The Development and Validation of a New Corporate Social Responsibility Measure: An Inductive Methodology



Supervisor: Patrick O’Neill (PhD) Program Director, Adler University.



Student researcher: Heather Lawton (BAH) undertaking this study as part of her MA Organizational Psychology thesis at Adler University.



PURPOSE OF STUDY: The purpose of this study is to create a new measure of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and understand its relationship with other key indicators like: employee engagement, organizational commitment, intention to resign, trust in management, and well-being as well as some background information. For this study, CSR is defined as “The activities engaged in by an organization and its employees that contribute to operating in an economically, socially, and environmentally responsible manner”.



PARTICIPANTS: You will be eligible to participate if you are older than 19 years of age and you are either full-time, part-time or contractually employed at your current organization.



PROCEDURE: The survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. The survey will ask various questions about your perspective on the policies and practices that foster CSR at your organization. This will be followed by other questions that aim to understand your experiences at work and your background. This includes questions related to employee engagement, organizational commitment, intention to resign, trust in management, well-being as well as some background information. Background information is collected for research purposes only.



RISKS: No risks are anticipated. Due to the anonymity of the online survey, you will not be able to have your previous results withdrawn after you have started the survey but any incomplete surveys will not be included in the final results. Therefore, if you do not answer the survey completely, your answers will not be used.



BENEFITS: If you choose to participate, you can enter your email into a draw for one of three 20 dollar Starbucks gift cards. By participating you are also eligible to receive a copy of the completed thesis including the final CSR measure. To maintain confidentiality, a link to a separate survey will be used to store any contact information.



CONFIDENTIALITY: You understand that your research records will be stored in the following manner: On an electronic file on a secured computer. You hereby authorize the use of all records, tests, and personal data derived from this experiment for research purposes. You understand that any information derived from this research project that personally identifies you will not be voluntarily released or disclosed by the researchers without your separate consent, except as specifically required by law. All documents will be stored for five years, after which they will be destroyed.



IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS: Any questions regarding study participation may be directed to Dr. Patrick O’Neill at poneill@adler.edu or 604-482-5521. Any ethical concerns about the study may be directed to Debbie Clelland, Chair of the Adler Research Ethics Board, at dclelland@adler.edu or 604-699-3570.