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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Med.

Sec. Regulatory Science

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1570817

This article is part of the Research Topic Regulatory Science: Addressing Uncertainties in Medicines Development, Evaluation and Use View all 8 articles

Measuring the Multidimensional Reputation of a Medicines Regulatory Agency: Development and Validation of a Public-Oriented Scale

Provisionally accepted
  • Hanyang Universiy, Erica, Ansan, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: The reputation of public agencies, encompassing the dimensions of performance, morality, procedure, and technical competence, is fundamental to understanding their behavior. However, standardized, individual-level measures of reputation suitable for surveys targeting the general public are lacking. This study aims to develop and validate a survey instrument for the general public to measure the multi-dimensional reputation of public agencies, with a focus on South Korea's medicines regulatory agency.Methods: Survey items were developed based on previous literature, refined through expert consultation, and validated through a population survey. The validation study involved 1,000 participants from the public, selected using a quota sampling method stratified by age, sex, and region, according to the South Korean census. Validity was assessed through exploratory factor analysis and hypothesis testing, while reliability was evaluated using internal consistency.Results: Exploratory factor analysis identified a three-dimensional structure of reputation, encompassing performance, procedure, and technical competence, while morality was not distinctly identified as a separate dimension. Construct validity, including convergent and discriminant validity, was confirmed. The internal consistency of the three dimensions was acceptable, with Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranging from 0.87 to 0.91. The overall reputation of the medicines regulatory agency was measured at 72 out of 100. The specific dimension scores were as follows: 74 for technical competence, 71 for performance, and 70 for procedure.Conclusions: The agency should recognize the multidimensional nature of reputation and foster an environment that enables the public to observe and evaluate these dimensions. Reputation management strategies should emphasize not only technical expertise but also performance and procedural aspects to ensure a well-rounded reputation.

    Keywords: Medicines regulatory agency, reputation, Development scale, Validation, South Korea

    Received: 04 Feb 2025; Accepted: 31 Mar 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Son. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Kyung-Bok Son, Hanyang Universiy, Erica, Ansan, 15588, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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