., Cheng, S., Antes, A. L., McIntosh, T.M., Solomon, E. D., & DuBois, J. M. (2021, October). Professional decision-making strategy use in a culturally diverse research community: Perspectives from East Asian and U.S. researchers. American Society for Bioethics and Humanities Annual Conference. Virtual meeting.

McIntosh, T., Antes, A., Solomon, E. D., Cheng, S., Crollard, N., Chiu, Y., & DuBois, J. M. (2022, February). Cultural differences in professional decision-making in research: Findings from interviews with researchers from East Asia and the United States. 31st Annual Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) International Conference. Cincinnati, OH.

McIntosh, T., Antes, A., Solomon, E., Cheng, S., Crollard, N., Liu, Y., Zijlstra, E., & Dubois, J. M. (2022, October). Fostering culturally aware approaches to navigating professional dilemmas in research: A study of researchers from East Asia and the United States. American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH) Annual Conference. Portland, OR.