The effect of changes to question order on the prevalence of 'sufficient' physical activity in an Australian population survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanley, Christine; Duncan, Mitch J; Mummery, W Kerry

2013-03-01

Population surveys are frequently used to assess prevalence, correlates and health benefits of physical activity. However, nonsampling errors, such as question order effects, in surveys may lead to imprecision in self reported physical activity. This study examined the impact of modified question order in a commonly used physical activity questionnaire on the prevalence of sufficient physical activity. Data were obtained from a telephone survey of adults living in Queensland, Australia. A total of 1243 adults participated in the computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) survey conducted in July 2008 which included the Active Australia Questionnaire (AAQ) presented in traditional or modified order. Binary logistic regression analyses was used to examine relationships between question order and physical activity outcomes. Significant relationships were found between question order and sufficient activity, recreational walking, moderate activity, vigorous activity, and total activity. Respondents who received the AAQ in modified order were more likely to be categorized as sufficiently active (OR = 1.28, 95% CI 1.01-1.60). This study highlights the importance of question order on estimates of self reported physical activity. This study has shown that changes in question order can lead to an increase in the proportion of participants classified as sufficiently active.

Framing violence: the effect of survey context and question framing on reported rates of partner violence

OpenAIRE

Regan, Katherine V.

2008-01-01

In this dissertation, I investigated two explanations for the variability in levels of partner violence found by large community surveys. In Study 1, I examined the effect of how questions about partner violence are introduced (question framing: conflict, violence-in-relationships, or attacks) on reports of partner violence. Although there was not a reliable effect of question framing, the pattern of findings was consistent across 3 of 4 analyses. Counter to predictions, an attacks question f...

Poisson and negative binomial item count techniques for surveys with sensitive question.

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Guo-Liang; Tang, Man-Lai; Wu, Qin; Liu, Yin

2017-04-01

Although the item count technique is useful in surveys with sensitive questions, privacy of those respondents who possess the sensitive characteristic of interest may not be well protected due to a defect in its original design. In this article, we propose two new survey designs (namely the Poisson item count technique and negative binomial item count technique) which replace several independent Bernoulli random variables required by the original item count technique with a single Poisson or negative binomial random variable, respectively. The proposed models not only provide closed form variance estimate and confidence interval within [0, 1] for the sensitive proportion, but also simplify the survey design of the original item count technique. Most importantly, the new designs do not leak respondents' privacy. Empirical results show that the proposed techniques perform satisfactorily in the sense that it yields accurate parameter estimate and confidence interval.

Interviewer and respondent interaction in survey interviews : Empirical evidence from behavior coding studies and question wording experiments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ongena, Yfke

2010-01-01

This book sheds light on verbal interaction problems in survey interviews. It is shown how behavior coding, i.e., coding the utterances of interviewer and respondent while they are answering survey questions, can be used to detect interactional problems. Several empirical studies using behavior

76 FR 54283 - 30-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collections: Language Learning Survey Questions

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-31

...: Language Learning Survey Questions ACTION: Notice of request for public comment and submission to OMB of... the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Title of Information Collection: Language Learning Programs: Pre... critical language learning instruction. Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,400 annually Estimated Number of...

Challenges in Cultivating EOSDIS User Survey Participation

Science.gov (United States)

Boquist, C. L.; Sofinowski, E. J.; Walter, S.

2011-12-01

Since 2004 NASA has surveyed users of its Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) to determine user satisfaction with its services. The surveys have been conducted by CFI Group under contract with the Federal Consulting Group, Executive Agent in government for the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). The purpose of these annual surveys is to help EOSDIS and the data centers assess current status and improve future services. The survey questions include demographic and experiential questions in addition to the ACSI and EOSDIS specific rating questions. In addition to customer satisfaction, analysis of each year's results has provided insight into the survey process. Although specific questions have been added, modified, or deleted to reflect changes to the EOSDIS system and processes, the model rating questions have remained the same to ensure consistency for evaluating cross year trends. Working with the CFI Group, we have refined the invitation and questions to increase clarity and address the different ways diverse groups of users access services at EOSDIS data centers. We present challenges in preparing a single set of questions that go to users with backgrounds in many Earth science disciplines. These users may have contacted any of the 12 EOSDIS data centers for information or may have accessed data or data products from many kinds of aircraft and satellite instruments. We discuss lessons learned in preparing the invitation and survey questions and the steps taken to make the survey easier to complete and to encourage increased participation.

Using Text Message Surveys to Evaluate a Mobile Sexual Health Question-and-Answer Service.

Science.gov (United States)

Willoughby, Jessica Fitts; L'Engle, Kelly Ladin; Jackson, Kennon; Brickman, Jared

2018-01-01

Text message programs for sexual health are becoming increasingly popular as practitioners aim to meet youth on media they use frequently. Two-way mobile health (mHealth) interventions allow for feedback solicitation from participants. This study explores the use of a text message survey to assess demographics and program feedback from users of an adolescent sexual health text message question-and-answer service. Development and feasibility of the short-message service survey are discussed. The text message survey achieved a 43.9% response rate, which is comparable to response rates of surveys conducted via other methods. When compared to respondents who used the service and completed an online in-school questionnaire, text survey respondents were more likely to be female and older. They also reported higher service satisfaction. Results have implications for text message service providers and researchers. This article examines a community application of a new intervention strategy and research methodology.

46 CFR 42.09-30 - Additional survey requirements for steel-hull vessels.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Additional survey requirements for steel-hull vessels...-30 Additional survey requirements for steel-hull vessels. (a) In addition to the requirements in § 42...) When the vessel is in drydock, the hull plating, etc., shall be examined. (c) The holds, 'tween decks...

46 CFR 42.09-35 - Additional survey requirements for wood-hull vessels.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Additional survey requirements for wood-hull vessels. 42.09-35 Section 42.09-35 Shipping COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (CONTINUED) LOAD LINES... Additional survey requirements for wood-hull vessels. (a) In addition to the requirements in § 42.09-25, the...

Who Justifies Questionable Reporting Practices? Answers from a Representative Survey of Journalists in Germany

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Philip Baugut

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Based on a secondary analysis of representative survey data of journalists in Germany (n= 1536, this paper draws attention to two variables that are important when it comes to explain whether journalists accept questionable reporting practices, such as paying people to obtain information or using confidential government documents without permission. First, perceived role achievement is important, as journalists who do not feel able to achieve an active role tend to accept questionable reporting practices more often. Second, however, this relationship is only true for journalists having a moderate tendency to the political left. Findings are explained by means of the theory of cognitive dissonance.

Can i just check...? Effects of edit check questions on measurement error and survey estimates

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lugtig, Peter; Jäckle, Annette

2014-01-01

Household income is difficult to measure, since it requires the collection of information about all potential income sources for each member of a household.Weassess the effects of two types of edit check questions on measurement error and survey estimates: within-wave edit checks use responses to

Augmenting Fellow Education Through Spaced Multiple-Choice Questions.

Science.gov (United States)

Barsoumian, Alice E; Yun, Heather C

2018-01-01

. Fellows consistently indicated that the platform was "highly enjoyed," "beneficial," a "fun format," and "completely satisfied." Fellows additionally commented that they desired more questions and considered the platform helpful in board preparation. Formal survey data post-intervention found that the fellows were satisfied with the new approach, found it to be useful in board preparation, overall educational value, and in-line with their personal learning style (median Likert score of 4 for all queries). Fellows were satisfied with time commitment, spending a mean of 47 min on the spaced education curriculum questions per month. Introduction of a spaced education curriculum resulted in a sustained positive learner experience for >5 yr with demonstrated mastery of material. Spaced education learning is a viable addition to augment training experience, especially in areas of curricular gaps such as operational medicine. Correct answer data may also be useful to perform Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-required objective assessment of knowledge. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States 2017. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

What do Americans think about public transit? A review of U.S. public opinion polling survey questions.

Science.gov (United States)

2015-07-01

This seed grant research project compiled a set of 56 US public opinion polls that asked respondents their opinions about public : transit. The first and primary goal of the project was to assemble a large set of transit-related survey question...

Justification of Intimate Partner Violence in Rural Bangladesh: What Survey Questions Fail to Capture

OpenAIRE

Schuler, Sidney Ruth; Lenzi, Rachel; Yount, Kathryn M.

2011-01-01

This article presents qualitative findings from a project designed to develop better methodological tools for clarifying women’s and men’s attitudes about intimate partner violence (IPV) in rural Bangladesh and their perceptions of norms about IPV in their communities. Cognitive interviews and focus-group discussions were used to explore respondents’ subjective understanding of standard survey questions meant to elicit attitudes about IPV. We find that the proportion of participants who justi...

Positive, negative, and bipolar questions: The effect of question polarity on ratings of text readability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naomi Kamoen

2013-12-01

Full Text Available For decades, survey researchers have known that respondents give different answers to attitude questions worded positively (X is good. Agree-Disagree, negatively (X is bad. Agree-Disagree or on a bipolar scale (X is bad-good. This makes survey answers hard to interpret, especially since findings on exactly how the answers are affected are conflicting. In the current paper, we present twelve studies in which the effect of question polarity was measured for a set of thirteen contrastive adjectives. In each study, the same adjectives were used so the generalizability of wording effects across studies could be examined for each word pair. Results show that for five of the word pairs an effect of question wording can be generalized. The direction of these effects are largely consistent: respondents generally give the same answers to positive and bipolar questions, but they are more likely to disagree with negative questions than to agree with positive questions or to choose the positive side of the bipolar scale. In other words, respondents express their opinions more positively when the question is worded negatively. Even though answers to the three wording alternatives sometimes differ, results also show that reliable answers can be obtained with all three wording alternatives. So, for survey practice, these results suggest that all three wording alternatives may be used for attitude measurement.

When is a research question not a research question?

Science.gov (United States)

Mayo, Nancy E; Asano, Miho; Barbic, Skye Pamela

2013-06-01

Research is undertaken to answer important questions yet often the question is poorly expressed and lacks information on the population, the exposure or intervention, the comparison, and the outcome. An optimal research question sets out what the investigator wants to know, not what the investigator might do, nor what the results of the study might ultimately contribute. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the extent to which rehabilitation scientists optimally define their research questions. A cross-sectional survey of the rehabilitation research articles published during 2008. Two raters independently rated each question according to pre-specified criteria; a third rater adjudicated all discrepant ratings. The proportion of the 258 articles with a question formulated as methods or expected contribution and not as what knowledge was being sought was 65%; 30% of questions required reworking. The designs which most often had poorly formulated research questions were randomized trials, cross-sectional and measurement studies. Formulating the research question is not purely a semantic concern. When the question is poorly formulated, the design, analysis, sample size calculations, and presentation of results may not be optimal. The gap between research and clinical practice could be bridged by a clear, complete, and informative research question.

Improving English Reading Comprehension Ability through Survey, Questions, Read, Record, Recite, Review Strategy (SQ4R)

Science.gov (United States)

Khusniyah, Nurul Lailatul; Lustyantie, Ninuk

2017-01-01

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of the survey, questions, read, record, recite, review (SQ4R) strategy of the reading comprehension ability students of 2nd semester. The research study was used action research method. The sampling was taken by 34 students. The validity of data used credibility, transferability, dependability, and…

Questions and Questioning Techniques: A View of Indonesian Students’ Preferences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Debora Tri Ragawanti

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This study investigated students’ preference on teacher’s questions and questionings techniques and more importantly on how they could facilitate or impede their learning. The results on teacher’s questioning techniques showed that random nomination was more preferred than pre-arranged format nomination. In addition, techniques of nominating volunteering students and of giving wait-time were disliked by most student-respondents. As for types of question, the yes/no question was favored by most of the respondents. Different from the yes/no question, the number of respondents leaning forward to the analysis question, questions about fact of life, and questions to state opinion did not show a significant difference from the number of those leaning against the same questions.

Explaining topic prevalence in answers to open-ended survey questions about climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Tvinnereim, Endre; Fløttum, Kjersti

2015-08-01

Citizens’ opinions are crucial for action on climate change, but are, owing to the complexity of the issue, diverse and potentially unformed. We contribute to the understanding of public views on climate change and to knowledge needed by decision-makers by using a new approach to analyse answers to the open survey question `what comes to mind when you hear the words `climate change’?’. We apply automated text analysis, specifically structural topic modelling, which induces distinct topics based on the relative frequencies of the words used in 2,115 responses. From these data, originating from the new, nationally representative Norwegian Citizen Panel, four distinct topics emerge: Weather/Ice, Future/Impact, Money/Consumption and Attribution. We find that Norwegians emphasize societal aspects of climate change more than do respondents in previous US and UK studies. Furthermore, variables that explain variation in closed questions, such as gender and education, yield different and surprising results when employed to explain variation in what respondents emphasize. Finally, the sharp distinction between scepticism and acceptance of conventional climate science, often seen in previous studies, blurs in many textual responses as scepticism frequently turns into ambivalence.

Translating Answers to Open-Ended Survey Questions in Cross-Cultural Research: A Case Study on the Interplay between Translation, Coding, and Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Behr, Dorothée

2015-01-01

Open-ended probing questions in cross-cultural surveys help uncover equivalence problems in cross-cultural survey research. For languages that a project team does not understand, probe answers need to be translated into a common project language. This article presents a case study on translating open-ended, that is, narrative answers. It describes…

Spouses of Military Members' Experiences and Insights: Qualitative Analysis of Responses to an Open-Ended Question in a Survey of Health and Wellbeing

Science.gov (United States)

Runge, Catherine E.; Waller, Michael; MacKenzie, Alison; McGuire, Annabel C. L.

2014-01-01

Introduction There are few studies on the experiences of spouses of military members, with most focused on adverse impacts of deployment. Responses to an open-ended question in a survey of spouses' health and wellbeing enabled access to perceptions and insights on a broad range of topics. The objective of this investigation was to examine how respondents used the open-ended question and what they discussed, in aim of informing support service agencies and spouses of military members. Methods Thematic analysis was conducted on responses to the open-ended question. Descriptive analysis was performed on the demographics, military member characteristics and self-reported health of respondents and non-respondents to the open-ended question. Findings Over a quarter (28.5%) of the 1,332 survey participants answered the open-ended question, with respondents having a significantly higher level of education than non–respondents. Respondents expressed negative and positive experiences and insights on military life, provided personal information, commented on the survey, and qualified their responses to closed-ended questions. Topics included ‘inadequate support’, ‘deployment impacts’, ‘suggestions for supporting agencies’, ‘appraisal of experiences’ and ‘coping strategies’. Conclusions This investigation uncovered issues of importance to spouses of military members that were not included or identified in a quantitative study. The findings provide a platform from which to explore these issues further, particularly the impact of military life on the non-serving spouse's career. The findings also provide support agencies with evidence to strengthen their services and they give spouses an opportunity to reflect on their own and others' feelings and evaluations of military life. PMID:25479135

Semi-automated categorization of open-ended questions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthias Schonlau

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Text data from open-ended questions in surveys are difficult to analyze and are frequently ignored. Yet open-ended questions are important because they do not constrain respondents’ answer choices. Where open-ended questions are necessary, sometimes multiple human coders hand-code answers into one of several categories. At the same time, computer scientists have made impressive advances in text mining that may allow automation of such coding. Automated algorithms do not achieve an overall accuracy high enough to entirely replace humans. We categorize open-ended questions soliciting narrative responses using text mining for easy-to-categorize answers and humans for the remainder using expected accuracies to guide the choice of the threshold delineating between “easy” and “hard”. Employing multinomial boosting avoids the common practice of converting machine learning “confidence scores” into pseudo-probabilities. This approach is illustrated with examples from open-ended questions related to respondents’ advice to a patient in a hypothetical dilemma, a follow-up probe related to respondents’ perception of disclosure/privacy risk, and from a question on reasons for quitting smoking from a follow-up survey from the Ontario Smoker’s Helpline. Targeting 80% combined accuracy, we found that 54%-80% of the data could be categorized automatically in research surveys.

Question order sensitivity of subjective well-being measures: focus on life satisfaction, self-rated health, and subjective life expectancy in survey instruments.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sunghee; McClain, Colleen; Webster, Noah; Han, Saram

2016-10-01

This study examines the effect of question context created by order in questionnaires on three subjective well-being measures: life satisfaction, self-rated health, and subjective life expectancy. We conducted two Web survey experiments. The first experiment (n = 648) altered the order of life satisfaction and self-rated health: (1) life satisfaction asked immediately after self-rated health; (2) self-rated health immediately after life satisfaction; and (3) two items placed apart. We examined their correlation coefficient by experimental condition and further examined its interaction with objective health. The second experiment (n = 479) asked life expectancy before and after parental mortality questions. Responses to life expectancy were compared by order using ANOVA, and we examined interaction with parental mortality status using ANCOVA. Additionally, response time and probes were examined. Correlation coefficients between self-rated health and life satisfaction differed significantly by order: 0.313 (life satisfaction first), 0.508 (apart), and 0.643 (self-rated health first). Differences were larger among respondents with chronic conditions. Response times were the shortest when self-rated health was asked first. When life expectancy asked after parental mortality questions, respondents reported considering parents more for answering life expectancy; and respondents with deceased parents reported significantly lower expectancy, but not those whose parents were alive. Question context effects exist. Findings suggest placing life satisfaction and self-rated health apart to avoid artificial attenuation or inflation in their association. Asking about parental mortality prior to life expectancy appears advantageous as this leads respondents to consider parental longevity more, an important factor for true longevity.

Does the sequence of data collection influence participants' responses to closed and open-ended questions? A methodological study.

Science.gov (United States)

Covell, Christine L; Sidani, Souraya; Ritchie, Judith A

2012-06-01

The sequence used for collecting quantitative and qualitative data in concurrent mixed-methods research may influence participants' responses. Empirical evidence is needed to determine if the order of data collection in concurrent mixed methods research biases participants' responses to closed and open-ended questions. To examine the influence of the quantitative-qualitative sequence on responses to closed and open-ended questions when assessing the same variables or aspects of a phenomenon simultaneously within the same study phase. A descriptive cross-sectional, concurrent mixed-methods design was used to collect quantitative (survey) and qualitative (interview) data. The setting was a large multi-site health care centre in Canada. A convenience sample of 50 registered nurses was selected and participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two sequences for data collection, quantitative-qualitative or qualitative-quantitative. Independent t-tests were performed to compare the two groups' responses to the survey items. Directed content analysis was used to compare the participants' responses to the interview questions. The sequence of data collection did not greatly affect the participants' responses to the closed-ended questions (survey items) or the open-ended questions (interview questions). The sequencing of data collection, when using both survey and semi-structured interviews, may not bias participants' responses to closed or open-ended questions. Additional research is required to confirm these findings. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A method for additive bias correction in cross-cultural surveys

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Scholderer, Joachim; Grunert, Klaus G.; Brunsø, Karen

2001-01-01

additive bias from cross-cultural data. The procedure involves four steps: (1) embed a potentially biased item in a factor-analytic measurement model, (2) test for the existence of additive bias between populations, (3) use the factor-analytic model to estimate the magnitude of the bias, and (4) replace......Measurement bias in cross-cultural surveys can seriously threaten the validity of hypothesis tests. Direct comparisons of means depend on the assumption that differences in observed variables reflect differences in the underlying constructs, and not an additive bias that may be caused by cultural...... differences in the understanding of item wording or response category labels. However, experience suggests that additive bias can be found more often than not. Based on the concept of partial measurement invariance (Byrne, Shavelson and Muthén, 1989), the present paper develops a procedure for eliminating...

Allocation of expenditures within the household: A new Danish survey*

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bonke, Jens; Browning, Martin

We report on a new data initiative that is designed to address the question of “who gets what” within the household. The data consists of supplements to the Danish Expenditure Survey (DES) which is a traditional nationally representative, diary based survey of expenditures. We collect supplementary...... data of two kinds for all couples (with or without children) in the survey. The first addition is that respondents report on the intra-household allocation of each item of expenditure (‘joint’, ‘her’, ‘him’, ‘children’ and ‘outside’). The second addition is an extra set of ‘sociological’ questions...... concerning household management, autonomy and family background. These types of information for the same respondents may facilitate research bridging the divergent views of economist and sociologists concerning the allocation of resources within the household. The paper focuses on the survey design and gives...

Ninth Triennial Toxicology Salary Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Gad, Shayne Cox; Sullivan, Dexter Wayne

2016-01-01

This survey serves as the ninth in a series of toxicology salary surveys conducted at 3-year intervals and beginning in 1988. An electronic survey instrument was distributed to 5919 individuals including members of the Society of Toxicology, American College of Toxicology, and 23 additional professional organizations. Question items inquired about gender, age, degree, years of experience, certifications held, areas of specialization, society membership, employment and income. Overall, 1293 responses were received (response rate 21.8%). The results of the 2014 survey provide insight into the job market and career path for current and future toxicologists. © The Author(s) 2016.

Survey process quality: a question of healthcare manager approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Nilsson, Petra; Blomqvist, Kerstin

2017-08-14

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how healthcare first-line managers think about and act regarding workplace survey processes. Design/methodology/approach This interview study was performed at a hospital in south Sweden. First-line healthcare managers ( n=24) volunteered. The analysis was inspired by phenomenography, which aims to describe the ways in which different people experience a phenomenon. The phenomenon was a workplace health promotion (WHP) survey processes. Findings Four main WHP survey process approaches were identified among the managers: as a possibility, as a competition, as a work task among others and as an imposition. For each, three common subcategories emerged; how managers: stated challenges and support from hospital management; described their own work group and collaboration with other managers; and expressed themselves and their situation in their roles as first-line managers. Practical implications Insights into how hospital management can understand their first-line managers' motivation for survey processes and practical suggestions and how managers can work proactively at organizational, group and individual level are presented. Originality/value Usually these studies focus on those who should respond to a survey; not those who should run the survey process. Focusing on managers and not co-workers can lead to more committed and empowered managers and thereby success in survey processes.

A Delphi Method Analysis to Create an Emergency Medicine Educational Patient Satisfaction Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kory S. London

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Feedback on patient satisfaction (PS as a means to monitor and improve performance in patient communication is lacking in residency training. A physician’s promotion, compensation and job satisfaction may be impacted by his individual PS scores, once he is in practice. Many communication and satisfaction surveys exist but none focus on the emergency department setting for educational purposes. The goal of this project was to create an emergency medicine-based educational PS survey with strong evidence for content validity. Methods: We used the Delphi Method (DM to obtain expert opinion via an iterative process of surveying. Questions were mined from four PS surveys as well as from group suggestion. The DM analysis determined the structure, content and appropriate use of the tool. The group used four-point Likert-type scales and Lynn’s criteria for content validity to determine relevant questions from the stated goals. Results: Twelve recruited experts participated in a series of seven surveys to achieve consensus. A 10-question, single-page survey with an additional page of qualitative questions and demographic questions was selected. Thirty one questions were judged to be relevant from an original 48-question list. Of these, the final 10 questions were chosen. Response rates for individual survey items was 99.5%. Conclusion: The DM produced a consensus survey with content validity evidence. Future work will be needed to obtain evidence for response process, internal structure and construct validity.

Collaborative Chat Reference Service Effectiveness Varies by Question Type for Public Library Patrons. A review of: Kwon, Nahyun. ʺPublic Library Patronsʹ Use of Collaborative Chat Reference Service: The Effectiveness of Question Answering by Question Type.ʺ Library & Information Science Research 29.1 (Mar. 2007: 70‐91.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephanie Hall

2008-03-01

Full Text Available Objective – To assess the effectiveness of a collaborative chat reference service in answering different types of question. Specifically, the study compares the degree of answer completion and the level of user satisfaction for simple factual questions vs. more in‐depth subject‐based reference questions, and for ‘local’ (pertaining to a particular library and non‐local questions.Design – Content analysis of 415 transcripts of reference transactions, which were also compared to corresponding user satisfaction survey results.Setting – An online collaborative reference service offered by a large public library system (33 branch and regional locations. This service is part of the Metropolitan Cooperative Library System: a virtual reference consortium of U.S. libraries (public, academic, special, and corporate that provides 24/7 service.Subjects – Reference librarians from around the U.S. (49 different libraries, and users logging into the service via the public library system’s portal (primarily patrons of the 49 libraries. Method – Content analysis was used to evaluate virtual reference transcripts recorded between January and June, 2004. Reliability was enhanced through triangulation, with researchers comparing the content analysis of each transcript against the results of a voluntary exit survey. Of 1,387 transactions that occurred during the period of study, 420 users completed the survey and these formed the basis of the study, apart from 5 transactions that were omitted because the questions were incomprehensible. Questions were examined and assigned to five categories: “simple, factual questions; subject‐based research questions; resource access questions; circulation‐related questions; and local library information inquiries” (80‐81. Answers were classed as either “completely answered, partially answered or unanswered, referred, and problematic endings” (82. Lastly, user satisfaction was surveyed on three

A procedure for eliminating additive bias from cross-cultural survey data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Scholderer, Joachim; Grunert, Klaus G.; Brunsø, Karen

2005-01-01

additive bias from cross-cultural data. The procedure involves four steps: (1) embed a potentially biased item in a factor-analytic measurement model, (2) test for the existence of additive bias between populations, (3) use the factor-analytic model to estimate the magnitude of the bias, and (4) replace......Measurement bias in cross-cultural surveys can seriously threaten the validity of hypothesis tests. Direct comparisons of means depend on the assumption that differences in observed variables reflect differences in the underlying constructs, and not an additive bias that may be caused by cultural...... differences in the understanding of item wording or response category labels. However, experience suggests that additive bias can be found more often than not. Based on the concept of partial measurement invariance (Byrne, Shavelson and Muthén 1989), the present paper develops a procedure for eliminating...

Question Inventory on Tobacco (QIT)

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — 1965, 1966, 1970, 1974-2017. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Office on Smoking and Health (OSH). Tobacco-Related Survey Questions. The QIT is a...

Radiation protection in questions and answers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ewen, K.; Hoppe, G.

1976-01-01

An easily surveyable catalogue of questions is presented which is to make it easier for medical personnel to get acquainted with the basic knowledge according to the X-ray Ordinance and to acquire the expert knowledge in radiation protection. The catalogue is arranged according to different subjects. There are several alternative answers to every question. The right answer is given in the solution index (annex). (HP) [de

The Role Of Gender In Asking Questions At Cool Stars 18 And 19

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Sarah J.; Douglas, Stephanie; Gosnell, Natalie M.; Muirhead, Philip S.; Booth, Rachel S.; Davenport, James R. A.; Mace, Gregory N.

2016-12-01

We examine the gender balance of the 18th and 19th meetings of the Cambridge Workshop on Cool Stellar Systems and the Sun (CS18 and CS19). The percent of female attendees at both meetings (31% at CS18 and 37% at CS19) was higher than the percent of women in the American Astronomical Society (25%) and the International Astronomical Union (18%). The representation of women in Cool Stars as SOC members, invited speakers, and contributed speakers was similar to or exceeded the percent of women attending the meetings. We requested that conference attendees assist in a project to collect data on the gender of astronomers asking questions after talks. Using this data, we found that men were over-represented (and women were under-represented) in the question sessions after each talk. Men asked 79% of the questions at CS18 and 75% of the questions at CS19, but were 69% and 63% of the attendees respectively. Contrary to findings from previous conferences, we did not find that the gender balance of questions was strongly affected by the session chair gender, the speaker gender, or the length of the question period. We also found that female and male speakers were asked a comparable number of questions after each talk. The contrast of these results from previous incarnations of the gender questions survey indicate that more data would be useful in understanding the factors that contribute to the gender balance of question askers. We include a preliminary set of recommendations based on this and other work on related topics, but also advocate for additional research on the demographics of conference participants. Additional data on the intersection of gender with race, seniority, sexual orientation, ability and other marginalized identities is necessary to fully address the role of gender in asking questions at conferences.

