CARES Climate Survey

Introduction and Background

Conflict Resolution, Accountability, Respectful Interactions, Ethics, and Supportive Environments Climate Survey

Cultures are critical to the success of workplaces, and the resulting interpersonal climates are an important factor in research quality and integrity. We believe that cultures of excellence are those that facilitate their members’ ability to produce their best work. Members in these work climates feel welcome to engage fully and share creatively in the workplace. 

Although existing work has been done to develop assessments of research integrity climate (via the SOURCE, the Survey of Organizational Research Climate), up to now, no assessment tool has existed to measure interpersonal climate, particularly as it exists within academic research-focused environments. Over the past several years, as part of a project funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (Sloan Grant #2019-12294), our team has rigorously developed and validated such a tool—the CARES survey.

Survey Domains and Topics

Survey Features

The CARES survey includes 22 question items (α=0.95), all asked on a Likert scale ranging from 1 to 5, with the following response categories: Not at All, Somewhat, Moderately, Very, and Completely. A “No basis for judging” option is also provided. These questions yield four means-scored summary dimensions, one tapping Institutional Practices influencing climate, and three tapping various aspects of the work-unit climate.