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the moral reasoning of student athletes and athletic training students

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take <strong>the</strong> drug or can’t decide. Once a decision is made <strong>the</strong> respondent is asked to rank <strong>the</strong> three<br />

corresponding statements as to how <strong>the</strong>y made <strong>the</strong>ir decisions to dope, not dope, or can’t decide.<br />

For <strong>the</strong> EAMCI, data is analyzed in two parts. The first analysis involves <strong>the</strong> decision choice.<br />

Choosing not to dope involves principled thinking. Choosing to dope or can’t decide do not<br />

involved principled <strong>reasoning</strong>. The five decisions are totaled to gain a possible range <strong>of</strong> scores<br />

from 5 -10. The higher <strong>the</strong> score, <strong>the</strong> more principled <strong>reasoning</strong> used in making <strong>moral</strong> decisions.<br />

The second analysis involves frequency distributions relative to each <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ranked decision<br />

responses. The goal <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> second analysis is to examine <strong>the</strong> particular perspectives that<br />

respondents use to make <strong>the</strong>ir respective decisions.<br />

Validity<br />

Face validity, <strong>the</strong> weakest form <strong>of</strong> validity, asks whe<strong>the</strong>r “on <strong>the</strong> face” <strong>the</strong> instrument<br />

seems to be a good translation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> construct being measured, in this case <strong>moral</strong> <strong>reasoning</strong><br />

relative to doping practices in competitive sport. Deontological <strong>reasoning</strong> (an inherent right <strong>and</strong><br />

wrong apart from <strong>the</strong> consequences, Frankena, 1973) was <strong>the</strong> underlying construct to <strong>the</strong><br />

EAMCI. Content validity refers to whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> instrument questions are reflective <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> specific<br />

content domain for <strong>the</strong> construct. While similar to face validity, content validity generally<br />

requires a detailed explanation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> underlying construct. Usually included is a detailed<br />

description <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>oretical underpinnings, an explanation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> target group(s), <strong>and</strong> criteria for<br />

what constitutes a high level versus <strong>and</strong> low level <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> construct. For this instrument, both face<br />

validity <strong>and</strong> content validity were assessed by two leading authorities in sport <strong>moral</strong> <strong>reasoning</strong>.<br />

Independently first <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n jointly, <strong>the</strong>se two authorities reviewed <strong>the</strong> EAMCI <strong>the</strong>oretical<br />

construct relative to <strong>the</strong> five scenarios. The authorities examined <strong>the</strong> questions relative to<br />

relevant issues that <strong>athletes</strong> in high school, collegiate, Olympic, <strong>and</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>essional sport face daily<br />

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