Unanswered clinical questions: a survey of specialists and primary care providers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ellen Brassil, MSLS, MAT, AHIP

2017-01-01

Conclusions: While the reasons for unanswered clinical questions varied, thoughtful review of the responses suggested that a combination of educational strategies, embedded librarian services, and technology applications could help providers pursue answers to their clinical questions, enhance patient safety, and contribute to patient-based, self-directed learning.

Interviewer Effects on a Network-Size Filter Question

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Josten Michael

2016-06-01

Full Text Available There is evidence that survey interviewers may be tempted to manipulate answers to filter questions in a way that minimizes the number of follow-up questions. This becomes relevant when ego-centered network data are collected. The reported network size has a huge impact on interview duration if multiple questions on each alter are triggered. We analyze interviewer effects on a network-size question in the mixed-mode survey “Panel Study ‘Labour Market and Social Security’” (PASS, where interviewers could skip up to 15 follow-up questions by generating small networks. Applying multilevel models, we find almost no interviewer effects in CATI mode, where interviewers are paid by the hour and frequently supervised. In CAPI, however, where interviewers are paid by case and no close supervision is possible, we find strong interviewer effects on network size. As the area-specific network size is known from telephone mode, where allocation to interviewers is random, interviewer and area effects can be separated. Furthermore, a difference-in-difference analysis reveals the negative effect of introducing the follow-up questions in Wave 3 on CAPI network size. Attempting to explain interviewer effects we neither find significant main effects of experience within a wave, nor significantly different slopes between interviewers.

"Hot Seat" Questioning: A Technique to Promote and Evaluate Student Dialogue

Science.gov (United States)

Crider, Anthony

Several approaches have been proposed to include students in classroom dialogue, including "think-pair-share" and "talk to your neighbor." I recently implemented an additional technique in which four students answer questions in a "Hot Seat" at the front of the classroom. An unforeseen by-product of this was student-initiated peer instruction outside of the classroom. A small case study (approximately 50 students) on the effect of the Hot Seat using the midterm exam showed that students were 9.5 +/- 3.2% more likely to correctly answer a question related to material covered while they occupied the Hot Seat. Analysis of the Astronomy Diagnostic Test revealed that they were twice as likely to learn their Hot Seat material. A survey revealed one likely reason: Students typically spent 15-60 additional minutes preparing for class on their two assigned Hot Seat dates. Curiously, students received no significant benefit (2.2 +/- 3.6%) from their second turn in the Hot Seat, possibly reflecting student immunization to its motivational pressure.

Low alloy additions of iron, silicon, and aluminum to uranium: a literature survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ludwig, R.L.

1980-01-01

A survey of the literature has been made on the experimental results of small additions of iron, silicon, and aluminum to uranium. Information is also included on the constitution, mechanical properties, heat treatment, and deformation of various binary and ternary alloys. 42 references, 24 figures, 13 tables

[Dentists' Knowledge of Ethical Questions Regarding Dental Medicine - A Survey of Dentists from Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia (Germany)].

Science.gov (United States)

Schochow, M; Christel, A; Lautenschläger, C; Steger, F

2016-12-01

Background: Subjects regarding ethical questions in dental medicine are only slightly touched in the study of dental medicine or in the working regulations of the dentists' association. However, dentists are confronted with these matters in everyday working life. The empirical study at hand collects current data regarding the ethical knowledge about dental medicine in the practical experience of dentists in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. Methods: The tool used in the survey was a structured questionnaire. Out of 600 randomly chosen and contacted dentists from Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia, 290 replied (response rate: 48.3%). The anonymised assessment took place between June and November 2013. Results: Dentists frequently encounter ethical questions regarding dental matters. The dentists interviewed in the study are in favour of a participative relationship between patient and dentist. Simultaneously, the patient's health is predominantly seen as the good of higher value than his or her self-determination. The dentists show competent knowledge of ethical dental subjects, although increased uncertainties could be observed in more complex situations, e. g. considering contact with patients who are HIV-positive. Conclusions: Questions dealing with dental ethical questions do play a major role in the daily professional life of dentists. In order to further support and strengthen dentists in their individual dental ethical competence, we see a need for advanced training and further education regarding questions and problems in the area of ethics in dental medicine. Also, these topics should become a component in the curriculum of the study of dental medicine. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Barriers to optimal care between physicians and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning adolescent patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Kitts, Robert Li

2010-01-01

The objective of this article was to identify barriers to optimal care between physicians and LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning) adolescents. To this end, 464 anonymous, self-administered surveys were distributed in 2003 to residents and attending physicians in pediatrics, internal medicine, obstetrics-gynecology, psychiatry, emergency medicine, and family practice at Upstate Medical University. The survey included questions pertaining to practice, knowledge, and attitude pertaining to lesbian, gay, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ) adolescents. One hundred eight four surveys were returned. The majority of physicians would not regularly discuss sexual orientation, sexual attraction, or gender identity while taking a sexual history from a sexually active adolescent. As well, the majority of physicians would not ask patients about sexual orientation if an adolescent presented with depression, suicidal thoughts, or had attempted suicide. If an adolescent stated that he or she was not sexually active, 41% of physicians reported that they would not ask additional sexual health-related questions. Only 57% agreed to an association between being a LGBTQ adolescent and suicide. The majority of physicians did not believe that they had all the skills they needed to address issues of sexual orientation with adolescents, and that sexual orientation should be addressed more often with these patients and in the course of training. This study concludes that barriers in providing optimal care for LGBTQ adolescents can be found with regard to practice, knowledge, and attitude regardless of medical field and other demographics collected. Opportunities exist to enhance care for LGBTQ adolescents.

2012 Mask Industry Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Malloy, Matt; Litt, Lloyd C.

2012-11-01

A survey supported by SEMATECH and administered by David Powell Consulting was sent to semiconductor industry leaders to gather information about the mask industry as an objective assessment of its overall condition. The survey was designed with the input of semiconductor company mask technologists and merchant mask suppliers. 2012 marks the 11th consecutive year for the mask industry survey. This year's survey and reporting structure are similar to those of the previous years with minor modifications based on feedback from past years and the need to collect additional data on key topics. Categories include general mask information, mask processing, data and write time, yield and yield loss, delivery times, and maintenance and returns. Within each category are multiple questions that result in a detailed profile of both the business and technical status of the mask industry. Results, initial observations, and key comparisons between the 2011 and 2012 survey responses are shown here, including multiple indications of a shift towards the manufacturing of higher end photomasks.

Assessing Measurement Error in Medicare Coverage From the National Health Interview Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Gindi, Renee; Cohen, Robin A.

2012-01-01

Objectives Using linked administrative data, to validate Medicare coverage estimates among adults aged 65 or older from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), and to assess the impact of a recently added Medicare probe question on the validity of these estimates. Data sources Linked 2005 NHIS and Master Beneficiary Record and Payment History Update System files from the Social Security Administration (SSA). Study design We compared Medicare coverage reported on NHIS with “benchmark” benefit records from SSA. Principal findings With the addition of the probe question, more reports of coverage were captured, and the agreement between the NHIS-reported coverage and SSA records increased from 88% to 95%. Few additional overreports were observed. Conclusions Increased accuracy of the Medicare coverage status of NHIS participants was achieved with the Medicare probe question. Though some misclassification remains, data users interested in Medicare coverage as an outcome or correlate can use this survey measure with confidence. PMID:24800138

THE GALACTIC O-STAR SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY (GOSSS). III. 142 ADDITIONAL O-TYPE SYSTEMS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Apellániz, J. Maíz; Sota, A.; Alfaro, E. J.; Arias, J. I.; Barbá, R. H.; Walborn, N. R.; Simón-Díaz, S.; Herrero, A.; Negueruela, I.; Marco, A.; Leão, J. R. S.; Gamen, R. C.

2016-01-01

This is the third installment of the Galactic O-Star Spectroscopic Survey (GOSSS), a massive spectroscopic survey of Galactic O stars, based on new homogeneous, high signal-to-noise ratio, R  ∼ 2500 digital observations selected from the Galactic O-Star Catalog. In this paper, we present 142 additional stellar systems with O stars from both hemispheres, bringing the total of O-type systems published within the project to 590. Among the new objects, there are 20 new O stars. We also identify 11 new double-lined spectroscopic binaries, 6 of which are of O+O type and 5 of O+B type, and an additional new tripled-lined spectroscopic binary of O+O+B type. We also revise some of the previous GOSSS classifications, present some egregious examples of stars erroneously classified as O-type in the past, introduce the use of luminosity class IV at spectral types O4-O5.5, and adapt the classification scheme to the work of Arias et al.

THE GALACTIC O-STAR SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY (GOSSS). III. 142 ADDITIONAL O-TYPE SYSTEMS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Apellániz, J. Maíz [Centro de Astrobiología, CSIC-INTA, campus ESAC, camino bajo del castillo s/n, E-28 692 Madrid (Spain); Sota, A.; Alfaro, E. J. [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía-CSIC, Glorieta de la Astronomía s/n, E-18 008 Granada (Spain); Arias, J. I.; Barbá, R. H. [Departamento de Física, Universidad de La Serena, Av. Cisternas 1200 Norte, La Serena (Chile); Walborn, N. R. [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21 218 (United States); Simón-Díaz, S.; Herrero, A. [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, E-38 200 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain); Negueruela, I.; Marco, A. [DFISTS, EPS, Universidad de Alicante, carretera San Vicente del Raspeig s/n, E-03 690 Alicante (Spain); Leão, J. R. S. [Univ. Federal do Rio Grande do Norte—UFRN, Caixa Postal 1524, CEP 59 078-970, Natal—RN (Brazil); Gamen, R. C., E-mail: jmaiz@cab.inta-csic.es [Instituto de Astrofísica de La Plata (CONICET, UNLP), Paseo del Bosque s/n, 1900 La Plata (Argentina)

2016-05-01

This is the third installment of the Galactic O-Star Spectroscopic Survey (GOSSS), a massive spectroscopic survey of Galactic O stars, based on new homogeneous, high signal-to-noise ratio, R  ∼ 2500 digital observations selected from the Galactic O-Star Catalog. In this paper, we present 142 additional stellar systems with O stars from both hemispheres, bringing the total of O-type systems published within the project to 590. Among the new objects, there are 20 new O stars. We also identify 11 new double-lined spectroscopic binaries, 6 of which are of O+O type and 5 of O+B type, and an additional new tripled-lined spectroscopic binary of O+O+B type. We also revise some of the previous GOSSS classifications, present some egregious examples of stars erroneously classified as O-type in the past, introduce the use of luminosity class IV at spectral types O4-O5.5, and adapt the classification scheme to the work of Arias et al.

A Comparison of the Cheater Detection and the Unrelated Question Models: A Randomized Response Survey on Physical and Cognitive Doping in Recreational Triathletes

Science.gov (United States)

Schröter, Hannes; Studzinski, Beatrix; Dietz, Pavel; Ulrich, Rolf; Striegel, Heiko; Simon, Perikles

2016-01-01

Purpose This study assessed the prevalence of physical and cognitive doping in recreational triathletes with two different randomized response models, that is, the Cheater Detection Model (CDM) and the Unrelated Question Model (UQM). Since both models have been employed in assessing doping, the major objective of this study was to investigate whether the estimates of these two models converge. Material and Methods An anonymous questionnaire was distributed to 2,967 athletes at two triathlon events (Frankfurt and Wiesbaden, Germany). Doping behavior was assessed either with the CDM (Frankfurt sample, one Wiesbaden subsample) or the UQM (one Wiesbaden subsample). A generalized likelihood-ratio test was employed to check whether the prevalence estimates differed significantly between models. In addition, we compared the prevalence rates of the present survey with those of a previous study on a comparable sample. Results After exclusion of incomplete questionnaires and outliers, the data of 2,017 athletes entered the final data analysis. Twelve-month prevalence for physical doping ranged from 4% (Wiesbaden, CDM and UQM) to 12% (Frankfurt CDM), and for cognitive doping from 1% (Wiesbaden, CDM) to 9% (Frankfurt CDM). The generalized likelihood-ratio test indicated no differences in prevalence rates between the two methods. Furthermore, there were no significant differences in prevalences between the present (undertaken in 2014) and the previous survey (undertaken in 2011), although the estimates tended to be smaller in the present survey. Discussion The results suggest that the two models can provide converging prevalence estimates. The high rate of cheaters estimated by the CDM, however, suggests that the present results must be seen as a lower bound and that the true prevalence of doping might be considerably higher. PMID:27218830

The prime questions in authentic patient's consultations: a call for additional research on current and new paradigms.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Hanh Thi

2013-01-01

Although the 3 prime questions ("What did your doctor tell you the medication is for?" "How did your doctor tell you to take the medication?," and "What did your doctor tell you to expect?") have been recommended as a way to implement an interactive approach to patient's counseling in pharmacy, research examining how these questions are actually used in practice is relatively sparse. Qualitative approaches might assist to inform pertinent questions that might challenge prevailing paradigms. This commentary calls for a close look at how novice pharmacists in training manage these questions in real-life patient's consultations. These examples are aimed to provide preliminary observations about (1) how the prime questions in their original and modified forms are treated by pharmacists in training and patients, and (2) the interactional functions that the prime questions and similar questions may serve. Preliminary observations based on a conversation analysis of these examples show that the open-ended nature of the original prime questions sometimes leads to interactional problems such as delays in patients' responses and pharmacists' revision of the questions. Modified question formats that involve the use of specific knowledge expected to be possessed by a pharmacist, such as declarative questions and Q-word questions with concrete information, may lead to smoother interaction. Finally, questions about the purpose of the therapy may also be used to create opportunities to express empathy toward the patient or to shift the zone of expertise to the doctor. These initial findings suggest a more context sensitive and adaptive approach to communication in pharmacy. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Asking a Great Question: A Librarian Teaches Questioning Skills to First-Year Medical Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Nancy E

2015-01-01

In a single one-hour session, first-year medical students were taught a framework for differentiating between lower-order questions that lead to knowledge of facts and higher-order questions that lead to integration of concepts and deeper learning, thereby preparing them for problem-based learning (PBL). Students generated lists of questions in response to an assertion prompt and categorized them according to Bloom's Taxonomy. These data were analyzed in addition to data from the course exam, which asked them to formulate a higher-level question in response to a prompt. Categorizing questions according to Bloom's Taxonomy was a more difficult task for students than was formulating higher-order questions. Students reported that the skills that they learned were used in subsequent PBL sessions to formulate higher-order learning objectives that integrated new and previously-learned concepts.

Questioning the Questions

Science.gov (United States)

Tienken, Christopher H.; Goldberg, Stephanie; DiRocco, Dominic

2010-01-01

Historical accounts of questioning used in the education process trace back to Socrates. One of the best examples of his use of questioning is found in Plato's "The Republic." Socrates used a series of strategic questions to help his student Glaucon come to understand the concept of justice. Socrates purposefully posed a series of…

The Question Complexity Rubric: Development and Application for a National Archive of Astro 101 Multiple-Choice Questions

Science.gov (United States)

Cormier, Sebastien; Prather, E. E.; Brissenden, G.; Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars CATS

2011-01-01

For the last two years we have been developing an online national archive of multiple-choice questions for use in the Astro 101 classroom. These questions are intended to either supplement an instructor's implementation of Think-Pair-Share or be used for assessment purposes (i.e. exams and homework). In this talk we will describe the development, testing and implementation of the Question Complexity Rubric (QCR), which is designed to guide the ranking of questions in this archive based on their conceptual complexity. Using the QCR, a score is assigned to differentiate each question based on the cognitive steps necessary to comprehensively explain the reasoning pathway to the correct answer. The lowest QCR score is given to questions with a reasoning pathway requiring only declarative knowledge whereas the highest QCR score is given to questions that require multiple pathways of multi-step reasoning. When completed, the online question archive will provide users with the utility to 1) search for and download questions based on subject and average QCR score, 2) use the QCR to score questions, and 3) add their own questions to the archive. We will also discuss other potential applications of the QCR, such as how it informs our work in developing and testing of survey instruments by allowing us to calibrate the range of question complexity. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0715517, a CCLI Phase III Grant for the Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars (CATS). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Survey of diagnostic and treatment practices for multiple sclerosis in Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández, O; Delvecchio, M; Edan, G; Fredrikson, S; Gionvannoni, G; Hartung, H-P; Havrdova, E; Kappos, L; Pozzilli, C; Soerensen, P S; Tackenberg, B; Vermersch, P; Comi, G

2017-03-01

Up-to-date information is needed on the extent to which neurologists treating multiple sclerosis (MS) in Europe are integrating rapidly evolving diagnostic criteria, disease-modifying therapies and recommendations for monitoring disease activity into their clinical practice. A steering committee of MS neurologists used a modified Delphi process to develop case- and practice-based questions for two sequential surveys distributed to MS neurologists throughout Europe. Case-based questions were developed for radiologically isolated syndrome (RIS), clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) and RRMS with breakthrough disease. Multiple sclerosis neurologists from 11 European countries responded to survey 1 (n = 233) and survey 2 (n = 171). Respondents agreed that they would not treat the patients in the RIS or CIS cases but would treat a patient with a relatively mild form of RRMS. Choice of treatment was evenly distributed among first-line injectables and oral treatments for mild RRMS, and moved to second-line treatment as the RRMS case increased in severity. Additional results on RRMS with breakthrough disease are presented. Although there was general agreement on some aspects of treatment, responses to other management and clinical practice questions varied considerably. These results, which reflect current clinical practice patterns, highlight the need for additional MS treatment education and awareness and may help inform the development of MS practice guidelines in Europe. © 2017 EAN.

"Suntelligence" Survey

Science.gov (United States)

... to the American Academy of Dermatology's "Suntelligence" sun-smart survey. Please answer the following questions to measure ... be able to view a ranking of major cities suntelligence based on residents' responses to this survey. ...

A cross-cultural survey of residents' perceived barriers in questioning/challenging authority.

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, H; Pian-Smith, M; Sato, M; Sawa, R; Takeshita, T; Raemer, D

2006-08-01

To identify perceived barriers to residents' questioning or challenging their seniors, to determine how these barriers affect decisions, and to assess how these barriers differ across cultures. A written questionnaire was administered to residents in teaching hospitals in the US and Japan to assess factors affecting residents' willingness to question or challenge their superiors. The responses were analyzed for statistical significance of differences between the two cultures and to determine the importance of issues affecting decisions. Questionnaires were completed by 175 US and 65 Japanese residents, with an overall response rate of 71%. Trainees from both countries believe that questioning and challenging contribute to safety. The perceived importance of specific beliefs about the workplace differed across cultures in seven out of 22 questions. Residents' decisions to make a challenge were related to the relationships and perceived response of the superiors. There was no statistical difference between the US and Japanese residents in terms of the threshold for challenging their seniors. We have identified attributes of residents' beliefs of communication, including several cross-cultural differences in the importance of values and issues affecting one's decision to question or challenge. In contrast, there was no difference in the threshold for challenging seniors by the Japanese and US residents studied. Changes in organizational and professional culture may be as important, if not more so, than national culture to encourage "speaking up". Residents should be encouraged to overcome barriers to challenging, and training programs should foster improved relationships and communication between trainers and trainees.

Investigating Cognitive Effort and Response Quality of Question Formats in Web Surveys Using Paradata

Science.gov (United States)

Höhne, Jan Karem; Schlosser, Stephan; Krebs, Dagmar

2017-01-01

Measuring attitudes and opinions employing agree/disagree (A/D) questions is a common method in social research because it appears to be possible to measure different constructs with identical response scales. However, theoretical considerations suggest that A/D questions require a considerable cognitive processing. Item-specific (IS) questions,…

75 FR 4099 - Maintenance Wage Rate Wage Recommendation and Maintenance Wage Survey; Report of Additional...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-26

... DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT [Docket No. FR-5376-N-06] Maintenance Wage Rate Wage Recommendation and Maintenance Wage Survey; Report of Additional Classification and Wage Rate AGENCY: Office of... proposal. The information is used by HUD to determine or adopt prevailing wage rates for maintenance...

75 FR 37457 - Maintenance Wage Rate Wage Recommendation and Maintenance Wage Survey; Report of Additional...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-29

... DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT [Docket No. FR-5376-N-54] Maintenance Wage Rate Wage Recommendation and Maintenance Wage Survey; Report of Additional Classification and Wage Rate AGENCY: Office of... proposal. The information is used by HUD to determine or adopt prevailing wage rates for maintenance...

Surveying Parental Mediation: Connections, Challenges and Questions for Media Literacy

Science.gov (United States)

Mendoza, Kelly

2009-01-01

This paper examines three strategies of parental mediation--coviewing, restrictive mediation, and active mediation--in order to make connections, challenge, and raise questions for media literacy. Coviewing, whether it is intentional practice, or whether it functions to promote media literacy, is explored. Restrictive mediation, how it connects to…

FY14-Q1 1.2.1.3.ML.1 INL Biomass Feeding Survey Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tyler L. Westover

2014-04-01

Approximately 20 institutions were contacted by telephone and/or electronic mail and requested to provide responses to a survey on feeding biomass feedstock materials. Fourteen individuals responded. Responses from the participants, including information that was offered in addition to answers to the survey questions are summarized in this report, which fully meets the requirements of the milestone.

Annual Omnibus Survey: A survey of life in Qatar 2014

OpenAIRE

Diop, Abdoulaye; Gengler, Justin John; Khan, Mohammad N.; Traugott, Michael; Elawad, Elmogiera Fadlallh; Al Ansari, Majed; Le, Kien T.; El-Maghraby, Engi; Elkassem, Rima Charbaji; Qutteina, Yara; Al Khulaifi, Buthaina; Nasrallah, Catherine; Al Subaey, Mohammed; Mustafa, Semsia Al-Ali; Alqassass, Haneen

2015-01-01

This Executive Summary presents the highlights of the 2014 Omnibus survey, the fourth in a series of Omnibus surveys since 2010. The surveys were carried out by the Social and Economic Survey Research Institute (SESRI) of Qatar University. Each Omnibus survey interviews a large and representative sample of Qatari citizens, resident expatriates and laborers. In these surveys, we asked a number of questions covering several topics of importance to Qatari society, including their ...

VQABQ: Visual Question Answering by Basic Questions

KAUST Repository

Huang, Jia-Hong

2017-03-19

Taking an image and question as the input of our method, it can output the text-based answer of the query question about the given image, so called Visual Question Answering (VQA). There are two main modules in our algorithm. Given a natural language question about an image, the first module takes the question as input and then outputs the basic questions of the main given question. The second module takes the main question, image and these basic questions as input and then outputs the text-based answer of the main question. We formulate the basic questions generation problem as a LASSO optimization problem, and also propose a criterion about how to exploit these basic questions to help answer main question. Our method is evaluated on the challenging VQA dataset and yields state-of-the-art accuracy, 60.34% in open-ended task.

VQABQ: Visual Question Answering by Basic Questions

KAUST Repository

Huang, Jia-Hong; Alfadly, Modar; Ghanem, Bernard

2017-01-01

Taking an image and question as the input of our method, it can output the text-based answer of the query question about the given image, so called Visual Question Answering (VQA). There are two main modules in our algorithm. Given a natural language question about an image, the first module takes the question as input and then outputs the basic questions of the main given question. The second module takes the main question, image and these basic questions as input and then outputs the text-based answer of the main question. We formulate the basic questions generation problem as a LASSO optimization problem, and also propose a criterion about how to exploit these basic questions to help answer main question. Our method is evaluated on the challenging VQA dataset and yields state-of-the-art accuracy, 60.34% in open-ended task.

5 CFR 532.315 - Additional survey jobs.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

...: Specialized industry Specialized survey jobs Grade Aircraft Electronics Mechanic WG-11 Aircraft Structures... WG-9 Artillery and combat vehicles Automotive Mechanic (limited to data obtained in special... Electronics Electronics Mechanic WG-11 Industrial Electronic Controls Repairer WG-10 Electronic Test Equipment...

Collaboration challenges in systematic reviews: a survey of health sciences librarians.

Science.gov (United States)

Nicholson, Joey; McCrillis, Aileen; Williams, Jeff D

2017-10-01

While many librarians have been asked to participate in systematic reviews with researchers, often these researchers are not familiar with the systematic review process or the appropriate role for librarians. The purpose of this study was to identify the challenges and barriers that librarians face when collaborating on systematic reviews. To take a wider view of the whole process of collaborating on systematic reviews, the authors deliberately focused on interpersonal and methodological issues other than searching itself. To characterize the biggest challenges that librarians face while collaborating on systematic review projects, we used a web-based survey. The thirteen-item survey included seventeen challenges grouped into two categories: methodological and interpersonal. Participants were required to indicate the frequency and difficulty of the challenges listed. Open-ended questions allowed survey participants to describe challenges not listed in the survey and to describe strategies used to overcome challenges. Of the 17 challenges listed in the survey, 8 were reported as common by over 40% of respondents. These included methodological issues around having too broad or narrow research questions, lacking eligibility criteria, having unclear research questions, and not following established methods. The remaining challenges were interpersonal, including issues around student-led projects and the size of the research team. Of the top 8 most frequent challenges, 5 were also ranked as most difficult to handle. Open-ended responses underscored many of the challenges included in the survey and revealed several additional challenges. These results suggest that the most frequent and challenging issues relate to development of the research question and general communication with team members. Clear protocols for collaboration on systematic reviews, as well as a culture of mentorship, can help librarians prevent and address these challenges.

Collaboration challenges in systematic reviews: a survey of health sciences librarians

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joey Nicholson

2017-10-01

Results: Of the 17 challenges listed in the survey, 8 were reported as common by over 40% of respondents. These included methodological issues around having too broad or narrow research questions, lacking eligibility criteria, having unclear research questions, and not following established methods. The remaining challenges were interpersonal, including issues around student-led projects and the size of the research team. Of the top 8 most frequent challenges, 5 were also ranked as most difficult to handle. Open-ended responses underscored many of the challenges included in the survey and revealed several additional challenges. Conclusions: These results suggest that the most frequent and challenging issues relate to development of the research question and general communication with team members. Clear protocols for collaboration on systematic reviews, as well as a culture of mentorship, can help librarians prevent and address these challenges.  This article has been approved for the Medical Library Association’s Independent Reading Program.

Importance of questionnaire context for a physical activity question

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, M. E.; Sørensen, Mette Rosenlund; Ekholm, O.

