Page 14 - JRCERT Update Articles

JRCERT Update

the first rotation can be subject to influence from the Questions should be grouped by topics and prog-
following rotations. In addition, respondents using sat- ress in a logical manner beginning with questions that
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isficing behaviors are less apt to expend mental energy engage the respondents and keep them interested.
to remember events. Therefore, in this example, gath- Lead-in statements are helpful in focusing a respon-
ering information after each rotation improves result dent’s thoughts. For example, respondents could be
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reliability. Evaluations can be gathered as students asked to consider the time spent in the clinic before
progress in a formative manner and leave an overall questions specific to clinics are asked in a sequence that
summative assessment upon graduating. is mindful of the assimilation and contrast effect.

Making a Judgment Reporting
Once respondents understand a question and recall In the final step, respondents answer the question
the information, they can render judgment. The survey based on the type of question and the answer options
design also can influence respondents’ judgment. The provided. Surveys primarily rely on open-ended or
way questions are ordered can influence whether assim- closed-ended questions. Open-ended questions are
ilation effects or contrast effects occur. 5 useful in identifying factors not addressed in the survey
Assimilation effects occur when judgment from pre- and can be helpful if the closed-ended question does
vious questions is taken into consideration for a current not include the best answer for a particular respondent.
question. Assimilation effects is a continuous conver- Because respondents using satisficing behaviors might
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sation in which several specific, related questions are not take the time to write a response, open-ended ques-
asked before a general question is asked. For example, tions should be used sparingly to solicit additional
when assessing the satisfaction of a clinical rotation, information from closed-ended questions. Closed-ended
a survey might begin with specific questions such as questions are common and often provide answer
helpfulness of technologists, variety of examinations, options in formats such as multiple choice, ranking, or
and friendliness of technologists. Specific questions are a Likert scale, which uses a numerical range and defines
asked before a general question about overall satisfac- the endpoints. For example, ask respondents to indicate
tion. This sequence of questions relies on judgments how helpful their clinical instructor was using a scale of
made from the specific questions to answer the general 1 to 5, in which 1 is not helpful and 5 is very helpful. For
question. In essence, the general question asks respon- the most accurate representation, the option should have
dents to take all the factors into consideration and 3 to 5 choices. Regardless of the answer format, respon-
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provide an overall impression. dents should have a thorough but limited list of options.
Contrast effects do not consider previous judg- Another debatable issue is the inclusion of a mid-
ments because they are deemed irrelevant as a point, or neutral, option. Eliminating the neutral option
standard for comparison. Contrast effects might be has been shown to force respondents to make a deci-
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seen when respondents perceive that the general ques- sion, reduces the misuse of the neutral option, and
tion is asking for information on a topic not answered minimizes social desirability bias in which respondents
previously. For example, asking respondents first provide answers to please the researcher instead of pro-
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about their satisfaction with their first clinical place- viding a socially unacceptable answer. 11,12 Whenever a
ment and then about their overall satisfaction with the definite answer cannot be given, respondents using sat-
program might lead to a contrast effect. The respon- isficing methods are more inclined to select the neutral
dent might interpret the general question as a request option and avoid a riskier answer; therefore, the neutral
for new information aside from what has already been option can be eliminated. Conversely, some literature
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reported. Consequently, the judgment from the states that the neutral option is not misused and does
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first clinical rotation could be deemed unrelated to not impact social desirability bias. The neutral might
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program satisfaction and might produce greater differ- be an option for respondents who otherwise would edit
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ences in judgments. the most appropriate response to avoid embarrassment.

RADIOLOGIC TECHNOLOGY, January/February 2021, Volume 92, Number 3 299