Development and Validation of a Scale to Measure Views of Social Responsibility of Scientists and Engineers (VSRoSE)

The discussion of social responsibility has expanded from ethical conduct of research to include a broader range of topics including participating in the policy-making process, engaging in public discourse related to science, and promoting projects serving societal common goods. Although such an expanded framework on social responsibility is increasingly popular, existing scales on social responsibilities are limited. The current study developed and validated a scale for measuring the “Views of Social Responsibility of Scientists and Engineers” (VSRoSE). The draft scale with 60 items, which were scrutinized through expert deliberation, was administered to 327 college students majoring in STEM fields. Exploratory factor analysis supported an eight-factor solution with 30 items, with acceptable Cronbach’s alphas for all eight scales. Subsequently, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted with an independent set of data from 279 college students and the hypothesized factor structure fit the data with acceptable Cronbach’s alphas. The concurrent and criterion validity evidence was presented and the pedagogical implications of the VSRoSE in the STEM field and education were discussed.