2013-01-01

; however, this has never been shown for physical activity questions. The aim was to study the influence of different formulations and question order on self-report physical activity in a population-based health interview survey. Four samples of each 1000 adults were drawn at random from the National Person......Adequate information about physical activity habits is essential for surveillance, implementing, and evaluating public health initiatives in this area. Previous studies have shown that question order and differences in wording result in systematic differences in people's responses to questionnaires...... Register. A new question about physical activity was included with minor differences in formulations in samples 1–3. Furthermore, the question in sample 2 was included in sample 4 but was placed in the end of the questionnaire. The mean time spent on moderate physical activity varied between the four...

A practical guide to surveys and questionnaires.

Science.gov (United States)

Slattery, Eric L; Voelker, Courtney C J; Nussenbaum, Brian; Rich, Jason T; Paniello, Randal C; Neely, J Gail

2011-06-01

Surveys with questionnaires play a vital role in decision and policy making in society. Within medicine, including otolaryngology, surveys with questionnaires may be the only method for gathering data on rare or unusual events. In addition, questionnaires can be developed and validated to be used as outcome measures in clinical trials and other clinical research architecture. Consequently, it is fundamentally important that such tools be properly developed and validated. Just asking questions that have not gone through rigorous design and development may be misleading and unfair at best; at worst, they can result in under- or overtreatment and unnecessary expense. Furthermore, it is important that consumers of the data produced by these instruments understand the principles of questionnaire design to interpret results in an optimal and meaningful way. This article presents a practical guide for understanding the methodologies of survey and questionnaire design, including the concepts of validity and reliability, how surveys are administered and implemented, and, finally, biases and pitfalls of surveys.

2013 mask industry survey

Science.gov (United States)

Malloy, Matt

2013-09-01

A comprehensive survey was sent to merchant and captive mask shops to gather information about the mask industry as an objective assessment of its overall condition. 2013 marks the 12th consecutive year for this process. Historical topics including general mask profile, mask processing, data and write time, yield and yield loss, delivery times, maintenance, and returns were included and new topics were added. Within each category are multiple questions that result in a detailed profile of both the business and technical status of the mask industry. While each year's survey includes minor updates based on feedback from past years and the need to collect additional data on key topics, the bulk of the survey and reporting structure have remained relatively constant. A series of improvements is being phased in beginning in 2013 to add value to a wider audience, while at the same time retaining the historical content required for trend analyses of the traditional metrics. Additions in 2013 include topics such as top challenges, future concerns, and additional details in key aspects of mask masking, such as the number of masks per mask set per ground rule, minimum mask resolution shipped, and yield by ground rule. These expansions beyond the historical topics are aimed at identifying common issues, gaps, and needs. They will also provide a better understanding of real-life mask requirements and capabilities for comparison to the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS).

Questioning Questions: Elementary Teachers' Adaptations of Investigation Questions Across the Inquiry Continuum

Science.gov (United States)

Biggers, Mandy

2018-02-01

Questioning is a central practice in science classrooms. However, not every question translates into a "good" science investigation. Questions that drive science investigations can be provided by many sources including the teacher, the curriculum, or the student. The variations in the source of investigation questions were explored in this study. A dataset of 120 elementary science classroom videos and associated lesson plans from 40 elementary teachers (K-5) across 21 elementary school campuses were scored on an instrument measuring the amount of teacher-direction or student-direction of the lessons' investigation questions. Results indicated that the investigation questions were overwhelmingly teacher directed in nature, with no opportunities for students to develop their own questions for investigation. This study has implications for researchers and practitioners alike, calling attention to the teacher-directed nature of investigation questions in existing science curriculum materials, and the need for teacher training in instructional strategies to adapt their existing curriculum materials across the continuum of teacher-directed and student-directed investigation questions. Teachers need strategies for adapting the teacher-directed questions provided in their existing curriculum materials in order to allow students the opportunity to engage in this essential scientific practice.

Attitude strength as an explanation for wording effects in political opinion questions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Holleman, Bregje; Kamoen, Naomi

2017-01-01

Survey methodological research shows over and again that contrastive wordings in attitude questions affect the answers obtained. Rugg (1940) was the first to establish that a question about freedom of speech phrased with the verb ‘allow’ elicited more ‘no’-answers compared to the number of

Probability of climatic change. Identification of key questions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fransen, W.

1995-01-01

Addressing the question what the probability is of an anthropogenically induced change in the climate, leads to a number of other, underlying questions. These questions, which deal with the characteristics of climate, of climatic change, and of probabilistic statements on climatic change, should be addressed first. The long-term objective of the underlying study, i.e. a quantitative assessment of the risks and opportunities of the predicted climatic change, sets the context against which of those questions should be answered. In addition, this context induces extra questions, i.e. about the characteristics of risk

On the comprehensibility and perceived privacy protection of indirect questioning techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffmann, Adrian; Waubert de Puiseau, Berenike; Schmidt, Alexander F; Musch, Jochen

2017-08-01

On surveys that assess sensitive personal attributes, indirect questioning aims at increasing respondents' willingness to answer truthfully by protecting confidentiality. However, the assumption that subjects understand questioning procedures fully and trust them to protect their privacy is rarely tested. In a scenario-based design, we compared four indirect questioning procedures in terms of their comprehensibility and perceived privacy protection. All indirect questioning techniques were found to be less comprehensible by respondents than a conventional direct question used for comparison. Less-educated respondents experienced more difficulties when confronted with any indirect questioning technique. Regardless of education, the crosswise model was found to be the most comprehensible among the four indirect methods. Indirect questioning in general was perceived to increase privacy protection in comparison to a direct question. Unexpectedly, comprehension and perceived privacy protection did not correlate. We recommend assessing these factors separately in future evaluations of indirect questioning.

Competitors' Perceptions of Questions in Individual Events Rounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Mills, Daniel; Pettus, Ann Burnett

A study investigated student competitors' opinions of the practice of judges asking questions of competitors at the conclusion of speeches in the individual events competiton at forensic tournaments. Surveys were completed by 52 final round student competitors at a large midwestern university individual events invitational tournament. Results…

Workforce and Salary Survey Trends: Opportunities and Challenges for the American Association of Medical Dosimetrists

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mills, Michael D.

2015-01-01

The American Association of Medical Dosimetrists (AAMD) designed and directed 2 surveys of the AAMD membership. The first was in 2011 and the second in 2014. There were a number of questions common to both surveys, and this article seeks to evaluate these common questions to determine trends among the professional membership of the AAMD. It is demonstrated that the observed trends are consistent with the goals and objectives established by the leadership of the AAMD and the Medical Dosimetry Certification Board (MDCB) for the medical dosimetry community. In addition, certain challenges and opportunities involving the scope of practice for the medical dosimetry profession are discussed

Workforce and Salary Survey Trends: Opportunities and Challenges for the American Association of Medical Dosimetrists

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mills, Michael D., E-mail: mdmill03@exchange.louisville.edu

2015-07-01

The American Association of Medical Dosimetrists (AAMD) designed and directed 2 surveys of the AAMD membership. The first was in 2011 and the second in 2014. There were a number of questions common to both surveys, and this article seeks to evaluate these common questions to determine trends among the professional membership of the AAMD. It is demonstrated that the observed trends are consistent with the goals and objectives established by the leadership of the AAMD and the Medical Dosimetry Certification Board (MDCB) for the medical dosimetry community. In addition, certain challenges and opportunities involving the scope of practice for the medical dosimetry profession are discussed.

Proposing a survey instrument for measuring operational, formal, information and strategic Internet skills

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Deursen, Alexander Johannes Aloysius Maria; van Dijk, Johannes A.G.M.; Peters, O.

2012-01-01

Observational studies prove to be very suitable to provide a realistic view of people's Internet skills. However, their cost and time are a strong limitation for large-scale data gathering. A useful addition to the measurement of Internet skills would be the development of survey questions for

Nonprobability Web Surveys to Measure Sexual Behaviors and Attitudes in the General Population: A Comparison With a Probability Sample Interview Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Burkill, Sarah; Couper, Mick P; Conrad, Frederick; Clifton, Soazig; Tanton, Clare; Phelps, Andrew; Datta, Jessica; Mercer, Catherine H; Sonnenberg, Pam; Prah, Philip; Mitchell, Kirstin R; Wellings, Kaye; Johnson, Anne M; Copas, Andrew J

2014-01-01

Background Nonprobability Web surveys using volunteer panels can provide a relatively cheap and quick alternative to traditional health and epidemiological surveys. However, concerns have been raised about their representativeness. Objective The aim was to compare results from different Web panels with a population-based probability sample survey (n=8969 aged 18-44 years) that used computer-assisted self-interview (CASI) for sensitive behaviors, the third British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3). Methods Natsal-3 questions were included on 4 nonprobability Web panel surveys (n=2000 to 2099), 2 using basic quotas based on age and sex, and 2 using modified quotas based on additional variables related to key estimates. Results for sociodemographic characteristics were compared with external benchmarks and for sexual behaviors and opinions with Natsal-3. Odds ratios (ORs) were used to express differences between the benchmark data and each survey for each variable of interest. A summary measure of survey performance was the average absolute OR across variables. Another summary measure was the number of key estimates for which the survey differed significantly (at the 5% level) from the benchmarks. Results For sociodemographic variables, the Web surveys were less representative of the general population than Natsal-3. For example, for men, the average absolute OR for Natsal-3 was 1.14, whereas for the Web surveys the average absolute ORs ranged from 1.86 to 2.30. For all Web surveys, approximately two-thirds of the key estimates of sexual behaviors were different from Natsal-3 and the average absolute ORs ranged from 1.32 to 1.98. Differences were appreciable even for questions asked by CASI in Natsal-3. No single Web survey performed consistently better than any other did. Modified quotas slightly improved results for men, but not for women. Conclusions Consistent with studies from other countries on less sensitive topics, volunteer Web

Health centres' view of the services provided by a university hospital laboratory: Use of satisfaction surveys

Science.gov (United States)

Oja, Paula; Kouri, Timo; Pakarinen, Arto

2010-01-01

Customer orientation has gained increasing attention in healthcare. A customer satisfaction survey is one way to raise areas and topics for quality improvement. However, it seems that customer satisfaction surveys have not resulted in quality improvement in healthcare. This article reports how the authors' university hospital laboratory has used customer satisfaction surveys targeted at the health centres in their hospital district. Closed-ended statements of the questionnaire were planned to cover the essential aspects of laboratory services. In addition, an open-ended question asked what was considered to be the most important problem in services. The questionnaires were sent to the medical directors of the health centres. The open-ended question proved to be very useful because the responses specified the main problems in service. Based on the responses, selected dissatisfied customers were contacted to specify their responses and possible corrective actions were taken. It is concluded that a satisfaction survey can be used as a screening tool to identify topics of dissatisfaction. In addition, further clarifications with selected customers are needed to specify the causes for their dissatisfaction and to undertake proper corrective actions. PMID:20205616

A two-phase sampling survey for nonresponse and its paradata to correct nonresponse bias in a health surveillance survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Santin, G; Bénézet, L; Geoffroy-Perez, B; Bouyer, J; Guéguen, A

2017-02-01

The decline in participation rates in surveys, including epidemiological surveillance surveys, has become a real concern since it may increase nonresponse bias. The aim of this study is to estimate the contribution of a complementary survey among a subsample of nonrespondents, and the additional contribution of paradata in correcting for nonresponse bias in an occupational health surveillance survey. In 2010, 10,000 workers were randomly selected and sent a postal questionnaire. Sociodemographic data were available for the whole sample. After data collection of the questionnaires, a complementary survey among a random subsample of 500 nonrespondents was performed using a questionnaire administered by an interviewer. Paradata were collected for the complete subsample of the complementary survey. Nonresponse bias in the initial sample and in the combined samples were assessed using variables from administrative databases available for the whole sample, not subject to differential measurement errors. Corrected prevalences by reweighting technique were estimated by first using the initial survey alone and then the initial and complementary surveys combined, under several assumptions regarding the missing data process. Results were compared by computing relative errors. The response rates of the initial and complementary surveys were 23.6% and 62.6%, respectively. For the initial and the combined surveys, the relative errors decreased after correction for nonresponse on sociodemographic variables. For the combined surveys without paradata, relative errors decreased compared with the initial survey. The contribution of the paradata was weak. When a complex descriptive survey has a low response rate, a short complementary survey among nonrespondents with a protocol which aims to maximize the response rates, is useful. The contribution of sociodemographic variables in correcting for nonresponse bias is important whereas the additional contribution of paradata in

76 FR 9046 - Non-Use Valuation Survey, Klamath Basin; Thirty-Day Notice Requesting Additional Public Comments

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-16

... send a copy of your comments to the Department of the Interior; Office of Policy Analysis, Attention.... The pilot test was approved by OMB on December 14, 2010. However, the Agency received additional... base for this survey is 10,400 households. The households will be divided into two mailing groups, at a...

Important questions asked by family members of intensive care unit patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Peigne, Vincent; Chaize, Marine; Falissard, Bruno; Kentish-Barnes, Nancy; Rusinova, Katerina; Megarbane, Bruno; Bele, Nicolas; Cariou, Alain; Fieux, Fabienne; Garrouste-Orgeas, Maite; Georges, Hugues; Jourdain, Merce; Kouatchet, Achille; Lautrette, Alexandre; Legriel, Stephane; Regnier, Bernard; Renault, Anne; Thirion, Marina; Timsit, Jean-Francois; Toledano, Dany; Chevret, Sylvie; Pochard, Frédéric; Schlemmer, Benoît; Azoulay, Elie

2011-06-01

Relatives often lack important information about intensive care unit patients. High-quality information is crucial to help relatives overcome the often considerable situational stress and to acquire the ability to participate in the decision-making process, most notably regarding the appropriate level of care. We aimed to develop a list of questions important for relatives of patients in the intensive care unit. This was a multicenter study. Questions asked by relatives of intensive care unit patients were collected from five different sources (literature, panel of 28 intensive care unit nurses and physicians, 1-wk survey of nurses and 1-wk survey of physicians in 14 intensive care units, and in-depth interviews with 14 families). After a qualitative analysis (framework approach and thematic analysis), questions were rated by 22 relatives and 14 intensive care unit physicians, and the ratings were analyzed using principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering. The five sources produced 2,135 questions. Removal of duplicates and redundancies left 443 questions, which were distributed among nine predefined domains using a framework approach ("diagnosis," "treatment," "prognosis," "comfort," "interaction," "communication," "family," "end of life," and "postintensive care unit management"). Thematic analysis in each domain led to the identification of 46 themes, which were reworded as 46 different questions. Ratings by relatives and physicians showed that 21 of these questions were particularly important for relatives of intensive care unit patients. This study increases knowledge about the informational needs of relatives of intensive care unit patients. This list of questions may prove valuable for both relatives and intensive care unit physicians as a tool for improving communication in the intensive care unit.

Questioning Questions: Elementary Teachers' Adaptations of Investigation Questions across the Inquiry Continuum

Science.gov (United States)

Biggers, Mandy

2018-01-01

Questioning is a central practice in science classrooms. However, not every question translates into a "good" science investigation. Questions that drive science investigations can be provided by many sources including the teacher, the curriculum, or the student. The variations in the source of investigation questions were explored in…

Will Veterans Answer Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Questions?

Science.gov (United States)

Ruben, Mollie A; Blosnich, John R; Dichter, Melissa E; Luscri, Lorry; Shipherd, Jillian C

2017-09-01

The Veterans Health Administration does not routinely collect and document sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data, despite existing health disparities among sexual and gender minority Veterans. Because of the legacy of previous Department of Defense (DoD) policies that prohibited disclosure of sexual or gender minority identities among active duty personnel, Veterans may be reluctant to respond to SOGI questions. This population-based study assesses item nonresponse to SOGI questions by Veteran status. This is a secondary analysis of data from a population-based sample of adults in 20 US states that elected to administer a SOGI module in the 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey. Prevalence of SOGI refusals and responses of "don't know" were compared for Veterans and non-Veterans. Veterans (n=22,587) and non-Veterans (n=146,475) were surveyed. Nearly all Veteran respondents (≥98%) completed the SOGI questions, with 95.4% identifying as heterosexual, 1.2% as gay or lesbian, 1.2% as bisexual, and 0.59% as transgender. A significantly lower proportion of Veterans than non-Veterans refuse to answer sexual orientation (1.5% vs. 1.9%). There was no difference between Veterans and non-Veterans in responses for gender identity. Veterans are just as likely as non-Veterans to complete SOGI items in survey research. Asking Veterans about SOGI is unlikely to yield significant nonresponse. These data suggest that future research should investigate Veterans' perspectives on being asked about SOGI in research settings and as part of routine clinical care.

The Importance of Asking Questions – in Different Ways! Most ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

IAS Admin

student tries to consult as many question banks from as many ... papers. In addition to standard questions, I usually have a question in which I produce a drawing (relevant to ... to pass on to all the teachers is that they should encourage their.

Semantic annotation of consumer health questions.

Science.gov (United States)

Kilicoglu, Halil; Ben Abacha, Asma; Mrabet, Yassine; Shooshan, Sonya E; Rodriguez, Laritza; Masterton, Kate; Demner-Fushman, Dina

2018-02-06

Consumers increasingly use online resources for their health information needs. While current search engines can address these needs to some extent, they generally do not take into account that most health information needs are complex and can only fully be expressed in natural language. Consumer health question answering (QA) systems aim to fill this gap. A major challenge in developing consumer health QA systems is extracting relevant semantic content from the natural language questions (question understanding). To develop effective question understanding tools, question corpora semantically annotated for relevant question elements are needed. In this paper, we present a two-part consumer health question corpus annotated with several semantic categories: named entities, question triggers/types, question frames, and question topic. The first part (CHQA-email) consists of relatively long email requests received by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) customer service, while the second part (CHQA-web) consists of shorter questions posed to MedlinePlus search engine as queries. Each question has been annotated by two annotators. The annotation methodology is largely the same between the two parts of the corpus; however, we also explain and justify the differences between them. Additionally, we provide information about corpus characteristics, inter-annotator agreement, and our attempts to measure annotation confidence in the absence of adjudication of annotations. The resulting corpus consists of 2614 questions (CHQA-email: 1740, CHQA-web: 874). Problems are the most frequent named entities, while treatment and general information questions are the most common question types. Inter-annotator agreement was generally modest: question types and topics yielded highest agreement, while the agreement for more complex frame annotations was lower. Agreement in CHQA-web was consistently higher than that in CHQA-email. Pairwise inter-annotator agreement proved most

Fluid mechanics of additive manufacturing of metal objects by accretion of droplets - a survey

Science.gov (United States)

Tesař, Václav

2016-03-01

Paper presents a survey of principles of additive manufacturing of metal objects by accretion of molten metal droplets, focusing on fluid-mechanical problems that deserve being investigated. The main problem is slowness of manufacturing due to necessarily small size of added droplets. Increase of droplet repetition rate calls for basic research of the phenomena that take place inside and around the droplets: ballistics of their flight, internal flowfield with heat and mass transfer, oscillation of surfaces, and the ways to elimination of satellite droplets.

An Examination of Music Teacher Job Interview Questions

Science.gov (United States)

Juchniewicz, Jay

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine which interview questions principals consider most important when interviewing prospective music teachers. Additionally, data were examined to determine any differences between school grade level, school setting, or years of experience as a principal in preferences for specific interview questions.…

Rhetorical questions or rhetorical uses of questions?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Špago Džemal

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to explore whether some rhetorical questions contain certain linguistic elements or forms which would differentiate them from answer-eliciting and action-eliciting questions, and thereby hint at their rhetorical nature even outside the context. Namely, despite the fact that the same questions can be rhetorical in one context, and answer-eliciting in another, some of them are more likely to be associated with rhetorical or non-rhetorical use. The analysis is based on extensive data (over 1200 examples of rhetorical questions taken from 30 plays by two British and two American writers, and the results are expected to give an insight into whether we can talk about rhetorical questions or just a rhetorical use of questions.

Asking about Sex in General Health Surveys: Comparing the Methods and Findings of the 2010 Health Survey for England with Those of the Third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Philip Prah

Full Text Available Including questions about sexual health in the annual Health Survey for England (HSE provides opportunities for regular measurement of key public health indicators, augmenting Britain's decennial National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal. However, contextual and methodological differences may limit comparability of the findings. We examine the extent of these differences between HSE 2010 and Natsal-3 and investigate their impact on parameter estimates.Complex survey analyses of data from men and women in the 2010 HSE (n = 2,782 men and 3,588 women and Natsal-3 undertaken 2010-2012 (n = 4,882 men and 6,869 women aged 16-69y and resident in England, both using probability sampling, compared their characteristics, the amount of non-response to, and estimates from, sexual health questions. Both surveys used self-completion for the sexual behaviour questions but this was via computer-assisted self-interview (CASI in Natsal-3 and a pen-and-paper questionnaire in HSE 2010.The surveys achieved similar response rates, both around 60%, and demographic profiles largely consistent with the census, although HSE participants tended to be less educated, and reported worse general health, than Natsal-3 participants. Item non-response to the sexual health questions was typically higher in HSE 2010 (range: 9-18% relative to Natsal-3 (all <5%. Prevalence estimates for sexual risk behaviours and STI-related indicators were generally slightly lower in HSE 2010 than Natsal-3.While a relatively high response to sexual health questions in HSE 2010 demonstrates the feasibility of asking such questions in a general health survey, differences with Natsal-3 do exist. These are likely due to the HSE's context as a general health survey and methodological limitations such as its current use of pen-and-paper questionnaires. Methodological developments to the HSE should be considered so that its data can be interpreted in combination with those from dedicated

Measuring and exposures from National Media Surveys

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mortensen, Peter Stendahl

2000-01-01

Natinal media surveys inform about the number and kind of people being exposed to the media in question. This paper discusses to what extent these numbers may be used as measures for the exposure to ads in the media in question. In this context attention is also focussed on elements in the media ...... surveys themselves that might invalidate or give unreliable measures, both when measuring a single exposure and accumulated exposures. Four media types will be discussed: TV, radio, print and the internet.......Natinal media surveys inform about the number and kind of people being exposed to the media in question. This paper discusses to what extent these numbers may be used as measures for the exposure to ads in the media in question. In this context attention is also focussed on elements in the media...

Influence of red wine fermentation oenological additives on inoculated strain implantation.

Science.gov (United States)

Duarte, Filomena L; Alves, Ana Claudia; Alemão, Maria Filomena; Baleiras-Couto, M Margarida

2013-06-01

Pure selected cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae starters are regularly used in the wine industry. A survey of S. cerevisiae populations during red wine fermentations was performed in order to evaluate the influence of oenological additives on the implantation of the inoculated strain. Pilot scale fermentations (500 L) were conducted with active dry yeast (ADY) and other commercial oenological additives, namely two commercial fermentation activators and two commercial tannins. Six microsatellite markers were used to type S. cerevisiae strains. The methodology proved to be very discriminating as a great diversity of wild strains (48 genotypes) was detected. Statistical analysis confirmed a high detection of the inoculated commercial strain, and for half the samples an effective implantation of ADY (over 80 %) was achieved. At late fermentation time, ADY strain implantation in fermentations conducted with commercial additives was lower than in the control. These results question the efficacy of ADY addition in the presence of other additives, indicating that further studies are needed to improve knowledge on oenological additives' use.

A Survey of Current e-Business (E-Government

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Don Vance Kerr

2008-05-01

Full Text Available The Internet is a dynamic part of the business scene and there have been many examples of success and failures of e-commerce and e-business ventures. A survey was administered asking questions about industries understanding of current e-business (e-government practices in Australia. The object of the survey was to provide a benchmark of current practice. The results of this survey could have a major impact on academic curricula. The survey was sent to 671 Australian Businesses and was addressed to the Chief Information Officer. Only twenty four usable questionnaires were returned and while it is accepted that this is a limited sample, disturbing trends have appeared with respect to the lack of strategic planning for information technology use particularly in medium sized businesses in Australia. In addition, relationships between key factors associated with the business objectives for their IT infrastructure and the benefits of the organisation’s Extranet, Intranet and Internet initiatives were identified.

Importance of questionnaire context for a physical activity question.

Science.gov (United States)

Jørgensen, M E; Sørensen, M R; Ekholm, O; Rasmussen, N K

2013-10-01

Adequate information about physical activity habits is essential for surveillance, implementing, and evaluating public health initiatives in this area. Previous studies have shown that question order and differences in wording result in systematic differences in people's responses to questionnaires; however, this has never been shown for physical activity questions. The aim was to study the influence of different formulations and question order on self-report physical activity in a population-based health interview survey. Four samples of each 1000 adults were drawn at random from the National Person Register. A new question about physical activity was included with minor differences in formulations in samples 1-3. Furthermore, the question in sample 2 was included in sample 4 but was placed in the end of the questionnaire. The mean time spent on moderate physical activity varied between the four samples from 57 to 100 min/day. Question order was associated with the reported number of minutes spent on moderate-intensity physical activity and with prevalence of meeting the recommendation, whereas physical inactivity was associated with the differences in formulation of the question. Questionnaire context influences the way people respond to questions about physical activity significantly and should be tested systematically in validation studies of physical activity questionnaires. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A single-question screen for rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Postuma, Ronald B; Arnulf, Isabelle; Hogl, Birgit

2012-01-01

Idiopathic rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is a parasomnia that is an important risk factor for Parkinson's disease (PD) and Lewy body dementia. Its prevalence is unknown. One barrier to determining prevalence is that current screening tools are too long for large......-scale epidemiologic surveys. Therefore, we designed the REM Sleep Behavior Disorder Single-Question Screen (RBD1Q), a screening question for dream enactment with a simple yes/no response....

Mining Branching Rules from Past Survey Data with an Illustration Using a Geriatric Assessment Survey for Older Adults with Cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel R. Jeske

2016-05-01

Full Text Available We construct a fast data mining algorithm that can be used to identify high-frequency response patterns in historical surveys. Identification of these patterns leads to the derivation of question branching rules that shorten the time required to complete a survey. The data mining algorithm allows the user to control the error rate that is incurred through the use of implied answers that go along with each branching rule. The context considered is binary response questions, which can be obtained from multi-level response questions through dichotomization. The algorithm is illustrated by the analysis of four sections of a geriatric assessment survey used by oncologists. Reductions in the number of questions that need to be asked in these four sections range from 33% to 54%.

Survey Methods, Traditional, Public Opinion Polling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Elmelund-Præstekær, Christian; Hopmann, David Nicolas; Pedersen, Rasmus Tue

2017-01-01

Traditional public opinion polls are surveys in which a random sample of a given population is asked questions about their attitudes, knowledge, or behavior. If conducted properly, the answers from such surveys are approximately representative of the entire population. Traditional public opinion...... polling is typically based on four different methods of data gathering, or combinations hereof: face-to-face, postal surveys, phone surveys, and web surveys. Given that opinion polls are based on a sample, we cannot be sure that the sample reflects public opinion perfectly, however—even if randomness...... is perfect. Moreover, responses may be highly dependent on the contextual information provided with the question. Also, it may be difficult to capture past or complex causes of attitudes or behavior. In short, surveys are a precise way of measuring public opinion, but they do not come without challenges....

Can we share questions? Performance of questions from different question banks in a single medical school.

