Course:::: Inferential stats in decision making:::1.QUALITATIVE Journal Article Review2.QUANTITATIVE Journal Article ReviewFor the above two questions please use the below formatreview both quantitati

ABSTRACT REVIEW #1: QUANTITATIVE

By

Student Name, B.S, M.S., M.A.

September 2018

Introduction and Background

Ethics is the cornerstone of the counseling profession and client counselor relationship. However the code of ethics does not always clearly articulate what a counselor should do in many scenarios. Thereby it often creates uncertainty amongst the profession. In addition, the code of ethics undergoes changes on a regular basis. Neukrug and Milliken (2011) identify two purposes for their study. First, to assess which ethical situations/behaviors are “most distressing and confusing and also to help guide the revision of future ethical codes” (Neukrug & Milliken, 2011, p. 206). Second, to identify changes in ethics education based upon various demographics. They hope that this research aids in reducing ethical violations and increasing relevant ethics education.

Methodology

Neukrug and Milliken (2011) utilized a 77-item survey in which respondents rated situations as ethical or unethical (Scale 1) and how strongly they aligned with the response (1 = not very strongly to 10 very strongly; Scale 2; p. 207). By scoring ethical on a positive scale (+1 through +10) and unethical on a negative scale (-1 through -10), they were able to examine Scale 1 with nominal data, and strength of response with Scale 2.

Another instrument was utilized to gather demographic information of the participants and included: gender, age, ethnicity, highest degree held, specialty area, current job/role, American Counseling Association (ACA) membership, and involvement in ethics education (Neukrug & Milliken, 2011). ACA approved the study and provided researchers with a random sample of 2,000 ACA members’ email addresses. The email to the participants included “an explanation of the survey, an informed consent, and the surveys’ URL” (p. 207). They were attempting to answer what areas of the ethical code are unclear and create the most confusion and whether different demographics correlated with different perceptions of ethical and unethical behaviors. They grouped the ethics categories into six categories and performed chi-square tests on Scale 1 and set the significance level at p < .001 to control for a Type I error.

Study Findings and Results

Although Neukrug and Milliken (2011) “found significant differences as a function of demographics on a number of items” (p. 210), practical significance was not evident. The most prominent finding of this study were related to the identified areas of disagreement among respondents related to what is considered unethical. This information can help to inform future ethics training and ethical code revisions.

Conclusions

The finding of Neukrug and Milliken’s research provided insight into main areas of ambiguity regarding what is viewed as unethical behavior. Considering that ethics is the foundation of professional practice and integral to the counseling relationship, insight into areas which are most confusing could serve to better educate current and future counselors. Although not significant, it is helpful to know that demographics did not impact the interpretation of ethical practices on a practical level. The methods used seemed plausible, but the findings were not clearly presented and took effort to locate and interpret.

References

Neukrug, E. S., & Milliken, T. (2011). Counselors’ perceptions of ethical behaviors. Journal of Counseling & Development, 89(2), 206–216.