Development and validation of a test instrument for assessing value preferences in medical ethics

A test instrument for assessing the preferences medical students display for six value categories--aesthetic, economic, political, religious, social, and theoretical--was developed using a case study approach. The major validation procedures involved the relationship of medical ethics values to general and the differences of medical ethics values as expressed by six "known groups" of non-medical students. Data from 151 medical students and 274 students representing six groups were analyzed to provide information concerning social desirability, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability. The dominance of the social value category was supportive of research previously reported that physicians consider the social dimension of medical decision-making to be of primary importance. However, because of the dominance of the social value category with all respondents and the weak known group relationships, further study is recommended to define the components of the social value category within the medical ethics domain.