Science.gov (United States)

Freeman, Adrian; Nicholls, Anthony; Ricketts, Chris; Coombes, Lee

2010-01-01

To use progress testing, a large bank of questions is required, particularly when planning to deliver tests over a long period of time. The questions need not only to be of good quality but also balanced in subject coverage across the curriculum to allow appropriate sampling. Hence as well as creating its own questions, an institution could share questions. Both methods allow ownership and structuring of the test appropriate to the educational requirements of the institution. Peninsula Medical School (PMS) has developed a mechanism to validate questions written in house. That mechanism can be adapted to utilise questions from an International question bank International Digital Electronic Access Library (IDEAL) and another UK-based question bank Universities Medical Assessment Partnership (UMAP). These questions have been used in our progress tests and analysed for relative performance. Data are presented to show that questions from differing sources can have comparable performance in a progress testing format. There are difficulties in transferring questions from one institution to another. These include problems of curricula and cultural differences. Whilst many of these difficulties exist, our experience suggests that it only requires a relatively small amount of work to adapt questions from external question banks for effective use. The longitudinal aspect of progress testing (albeit summatively) may allow more flexibility in question usage than single high stakes exams.

Textbook Publishers' Website Objective Question Banks: Does Their Use Improve Students' Examination Performance?

Science.gov (United States)

Johnston, Scott Paul; Huczynski, Andrzej

2006-01-01

This article presents the findings of a survey of students' usage of the objective question bank section of an academic publisher's textbook website. The findings are based on a survey of 239 business and management undergraduates conducted using a quantitative research methodology. The results suggest that increased use of the objective question…

Report on the Survey on Regulation of Site Selection and Preparation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Webster, Philip

2010-01-01

At its first meeting in May 2008, the Working Group discussed a task to 'Prepare a report reviewing the various practices used by regulators in the regulation of nuclear power plant siting. The report should consider regulator practices on sites where a mixture of activities are taking place (e.g. operating units, new construction, decommissioning, etc) including organization of the regulators organisation, methods, systems, etc.'. Following discussion, the Working Group assigned an Action 1-5 to 'develop a survey on the regulation of nuclear sites including seismicity issues, security issues, multi-units aspects and regulator practices on sites where a mixture of activities are taking place (e.g. operating units, new construction, decommissioning, etc.)'. The Survey was prepared and issued by the NEA in July 2008 with a request to the member states to provide their responses by the next meeting of the Working Group in October 2008. In addition to addressing the specific topics actioned by the Working Group, the Survey also investigated the broader context of siting, in order to address the Mandate that had been approved by the CNRA. The questions in the survey therefore covered the topics of site evaluation, site selection, regulatory approval, site preparation and regulatory oversight. A topic of particular interest was to what extent IAEA guidance on site evaluation was followed. The survey considered the possibility that a body other than the safety regulator may approve the choice of site or permit the applicant to start to prepare it. The survey also investigated the existence of formal requirements and informal expectations, recognizing that these both form part of the regulatory tool-kit. Responses were received from all twelve member states that were then members of the Working Group. The responses were reviewed at the second meeting of the Working Group in October 2008. In general, it could be stated that new reactors are licensed in

Real-time patient survey data during routine clinical activities for rapid-cycle quality improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Wofford, James Lucius; Campos, Claudia L; Jones, Robert E; Stevens, Sheila F

2015-03-12

Surveying patients is increasingly important for evaluating and improving health care delivery, but practical survey strategies during routine care activities have not been available. We examined the feasibility of conducting routine patient surveys in a primary care clinic using commercially available technology (Web-based survey creation, deployment on tablet computers, cloud-based management of survey data) to expedite and enhance several steps in data collection and management for rapid quality improvement cycles. We used a Web-based data management tool (survey creation, deployment on tablet computers, real-time data accumulation and display of survey results) to conduct four patient surveys during routine clinic sessions over a one-month period. Each survey consisted of three questions and focused on a specific patient care domain (dental care, waiting room experience, care access/continuity, Internet connectivity). Of the 727 available patients during clinic survey days, 316 patients (43.4%) attempted the survey, and 293 (40.3%) completed the survey. For the four 3-question surveys, the average time per survey was overall 40.4 seconds, with a range of 5.4 to 20.3 seconds for individual questions. Yes/No questions took less time than multiple choice questions (average 9.6 seconds versus 14.0). Average response time showed no clear pattern by order of questions or by proctor strategy, but monotonically increased with number of words in the question (30 words)-8.0, 11.8, 16.8, seconds, respectively. This technology-enabled data management system helped capture patient opinions, accelerate turnaround of survey data, with minimal impact on a busy primary care clinic. This new model of patient survey data management is feasible and sustainable in a busy office setting, supports and engages clinicians in the quality improvement process, and harmonizes with the vision of a learning health care system.

Fluid mechanics of additive manufacturing of metal objects by accretion of droplets – a survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tesař Václav

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Paper presents a survey of principles of additive manufacturing of metal objects by accretion of molten metal droplets, focusing on fluid-mechanical problems that deserve being investigated. The main problem is slowness of manufacturing due to necessarily small size of added droplets. Increase of droplet repetition rate calls for basic research of the phenomena that take place inside and around the droplets: ballistics of their flight, internal flowfield with heat and mass transfer, oscillation of surfaces, and the ways to elimination of satellite droplets.

Indicators to examine quality of large scale survey data: an example through district level household and facility survey.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kakoli Borkotoky

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Large scale surveys are the main source of data pertaining to all the social and demographic indicators, hence its quality is also of great concern. In this paper, we discuss the indicators used to examine the quality of data. We focus on age misreporting, incompleteness and inconsistency of information; and skipping of questions on reproductive and sexual health related issues. In order to observe the practical consequences of errors in a survey; the District Level Household and Facility Survey (DLHS-3 is used as an example dataset. METHODS: Whipple's and Myer's indices are used to identify age misreporting. Age displacements are identified by estimating downward and upward transfers for women from bordering age groups of the eligible age range. Skipping pattern is examined by recording the responses to the questions which precede the sections on birth history, immunization, and reproductive and sexual health. RESULTS: The study observed errors in age reporting, in all the states, but the extent of misreporting differs by state and individual characteristics. Illiteracy, rural residence and poor economic condition are the major factors that lead to age misreporting. Female were excluded from the eligible age group, to reduce the duration of interview. The study further observed that respondents tend to skip questions on HIV/RTI and other questions which follow a set of questions. CONCLUSION: The study concludes that age misreporting, inconsistency and incomplete response are three sources of error that need to be considered carefully before drawing conclusions from any survey. DLHS-3 also suffers from age misreporting, particularly for female in the reproductive ages. In view of the coverage of the survey, it may not be possible to control age misreporting completely, but some extra effort to probe a better answer may help in improving the quality of data in the survey.

The effect of mode and context on survey results: Analysis of data from the Health Survey for England 2006 and the Boost Survey for London

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roth Marilyn A

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Health-related data at local level could be provided by supplementing national health surveys with local boosts. Self-completion surveys are less costly than interviews, enabling larger samples to be achieved for a given cost. However, even when the same questions are asked with the same wording, responses to survey questions may vary by mode of data collection. These measurement differences need to be investigated further. Methods The Health Survey for England in London ('Core' and a London Boost survey ('Boost' used identical sampling strategies but different modes of data collection. Some data were collected by face-to-face interview in the Core and by self-completion in the Boost; other data were collected by self-completion questionnaire in both, but the context differed. Results were compared by mode of data collection using two approaches. The first examined differences in results that remained after adjusting the samples for differences in response. The second compared results after using propensity score matching to reduce any differences in sample composition. Results There were no significant differences between the two samples for prevalence of some variables including long-term illness, limiting long-term illness, current rates of smoking, whether participants drank alcohol, and how often they usually drank. However, there were a number of differences, some quite large, between some key measures including: general health, GHQ12 score, portions of fruit and vegetables consumed, levels of physical activity, and, to a lesser extent, smoking consumption, the number of alcohol units reported consumed on the heaviest day of drinking in the last week and perceived social support (among women only. Conclusion Survey mode and context can both affect the responses given. The effect is largest for complex question modules but was also seen for identical self-completion questions. Some data collected by interview and self

Survey Data

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Cleaned and QCd data for the Fishing Effort Survey. Questions on fishing and other out are asked on weather and outdoor activity, including fishing trips. Used for...

The science and art of asking questions in cognitive therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

James, Ian Andrew; Morse, Rachel; Howarth, Alan

2010-01-01

Questions underpin all aspects of therapeutic assessment and intervention and are a vital component of the clinical process. Over recent years frameworks have started to be applied to obtain a greater understanding of questioning formats and processes. This paper examines the use of questions in cognitive therapy (CT). An overview of the main types of questions identified in the literature is presented. In addition, we examine a range of client and therapist characteristics that may impact on the questioning process. Asking questions in therapy is a complex, yet under-taught, skill. This paper provides a set of frameworks to assist in identifying helpful and unhelpful questioning skills. Thus the article has implications for further training and research.

A Comparison of Web-Based and Paper-Based Survey Methods: Testing Assumptions of Survey Mode and Response Cost

Science.gov (United States)

Greenlaw, Corey; Brown-Welty, Sharon

2009-01-01

Web-based surveys have become more prevalent in areas such as evaluation, research, and marketing research to name a few. The proliferation of these online surveys raises the question, how do response rates compare with traditional surveys and at what cost? This research explored response rates and costs for Web-based surveys, paper surveys, and…

Sport Management Survey. Employment Perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Quain, Richard J.; Parks, Janet B.

1986-01-01

A survey of sport management positions was designed to determine projected vacancy rates in six sport management career areas. Respondents to the survey were also questioned regarding their awareness of college professional preparation programs. Results are presented. (MT)

A questions-based investigation of consumer mental-health information

Science.gov (United States)

Kart, Joyce Brothers

2015-01-01

Despite the wealth of mental-health information available online to consumers, research has shown that the mental-health information needs of consumers are not being met. This study contributes to that research by soliciting consumer questions directly, categorizing them, analyzing their form, and assessing the extent to which they can be answered from a trusted and vetted source of online information, namely the website of the US National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). As an alternative to surveys and analyses of online activity, this study shows how consumer questions provide new insight into what consumers do not know and how they express their information needs. The study crowdsourced 100 consumer questions through Amazon Inc.’s Mechanical Turk. Categorization of the questions shows broad agreement with earlier studies in terms of the content of consumer questions. It also suggests that consumers’ grasp of mental health issues may be low compared to other health topics. The majority of the questions (74%) were simple in form, with the remainder being multi-part, multifaceted or narrative. Even simple-form questions could, however, have complex interpretations. Fifty four questions were submitted to the search box at the NIMH website. For 32 questions, no answer could be found in the top one to three documents returned. Inadequacies in the search and retrieval technology deployed at websites account for some of the failure to find answers. The nature of consumer questions in mental health also plays a role. A question that has a false presupposition is less likely to have an answer in trusted and vetted sources of information. Consumer questions are also expressed with a degree of specificity that makes the retrieval of relevant information difficult. The significance of this study is that it shows what an analysis of consumer mental-health questions can tell us about consumer information needs and it provides new insight into the difficulties facing

Question popularity analysis and prediction in community question answering services.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Ting; Zhang, Wei-Nan; Cao, Liujuan; Zhang, Yu

2014-01-01

With the blooming of online social media applications, Community Question Answering (CQA) services have become one of the most important online resources for information and knowledge seekers. A large number of high quality question and answer pairs have been accumulated, which allow users to not only share their knowledge with others, but also interact with each other. Accordingly, volumes of efforts have been taken to explore the questions and answers retrieval in CQA services so as to help users to finding the similar questions or the right answers. However, to our knowledge, less attention has been paid so far to question popularity in CQA. Question popularity can reflect the attention and interest of users. Hence, predicting question popularity can better capture the users' interest so as to improve the users' experience. Meanwhile, it can also promote the development of the community. In this paper, we investigate the problem of predicting question popularity in CQA. We first explore the factors that have impact on question popularity by employing statistical analysis. We then propose a supervised machine learning approach to model these factors for question popularity prediction. The experimental results show that our proposed approach can effectively distinguish the popular questions from unpopular ones in the Yahoo! Answers question and answer repository.

Attitudes About Cognitive Screening: A Survey of Home Care Physical Therapists.

Science.gov (United States)

Miles, Jean D; Staples, William H; Lee, Daniel J

2018-02-14

Home care physical therapists (PTs) are inconsistent regarding cognitive screening, possibly because screening tools were traditionally considered the domain of other home care disciplines, or because therapists perceive their dementia training to be inadequate. A cross sectional study was designed to survey home care therapists' attitudes and beliefs about the management of persons with dementia and to find out whether any specific cognitive tools or measures are currently used. A 5-point Likert-type survey was administered to home care PTs via an online survey. Three state home care associations and individual home care agencies agreed to share the survey link. The survey was also made available to American Physical Therapy Association members through the Home Health and Geriatric Section listservs. Two hundred fifty-one PTs opened the survey and 233 completed the survey. Respondents included 180 females and 53 males. Seventy-four had a bachelor's degree (BS), 53 held a master's degree (MS), 104 had achieved a doctor of physical therapy (DPT) or doctor of philosophy (PhD) degree, and 2 did not provide this information. Significant differences were found between those with the highest doctoral degrees and those with master's or bachelor's degrees (P = .01) regarding whether they were qualified to screen (strongly agree, agree) for cognitive deficits. Therapists with the highest degrees also attended continuing education for dementia training more than those with less formal education (P = .042.) Gender differences were found in 2 questions regarding positive outcomes (P = .010 and .42); for both questions, males were more likely to believe that dementia has a negative impact. Eighty-seven percent indicated that PTs are qualified (strongly agree, agree), but only 53% said that they possess the necessary skills (strongly agree, agree) to perform cognitive screens. Specialty certification revealed significant differences in several of the questions. No significance

Assessing self-reported use of new psychoactive substances: The impact of gate questions.

Science.gov (United States)

Palamar, Joseph J; Acosta, Patricia; Calderón, Fermín Fernández; Sherman, Scott; Cleland, Charles M

2017-09-01

New psychoactive substances (NPS) continue to emerge; however, few surveys of substance use ask about NPS use. Research is needed to determine how to most effectively query use of NPS and other uncommon drugs. To determine whether prevalence of self-reported lifetime and past-year use differs depending on whether or not queries about NPS use are preceded by "gate questions." Gate questions utilize skip-logic, such that only a "yes" response to the use of specific drug class is followed by more extensive queries of drug use in that drug class. We surveyed 1,048 nightclub and dance festival attendees (42.6% female) entering randomly selected venues in New York City in 2016. Participants were randomized to gate vs. no gate question before each drug category. Analyses focus on eight categories classifying 145 compounds: NBOMe, 2C, DOx, "bath salts" (synthetic cathinones), other stimulants, tryptamines, dissociatives, and non-phenethylamine psychedelics. Participants, however, were asked about specific "bath salts" regardless of their response to the gate question to test reliability. We examined whether prevalence of use of each category differed by gate condition and whether gate effects were moderated by participant demographics. Prevalence of use of DOx, other stimulants, and non-phenethylamine psychedelics was higher without a gate question. Gate effects for other stimulants and non-phenethylamine psychedelics were larger among white participants and those attending parties less frequently. Almost one in ten (9.3%) participants reporting no "bath salt" use via the gate question later reported use of a "bath salt" such as mephedrone, methedrone, or methylone. Omitting gate questions may improve accuracy of data collected via self-report.

Responses to additional JAPC questions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burke, T.M.

1998-01-01

The goals are to improve performance and reduce costs; the variables tested are fuel fabrication and assembly tolerances and cladding materials. Significant results are: goal lifetimes achieved; D9/HT9 alloys superior--reduced swelling potential duct mechanical attachment methods viable; test performance per design predictions

Robustness Analysis of Visual Question Answering Models by Basic Questions

KAUST Repository

Huang, Jia-Hong

2017-11-01

Visual Question Answering (VQA) models should have both high robustness and accuracy. Unfortunately, most of the current VQA research only focuses on accuracy because there is a lack of proper methods to measure the robustness of VQA models. There are two main modules in our algorithm. Given a natural language question about an image, the first module takes the question as input and then outputs the ranked basic questions, with similarity scores, of the main given question. The second module takes the main question, image and these basic questions as input and then outputs the text-based answer of the main question about the given image. We claim that a robust VQA model is one, whose performance is not changed much when related basic questions as also made available to it as input. We formulate the basic questions generation problem as a LASSO optimization, and also propose a large scale Basic Question Dataset (BQD) and Rscore (novel robustness measure), for analyzing the robustness of VQA models. We hope our BQD will be used as a benchmark for to evaluate the robustness of VQA models, so as to help the community build more robust and accurate VQA models.

Robustness Analysis of Visual Question Answering Models by Basic Questions

KAUST Repository

Huang, Jia-Hong

2017-01-01

Visual Question Answering (VQA) models should have both high robustness and accuracy. Unfortunately, most of the current VQA research only focuses on accuracy because there is a lack of proper methods to measure the robustness of VQA models. There are two main modules in our algorithm. Given a natural language question about an image, the first module takes the question as input and then outputs the ranked basic questions, with similarity scores, of the main given question. The second module takes the main question, image and these basic questions as input and then outputs the text-based answer of the main question about the given image. We claim that a robust VQA model is one, whose performance is not changed much when related basic questions as also made available to it as input. We formulate the basic questions generation problem as a LASSO optimization, and also propose a large scale Basic Question Dataset (BQD) and Rscore (novel robustness measure), for analyzing the robustness of VQA models. We hope our BQD will be used as a benchmark for to evaluate the robustness of VQA models, so as to help the community build more robust and accurate VQA models.

Two-Year-Old Children Differentiate Test Questions from Genuine Questions

Science.gov (United States)

Grosse, Gerlind; Tomasello, Michael

2012-01-01

Children are frequently confronted with so-called "test questions". While genuine questions are requests for missing information, test questions ask for information obviously already known to the questioner. In this study we explored whether two-year-old children respond differentially to one and the same question used as either a genuine question…

Nuclear questions; Le nucleaire en questions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Berg, Eugene

2012-02-15

Civilian and military nuclear questions fill a multitude of publications these days, especially after the Japanese tsunami and the Fukushima disaster. The author analyses some of them and highlights the links between civil and military nuclear industries, the realities of the nuclear cycle and related industrial questions before concluding on the controversial issue of weapons and their proliferation potential

Physician recruitment and retention in Manitoba: results from a survey of physicians' preferences for rural jobs.

Science.gov (United States)

Witt, Julia

2017-01-01

Rural recruitment and retention continues to present challenges to health workforce planners. This paper reports and analyzes the results of a survey sent to physicians in Manitoba, eliciting their opinions regarding rural jobs. A survey was sent to all physicians in Manitoba. Part 1 of the survey included questions about background and demographic information; part 2 was a set of job satisfaction questions regarding respondents' current job; and part 3 included 2 sets of stated-choice questions eliciting preferences for a set of attributes relevant to rural recruitment and retention. Of the 2487 physicians who received surveys, 561 (22.6%) responded. Respondents indicated that income, hours worked and on-call frequency are very important: overall job satisfaction increased with income and decreased with hours worked. Income, hours and on-call frequency were ranked "very important" by the largest proportions of physicians. The estimated compensation for on-call more frequent than 1-in-4 was very high (82% of average income), and additional hours worked were worth $183 per hour. Other attributes that were important included professional interaction, housing availability and community incentives during the first year, which were valued at 11%-31% of annual income. Work-life balance is a key consideration for rural jobs, and there are incentives that can compensate for less desirable attributes.

(Re)surveying Mediterranean rural landscapes : GIS and legacy survey data.

OpenAIRE

Witcher, R. E.

2008-01-01

Legacy data have always been important for Mediterranean archaeologists. Over the past decade, one specific category of legacy data, that deriving from regional survey, has become particularly important. Not only has the scale of research questions become larger (requiring greater reliance on others' data), but the surface archaeological record is deteriorating (diminishing the ability to recover good data). The legacy data from many individual surveys have now been subject to digitisation an...

The relevance of surveying content in mining engineering education

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Tomi Oshokoya

The paper will highlight the surveying content that is relevant to the mining engineering ... This article attempts to answer the question as to what ... mechanical and electrical engineering, surveying, marketing and financial .... an overview of what surveying is, its principles, surveying instrumentation and surveying.

Prevalence of problem drinking and characteristics of a single-question screen.

Science.gov (United States)

Stewart, Scott H; Borg, Keith T; Miller, Peter M

2010-09-01

Hazardous drinking and alcohol use disorders (i.e, abuse and dependence) are common in Emergency Departments (EDs). This study examined 1) the prevalence of these conditions among ED patients and 2) characteristics of a single screening question (having consumed at least five drinks for males or four for females during a single day). Data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions were analyzed. Logistic regression for clustered data was used to estimate the relative risk for past-year ED use associated with hazardous drinking, abuse, and dependence. Contingency tables were analyzed to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of the single-question screen for detecting these conditions. Hazardous drinking was not associated with ED utilization. Alcohol abuse was associated with a relative risk of 1.3 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1-1.5) and alcohol dependence with a relative risk of 1.9 (95% CI 1.6-2.2). For current drinkers, the single question screen was 0.96, 0.85, and 0.90 sensitive for hazardous drinking, alcohol abuse, and alcohol dependence, respectively. Individuals with a positive screen in the past year were considered at least hazardous drinkers, and specificity was 0.80, 0.64, and 0.65 for hazardous drinking, abuse, and dependence, respectively. Specificity was modestly increased in women. Most problem drinkers were hazardous drinkers, but only severe alcohol use disorders were particularly prevalent in the ED. The single heavy-drinking-day item appears sensitive for problem drinking. Positive tests must be followed by additional assessment to differentiate hazardous drinking from alcohol use disorders. Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Perception Gaps on Food Additives among Various Groups in Korea: Food Experts, Teachers, Nutrition Teachers, Nongovernmental Organization Members, and General Consumers.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Hee-Jin; Kim, Suna; Lee, Gunyoung; Lim, Ho Soo; Yun, Sang Soon; Kim, Jeong-Weon

2017-06-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions and information needs of food experts, teachers, nutrition teachers, members of nongovernmental organizations, and general consumers concerning food additives. Questions in a survey format included perceptions, information needs, and preferred communication channels. The survey was conducted both off-line and on-line via e-mail and Google Drive in March 2015. The results indicated that most Korean consumers are concerned about the safety of using food additives in processed foods and do not recognize these additives as safe and useful materials as part of a modern diet. We also identified perception gaps among different groups regarding food additives. Nutrition teachers and members of nongovernmental organizations in Korea appeared to have a biased perception of food additives, which may cause general consumers to have a negative perception of food additives. The group of food experts did not have this bias. Governmental institutions must overcome the low confidence levels of various groups as an information provider about food additives. Based on the findings in this study, it will be possible to develop a strategy for risk communication about food additives for each group.

Shortcomings of the written survey questionnaire for discovering ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The problems can be categorised as follows: poor survey design; not doing enough with the responses; questions which only scratch the surface; and, respondents not knowing how to answer questions appropriately. Example questions from the questionnaire are given to illustrate these shortcomings. Recommendations ...

Can multiple-choice questions simulate free-response questions?

OpenAIRE

Lin, Shih-Yin; Singh, Chandralekha

2016-01-01

We discuss a study to evaluate the extent to which free-response questions could be approximated by multiple-choice equivalents. Two carefully designed research-based multiple-choice questions were transformed into a free-response format and administered on the final exam in a calculus-based introductory physics course. The original multiple-choice questions were administered in another similar introductory physics course on final exam. Findings suggest that carefully designed multiple-choice...

2010 driver attitudes and awareness survey.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-01

A basic of questions were developed that could be used in periodic surveys that track drivers attitudes and awareness concerning impaired driving, seat belt use, and speeding issues. The objective of the survey was to learn the knowledge, views, and ...

A Life in the Universe Survey

Science.gov (United States)

LoPresto, Michael C.; Hubble-Zdanowski, Jennifer

2012-01-01

The "Life in the Universe Survey" is a twelve-question assessment instrument. Largely based on the factors of the Drake equation, it is designed to survey students' initial estimates of its factors and to gauge how estimates change with instruction. The survey was used in sections of a seminar course focusing specifically on life in the universe…

A survey of optometry leadership: participation in disaster response.

Science.gov (United States)

Psoter, Walter J; Glotzer, David L; Weiserbs, Kera Fay; Baek, Linda S; Karloopia, Rajiv

2012-01-01

A study was completed to assess the academic and state-level professional optometry leadership views regarding optometry professionals as surge responders in the event of a catastrophic event. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a 21-question, self-administered, structured questionnaire. All U.S. optometry school deans and state optometric association presidents were mailed a questionnaire and instructions to return it by mail on completion; 2 repeated mailings were made. Descriptive statistics were produced and differences between deans and association presidents were tested by Fisher exact test. The questionnaire response rate was 50% (25 returned/50 sent) for the state association presidents and 65% (11/17) for the deans. There were no statistically significant differences between the leadership groups for any survey questions. All agreed that optometrists have the skills, are ethically obligated to help, and that optometrists should receive additional training for participation in disaster response. There was general agreement that optometrists should provide first-aid, obtain medical histories, triage, maintain infection control, manage a point of distribution, prescribe medications, and counsel the "worried well." Starting intravenous lines, interpreting radiographs, and suturing were less favorably supported. There was some response variability between the 2 leadership groups regarding potential sources for training. The overall opinion of optometry professional leadership is that with additional training, optometrists can and should provide an important reserve pool of catastrophic event responders. Copyright © 2011 American Optometric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Four Questions

Science.gov (United States)

Hark-Weber, Amara G., Ed.

2013-01-01

The author is pleased to introduce a new section in "TAJ," Four Questions. The structure is simple: four questions are asked to teaching artists working in various media and locations. The questions are always the same, but because each teaching artist's approach is unique, their answers will provide an insight into particular methodologies that…

Fibromyalgia family and relationship impact exploratory survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Marcus, Dawn A; Richards, Karen Lee; Chambers, Janet F; Bhowmick, Amrita

2013-09-01

Fibromyalgia is frequently associated with impairments in activities of daily living and work disability. Limited data have investigated the impact of fibromyalgia on relationships with family and friends. This exploratory study was designed to survey a large community sample of adults with fibromyalgia about the impact on the spouse/partner, children and close friends. A 40-question, multiple-choice survey was made available online for a two-month period, with potential participants recruited through fibromyalgia and migraine community websites. Items included questions about demographics, fibromyalgia symptoms, comorbid mood disturbance and relationship impact, including the Relationship Assessment Scale. The survey was completed by 6,126 adults who had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Using updated diagnostic criteria from the American College of Rheumatology, 91% satisfied the criteria for fibromyalgia (Fibromyalgia Severity score ≥13 and pain ≥3 months). Half of participants endorsed that fibromyalgia had mildly to moderately damaged relationship(s) with their spouse(s)/partner(s) or contributed to a break-up with a spouse or partner. Half of participants scored as not being satisfied with their current spouse/partner relationship, with satisfaction negatively affected by the presence of mood disturbance symptoms and higher fibromyalgia severity. Relationships with children and close friends were also negatively impacted for a substantial minority of participants. In addition to physical impairments that are well documented among individuals with fibromyalgia, fibromyalgia can result in a substantial negative impact on important relationships with family and close friends. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

U.S. Geological Survey Rewarding Environment Culture Study, 2002

Science.gov (United States)

Nash, Janis C.; Paradise-Tornow, Carol A.; Gray, Vicki K.; Griffin-Bemis, Sarah P.; Agnew, Pamela R.; Bouchet, Nicole M.

2010-01-01

In its 2001 review of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Research Council (NRC, p. 126) cautioned that ?high-quality personnel are essential for developing high-quality science information? and urged the USGS to ?devote substantial efforts to recruiting and retaining excellent staff.? Recognizing the importance of the NRC recommendation, the USGS has committed time and resources to create a rewarding work environment with the goal of achieving the following valued outcomes: ? USGS science vitality ? Customer satisfaction with USGS products and services ? Employee perceptions of the USGS as a rewarding place to work ? Heightened employee morale and commitment ? The ability to recruit and retain employees with critical skills To determine whether this investment of time and resources was proving to be successful, the USGS Human Resources Office conducted a Rewarding Environment Culture Study to answer the following four questions. ? Question 1: Does a rewarding work environment lead to the valued outcomes (identified above) that the USGS is seeking? ? Question 2: Which management, supervisory, and leadership behaviors contribute most to creating a rewarding work environment and to achieving the valued outcomes that the USGS is seeking? ? Question 3: Do USGS employees perceive that the USGS is a rewarding place to work? ? Question 4: What actions can and should be taken to enhance the USGS work environment? To begin the study, a conceptual model of a rewarding USGS environment was developed to test assumptions about a rewarding work environment. The Rewarding Environment model identifies the key components that are thought to contribute to a rewarding work environment and the valued outcomes that are thought to result from having a rewarding work environment. The 2002 Organizational Assessment Survey (OAS) was used as the primary data source for the study because it provided the most readily available data. Additional survey data were included as they

A nationwide population-based cross-sectional survey of health-related quality of life in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms in Denmark (MPNhealthSurvey: survey design and characteristics of respondents and nonrespondents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brochmann N

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Nana Brochmann,1 Esben Meulengracht Flachs,2 Anne Illemann Christensen,3 Christen Lykkegaard Andersen,1 Knud Juel,3 Hans Carl Hasselbalch,1 Ann-Dorthe Zwisler4 1Department of Hematology, Zealand University Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Roskilde, 2Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Bispebjerg University Hospital, Copenhagen, 3National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen, 4Danish Knowledge Centre for Rehabilitation and Palliative Care, University of Southern Denmark and Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark Objective: The Department of Hematology, Zealand University Hospital, Denmark, and the National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, created the first nationwide, population-based, and the most comprehensive cross-sectional health-related quality of life (HRQoL survey of patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs. In Denmark, all MPN patients are treated in public hospitals and treatments received are free of charge for these patients. Therefore, MPN patients receive the best available treatment to the extent of its suitability for them and if they wish to receive the treatment. The aims of this article are to describe the survey design and the characteristics of respondents and nonrespondents. Material and methods: Individuals with MPN diagnoses registered in the Danish National Patient Register (NPR were invited to participate. The registers of the Danish Civil Registration System and Statistics Denmark provided information regarding demographics. The survey contained 120 questions: validated patient-reported outcome (PRO questionnaires and additional questions addressing lifestyle. Results: A total of 4,704 individuals were registered with MPN diagnoses in the NPR of whom 4,236 were eligible for participation and 2,613 (62% responded. Overall, the respondents covered the broad spectrum of MPN patients, but patients 70–79 years old, living with

Asking the age question in elderly populations: a reverse record check study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smit, J. H.; Deeg, D. J.; Schmand, B. A.

1997-01-01

In two large-scale surveys among elderly respondents we evaluated the accuracy of answers obtained to three differently formulated age questions. Respondents included 6,149 individuals aged 65-86 living in The Netherlands. Because criterion age data were available from different sources, it was

Influence of English-Language Proficiency on the Cognitive Processing of Survey Questions

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Hyunjoo; Sha, M. Mandy; Willis, Gordon

2016-01-01

When recruiting respondents for cognitive interviews testing translated survey questionnaires, researchers often recommend interviewing monolingual non-English speakers because they are the likely users of the translations. However, these individuals are hard to recruit, and there is no standard definition of monolingual. Using cognitive interview…

Visual question answering using hierarchical dynamic memory networks

Science.gov (United States)

Shang, Jiayu; Li, Shiren; Duan, Zhikui; Huang, Junwei

2018-04-01

Visual Question Answering (VQA) is one of the most popular research fields in machine learning which aims to let the computer learn to answer natural language questions with images. In this paper, we propose a new method called hierarchical dynamic memory networks (HDMN), which takes both question attention and visual attention into consideration impressed by Co-Attention method, which is the best (or among the best) algorithm for now. Additionally, we use bi-directional LSTMs, which have a better capability to remain more information from the question and image, to replace the old unit so that we can capture information from both past and future sentences to be used. Then we rebuild the hierarchical architecture for not only question attention but also visual attention. What's more, we accelerate the algorithm via a new technic called Batch Normalization which helps the network converge more quickly than other algorithms. The experimental result shows that our model improves the state of the art on the large COCO-QA dataset, compared with other methods.

Phrasal Paraphrase Based Question Reformulation for Archived Question Retrieval.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu Zhang

Full Text Available Lexical gap in cQA search, resulted by the variability of languages, has been recognized as an important and widespread phenomenon. To address the problem, this paper presents a question reformulation scheme to enhance the question retrieval model by fully exploring the intelligence of paraphrase in phrase-level. It compensates for the existing paraphrasing research in a suitable granularity, which either falls into fine-grained lexical-level or coarse-grained sentence-level. Given a question in natural language, our scheme first detects the involved key-phrases by jointly integrating the corpus-dependent knowledge and question-aware cues. Next, it automatically extracts the paraphrases for each identified key-phrase utilizing multiple online translation engines, and then selects the most relevant reformulations from a large group of question rewrites, which is formed by full permutation and combination of the generated paraphrases. Extensive evaluations on a real world data set demonstrate that our model is able to characterize the complex questions and achieves promising performance as compared to the state-of-the-art methods.

Sociodemographic differences in dietary habits described by food frequency questions - results from Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dynesen, Anja Weirsøe; Haraldsdóttir, J.; Holm, Karen Lotte

2003-01-01

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether a modest number of food frequency questions are sufficient to describe sociodemographic differences in dietary habits, and to identify sociodemographic characteristics of subjects adhering to food-based dietary guidelines operationalised in a "healthy-diet index......". DESIGN: Cross-sectional population survey. SUBJECTS: A total of 480 men, 515 women, aged 15-90 y. Random sample of private telephone numbers drawn from regional telephone records, geographically stratified. Participation rate 62%. METHODS: Computer-assisted telephone interviews, including six food...... frequency questions, a question on type of fat spreads used on bread, questions on seven sociodemographic variables. RESULTS: The summary of the healthy-diet index showed that the subjects who adhered to food-based dietary guidelines (top quintile) compared to those who did not (bottom quintile) were most...

Semi-customizing patient surveys

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riiskjær, Erik; Ammentorp, Jette; Nielsen, Jørn Flohr

2011-01-01

Objective. The study investigated the needs and consequences of semi-customizing patient satisfaction surveys to low organizational levels and explored whether patient satisfaction was correlated with local organizational conditions. Design. From 1999 to 2006, the County of Aarhus carried out 398....... Establishing a link between patient satisfaction and organizational variables broadens the quality development focus to include more than simply analysis of specific questions. Semi-customizing patient surveys are recommended....... surveys during four rounds in eight hospitals. To explain differences between the wards, data on the 40 wards with the best and the 40 wards with the worst evaluations (identified by patient surveys) were compared with the data from job satisfaction surveys and management information systems. Setting...

Sociodemographic differences in dietary habits described by food frequency questions--results from Denmark.

Science.gov (United States)

Dynesen, A W; Haraldsdóttir, J; Holm, L; Astrup, A

2003-12-01

To investigate whether a modest number of food frequency questions are sufficient to describe sociodemographic differences in dietary habits, and to identify sociodemographic characteristics of subjects adhering to food-based dietary guidelines operationalised in a "healthy-diet index". Cross-sectional population survey. A total of 480 men, 515 women, aged 15-90 y. Random sample of private telephone numbers drawn from regional telephone records, geographically stratified. Participation rate 62%. Computer-assisted telephone interviews, including six food frequency questions, a question on type of fat spreads used on bread, questions on seven sociodemographic variables. The summary of the healthy-diet index showed that the subjects who adhered to food-based dietary guidelines (top quintile) compared to those who did not (bottom quintile) were most often women (odds ratio (OR)=6.07; confidence interval (CI): 3.91-9.43, women vs men), of older age (OR=9.72; CI: 3.02-31.31, old age vs young), highly educated (OR=3.69; CI: 1.53-8.92, high education vs low) and living in multiperson households including children (OR=4.66; CI: 2.47-8.80, multiperson household vs single household). The results also showed that gender difference in dietary habits is associated with other sociodemographic variables. The selected food frequency questions proved sufficient to describe sociodemographic differences in dietary habits, and this method may be a valuable supplement to traditional quantitative dietary surveys in monitoring sociodemographic changes in eating patterns. The results also underline the influence of sociodemographic status on dietary habits. The Danish Nutrition Council funded the study.

1996 hazardous waste management survey in selected Asian countries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nelson, D.; Christie, K.; Tao, Hong-lei [EnviroSearch International, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)

1996-12-31

This report documents the results of a 42-question survey submitted to countries in Asia concerning their hazardous waste management programs and other issues. The same survey questions were distributed in 1992. This report compares the 1992 and 1996 responses. The respondents were Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Philippines, Hong Kong, People`s Republic of China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia. 7 figs.

A statistical analysis of student questions in a cell biology laboratory.

Science.gov (United States)

Keeling, Elena L; Polacek, Kelly M; Ingram, Ella L

2009-01-01

Asking questions is an essential component of the practice of science, but question-asking skills are often underemphasized in science education. In this study, we examined questions written by students as they prepared for laboratory exercises in a senior-level cell biology class. Our goals were to discover 1) what types of questions students asked about laboratory activities, 2) whether the types or quality of questions changed over time, and 3) whether the quality of questions or degree of improvement was related to academic performance. We found a majority of questions were about laboratory outcomes or seeking additional descriptive information about organisms or processes to be studied. Few questions earned the highest possible ranking, which required demonstration of extended thought, integration of information, and/or hypotheses and future experiments, although a majority of students asked such a question at least once. We found no correlation between types of student questions or improvement in questions and final grades. Only a small improvement in overall question quality was seen despite considerable practice at writing questions about science. Our results suggest that improving students' ability to generate higher-order questions may require specific pedagogical intervention.

Monkeying around: Use of Survey Monkey as a Tool for School Social Work

Science.gov (United States)

Massat, Carol Rippey; McKay, Cassandra; Moses, Helene

2009-01-01

This article describes the use of an online survey tool called Survey Monkey, which can be used by school social workers and school social work educators for evaluation of practice, needs assessment, and program evaluation. Examples of questions are given. Principles of writing good survey questions are described. (Contains 2 tables and 1…

Evaluating Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) Suicide Prevention Training in a College Setting

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Sharon L.; Kader, Mahrin; Darrow, Sherri A.; Haggerty, Melinda Z.; Keating, Niki L.

2013-01-01

This study assesses short-term and long-term learning outcomes of Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) suicide prevention training in a college setting. Two hundred seventy-three participants completed pretest, posttest, and follow-up surveys regarding suicide prevention knowledge, attitudes, and skills. Results indicated: (a) increases in suicide…

Aphasia centers in North America: a survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Simmons-Mackie, Nina; Holland, Audrey L

2011-08-01

There is a growing trend toward dedicated programs designed to improve the lives of people with aphasia and their families. We are referring to these programs collectively as "aphasia centers." These programs purportedly differ from more traditional medically based aphasia rehabilitation. However, there is no directory of aphasia centers and no definition of what constitutes such a program. Therefore, an online survey was designed to identify and describe aphasia centers in the United States and Canada. A 37-question survey was posted online via SurveyMonkey. An introductory letter was distributed by electronic mail to a listserv and mailing lists of programs associated with aphasia. Potential respondents who considered themselves an aphasia center were asked to complete the survey. A total of 33 survey responses were analyzed, and descriptive data were compiled resulting in a description of the following aspects of aphasia centers: demographic information, mission, admission and discharge policies, assessment practices, program logistics, staffing patterns, marketing, funding, and services offered. In addition, a qualitative analysis of written text responses revealed the following key themes that appear to characterize the responding programs: services that differ from traditional aphasia rehabilitation; a sense of community; a holistic focus on quality of life, psychosocial well-being, participation, and social support; the centrality of group interaction; and variety/intensity of services. © Thieme Medical Publishers.

A survey of Canadian medical physicists: software quality assurance of in-house software.

Science.gov (United States)

Salomons, Greg J; Kelly, Diane

2015-01-05

This paper reports on a survey of medical physicists who write and use in-house written software as part of their professional work. The goal of the survey was to assess the extent of in-house software usage and the desire or need for related software quality guidelines. The survey contained eight multiple-choice questions, a ranking question, and seven free text questions. The survey was sent to medical physicists associated with cancer centers across Canada. The respondents to the survey expressed interest in having guidelines to help them in their software-related work, but also demonstrated extensive skills in the area of testing, safety, and communication. These existing skills form a basis for medical physicists to establish a set of software quality guidelines.

Initial communication survey results for the Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beck, D.M.

1991-03-01

To support the public communication efforts of the Technical Steering Panel of the Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction (HEDR) Project, a public survey was conducted. The survey was intended to provide information about the public's knowledge and interest in the project and the best ways to communicate project results. Questions about the project were included as part of an omnibus survey conducted by Washington State University. The survey was conducted by phone to Washington State residents in the spring of 1990. This report gives the HEDR-related questions and summary data of responses. Questions associated with the HEDR Project were grouped into four categories: knowledge of the HEDR Project; interest in the project; preferred ways of receiving information about the project (including public information meetings, a newsletter mailed to homes, presentations to civic groups in the respondent's community, a computer bulletin board respondent could access with a modem, information displays at public buildings and shopping malls, and an information video sent to respondent); and level of concern over past exposure from Hanford operations. Questions abut whom state residents are most likely to trust about radiation issues were also part of the omnibus survey, and responses are included in this report

Relationship between Future Time Orientation and Item Nonresponse on Subjective Probability Questions: A Cross-Cultural Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sunghee; Liu, Mingnan; Hu, Mengyao

2017-06-01

Time orientation is an unconscious yet fundamental cognitive process that provides a framework for organizing personal experiences in temporal categories of past, present and future, reflecting the relative emphasis given to these categories. Culture lies central to individuals' time orientation, leading to cultural variations in time orientation. For example, people from future-oriented cultures tend to emphasize the future and store information relevant for the future more than those from present- or past-oriented cultures. For survey questions that ask respondents to report expected probabilities of future events, this may translate into culture-specific question difficulties, manifested through systematically varying "I don't know" item nonresponse rates. This study drew on the time orientation theory and examined culture-specific nonresponse patterns on subjective probability questions using methodologically comparable population-based surveys from multiple countries. The results supported our hypothesis. Item nonresponse rates on these questions varied significantly in the way that future-orientation at the group as well as individual level was associated with lower nonresponse rates. This pattern did not apply to non-probability questions. Our study also suggested potential nonresponse bias. Examining culture-specific constructs, such as time orientation, as a framework for measurement mechanisms may contribute to improving cross-cultural research.

MyVoice National Text Message Survey of Youth Aged 14 to 24 Years: Study Protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

DeJonckheere, Melissa; Nichols, Lauren P; Moniz, Michelle H; Sonneville, Kendrin R; Vydiswaran, V G Vinod; Zhao, Xinyan; Guetterman, Timothy C; Chang, Tammy

2017-12-11

There has been little progress in adolescent health outcomes in recent decades. Researchers and youth-serving organizations struggle to accurately elicit youth voice and translate youth perspectives into health care policy. Our aim is to describe the protocol of the MyVoice Project, a longitudinal mixed methods study designed to engage youth, particularly those not typically included in research. Text messaging surveys are collected, analyzed, and disseminated in real time to leverage youth perspectives to impact policy. Youth aged 14 to 24 years are recruited to receive weekly text message surveys on a variety of policy and health topics. The research team, including academic researchers, methodologists, and youth, develop questions through an iterative writing and piloting process. Question topics are elicited from community organizations, researchers, and policy makers to inform salient policies. A youth-centered interactive platform has been developed that automatically sends confidential weekly surveys and incentives to participants. Parental consent is not required because the survey is of minimal risk to participants. Recruitment occurs online (eg, Facebook, Instagram, university health research website) and in person at community events. Weekly surveys collect both quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data are analyzed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data are quickly analyzed using natural language processing and traditional qualitative methods. Mixed methods integration and analysis supports a more in-depth understanding of the research questions. We are currently recruiting and enrolling participants through in-person and online strategies. Question development, weekly data collection, data analysis, and dissemination are in progress. MyVoice quickly ascertains the thoughts and opinions of youth in real time using a widespread, readily available technology-text messaging. Results are disseminated to researchers, policy makers, and

Mixed-Mode and Mixed-Device Surveys

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Leeuw, E.D.; Toepoel, V.

2018-01-01

Online surveys are one of the most prominent data collection methods in Europe and the USA. Not only are they fast and cheap, data quality in well-designed online surveys is high, especially when sensitive questions are asked. Disadvantages are the threat of undercoverage, as not everyone has

The usefulness of the Basic Question Procedure for determining non-response bias in substantive variables - A test of four telephone questionnaires

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Goor, H.; van Goor, A.

2007-01-01

The Basic Question Procedure (BQP) is a method for determining non-response bias. The BQP involves asking one basic question - that is, the question relating to the central substantive variable of the study - of those persons who refuse to participate in the survey. We studied the usefulness of this

Fisheries Disaster Survey, 2000

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Responses to selected questions from the Social and Economic Survey administered in spring and summer 2000 to recipients of the second round (Round II) of financial...

The Aalborg Survey / Part 3 - Interview Based Survey

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harder, Henrik; Christensen, Cecilie Breinholm; Jensen, Maria Vestergaard

Background and purpose The Aalborg Survey consists of four independent parts: a web, GPS and an interview based survey and a literature study, which together form a consistent investigation and research into use of urban space, and specifically into young people’s use of urban space: what young...... people do in urban spaces, where they are in the urban spaces and when the young people are in the urban spaces. The answers to these questions form the framework and enable further academic discussions and conclusions in relation to the overall research project Diverse Urban Spaces (DUS). The primary......) and the research focus within the cluster of Mobility and Tracking Technologies (MoTT), AAU. Summary / Part 3 - Interview Based Survey The 3rd part of the DUS research project has been carried out during the fall of 2009 and the summer and fall of 2010 as an interview based survey of 18 selected participants (nine...

Results of nuclear security culture survey on personnel at nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoo, Hosik; Lee, Jeong-Ho

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A new surveying questionnaire for evaluating the security awareness of personnel was developed. • The developed surveying tools consist of four categories and 44 questions in total. • The surveying tools developed in this study can be used in other countries. - Abstract: A survey to evaluate awareness of the nuclear security culture of personnel at nuclear facilities was developed. The survey was made up of a series of questionnaires that were divided into four categories, beliefs and attitude, operating systems, leadership behaviors and staff behaviors. Each category contained six to 16 questions. The category on beliefs and attitude was composed of questions that asked plant workers on how much consideration facility personnel give to issues of security when doing his/her work. The section pertaining to operating systems for nuclear security consisted of questions on guidance documents, information security, and education and training. The questions on leadership behaviors were separated into two parts, one for managers and another for staff. These include questions relating to communication between management and staff, surveillance work related to nuclear security and the sharing of information. The last category of questions concerned staff behaviors. It consisted of questions on knowledge, procedures and implementation related to nuclear security. A survey was conducted on 858 people who worked at nuclear power plants using the questionnaire that was developed in this study. The survey was performed between October 7 to 17, 2014. The survey results were collected and analyzed. A numerical value was given to each question, so that the results of the survey were represented as a score. The data revealed that awareness of the nuclear security culture increased with age. This increase stopped when staff members entered their 50s. It is believed that a person in his/her 50s has a greater degree of experience and passion for their work than

Assessing the psychometric questioner for students rating teachers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Razaghi Reza Sharif

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Educational institutions use different ways to evaluate their teachers. Asking students to rate their teachers is common practice. The purpose of this research was to examine the reliability of the instruments used to evaluate the instructors in a college of medicine. This cross-sectional descriptive research used questioners that evaluated instructors. The questioner was targeting different dimensions of instructors. Item analysis in addition to exploratory factor analysis was performed on 1040questioners answered by the students of the College of Medicine of Kashan University of Medical Sciences. SPSS software was used to perform the analysis. The psychometric properties of questionnaires including Cronbach alpha was determined. The result of exploratory factor analysis and item analysis indicated that three of the subscales of the questioner showed sufficient reliability to evaluate the instructors and two subscales needed further examination. This type of evaluations is necessary to ensure quality of instructors working in an institution as well as providing reliable feedback to the instructors. The result showed that while some subscales of the questioner seems to target the concept of interest; a re-evaluation of the instrument would be valuable to increase its reliability for the administrators in the colleges.

International Energy Agency instrumented facilities survey for solar assisted low energy dwellings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1982-02-01

Compiled are surveys outlining the instrumentation of 38 active and passive solar projects in 9 countries (Denmark, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, and West Germany). After the surveys themselves are presented, the data are rearranged to compare answers from similar survey questions for each of the projects. These questions address building, solar system and instrumentation descriptions and meteorological, solar system and building system instrumentatation capabilities. (LEW)

A survey of Canadian medical physicists: software quality assurance of in‐house software

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Diane

2015-01-01

This paper reports on a survey of medical physicists who write and use in‐house written software as part of their professional work. The goal of the survey was to assess the extent of in‐house software usage and the desire or need for related software quality guidelines. The survey contained eight multiple‐choice questions, a ranking question, and seven free text questions. The survey was sent to medical physicists associated with cancer centers across Canada. The respondents to the survey expressed interest in having guidelines to help them in their software‐related work, but also demonstrated extensive skills in the area of testing, safety, and communication. These existing skills form a basis for medical physicists to establish a set of software quality guidelines. PACS number: 87.55.Qr PMID:25679168

Adding question answering to an e-tutor for programming languages

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Kate; Moore, Simon

Control over a closed domain of textual material removes many question answering issues, as does an ontology that is closely intertwined with its sources. This pragmatic, shallow approach to many challenging areas of research in adaptive hypermedia, question answering, intelligent tutoring and humancomputer interaction has been put into practice at Cambridge in the Computer Science undergraduate course to teach the hardware description language Veri/og. This language itself poses many challenges as it crosses the interdisciplinary boundary between hardware and software engineers, giving rise to severalhuman ontologies as well as theprogramming language itself We present further results from ourformal and informal surveys. We look at further work to increase the dialogue between studentand tutor and export our knowledge to the Semantic Web.

An Evaluation of the Federal Energy Management Program Technical Assistance Workshops: Results of a 1998 Customer Survey

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

G. B. Gordon; N. Hall

1999-04-01

This report presents the results of a customer telephone survey of the participants of six workshops provided by the U. S. Department of Energy Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) during calendar years 1995 and 1996. The primary purpose for the survey was to provide the Team Leader for FEMP Technical Assistance and members of the team with detailed customer feedback pertaining to how well selected FEMP workshops are doing and to identify areas for improvement. The information presented enables managers to see both the strengths of their workshops, as well as workshop components that can be improved. In addition, the report identifies the questions included in the survey that were the most productive for obtaining customers experiences, opinions and recommendations. The experiences gained during this survey provide a platform from which to launch an annual FEMP customer survey.

The 2003 Australian Breast Health Survey: survey design and preliminary results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Favelle Simone

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Breast Health Surveys, conducted by the National Breast Cancer Centre (NBCC in 1996 and 2003, are designed to gain insight into the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of a nationally representative sample of Australian women on issues relevant to breast cancer. In this article, we focus on major aspects of the design and present results on respondents' knowledge about mammographic screening. Methods The 2003 BHS surveyed English-speaking Australian women aged 30–69 without a history of breast cancer using computer-assisted telephone interviewing. Questions covered the following themes: knowledge and perceptions about incidence, mortality and risk; knowledge and behaviour regarding early detection, symptoms and diagnosis; mammographic screening; treatment; and accessibility and availability of information and services. Respondents were selected using a complex sample design involving stratification. Sample weights against Australian population benchmarks were used in all statistical analyses. Means and proportions for the entire population and by age group and area of residence were calculated. Statistical tests were conducted using a level of significance of 0.01. Results Of the 3,144 respondents who consented to being interviewed, 138 (4.4% had a previous diagnosis of breast cancer and were excluded leaving 3,006 completed interviews eligible for analysis. A majority of respondents (61.1% reported ever having had a mammogram and 29.1% identified mammography as being the best way of finding breast cancer. A majority of women (85.9% had heard of the BreastScreen Australia (BSA program, the national mammographic screening program providing free biennial screening mammograms, with 94.5% believing that BSA attendance was available regardless of the presence or absence of symptoms. There have been substantial gains in women's knowledge about mammographic screening over the seven years between the two surveys. Conclusion The

The 2003 Australian Breast Health Survey: survey design and preliminary results.

Science.gov (United States)

Villanueva, Elmer V; Jones, Sandra; Nehill, Caroline; Favelle, Simone; Steel, David; Iverson, Donald; Zorbas, Helen

2008-01-14

The Breast Health Surveys, conducted by the National Breast Cancer Centre (NBCC) in 1996 and 2003, are designed to gain insight into the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of a nationally representative sample of Australian women on issues relevant to breast cancer. In this article, we focus on major aspects of the design and present results on respondents' knowledge about mammographic screening. The 2003 BHS surveyed English-speaking Australian women aged 30-69 without a history of breast cancer using computer-assisted telephone interviewing. Questions covered the following themes: knowledge and perceptions about incidence, mortality and risk; knowledge and behaviour regarding early detection, symptoms and diagnosis; mammographic screening; treatment; and accessibility and availability of information and services. Respondents were selected using a complex sample design involving stratification. Sample weights against Australian population benchmarks were used in all statistical analyses. Means and proportions for the entire population and by age group and area of residence were calculated. Statistical tests were conducted using a level of significance of 0.01. Of the 3,144 respondents who consented to being interviewed, 138 (4.4%) had a previous diagnosis of breast cancer and were excluded leaving 3,006 completed interviews eligible for analysis. A majority of respondents (61.1%) reported ever having had a mammogram and 29.1% identified mammography as being the best way of finding breast cancer. A majority of women (85.9%) had heard of the BreastScreen Australia (BSA) program, the national mammographic screening program providing free biennial screening mammograms, with 94.5% believing that BSA attendance was available regardless of the presence or absence of symptoms. There have been substantial gains in women's knowledge about mammographic screening over the seven years between the two surveys. The NBCC Breast Health Surveys provide a valuable picture of the

Statistical Analysis of the Worker Engagement Survey Administered at the Worker Safety and Security Team Festival

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Davis, Adam Christopher [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2015-08-25

The Worker Safety and Security Team (WSST) at Los Alamos National Laboratory holds an annual festival, WSST-fest, to engage workers and inform them about safety- and securityrelated matters. As part of the 2015 WSST-fest, workers were given the opportunity to participate in a survey assessing their engagement in their organizations and work environments. A total of 789 workers participated in the 23-question survey where they were also invited, optionally, to identify themselves, their organization, and to give open-ended feedback. The survey consisted of 23 positive statements (i.e. “My organization is a good place to work.”) with which the respondent could express a level of agreement. The text of these statements are provided in Table 1. The level of agreement corresponds to a 5-level Likert scale ranging from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree.” In addition to assessing the overall positivity or negativity of the scores, the results were partitioned into several cohorts based on the response meta-data (self-identification, comments, etc.) to explore trends. Survey respondents were presented with the options to identify themselves, their organizations and to provide comments. These options suggested the following questions about the data set.

Listening to firms : how to use firm-level surveys to assess constraints on private sector development

OpenAIRE

Stone, Andrew H.W.

1992-01-01

Firm-level surveys elicit information important to formulating sound policy advice and designing projects to promote private sector development. Drawing on recent World Bank experience in eight countries, the author advises why and how to implement targeted field surveys by answering the following questions: Why use targeted field surveys? How should surveys be focused and designed? What types of questions work best in surveys? How can surveys be oriented toward their target population? How s...

Findings from Survey Administered to Weatherization Training Centers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Conlon, Brian [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Tonn, Bruce Edward [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2015-03-01

This report summarizes results of a survey administered to directors of weatherization training centers that receive funding from the U.S. Department of Energy. The survey presents results related to questions on training offered and future plans.

Will a Black Hole Eventually Swallow Earth?” Fifth Graders' Interest in Questions from a Textbook, an Open Educational Resource and Other Students' Questions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hani Swirski

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Can questions sent to Open-Educational-Resource (OER websites such as Ask-An-Expert serve as indicators for students’ interest in science? This issue was examined using an online questionnaire which included an equal number of questions about the topics “space” and “nutrition” randomly selected from three different sources: a 5th-grade science textbook, the “Ask-An-Expert” website, and questions collected from other students in the same age group. A sample of 113 5th-graders from two elementary schools were asked to rate their interest level in finding out the answer to these questions without knowledge of their source. Significant differences in students’ interest level were found between questions: textbook questions were ranked lowest for both subjects, and questions from the open-resource were ranked high. This finding suggests that questions sent to an open-resource could be used as an indicator of students’ interest in science. In addition, the high correlation of interests expressed by students from the two schools may point to a potential generalization of the findings. This study contributes by highlighting OER as a new and promising indicator of student interest, which may help bring “student voices” into mainstream science teaching to increase student interest in science.

Visual Design, Order Effects, and Respondent Characteristics in a Self-Administered Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Stern

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Recent survey design research has shown that small changes in the structure and visual layout of questions can affect respondents' answers. While the findings have provided strong evidence of such effects, they are limited by the homogeneity of their samples, in that many of these studies have used random samples of college students. In this paper, we examine the effects of seven experimental alterations in question format and visual design using data from a general population survey that allows us to examine the effects of demographic differences among respondents. Results from a 2005 random sample mail survey of 1,315 households in a small metropolitan region of the United States suggest that the visual layout of survey questions affects different demographic groups in similar ways.

Making a Historical Survey of a State's Nuclear Ambitions. Impact of Historical Developments of a State's National Nuclear Non-Proliferation Policy on Additional Protocol Implementation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jonter, Thomas

2003-03-01

In 1998, SKI initiated a project to conduct a historical survey of the Swedish nuclear weapons research for the period 1945-1972. IAEA became interested and accepted it in 2000 as a support program task to increase transparency and to support the implementation of the Additional Protocol in Sweden. The main purpose of the Additional Protocol is to make the IAEA control system more efficient with regard to nuclear material, facilities and research. Other countries have now shown interest to follow the Swedish example and to make their own reviews of their past nuclear energy and nuclear weapons research. The most important aim is to produce basic information for IAEA on the nuclear activities of the past and to refine and strengthen the instruments of the Safeguard System within the Additional Protocol. The first objective of this report is to present a short summary of the Swedish historical survey, as well as similar projects in other countries dealing with nuclear-related and nuclear weapons research reviews. These tasks are dealt with in chapter 2. Secondly, the objective is to present a general model of how a national base survey can be designed. The model is based on the Swedish experiences and it has been designed to also serve as a guideline for other countries to strengthen their safeguards systems within the framework of the Additional Protocol. Since other States declared that they would make similar historical surveys, the SKI decided to work out a model that could be used by other countries intending to conduct such studies. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are participating in a co-operation project to carry out such nationally base surveys under the auspices of the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate. Finland is also conducting such a survey, but it is done independently, albeit in close exchange of views between SKI and its Finnish counterpart, STUK. This is described in chapter 3. The third objective is to develop a pedagogic methodology for teaching

Using Pre-Assessment and In-Class Questions to Change Student Understanding of Molecular Movements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jia Shi

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Understanding how different types of molecules move through cell membranes is a fundamental part of cell biology. To identify and address student misconceptions surrounding molecular movement through cell membranes, we surveyed student understanding on this topic using pre-class questions, in-class clicker questions, and subsequent exam questions in a large introductory biology course. Common misconceptions identified in student responses to the pre-class assessment questions were used to generate distractors for clicker questions. Two-tier diagnostic clicker questions were used to probe incoming common student misconceptions (first tier and their reasoning (second tier. Two subsequent lectures with assessment clicker questions were used to help students construct a new framework to understand molecular movement through cell membranes. Comparison of pre-assessment and post-assessment (exam performance showed dramatic improvement in students’ understanding of molecular movement: student answers to exam questions were 74.6% correct with correct reasoning while only 1.3% of the student answers were correct with correct reasoning on the pre-class assessment. Our results show that students’ conceptual understanding of molecular movement through cell membranes progressively increases through discussions of a series of clicker questions and suggest that this clicker-based teaching strategy was highly effective in correcting common student misconceptions on this topic.

Routing Corners of Building Structures - by the Method of Vector Addition - Measured with RTN GNSS Surveying Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Krzyżek, Robert

2015-12-01

The paper deals with the problem of surveying buildings in the RTN GNSS mode using modernized indirect methods of measurement. As a result of the classical realtime measurements using indirect methods (intersection of straight lines or a point on a straight line), we obtain a building structure (a building) which is largely deformed. This distortion is due to the inconsistency of the actual dimensions of the building (tie distances) relative to the obtained measurement results. In order to eliminate these discrepancies, and thus to ensure full consistency of the building geometric structure, an innovative solution was applied - the method of vector addition - to modify the linear values (tie distances) of the external face of the building walls. A separate research problem tackled in the article, although not yet fully solved, is the issue of coordinates of corners of a building obtained after the application of the method of vector addition.

Justification of wife beating in rural Bangladesh: a qualitative analysis of gender differences in responses to survey questions.

Science.gov (United States)

Schuler, Sidney Ruth; Yount, Kathryn M; Lenzi, Rachel

2012-10-01

Understanding attitudes about intimate partner violence (IPV) in cultural context is important for developing interventions to reduce it or mitigate its effects. This article presents qualitative findings from research conducted in rural Bangladesh to understand men's and women's responses to attitudinal questions about IPV. Both men and women often responded as if the questions were about their personal behavior. A few women said that their opinion did not matter. Women's responses were more sensitive than men's to contextual nuances in the questions, and men more often than women described their own attitudes as consistent with community norms.

Socratic Questioning-Guided Discovery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Hakan Türkçapar

2012-04-01

Full Text Available “Socratic Method” is a way of teaching philosophical thinking and knowledge by asking questions which was used by antique period greek philosopher Socrates. Socrates was teaching knowledge to his followers by asking questions and the conversation between them was named “Socratic Dialogues”. In this meaning, no novel knowledge is taught to the individual but only what is formerly known is reminded and rediscovered. The form of socratic questioning which is used during the process of cognitive behavioral therapy is known as Guided Discovery. In this method it is aimed to make the client notice the piece of knowledge which he could notice but is not aware with a series of questions. Socratic method or guided discovery consists of several steps which are: Identifying the problem by listening to the client and making reflections, finding alternatives by examining and evaluating, reidentification by using the newly found information and questioning the old distorted belief and reaching to a conclusion and applying it. Question types used during these procedures are, questions for gaining information, questions revealing the meanings, questions revealing the beliefs, questions about behaviours during the similar past experiences, analyse questions and analytic synthesis questions. In order to make the patient feel understood it is important to be empathetic and summarising the problem during the interview. In this text, steps of Socratic Questioning-Guided Discovery will be reviewed with sample dialogues after eachstep. [JCBPR 2012; 1(1.000: 15-20

Student teachers’ mathematical questioning and courage in metaphorical thinking learning

Science.gov (United States)

Hendriana, H.; Hidayat, W.; Ristiana, M. G.

2018-01-01

This study was designed in the form of experiments with control group design and post-test only which aimed to examine the role of metaphorical thinking learning in the mathematical questioning ability of student teachers based on the level of mathematical courage. The population of this study was student teachers of mathematics education study program in West Java Province, while the sample of this study was 152 student teachers which were set purposively and then randomly to be included in the experimental class and control class. Based on the results and discussion, it was concluded that: (a) the mathematical questioning ability of student teachers who received Metaphorical Thinking learning was better than those who received conventional learning seen from mathematical courage level; (b) learning and mathematical courage level factors affected the achievement of student teachers’ mathematical questioning ability. In addition, there was no interaction effect between learning and mathematical courage level (high, medium, and low) simultaneously in developing student teachers’ mathematical questioning ability; (c) achievement of mastering mathematical questioning ability of student teacher was still not well achieved on indicator of problem posing in the form of non-routine question and open question.

Follow-up skeletal surveys for nonaccidental trauma: can a more limited survey be performed?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harlan, Susan R. [University of Utah School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Nixon, G.W.; Prince, Jeffrey S. [Primary Children' s Medical Center, Department of Medical Imaging, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Campbell, Kristine A.; Hansen, Karen [University of Utah School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)

2009-09-15

Studies have demonstrated the value of the follow-up skeletal survey in identifying additional fractures, clarifying indeterminate findings, and improving dating of skeletal injuries in victims of physical abuse. To determine whether a more limited follow-up survey could yield the same radiologic data as a full follow-up survey. The study cohort comprised 101 children who had follow-up surveys that met our inclusion criteria. Consensus readings of both original and follow-up surveys were performed by two pediatric radiologists. These results were compared to determine additional findings from the follow-up surveys. Limited skeletal survey protocols were evaluated to determine whether they would detect the same fractures seen with a complete osseous survey. In the 101 children 244 fractures were identified on the initial osseous survey. Follow-up surveys demonstrated new information in 38 children (37.6%). A 15-view limited follow-up survey identified all additional information seen on the complete follow-up survey. Our data demonstrate that a 15-view limited follow-up skeletal survey could be performed without missing clinically significant new fractures and still allow proper identification of confirmed fractures or normal findings. A limited survey would decrease radiation dose in children. (orig.)

Follow-up skeletal surveys for nonaccidental trauma: can a more limited survey be performed?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harlan, Susan R.; Nixon, G.W.; Prince, Jeffrey S.; Campbell, Kristine A.; Hansen, Karen

2009-01-01

Studies have demonstrated the value of the follow-up skeletal survey in identifying additional fractures, clarifying indeterminate findings, and improving dating of skeletal injuries in victims of physical abuse. To determine whether a more limited follow-up survey could yield the same radiologic data as a full follow-up survey. The study cohort comprised 101 children who had follow-up surveys that met our inclusion criteria. Consensus readings of both original and follow-up surveys were performed by two pediatric radiologists. These results were compared to determine additional findings from the follow-up surveys. Limited skeletal survey protocols were evaluated to determine whether they would detect the same fractures seen with a complete osseous survey. In the 101 children 244 fractures were identified on the initial osseous survey. Follow-up surveys demonstrated new information in 38 children (37.6%). A 15-view limited follow-up survey identified all additional information seen on the complete follow-up survey. Our data demonstrate that a 15-view limited follow-up skeletal survey could be performed without missing clinically significant new fractures and still allow proper identification of confirmed fractures or normal findings. A limited survey would decrease radiation dose in children. (orig.)

A European survey on donor deferral for allergy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Garraud, O; Martin, C; Haddad, A

2017-01-01

Allergy accounts to near 0.5% of all reported transfusion adverse events. The responsibility of blood components themselves and - therefore - of blood donors is still questioned. The European Community undertook a large international survey to address the consistency and homogeneity of medical...... selection of blood donors with regard to the risk of allergy, and especially of transferring allergy to recipients. This short report presents the salient points of the survey, stressing that there is inconsistency in addressing the allergy question within countries or systems, with paths of improvement....

Survey of off-grid dwellings : January and February 2003

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2005-07-01

This report presents statistics from the results of a survey on off-grid dwellings in the Yukon. Two hundred and fifty-eight surveys were completed, and all questions asked in the survey were represented in this document. Dwellings were defined as any buildings in which people slept or ate, including cabins, cottages, lodges and camps, year-round or otherwise. Information was provided on whether or not the dwellings were main residences or recreational properties and the lengths of time in which the dwellings were used. Comments were presented on the difficulties of getting mortgages or other financing for off-grid dwellings. Detailed and specific questions were asked, requiring information about distances from electric poles and intentions to connect to the grid; whether or not the property was a subsistence and/or commercial residence; energy sources currently used; heating systems; light sources; water pumping; power generators; telephones; wind and solar power generators; and, costs involved in purchase and maintenance of energy systems. A series of questions revolved around the use, cost and maintenance of generators. Maintenance and installation costs of photovoltaic systems and wind power generators were presented. Micro-hydro system generators were discussed. Future involvement in energy programs was suggested with specific reference to off-grid energy programs. The survey concluded with comments and questions about off-grid energy in general. tabs.

Surveying Education

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Enemark, Stig

2009-01-01

In relation to surveying education there is one big question to be asked: Is the role of the surveyors changing? In a global perspective the answer will be "Yes". There is a big swing that could be entitled "From Measurement to Management". This does not imply that measurement is no longer....... In surveying education there are a range of other challenges to be faced. These relate to the focus on learning to learn; the need for flexible curriculum to deal with constant change; the move towards introducing virtual academy; the demand for creating a quality culture; and the perspective of lifelong...... on an efficient interaction between education, research, and professional practice....

[Survey among academic teachers about psychiatric training in France].

Science.gov (United States)

van Effenterre, A; Hanon, C; Llorca, P-M

2014-06-01

Given the results of resident psychiatrists' surveys conducted in France over the past 3 years, it has become essential to also examine the opinion of the academic psychiatrists in charge of psychiatry education. To study the teachers point of view on psychiatric training in France, the weaknesses and strengths of the training, recent improvements and problems, and to compare their opinion with that of the residents. A survey was conducted in April 2012 among 125 academic teachers professors hospital practitioners (PU-PH), in child & adolescent psychiatry and adult psychiatry. An anonymous online questionnaire including seven parts and three open questions was sent to the PU-PH. The questionnaire was answered by 79/125 psychiatric PU-PH (63%). Results show that a majority of PU-PH (78%) were willing to maintain a single training pathway including adult psychiatry and child psychiatry with a single diploma, with the addition of a DESC (specific and additional Diploma) in forensic psychiatry (72%) and old age psychiatry (62%). Almost all respondents suggested the implementation of an assessment of teaching and a formal mentorship program. Some aspects of training included more controversial issues: such as the length of the training, the opening of training to private practice physicians, or the European harmonization. The survey stressed some areas of improvement: such training in psychotherapy and research, access to supervision as well as barriers to improved training including an insufficient number of academic practitioners. Compared with other surveys, it emphasized that in addition to the need of diversifying the theoretical (thematic, interactive media and teaching, teachers, etc.) and the practical aspect (training sites), it is essential according to trainees and PU-PH, to implement an efficient supervision during residency. Copyright © 2013 L’Encéphale, Paris. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Engaging Community Leaders in the Development of a Cardiovascular Health Behavior Survey Using Focus Group–Based Cognitive Interviewing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gwenyth R Wallen

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Establishing the validity of health behavior surveys used in community-based participatory research (CBPR in diverse populations is often overlooked. A novel, group-based cognitive interviewing method was used to obtain qualitative data for tailoring a survey instrument designed to identify barriers to improved cardiovascular health in at-risk populations in Washington, DC. A focus group–based cognitive interview was conducted to assess item comprehension, recall, and interpretation and to establish the initial content validity of the survey. Thematic analysis of verbatim transcripts yielded 5 main themes for which participants (n = 8 suggested survey modifications, including survey item improvements, suggestions for additional items, community-specific issues, changes in the skip logic of the survey items, and the identification of typographical errors. Population-specific modifications were made, including the development of more culturally appropriate questions relevant to the community. Group-based cognitive interviewing provided an efficient and effective method for piloting a cardiovascular health survey instrument using CBPR.

Measurement of sexual identity in surveys: implications for substance abuse research.

Science.gov (United States)

McCabe, Sean Esteban; Hughes, Tonda L; Bostwick, Wendy; Morales, Michele; Boyd, Carol J

2012-06-01

Researchers are increasingly recognizing the need to include measures of sexual orientation in health studies. However, relatively little attention has been paid to how sexual identity, the cognitive aspect of sexual orientation, is defined and measured. Our study examined the impact of using two separate sexual identity question formats: a three-category question (response options included heterosexual, bisexual, or lesbian/gay), and a similar question with five response options (only lesbian/gay, mostly lesbian/gay, bisexual, mostly heterosexual, only heterosexual). A large probability-based sample of undergraduate university students was surveyed and a randomly selected subsample of participants was asked both sexual identity questions. Approximately one-third of students who identified as bisexual based on the three-category sexual identity measure chose "mostly heterosexual" or "mostly lesbian/gay" on the five-category measure. In addition to comparing sample proportions of lesbian/gay, bisexual, or heterosexual participants based on the two question formats, rates of alcohol and other drug use were also examined among the participants. Substance use outcomes among the sexual minority subgroups differed based on the sexual identity question format used: bisexual participants showed greater risk of substance use in analyses using the three-category measure whereas "mostly heterosexual" participants were at greater risk when data were analyzed using the five-category measure. Study results have important implications for the study of sexual identity, as well as whether and how to recode responses to questions related to sexual identity.

Surveying Earth Science Users: Improvements Increase Participation and Insight

Science.gov (United States)

Boquist, C. L.

2006-12-01

NASA has surveyed users of its Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) for three years to determine user satisfaction with its services. The survey is being conducted by Claes Fornell International (CFI) under contract with the Department of Treasury's Federal Consulting Group, Executive Agent in government for the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). The purpose of this survey is to help EOSDIS and the data centers assess current status and improve future services. Analysis of each year's results has led to refining, dropping, and adding questions that provide the basis of understanding satisfaction levels across data centers, and for functions within each center. This paper will present lessons learned in preparing the invitation and survey questions and the steps taken to make the survey easier to complete. Year three Indicators include increased participation and better identification with data center names and information services.

Beginning EFL Teachers' Beliefs about Quality Questions and Their Questioning Practices

Science.gov (United States)

Pham, Ly Ngoc Khanh; Hamid, M. Obaidul

2013-01-01

Motivated by the scarcity of research that examines the impact of teacher beliefs on their actual practices in Vietnam, this study investigated the relationship between teachers' beliefs about quality questions and their questioning behaviours in terms of questioning purposes, content focus, students' cognitive level, wording and syntax. Thirteen…

Creating robust vocabulary frequently asked questions and extended examples

CERN Document Server

Beck, Isabel L

2008-01-01

Bringing Words to Life has enlivened the classrooms of hundreds of thousands of teachers. Responding to readers' success stories, practical questions, and requests for extended examples, this ideal volume builds on the groundbreaking work of Bringing Words to Life. The authors present additional tools, tips, and detailed explanations of such questions as which words to teach, when and how to teach them, and how to adapt instruction for English language learners. They provide specific instructional sequences, including assessments, for grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12, as well as interactive less

I Don't Know. The Effect of Question Polarity on No-opinion Answers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kamoen, N.; van de Pol, Jasper; Krouwel, A.P.M.; de Vreese, Claes; Holleman, Bregje

2018-01-01

A new type of political attitude survey that has gained popularity in Europe and in the United States is the voting advice application (VAA). VAAs provide users with a voting advice based on their answers to a set of attitude questions. In the calculation of this advice, no-opinion answers are

Repetitive Questioning II

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. C. Hamdy MD

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Repetitive questioning is a major problem for caregivers, particularly taxing if they are unable to recognize and understand the reasons why their loved one keeps asking the same question over and over again. Caregivers may be tempted to believe that the patient does not even try to remember the answer given or is just getting obnoxious. This is incorrect. Repetitive questioning is due to the underlying disease: The patient’s short term memory is impaired and he is unable to register, encode, retain and retrieve the answer. If he is concerned about a particular topic, he will keep asking the same question over and over again. To the patient each time she asks the question, it is as if she asked it for the first time. Just answering repetitive questioning by providing repeatedly the same answer is not sufficient. Caregivers should try to identify the underlying cause for this repetitive questioning. In an earlier case study, the patient was concerned about her and her family’s safety and kept asking whether the doors are locked. In this present case study, the patient does not know how to handle the awkward situation he finds himself in. He just does not know what to do. He is not able to adjust to the new unexpected situation. So he repeatedly wants to reassure himself that he is not intruding by asking the same question over and over again. We discuss how the patient’s son-in-law could have avoided this situation and averted the catastrophic ending.

A Reliable and Valid Survey to Predict a Patient’s Gagging Intensity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Casey M. Hearing

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Objectives: The aim of this study was to devise a reliable and valid survey to predict the intensity of someone’s gag reflex. Material and Methods: A 10-question Predictive Gagging Survey was created, refined, and tested on 59 undergraduate participants. The questions focused on risk factors and experiences that would indicate the presence and strength of someone’s gag reflex. Reliability was assessed by administering the survey to a group of 17 participants twice, with 3 weeks separating the two administrations. Finally, the survey was given to 25 dental patients. In these cases, patients completed an informed consent form, filled out the survey, and then had a maxillary impression taken while their gagging response was quantified from 1 to 5 on the Fiske and Dickinson Gagging Intensity Index. Results: There was a moderate positive correlation between the Predictive Gagging Survey and Fiske and Dickinson’s Gagging Severity Index, r = +0.64, demonstrating the survey’s validity. Furthermore, the test-retest reliability was r = +0.96, demonstrating the survey’s reliability. Conclusions: The Predictive Gagging Survey is a 10-question survey about gag-related experiences and behaviours. We established that it is a reliable and valid method to assess the strength of someone’s gag reflex.

Infant foods: Debatable questions and real answers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. V. Belmer

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In Ms/her practice, a pediatrician frequently faces ambiguous questions about foods for infants during the first year of life in particular. Not only parents ask pediatricians these questions - the latter naturally arise during work and attempts to pinpoint the problem of adequate nutrition during infancy. These questions are whether complementary foods containing starch cause allergy in an infant; gluten is a detrimental ingredient of infant foods; hydrolysis of cereal polysaccharides is essential; palm oil is dangerous to an infant's health; butter fat as an ingredient infant foods may be harmful to a child. Among other things, butter fat in globules is shown to contain phospholipids, gangliosides, cholesterol, which are essential for a child's development and absent in infant formulas. In this connection, addition of fat globule membranes to foods is promising in terms of the provision of an infant with lipids of full value. There is a need for further in-depth investigations of infant feeding practices, by keeping in mind numerous features of an infant's organism.

Survey of community pharmacy residents' perceptions of transgender health management.

Science.gov (United States)

Leach, Caitlin; Layson-Wolf, Cherokee

2016-01-01

1) To measure the general perceptions and attitudes of community pharmacy residents toward transgender patients and health; 2) to identify gaps in didactic education regarding transgender health care among residents; and 3) to evaluate residents' level of support for pharmacists receiving education in transgender health care. This study was a cross-sectional survey delivered online. Community residency directors were e-mailed a cover letter and a 34-question online survey. The directors were asked to forward the survey to their residents for completion within 4 weeks. Responses were anonymous with no identifiers collected on the survey. Survey responses used a combination of open-response, multiple-choice, and Likert-scale questions aimed at gathering respondents' demographic information, perceptions of managing transgender patients and the need for receiving additional education in transgender health care. Overall, the results of the survey indicated that community pharmacy residents support integrating transgender health management into pharmacy education and recognize that the overwhelming barriers to care for these patients include discrimination and lack of provider knowledge. Significant findings include: 82.7% of community residents think that community pharmacists play an important role in providing care for transgender patients; 98.2% think that they have a responsibility to treat transgender patients; and 71.4% were not educated about transgender patient issues in pharmacy school. Only 36.2% of community residents felt confident in their ability to treat transgender patients. Community pharmacy residents list discrimination and lack of provider knowledge as the major barriers to care for transgender patients. Residents do not feel confident in their ability to treat and manage transgender patients. The majority of residents were not educated about transgender patient issues while in pharmacy school and think that community pharmacists need more education

Evaluating survey quality in health services research: a decision framework for assessing nonresponse bias.

Science.gov (United States)

Halbesleben, Jonathon R B; Whitman, Marilyn V

2013-06-01

To address the issue of nonresponse as problematic and offer appropriate strategies for assessing nonresponse bias. A review of current strategies used to assess the quality of survey data and the challenges associated with these strategies is provided along with appropriate post-data collection techniques that researchers should consider. Response rates are an incomplete assessment of survey data quality, and quick reactions to response rate should be avoided. Based on a five-question decision making framework, we offer potential ways to assess nonresponse bias, along with a description of the advantages and disadvantages to each. It is important that the quality of survey data be considered to assess the relative contribution to the literature of a given study. Authors and funding agencies should consider the potential effects of nonresponse bias both before and after survey administration and report the results of assessments of nonresponse bias in addition to response rates. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

Measuring fertility through mobile‒phone based household surveys: Methods, data quality, and lessons learned from PMA2020 surveys

OpenAIRE

Yoonjoung Choi; Qingfeng Li; Blake Zachary

2018-01-01

Background: PMA2020 is a survey platform with resident enumerators using mobile phones. Instead of collecting full birth history, total fertility rates (TFR) have been measured with a limited number of questions on recent births. Employing new approaches provides opportunities to test and advance survey methods. Objective: This study aims to assess the quality of fertility data in PMA2020 surveys, focusing on bias introduced from the questionnaire and completeness and distribution of birth...

An assesment of measurement invariance between online and mail surveys

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Deutskens, E.C.; Ruyter, de J.C.; Wetzels, M.G.M.

2005-01-01

One of the latest trends in marketing research is the increasing use of online surveys, which offer lower costs and faster responses. Yet, critics question whether data collected via online surveys are equivalent to data collected via traditional mail surveys. Since existing evidence from the

Design and Validation of the Quantum Mechanics Conceptual Survey

Science.gov (United States)

McKagan, S. B.; Perkins, K. K.; Wieman, C. E.

2010-01-01

The Quantum Mechanics Conceptual Survey (QMCS) is a 12-question survey of students' conceptual understanding of quantum mechanics. It is intended to be used to measure the relative effectiveness of different instructional methods in modern physics courses. In this paper, we describe the design and validation of the survey, a process that included…

Comparison between Two Assessment Methods; Modified Essay Questions and Multiple Choice Questions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Assadi S.N.* MD

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Aims Using the best assessment methods is an important factor in educational development of health students. Modified essay questions and multiple choice questions are two prevalent methods of assessing the students. The aim of this study was to compare two methods of modified essay questions and multiple choice questions in occupational health engineering and work laws courses. Materials & Methods This semi-experimental study was performed during 2013 to 2014 on occupational health students of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. The class of occupational health and work laws course in 2013 was considered as group A and the class of 2014 as group B. Each group had 50 students.The group A students were assessed by modified essay questions method and the group B by multiple choice questions method.Data were analyzed in SPSS 16 software by paired T test and odd’s ratio. Findings The mean grade of occupational health and work laws course was 18.68±0.91 in group A (modified essay questions and was 18.78±0.86 in group B (multiple choice questions which was not significantly different (t=-0.41; p=0.684. The mean grade of chemical chapter (p<0.001 in occupational health engineering and harmful work law (p<0.001 and other (p=0.015 chapters in work laws were significantly different between two groups. Conclusion Modified essay questions and multiple choice questions methods have nearly the same student assessing value for the occupational health engineering and work laws course.

Formative student-authored question bank: perceptions, question quality and association with summative performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Walsh, Jason L; Harris, Benjamin H L; Denny, Paul; Smith, Phil

2018-02-01

There are few studies on the value of authoring questions as a study method, the quality of the questions produced by students and student perceptions of student-authored question banks. Here we evaluate PeerWise, a widely used and free online resource that allows students to author, answer and discuss multiple-choice questions. We introduced two undergraduate medical student cohorts to PeerWise (n=603). We looked at their patterns of PeerWise usage; identified associations between student engagement and summative exam performance; and used focus groups to assess student perceptions of the value of PeerWise for learning. We undertook item analysis to assess question difficulty and quality. Over two academic years, the two cohorts wrote 4671 questions, answered questions 606 658 times and posted 7735 comments. Question writing frequency correlated most strongly with summative performance (Spearman's rank: 0.24, p=<0.001). Student focus groups found that: (1) students valued curriculum specificity; and (2) students were concerned about student-authored question quality. Only two questions of the 300 'most-answered' questions analysed had an unacceptable discriminatory value (point-biserial correlation <0.2). Item analysis suggested acceptable question quality despite student concerns. Quantitative and qualitative methods indicated that PeerWise is a valuable study tool. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

A case law survey of the Personality Assessment Inventory: examining its role in civil and criminal trials.

Science.gov (United States)

Mullen, Kacy L; Edens, John F

2008-05-01

Although professional surveys suggest that the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey, 1991) is a popular instrument among forensic and correctional psychologists, relatively little is known about the specific types of legal cases in which it is applied, the particular types of questions it is used to address, or the extent to which its admissibility has been at issue in court cases. Using a comprehensive legal database, we surveyed all published U.S., Canadian, European, and Australian criminal and civil cases in which the PAI was administered. The PAI appears to be introduced by examiners in a wide variety of civil (e.g., child custody, personal injury) and criminal (e.g., insanity, competence) cases to aid in the assessment of a broad range of psychopathology. Additionally, the PAI seems to be used frequently to assess questions concerning potential dissimulation and response styles. Surprisingly, the admissibility of the PAI into evidence was never at issue in any of the cases reviewed.

It's worth the wait: optimizing questioning methods for effective intraoperative teaching.

Science.gov (United States)

Barrett, Meredith; Magas, Christopher P; Gruppen, Larry D; Dedhia, Priya H; Sandhu, Gurjit

2017-07-01

The use of questioning to engage learners is critical to furthering resident education intraoperatively. Previous studies have demonstrated that higher level questioning and optimal wait times (>3 s) result in learner responses reflective of higher cognition and retention. Given the importance of intraoperative learning, we investigated question delivery in the operating room. A total of 12 laparoscopic cholecystectomies were observed and recorded. All questions were transcribed and classified using Bloom's Taxonomy, a framework associated with hierarchical levels of learning outcomes. Wait time between question end and response was recorded. Six faculty attendings and seven house officers at our institution were observed. A total of 133 questions were recorded with an average number of questions per case of 11.2. The majority of questions 112 out of 133 (84%) were classified as Bloom's levels 1-3, with only 6% of questions of the highest level. The wait time before the resident answered the question averaged 1.75 s, with attendings interceding after 2.50 s. Question complexity and wait time did not vary based on resident postgraduate year level suggesting limited tailoring of question to learner. Intraoperative questioning is not aligned with higher level thinking. The majority of questions were Bloom's level 3 or below, limiting the complexity of answer formulation. Most responses were given within 2 s, hindering opportunity to pursue higher-order thinking. This suggests including higher level questions and tailoring questions to learner level may improve retention and maximize gains. In addition, with attendings answering 20% of their own questions, increasing their wait time offers another area for teaching development. © 2017 Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

Priming and Context Effects in Citizen Satisfaction Surveys

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hjortskov, Morten

2017-01-01

Citizen satisfaction surveys are used extensively throughout the public sector to assess the performance of public services and to inform decision-makers. Recent research points to cognitive biases that may occur in citizens’ perceptions of performance of public services, but we know little about...... possible biases in the collection of these data. This shortcoming is addressed by investigating the priming and context effects that can arise from the structure of citizen surveys—for example from the question order in the survey. Two independent experimental studies find that prior positively framed...... questions about police services affect subsequent satisfaction evaluations of other local public services. However, an informational prime about crime and unrelated questions about family-life satisfaction have little effect on the subsequent satisfaction evaluations. The results show that citizen...

Nuclear questions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berg, Eugene

2012-01-01

Civilian and military nuclear questions fill a multitude of publications these days, especially after the Japanese tsunami and the Fukushima disaster. The author analyses some of them and highlights the links between civil and military nuclear industries, the realities of the nuclear cycle and related industrial questions before concluding on the controversial issue of weapons and their proliferation potential

Approaches to Exploring Category Information for Question Retrieval in Community Question-Answer Archives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cao, Xin; Cong, Gao; Cui, Bin

2012-01-01

, and it applies these approaches to existing question retrieval models, including a state-of-the-art question retrieval model. Experiments conducted on real CQA data demonstrate that the proposed techniques are effective and efficient and are capable of outperforming a variety of baseline methods significantly......Community Question Answering (CQA) is a popular type of service where users ask questions and where answers are obtained from other users or from historical question-answer pairs. CQA archives contain large volumes of questions organized into a hierarchy of categories. As an essential function...

Scale Sensitivity and Question Order in the Contingent Valuation Method

OpenAIRE

Andersson, Henrik; Svensson, Mikael

2010-01-01

This study examines the effect on respondents' willingness to pay to reduce mortality risk by the order of the questions in a stated preference study. Using answers from an experiment conducted on a Swedish sample where respondents' cognitive ability was measured and where they participated in a contingent valuation survey, it was found that scale sensitivity is strongest when respondents are asked about a smaller risk reduction first ('bottom-up' approach). This contradicts some previous evi...

Teen Dating Violence (Physical and Sexual) Among US High School Students: Findings From the 2013 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Vagi, Kevin J; O'Malley Olsen, Emily; Basile, Kathleen C; Vivolo-Kantor, Alana M

2015-05-01

National estimates of teen dating violence (TDV) reveal high rates of victimization among high school populations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's national Youth Risk Behavior Survey has provided often-cited estimates of physical TDV since 1999. In 2013, revisions were made to the physical TDV question to capture more serious forms of physical TDV and to screen out students who did not date. An additional question was added to assess sexual TDV. To describe the content of new physical and sexual TDV victimization questions first administered in the 2013 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey, to share data on the prevalence and frequency of TDV (including the first-ever published overall "both physical and sexual TDV" and "any TDV" national estimates using these new questions), and to assess associations of TDV experience with health-risk behaviors. Secondary data analysis of a cross-sectional survey of 9900 students who dated, from a nationally representative sample of US high school students, using the 2013 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Two survey questions separately assessed physical and sexual TDV; this analysis combined them to create a 4-level TDV measure and a 2-level TDV measure. The 4-level TDV measure includes "physical TDV only," "sexual TDV only," "both physical and sexual TDV," and "none." The 2-level TDV measure includes "any TDV" (either or both physical and sexual TDV) and "none." Sex-stratified bivariate and multivariable analyses assessed associations between TDV and health-risk behaviors. In 2013, among students who dated, 20.9% of female students (95% CI, 19.0%-23.0%) and 10.4% of male students (95% CI, 9.0%-11.7%) experienced some form of TDV during the 12 months before the survey. Female students had a higher prevalence than male students of physical TDV only, sexual TDV only, both physical and sexual TDV, and any TDV. All health-risk behaviors were most prevalent among students who experienced both forms of TDV and were

Questioning ORACLE: An Assessment of ORACLE's Analysis of Teachers' Questions and [A Comment on "Questioning ORACLE"].

Science.gov (United States)

Scarth, John; And Others

1986-01-01

Analysis of teachers' questions, part of the ORACLE (Observation Research and Classroom Learning Evaluation) project research, is examined in detail. Scarth and Hammersley argue that the rules ORACLE uses for identifying different types of questions involve levels of ambiguity and inference that threaten reliability and validity of the study's…

Public Awareness Survey Recommendations of the NHTSA-GHSA Working Group

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-01

The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) developed a basic set of survey questions including information on seat belt use, impaired driving, and speeding. These core questions can ...

Teens, Health and Technology: A National Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ellen Wartella

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In the age of digital technology, as teens seem to be constantly connected online, via social media, and through mobile applications, it is no surprise that they increasingly turn to digital media to answer their health questions. This study is the first of its kind to survey a large, nationally-representative sample of teens to investigate how they use the newest digital technologies, including mobile apps, social networking sites, electronic gaming and wearable devices, to explore health topics. The survey covered the types of health topics teens most frequently search for, which technologies they are most likely to use and how they use them, and whether they report having changed their behaviors due to digital health information. In addition, this survey explores how the digital divide continues to impact adolescents. Results of this study indicate that teens are concerned about many health issues, ranging from fitness, sexual activity, drugs, hygiene as well as mental health and stress. As teens virtually always have a digital device at their fingertips, it is clear that public health interventions and informational campaigns must be tailored to reflect the ways that teens currently navigate digital health information and the health challenges that concern them most.

[Reproductive health survey of young adults in greater Santiago].

Science.gov (United States)

Valenzuela, M S; Herold, J M; Morris, L; López, I M

1992-01-01

In 1988 a survey was carried out in order to obtain information on knowledge about reproduction, sexual activity, attitudes, and use of contraceptive methods among residents between 15 and 24 years of age in Greater Santiago. For this purpose, a multistage, self-weighted, non-replacement probability sample was chosen from the entire Santiago urban area. After 2,898 households were visited, 865 women and 800 men were selected and interviewed. For the interview, a questionnaire with 156 questions was developed; many questions were similar to those included in similar surveys in Brazil and Guatemala. The interviewers were professionals who had received prior training. Although 75% of the interviewees had attended sex education classes, they had erroneous ideas on various basic subjects. Sixty-nine percent of the women interviewed had undergone menarche before attending these classes. In addition, 35.4% of the women and 65.0% of the men had had sexual relations prior to marriage, and less than 20% had used any contraceptive method. More than 60% of the interviewees who had children had conceived them before marrying. These findings point up the necessity of offering sex education classes for children and young people, as well as facilitating their access to family planning services, in order to decrease the number of illegitimate and unwanted children that are born in Chile.

Curiosity Questions

Science.gov (United States)

Nelsen, Jane; DeLorenzo, Chip

2010-01-01

Have you ever found yourself lecturing a child, with the best of intentions, in an attempt to help him or her learn a lesson or process a situation in a manner that you feel will be productive? Curiosity questions, which the authors also call What and How questions, help children process an experience, event, or natural consequence so that they…

Measurement of sedentary behaviour in population health surveys: a review and recommendations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephanie A. Prince

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Background The purpose of this review was to determine the most valid and reliable questions for targeting key modes of sedentary behaviour (SB in a broad range of national and international health surveillance surveys. This was done by reviewing the SB modules currently used in population health surveys, as well as examining SB questionnaires that have performed well in psychometric testing. Methods Health surveillance surveys were identified via scoping review and contact with experts in the field. Previous systematic reviews provided psychometric information on pediatric questionnaires. A comprehensive search of four bibliographic databases was used to identify studies reporting psychometric information for adult questionnaires. Only surveys/studies published/used in English or French were included. Results The review identified a total of 16 pediatric and 18 adult national/international surveys assessing SB, few of which have undergone psychometric testing. Fourteen pediatric and 35 adult questionnaires with psychometric information were included. While reliability was generally good to excellent for questions targeting key modes of SB, validity was poor to moderate, and reported much less frequently. The most valid and reliable questions targeting specific modes of SB were combined to create a single questionnaire targeting key modes of SB. Discussion Our results highlight the importance of including SB questions in survey modules that are adaptable, able to assess various modes of SB, and that exhibit adequate reliability and validity. Future research could investigate the psychometric properties of the module we have proposed in this paper, as well as other questionnaires currently used in national and international population health surveys.

Transgender-inclusive measures of sex/gender for population surveys: Mixed-methods evaluation and recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, Greta R; Braimoh, Jessica; Scheim, Ayden I; Dharma, Christoffer

2017-01-01

Given that an estimated 0.6% of the U.S. population is transgender (trans) and that large health disparities for this population have been documented, government and research organizations are increasingly expanding measures of sex/gender to be trans inclusive. Options suggested for trans community surveys, such as expansive check-all-that-apply gender identity lists and write-in options that offer maximum flexibility, are generally not appropriate for broad population surveys. These require limited questions and a small number of categories for analysis. Limited evaluation has been undertaken of trans-inclusive population survey measures for sex/gender, including those currently in use. Using an internet survey and follow-up of 311 participants, and cognitive interviews from a maximum-diversity sub-sample (n = 79), we conducted a mixed-methods evaluation of two existing measures: a two-step question developed in the United States and a multidimensional measure developed in Canada. We found very low levels of item missingness, and no indicators of confusion on the part of cisgender (non-trans) participants for both measures. However, a majority of interview participants indicated problems with each question item set. Agreement between the two measures in assessment of gender identity was very high (K = 0.9081), but gender identity was a poor proxy for other dimensions of sex or gender among trans participants. Issues to inform measure development or adaptation that emerged from analysis included dimensions of sex/gender measured, whether non-binary identities were trans, Indigenous and cultural identities, proxy reporting, temporality concerns, and the inability of a single item to provide a valid measure of sex/gender. Based on this evaluation, we recommend that population surveys meant for multi-purpose analysis consider a new Multidimensional Sex/Gender Measure for testing that includes three simple items (one asked only of a small sub-group) to assess gender

Transgender-inclusive measures of sex/gender for population surveys: Mixed-methods evaluation and recommendations.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Greta R Bauer

Full Text Available Given that an estimated 0.6% of the U.S. population is transgender (trans and that large health disparities for this population have been documented, government and research organizations are increasingly expanding measures of sex/gender to be trans inclusive. Options suggested for trans community surveys, such as expansive check-all-that-apply gender identity lists and write-in options that offer maximum flexibility, are generally not appropriate for broad population surveys. These require limited questions and a small number of categories for analysis. Limited evaluation has been undertaken of trans-inclusive population survey measures for sex/gender, including those currently in use. Using an internet survey and follow-up of 311 participants, and cognitive interviews from a maximum-diversity sub-sample (n = 79, we conducted a mixed-methods evaluation of two existing measures: a two-step question developed in the United States and a multidimensional measure developed in Canada. We found very low levels of item missingness, and no indicators of confusion on the part of cisgender (non-trans participants for both measures. However, a majority of interview participants indicated problems with each question item set. Agreement between the two measures in assessment of gender identity was very high (K = 0.9081, but gender identity was a poor proxy for other dimensions of sex or gender among trans participants. Issues to inform measure development or adaptation that emerged from analysis included dimensions of sex/gender measured, whether non-binary identities were trans, Indigenous and cultural identities, proxy reporting, temporality concerns, and the inability of a single item to provide a valid measure of sex/gender. Based on this evaluation, we recommend that population surveys meant for multi-purpose analysis consider a new Multidimensional Sex/Gender Measure for testing that includes three simple items (one asked only of a small sub-group to

Transgender-inclusive measures of sex/gender for population surveys: Mixed-methods evaluation and recommendations

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, Greta R.; Braimoh, Jessica; Scheim, Ayden I.; Dharma, Christoffer

2017-01-01

Given that an estimated 0.6% of the U.S. population is transgender (trans) and that large health disparities for this population have been documented, government and research organizations are increasingly expanding measures of sex/gender to be trans inclusive. Options suggested for trans community surveys, such as expansive check-all-that-apply gender identity lists and write-in options that offer maximum flexibility, are generally not appropriate for broad population surveys. These require limited questions and a small number of categories for analysis. Limited evaluation has been undertaken of trans-inclusive population survey measures for sex/gender, including those currently in use. Using an internet survey and follow-up of 311 participants, and cognitive interviews from a maximum-diversity sub-sample (n = 79), we conducted a mixed-methods evaluation of two existing measures: a two-step question developed in the United States and a multidimensional measure developed in Canada. We found very low levels of item missingness, and no indicators of confusion on the part of cisgender (non-trans) participants for both measures. However, a majority of interview participants indicated problems with each question item set. Agreement between the two measures in assessment of gender identity was very high (K = 0.9081), but gender identity was a poor proxy for other dimensions of sex or gender among trans participants. Issues to inform measure development or adaptation that emerged from analysis included dimensions of sex/gender measured, whether non-binary identities were trans, Indigenous and cultural identities, proxy reporting, temporality concerns, and the inability of a single item to provide a valid measure of sex/gender. Based on this evaluation, we recommend that population surveys meant for multi-purpose analysis consider a new Multidimensional Sex/Gender Measure for testing that includes three simple items (one asked only of a small sub-group) to assess gender

A Systematic Analysis of Quality of Teaching Surveys

OpenAIRE

Martin Davies; Joe Hirschberg; Jenny Lye; Carol Johnston

2008-01-01

All tertiary institutions in Australia use the same Course Evaluation Questionnaire (CEQ) however for the internal evaluation of teaching they use their own surveys. This paper performs an analysis of the internal Quality of Teaching Surveys (QTS) used in Australian Universities. We classify the questions within the QTS surveys. This classification is used to explore how different universities’ surveys are similar to each other. We find that some universities use a QTS that is quite distinct ...

Individual Social Capital and Its Measurement in Social Surveys

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Keming Yang

2007-01-01

Full Text Available With its popularity has come an unresolved issue about social capital: is it an individual or a collective property, or both? Many researchers take it for granted that social capital is collective, but most social surveys implicitly measure social capital at the individual level. After reviewing the definitions by Bourdieu, Coleman, and Putnam, I become to agree with Portes that social capital can be an individual asset and should be firstly analyzed as such; if social capital is to be analyzed as a collective property, then the analysis should explicitly draw on a clear definition of individual social capital. I thus define individual social capital as the features of social groups or networks that each individual member can access and use for obtaining further benefits. Four types of features are identified (basic, specific, generalized, and structural, and example formulations of survey questions are proposed. Following this approach, I then assess some survey questions organized under five themes commonly found in social surveys for measuring social capital: participation in organizations, social networks, trust, civic participation, and perceptions of local area. I conclude that most of these themes and questions only weakly or indirectly measure individual social capital; therefore, they should be strengthened with the conceptual framework proposed in this paper and complemented with the items used in independent surveys on social networks.

DATA COLLECTION, QUALITY ASSURANCE, AND ANALYSIS PLAN FOR THE 2008/2009 HYDROGEN AND FUEL CELLS KNOWLEDGE AND OPINIONS SURVEYS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schmoyer, Richard L [ORNL; Truett, Lorena Faith [ORNL; Diegel, Susan W [ORNL

2008-09-01

The 2008/2009 Knowledge and Opinions Survey, conducted for the Department of Energy's Hydrogen Program will measure the levels of awareness and understanding of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies within five target populations: (1) the general public, (2) students, (3) personnel in state and local governments, (4) potential end users of hydrogen fuel and fuel cell technologies in business and industry, and (5) safety and code officials. The ultimate goal of the surveys is a statistically valid, nationally based assessment. Distinct information collections are required for each of the target populations. Each instrument for assessing baseline knowledge is targeted to the corresponding population group. While many questions are identical across all populations, some questions are unique to each respondent group. The biggest data quality limitation of the hydrogen survey data (at least of the general public and student components) will be nonresponse bias. To ensure as high a response rate as possible, various measures will be taken to minimize nonresponse, including automated callbacks, cycling callbacks throughout the weekdays, and availability of Spanish speaking interviewers. Statistical adjustments (i.e., sampling weights) will also be used to account for nonresponse and noncoverage. The primary objective of the data analysis is to estimate the proportions of target population individuals who would respond to the questions in the various possible ways. Data analysis will incorporate necessary adjustments for the sampling design and sampling weights (i.e., probability sampling). Otherwise, however, the analysis will involve standard estimates of proportions of the interviewees responding in various ways to the questions. Sample-weight-adjusted contingency table chi-square tests will also be computed to identify differences between demographic groups The first round of Knowledge and Opinions Surveys was conducted in 2004. Analysis of these surveys produced a

An active-learning assignment requiring pharmacy students to write medicinal chemistry examination questions.

Science.gov (United States)

Kolluru, Srikanth

2012-08-10

To implement and assess the effectiveness of an assignment requiring doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students to write examination questions for the medicinal chemistry sections of a pharmacotherapeutics course. Students were divided into groups of 5-6 and given detailed instructions and grading rubrics for writing multiple-choice examination questions on medicinal chemistry topics. The compiled student-written questions for each examination were provided to the entire class as a study aid. Approximately 5% of the student-written questions were used in course examinations. Student appreciation of and performance in the medicinal chemistry portion of the course was significantly better than that of the previous year's class. Also, students' responses on a qualitative survey instrument indicated that the assignment provided students' guidance on which concepts to focus on, helped them retain knowledge better, and fostered personal exploration of the content, which led to better performance on examinations. Adding an active-learning assignment in which students write examination questions for the medicinal chemistry portion of a pharmacotherapeutics course was an effective means of increasing students engagement in the class and knowledge of the course material.

Investigating Climate Science Misconceptions Using a Teacher Professional Development Workshop Registration Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Lynds, S. E.; Gold, A. U.; McNeal, K.; Libarkin, J. C.; Buhr Sullivan, S. M.; Ledley, T. S.; Haddad, N.; Ellins, K. K.

2013-12-01

The EarthLabs Climate project, an NSF-Discovery Research K12 program, has developed a suite of three online classroom-ready modules: Climate and the Cryosphere; Climate and the Carbon Cycle; and Climate and the Biosphere. The EarthLabs Climate project included week-long professional development workshops during June of 2012 and 2013 in Texas and Mississippi. Evaluation of the 2012 and 2013 workshops included participant self-reported learning levels in many areas of climate science. Teachers' answers indicated they had increased their understanding of the topics addressed in the workshops. However, the project team was interested in refining the evaluation process to determine exactly those areas of climate science in which participants increased content knowledge and ameliorated misconceptions. Therefore, to enhance the investigation into what teachers got out of the workshop, a pre-test/post-test design was implemented for 2013. In particular, the evaluation team was interested in discovering the degree to which participants held misconceptions and whether those beliefs were modified by attendance at the workshops. For the 2013 workshops, a registration survey was implemented that included the Climate Concept Inventory (a climate content knowledge quiz developed by the education research team for the project). The multiple-choice questions are also part of the pre/post student quiz used in classrooms in which the EarthLabs Climate curriculum was implemented. Many of the questions in this instrument assess common misconceptions by using them as distractors in the multiple choice options. The registration survey also asked respondents to indicate their confidence in their answer to each question, because, in addition to knowledge limitations, lack of confidence also can be a barrier to effective teaching. Data from the registration survey informed workshop managers of the topic content knowledge of participants, allowing fine-tuning of the professional development

Decreases in tanning behaviors following a short online survey: Potential for prevention?

Science.gov (United States)

Rodgers, Rachel F; Franko, Debra L; Gottlieb, Mark; Daynard, Richard

2015-01-01

To date, tanning prevention programs have led to limited success. The aim of the present study was to investigate potential unexpected prevention effects of completing an online survey focused on tanning attitudes, behaviors, and knowledge among female college tanners. A sample of 92 female undergraduate students from the USA, mean age = 20.09, SD = 1.41 years, who engaged in indoor tanning completed an online survey assessing awareness of tanning-related health risks, appearance-based motivations to tan and not to tan, media literacy related to tanning marketing, and tanning behaviors in 2013. Four months later, participants were invited to complete a follow-up survey assessing tanning intentions and behaviors since completing the initial survey. Fifty-one participants (55%) completed the follow-up questions, of whom 43 (84.3%) reported having decreased or ceased engaging in indoor tanning. In addition participants provided comments indicating that completing the survey had lead to decreases in their tanning behaviors. Our study presents novel and compelling support for using brief online surveys for decreasing health-risk behaviors such as sunbed use. Such measures are extremely cost-effective and easy to disseminate and implement. Replication and extension of these findings are warranted.

A survey of university students' vitamin D-related knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Boland, Shaunessey; Irwin, Jennifer D; Johnson, Andrew M

2015-01-01

To survey Canadian university students' vitamin D-related knowledge. Undergraduate university students (n = 1,088) were surveyed as to their vitamin D-related knowledge, including its sources, health benefits, and recommended intake. Overall, students answered 29% of questions correctly on the knowledge test. In addition, the overall test was subdivided into 3 subtests, and students scored 26% on vitamin D source knowledge, 23% on factors affecting vitamin D levels, and 37% on health effects of vitamin D. Only 8% of participants correctly identified the recommended vitamin D intake; 14% correctly identified the amount of time in the sun required to produce adequate vitamin D. These results suggest that Canadian university students have poor knowledge concerning vitamin D. Program planners should consider improving vitamin D knowledge as a component of future health promotion programs for university students. Copyright © 2015 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Tribological performance of nanoparticles as lubricating oil additives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gulzar, M.; Masjuki, H. H.; Kalam, M. A.; Varman, M.; Zulkifli, N. W. M.; Mufti, R. A.; Zahid, Rehan

2016-01-01

The prospect of modern tribology has been expanded with the advent of nanomaterial-based lubrication systems, whose development was facilitated by the nanotechnology in recent years. In literature, a variety of nanoparticles have been used as lubricant additives with potentially interesting friction and wear properties. To date, although there has been a great deal of experimental research on nanoparticles as lubricating oil additives, many aspects of their tribological behavior are yet to be fully understood. With growing number of possibilities, the key question is: what types of nanoparticles act as a better lubricating oil additive and why? To answer this question, this paper reviews main types of nanoparticles that have been used as lubricants additives and outlines the mechanisms by which they are currently believed to function. Significant aspects of their tribological behavior such as dispersion stability and morphology are also highlighted.

Tribological performance of nanoparticles as lubricating oil additives

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gulzar, M., E-mail: mubashir-nustian@hotmail.com; Masjuki, H. H., E-mail: masjuki@um.edu.my; Kalam, M. A.; Varman, M.; Zulkifli, N. W. M. [University of Malaya, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Centre for Energy Sciences (Malaysia); Mufti, R. A. [National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) (Pakistan); Zahid, Rehan [University of Malaya, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Centre for Energy Sciences (Malaysia)

2016-08-15

The prospect of modern tribology has been expanded with the advent of nanomaterial-based lubrication systems, whose development was facilitated by the nanotechnology in recent years. In literature, a variety of nanoparticles have been used as lubricant additives with potentially interesting friction and wear properties. To date, although there has been a great deal of experimental research on nanoparticles as lubricating oil additives, many aspects of their tribological behavior are yet to be fully understood. With growing number of possibilities, the key question is: what types of nanoparticles act as a better lubricating oil additive and why? To answer this question, this paper reviews main types of nanoparticles that have been used as lubricants additives and outlines the mechanisms by which they are currently believed to function. Significant aspects of their tribological behavior such as dispersion stability and morphology are also highlighted.

THE EXPLICIT COMPREHENSION-STRATEGY INSTRUCTION: QUESTION-ANSWER RELATIONSHIP VS SELF-QUESTIONING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lalu Thohir

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This study was aimed at examining and comparing the effectiveness of the Question-Answer Relationship (QAR and Self-Questioning (SQ strategies in improving the reading ability of the undergraduate students. This study was a quasi-experimental study in which two out of three classes of the third semester students at English department of Mataram University were selected randomly to receive either QAR strategy or SQ strategy instructions for ten weekly meetings. The findings of pre- and posttest with multiple-choice questions revealed that both comprehension strategies were effective in improving the undergraduate students‘ reading ability. The findings from the posttest with multiple-choice questions indicated the students who received SQ strategy instruction scored significantly higher than those students who received QAR strategy instruction. On the other hand, the students who received QAR strategy instruction scored slightly higher than those students who received SQ strategy instruction in the posttest with open-ended questions.

How many scientists fabricate and falsify research? A systematic review and meta-analysis of survey data.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniele Fanelli

Full Text Available The frequency with which scientists fabricate and falsify data, or commit other forms of scientific misconduct is a matter of controversy. Many surveys have asked scientists directly whether they have committed or know of a colleague who committed research misconduct, but their results appeared difficult to compare and synthesize. This is the first meta-analysis of these surveys. To standardize outcomes, the number of respondents who recalled at least one incident of misconduct was calculated for each question, and the analysis was limited to behaviours that distort scientific knowledge: fabrication, falsification, "cooking" of data, etc... Survey questions on plagiarism and other forms of professional misconduct were excluded. The final sample consisted of 21 surveys that were included in the systematic review, and 18 in the meta-analysis. A pooled weighted average of 1.97% (N = 7, 95%CI: 0.86-4.45 of scientists admitted to have fabricated, falsified or modified data or results at least once--a serious form of misconduct by any standard--and up to 33.7% admitted other questionable research practices. In surveys asking about the behaviour of colleagues, admission rates were 14.12% (N = 12, 95% CI: 9.91-19.72 for falsification, and up to 72% for other questionable research practices. Meta-regression showed that self reports surveys, surveys using the words "falsification" or "fabrication", and mailed surveys yielded lower percentages of misconduct. When these factors were controlled for, misconduct was reported more frequently by medical/pharmacological researchers than others. Considering that these surveys ask sensitive questions and have other limitations, it appears likely that this is a conservative estimate of the true prevalence of scientific misconduct.

How many scientists fabricate and falsify research? A systematic review and meta-analysis of survey data.

Science.gov (United States)

Fanelli, Daniele

2009-05-29

The frequency with which scientists fabricate and falsify data, or commit other forms of scientific misconduct is a matter of controversy. Many surveys have asked scientists directly whether they have committed or know of a colleague who committed research misconduct, but their results appeared difficult to compare and synthesize. This is the first meta-analysis of these surveys. To standardize outcomes, the number of respondents who recalled at least one incident of misconduct was calculated for each question, and the analysis was limited to behaviours that distort scientific knowledge: fabrication, falsification, "cooking" of data, etc... Survey questions on plagiarism and other forms of professional misconduct were excluded. The final sample consisted of 21 surveys that were included in the systematic review, and 18 in the meta-analysis. A pooled weighted average of 1.97% (N = 7, 95%CI: 0.86-4.45) of scientists admitted to have fabricated, falsified or modified data or results at least once--a serious form of misconduct by any standard--and up to 33.7% admitted other questionable research practices. In surveys asking about the behaviour of colleagues, admission rates were 14.12% (N = 12, 95% CI: 9.91-19.72) for falsification, and up to 72% for other questionable research practices. Meta-regression showed that self reports surveys, surveys using the words "falsification" or "fabrication", and mailed surveys yielded lower percentages of misconduct. When these factors were controlled for, misconduct was reported more frequently by medical/pharmacological researchers than others. Considering that these surveys ask sensitive questions and have other limitations, it appears likely that this is a conservative estimate of the true prevalence of scientific misconduct.

Top 40 questions in coupled human and natural systems (CHANS research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Boyd. Kramer

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Understanding and managing coupled human and natural systems (CHANS is a central challenge of the 21st century, but more focus is needed to pursue the most important questions within this vast field given limited research capacity and funding. We present 40 important questions for CHANS research, identified through a two-part crowdsourcing exercise within the CHANS community. We solicited members of the International Network of Research on Coupled Human and Natural Systems (CHANS-Net to submit up to three questions that they considered transformative, receiving 540 questions from 207 respondents. After editing for clarity and consistency, we asked the network's members to each evaluate a random subset of 20 questions in importance on a scale from 1 (least important to 7 (extremely important. Questions on land use and agriculture topped the list, with a median importance ranking of 5.7, followed by questions of scale, climate change and energy, sustainability and development, adaptation and resilience, in addition to seven other categories. We identified 40 questions with a median importance of 6.0 or above, which we highlight as the current view of researchers active in the field as research questions to pursue in order to maximize impact on understanding and managing coupled human and natural systems for achieving sustainable development goals and addressing emerging global challenges.

Comparison of Face-to-Face and Web Surveys on the Topic of Homosexual Rights.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Mingnan; Wang, Yichen

2016-06-01

Although academic research on homosexuality relies heavily on survey data, there has been limited study of the survey method of asking relevant questions. This study examines the effect of survey mode on responses to questions about homosexual rights. We find significant mode effects among heterosexual respondents, who are more likely to support equal access to employment, military service, adoption, and marriage for homosexual people in face-to-face surveys than in Web surveys. They are also more likely to choose to not respond when face-to-face than online. Homosexual respondents do not show mode effects for either substantive responses or item nonresponse rate.

Handwashing in 51 Countries: Analysis of Proxy Measures of Handwashing Behavior in Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys and Demographic and Health Surveys, 2010-2013.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Swapna; Loughnan, Libbet; Luyendijk, Rolf; Hernandez, Orlando; Weinger, Merri; Arnold, Fred; Ram, Pavani K

2017-08-01

In 2009, a common set of questions addressing handwashing behavior was introduced into nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), providing large amounts of comparable data from numerous countries worldwide. The objective of this analysis is to describe global handwashing patterns using two proxy indicators for handwashing behavior from 51 DHS and MICS surveys conducted in 2010-2013: availability of soap anywhere in the dwelling and access to a handwashing place with soap and water. Data were also examined across geographic regions, wealth quintiles, and rural versus urban settings. We found large disparities for both indicators across regions, and even among countries within the same World Health Organization region. Within countries, households in lower wealth quintiles and in rural areas were less likely to have soap anywhere in the dwelling and at designated handwashing locations than households in higher wealth quintiles and urban areas. In addition, disparities existed among various geographic regions within countries. This analysis demonstrates the need to promote access to handwashing materials and placement at handwashing locations in the dwelling, particularly in poorer, rural areas where children are more vulnerable to handwashing-preventable syndromes such as pneumonia and diarrhea.

Factors influencing healthcare provider respondent fatigue answering a globally administered in-app survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vikas N. O’Reilly-Shah

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Background Respondent fatigue, also known as survey fatigue, is a common problem in the collection of survey data. Factors that are known to influence respondent fatigue include survey length, survey topic, question complexity, and open-ended question type. There is a great deal of interest in understanding the drivers of physician survey responsiveness due to the value of information received from these practitioners. With the recent explosion of mobile smartphone technology, it has been possible to obtain survey data from users of mobile applications (apps on a question-by-question basis. The author obtained basic demographic survey data as well as survey data related to an anesthesiology-specific drug called sugammadex and leveraged nonresponse rates to examine factors that influenced respondent fatigue. Methods Primary data were collected between December 2015 and February 2017. Surveys and in-app analytics were collected from global users of a mobile anesthesia calculator app. Key independent variables were user country, healthcare provider role, rating of importance of the app to personal practice, length of time in practice, and frequency of app use. Key dependent variable was the metric of respondent fatigue. Results Provider role and World Bank country income level were predictive of the rate of respondent fatigue for this in-app survey. Importance of the app to the provider and length of time in practice were moderately associated with fatigue. Frequency of app use was not associated. This study focused on a survey with a topic closely related to the subject area of the app. Respondent fatigue rates will likely change dramatically if the topic does not align closely. Discussion Although apps may serve as powerful platforms for data collection, responses rates to in-app surveys may differ on the basis of important respondent characteristics. Studies should be carefully designed to mitigate fatigue as well as powered with the

Liturgical pharmacology: Time of the question, complexity and ethics ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Bernard Stiegler depicts technics as the human's tertiary memory retention generating a pharmakon with both curative and malignant potential. He additionally rues the posthuman epoch's depletion of a 'time of the question': revealed in the prevalent inaptitude for wisdom – scilicet long-term acuity. We offer Christian liturgy ...

What's missing in missing data? Omissions in survey responses among parents of children with advanced cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenberg, Abby R; Dussel, Veronica; Orellana, Liliana; Kang, Tammy; Geyer, J Russel; Feudtner, Chris; Wolfe, Joanne

2014-08-01

Missing data is a common phenomenon with survey-based research; patterns of missing data may elucidate why participants decline to answer certain questions. To describe patterns of missing data in the Pediatric Quality of Life and Evaluation of Symptoms Technology (PediQUEST) study, and highlight challenges in asking sensitive research questions. Cross-sectional, survey-based study embedded within a randomized controlled trial. Three large children's hospitals: Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center (DF/BCCDC); Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP); and Seattle Children's Hospital (SCH). At the time of their child's enrollment, parents completed the Survey about Caring for Children with Cancer (SCCC), including demographics, perceptions of prognosis, treatment goals, quality of life, and psychological distress. Eighty-six of 104 parents completed surveys (83% response). The proportion of missing data varied by question type. While 14 parents (16%) left demographic fields blank, over half (n=48; 56%) declined to answer at least one question about their child's prognosis, especially life expectancy. The presence of missing data was unrelated to the child's diagnosis, time from progression, time to death, or parent distress (p>0.3 for each). Written explanations in survey margins suggested that addressing a child's life expectancy is particularly challenging for parents. Parents of children with cancer commonly refrain from answering questions about their child's prognosis, however, they may be more likely to address general cure likelihood than explicit life expectancy. Understanding acceptability of sensitive questions in survey-based research will foster higher quality palliative care research.

78 FR 36784 - Survey of Nanomaterial Risk Management Practices

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-19

...-0010, Docket Number NIOSH-265] Survey of Nanomaterial Risk Management Practices AGENCY: National...), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). ACTION: Proposed NIOSH Survey of Nanomaterial Risk Management... questions addressing risk management practices for ENMs? (5) What should be the maximum amount of time...

Supply Chain Simulation : A Survey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kleijnen, J.P.C.

2003-01-01

This paper provides a survey of simulation in supply chain management.It reviews four types of simulation, namely spreadsheet simulation, system dynamics, discreteevent simulation, and business games.Which simulation type should be applied, depends on the type of managerial question to be answered

Long-Term Research in Ecology and Evolution (LTREE): 2015 survey data.

Science.gov (United States)

Bradford, Mark A; Leiserowitz, Anthony; Feinberg, Geoffrey; Rosenthal, Seth A; Lau, Jennifer A

2017-11-01

To systematically assess views on contributions and future activities for long-term research in ecology and evolution (LTREE), we conducted and here provide data responses and associated metadata for a survey of ecological and evolutionary scientists. The survey objectives were to: (1) Identify and prioritize research questions that are important to address through long-term, ecological field experiments; and (2) understand the role that these experiments might play in generating and applying ecological and evolutionary knowledge. The survey was developed adhering to the standards of the American Association for Public Opinion Research. It was administered online using Qualtrics Survey Software. Survey creation was a multi-step process, with questions and format developed and then revised with, for example, input from an external advisory committee comprising senior and junior ecological and evolutionary researchers. The final questionnaire was released to ~100 colleagues to ensure functionality and then fielded 2 d later (January 7 th , 2015). Two professional societies distributed it to their membership, including the Ecological Society of America, and it was posted to three list serves. The questionnaire was available through February 8th 2015 and completed by 1,179 respondents. The distribution approach targeted practicing ecologists and evolutionary biologists in the U.S. Quantitative (both ordinal and categorical) closed-ended questions used a predefined set of response categories, facilitating direct comparison across all respondents. Qualitative, open-ended questions, provided respondents the opportunity to develop their own answers. We employed quantitative questions to score views on the extent to which long-term experimental research has contributed to understanding in ecology and evolutionary biology; its role compared to other approaches (e.g., short-term experiments); justifications for and caveats to long-term experiments; and the relative importance

Mail merge can be used to create personalized questionnaires in complex surveys.

Science.gov (United States)

Taljaard, Monica; Chaudhry, Shazia Hira; Brehaut, Jamie C; Weijer, Charles; Grimshaw, Jeremy M

2015-10-16

Low response rates and inadequate question comprehension threaten the validity of survey results. We describe a simple procedure to implement personalized-as opposed to generically worded-questionnaires in the context of a complex web-based survey of corresponding authors of a random sample of 300 published cluster randomized trials. The purpose of the survey was to gather more detailed information about informed consent procedures used in the trial, over and above basic information provided in the trial report. We describe our approach-which allowed extensive personalization without the need for specialized computer technology-and discuss its potential application in similar settings. The mail merge feature of standard word processing software was used to generate unique, personalized questionnaires for each author by incorporating specific information from the article, including naming the randomization unit (e.g., family practice, school, worksite), and identifying specific individuals who may have been considered research participants at the cluster level (family doctors, teachers, employers) and individual level (patients, students, employees) in questions regarding informed consent procedures in the trial. The response rate was relatively high (64%, 182/285) and did not vary significantly by author, publication, or study characteristics. The refusal rate was low (7%). While controlled studies are required to examine the specific effects of our approach on comprehension, quality of responses, and response rates, we showed how mail merge can be used as a simple but useful tool to add personalized fields to complex survey questionnaires, or to request additional information required from study authors. One potential application is in eliciting specific information about published articles from study authors when conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Asking Questions in Academia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Annette Skovsted

2014-01-01

Motivation for the activity In academia the most important skill is to ask academically relevant and sound questions. This is not easy and students need to practice asking questions orally and in writing before they write research papers.......Motivation for the activity In academia the most important skill is to ask academically relevant and sound questions. This is not easy and students need to practice asking questions orally and in writing before they write research papers....

Evaluation questions ''E'' concerning the enterprises employing personnel of A or B category working in nuclear facilities

CERN Document Server

Int. At. Energy Agency, Wien

2002-01-01

This document is a reference evaluation of a list of questions on the following subject: management, organization, medical survey, formation and information of the personnel, radiation protection, contract dispositions, CEFRI demands respect control. (A.L.B.)

The U. S. transportation sector in the year 2030: results of a two-part Delphi survey.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morrison, G.; Stephens, T.S. (Energy Systems); (Univ. of California at Davis); (ES)

2011-10-11

A two-part Delphi Survey was given to transportation experts attending the Asilomar Conference on Transportation and Energy in August, 2011. The survey asked respondents about trends in the US transportation sector in 2030. Topics included: alternative vehicles, high speed rail construction, rail freight transportation, average vehicle miles traveled, truck versus passenger car shares, vehicle fuel economy, and biofuels in different modes. The survey consisted of two rounds -- both asked the same set of seven questions. In the first round, respondents were given a short introductory paragraph about the topic and asked to use their own judgment in their responses. In the second round, the respondents were asked the same questions, but were also given results from the first round as guidance. The survey was sponsored by Argonne National Lab (ANL), the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), and implemented by University of California at Davis, Institute of Transportation Studies. The survey was part of the larger Transportation Energy Futures (TEF) project run by the Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Of the 206 invitation letters sent, 94 answered all questions in the first round (105 answered at least one question), and 23 of those answered all questions in the second round. 10 of the 23 second round responses were at a discussion section at Asilomar, while the remaining were online. Means and standard deviations of responses from Round One and Two are given in Table 1 below. One main purpose of Delphi surveys is to reduce the variance in opinions through successive rounds of questioning. As shown in Table 1, the standard deviations of 25 of the 30 individual sub-questions decreased between Round One and Round Two, but the decrease was slight in most cases.

Improving Student Question Classification

Science.gov (United States)

Heiner, Cecily; Zachary, Joseph L.

2009-01-01

Students in introductory programming classes often articulate their questions and information needs incompletely. Consequently, the automatic classification of student questions to provide automated tutorial responses is a challenging problem. This paper analyzes 411 questions from an introductory Java programming course by reducing the natural…

JUSTIFICATION OF WIFE BEATING IN RURAL BANGLADESH: A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF GENDER DIFFERENCES IN RESPONSES TO SURVEY QUESTIONS

OpenAIRE

Schuler, Sidney Ruth; Yount, Kathryn M.; Lenzi, Rachel

2012-01-01

Understanding attitudes about intimate partner violence (IPV) in cultural context is important for developing interventions to reduce IPV and its effects. This paper presents qualitative findings from research conducted in rural Bangladesh to understand men’s and women’s responses to attitudinal questions about IPV. Both men and women often responded as if the questions were about their personal behavior. A few women said that their opinion did not matter. Women’s responses were more sensitiv...

An epidemiologic internet survey of fibromyalgia and chronic pain in Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakamura, Ikuro; Nishioka, Kenya; Usui, Chie; Osada, Kenichi; Ichibayashi, Hisao; Ishida, Mitsuhiro; Turk, Dennis C; Matsumoto, Yoshifuji; Nishioka, Kusuki

2014-07-01

To determine the epidemiologic features and symptom characteristics of fibromyalgia (FM) in Japan, and compare them with those for other chronic pain (CP) diagnoses. An internet survey was conducted in June and July 2011. The questionnaire consisted of 111 questions, including assessments of the Japanese version of the 2010 American College of Rheumatology preliminary diagnostic criteria for FM, the Japanese Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, and additional questions regarding pain and lifestyle. The questionnaire was completed by 20,407 male and female respondents in all prefectures of Japan. Of the survey population, 2,524 respondents (12.4%) reported symptoms consistent with CP; of these, 425 (2.1%) reported symptoms consistent with FM. Among respondents with FM and CP, 61% and 53%, respectively, were women. Pain severity and Widespread Pain Index scores were significantly higher in respondents meeting the diagnostic criteria for FM than in those meeting the criteria for CP. In terms of symptom severity scores, the proportions of respondents reporting the 3 major symptoms as "highly applicable" and greater numbers of 41 somatic symptoms were higher among respondents with FM than among those with CP. The incidence of FM in the present survey was similar to that reported (1.7%) in a study of FM in Japan in 2003, despite the use of the newer, easier to use 2010 diagnostic criteria. Because FM usually presents with more severe and more widely distributed pain, as well as more nonpainful symptoms than CP, our results suggest that FM is a different clinical phenotype of CP. Copyright © 2014 by the American College of Rheumatology.

Mental health literacy in rural Queensland: results of a community survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Bartlett, Helen; Travers, Catherine; Cartwright, Colleen; Smith, Norman

2006-09-01

The aim of this study was to assess the awareness of, and attitudes to, mental health issues in rural dwelling Queensland residents. A secondary objective was to provide baseline data of mental health literacy prior to the implementation of Australian Integrated Mental Health Initiative--a health promotion strategy aimed at improving the health outcomes of people with chronic or recurring mental disorders. In 2004 a random sample of 2% (2132) of the estimated adult population in each of eight towns in rural Queensland was sent a postal survey and invited to participate in the project. A series of questions were asked based on a vignette describing a person suffering major depression. In addition, questions assessed respondents' awareness and perceptions of community mental health agencies. Approximately one-third (36%) of those surveyed completed and returned the questionnaire. While a higher proportion of respondents (81%) correctly identified and labelled the problem in the vignette as depression than previously reported in Australian community surveys, the majority of respondents (66%) underestimated the prevalence of mental health problems in the community. Furthermore, a substantial number of respondents (37%) were unaware of agencies in their community to assist people with mental health issues while a majority of respondents (57.6%) considered that the services offered by those agencies were poor. While mental health literacy in rural Queensland appears to be comparable to other Australian regions, several gaps in knowledge were identified. This is in spite of recent widespread coverage of depression in the media and thus, there is a continuing need for mental health education in rural Queensland.

Provocative questions in parochial sex education classes: higher incidence in younger students.

Science.gov (United States)

Moreno, Megan; Breuner, Cora C; Lozano, Paula

2008-10-01

Recent data show US adolescents are engaging in sexual activity at earlier ages; however, little is known about young teens' sexual attitudes and behaviors. Examining teens' questions in sex education classes may provide insight into these attitudes and behaviors. Quasi cohort study Parochial middle school sex education classes 5(th) through 8(th) graders Students' anonymous written questions submitted at the outset of sex education classes between 2003 and 2005. Questions were classified into topic categories. Three additional variables were then coded for each question. Ethics/guidance questions included requests for advice or value judgments. Prohibited questions included the topics homosexuality, abortion, masturbation, and contraception. "Red flag" questions were those that suggested consideration of or engagement in sexual behavior. Among 473 questions submitted by 410 students, the most popular topics for 5(th)/6(th) graders were pregnancy and puberty, and for 7(th)/8(th) graders puberty and menstruation. 41 questions (8.6%) were prohibited. 29 questions (6.2%) asked about ethics/guidance. 18 questions (3.81%) were coded as red flag questions. A chi-square analysis showed that 5(th)/6(th) graders asked more questions in the ethics/guidance (8.3% versus 3.64%) and red flag question categories (5.53% versus 1.82%) (P < 0.05) than 7(th)/8(th) graders. Although provocative questions represent a minority of these middle students' queries, these requests suggest the urgency of providing appropriate guidance to young teens, given the risks of early sexual activity. The role of school education programs, physicians and parents in addressing questions of this sort should be considered.

Evaluation of Patient Satisfaction Surveys in Pediatric Orthopaedics.

Science.gov (United States)

Segal, Lee S; Plantikow, Carla; Hall, Randon; Wilson, Kristina; Shrader, M Wade

2015-01-01

Patient satisfaction survey scores are increasingly being tied to incentive compensation, impact how we practice medicine, influence decisions on where patients seek care, and in the future may be required for accreditation. The goal of this study is to compare the results of an internal distribution of patient satisfaction surveys at the point of care to responses received by mail in a hospital-based, high-volume pediatric orthopaedic practice. A pediatric outpatient survey is used at our institution to evaluate patient satisfaction. Surveys are randomly mailed out to families seen in our clinic by the survey vendor, and the results are determined on a quarterly basis. We distributed the same survey in a similar manner in our clinic. The results of the surveys, external/mailed (EXM) versus internal/point of care (INP) over the same 3-month time period (second quarter 2013) were compared. The survey questions are dichotomized from an ordinal scale into either excellent (9 to 10) or not excellent (0 to 8) commonly used in patient satisfaction methodology. We evaluated the raw data from the INP surveys for the question on provider rating by evaluating the mean score, the standard excellent response (9 to 10), and an expanded excellent response (8 to 10). Response rate was 72/469 (15.4%) for EXM, and 231/333 (69.4%) for INP. An excellent response for the "rating your provider" question was 72.2% (EXM) versus 84.8% (INP) (P=0.015). Our analysis of the raw data (INP) has a mean rating of 9.42. The expanded scale (8 to 10) for an excellent response increased the provider rating to 94.4% (P=0.001). Waiting time response within 15 minutes was the only item that correlated with rating of provider (P=0.02). For the majority of the items, the INP responses were consistently higher than the EXM responses, including 6/7 responses that were statistically significant (Ppatient satisfaction surveys will be important in determining health care outcomes. Properly designed and

Questionnaire design: carry-over effects of overall acceptance question placement and pre-evaluation instructions on overall acceptance scores in central location tests.

Science.gov (United States)

Bastian, Mauresa; Eggett, Dennis L; Jefferies, Laura K

2015-02-01

Question placement and usage of pre-evaluation instructions (PEI) in questionnaires for food sensory analysis may bias consumers' scores via carry-over effects. Data from consumer sensory panels previously conducted at a central location, spanning 11 years and covering a broad range of food product categories, were compiled. Overall acceptance (OA) question placement was studied with categories designated as first (the first evaluation question following demographic questions), after nongustation questions (immediately following questions that do not require panelists to taste the product), and later (following all other hedonic and just-about-right [JAR] questions, but occasionally before ranking, open-ended comments, and/or intent to purchase questions). Each panel was categorized as having or not having PEI in the questionnaire; PEI are instructions that appear immediately before the first evaluation question and show panelists all attributes they will evaluate before receiving test samples. Postpanel surveys were administered regarding the self-reported effect of PEI on panelists' evaluation experience. OA scores were analyzed and compared (1) between OA question placement categories and (2) between panels with and without PEI. For most product categories, OA scores tended to be lower when asked later in the questionnaire, suggesting evidence of a carry-over effect. Usage of PEI increased OA scores by 0.10 of a 9-point hedonic scale point, which is not practically significant. Postpanel survey data showed that presence of PEI typically improved the panelists' experience. Using PEI does not appear to introduce a meaningful carry-over effect. © 2015 Institute of Food Technologists®

Measuring fertility through mobile‒phone based household surveys: Methods, data quality, and lessons learned from PMA2020 surveys

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yoonjoung Choi

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Background: PMA2020 is a survey platform with resident enumerators using mobile phones. Instead of collecting full birth history, total fertility rates (TFR have been measured with a limited number of questions on recent births. Employing new approaches provides opportunities to test and advance survey methods. Objective: This study aims to assess the quality of fertility data in PMA2020 surveys, focusing on bias introduced from the questionnaire and completeness and distribution of birth month and year, and to estimate TFR adjusted for identified data quality issues. Methods: To assess underestimation from the questionnaire, we simulated births that would be counted using the PMA2020 questionnaires compared to births identified from full birth history. We analyzed the latest Demographic and Health Surveys in ten countries where PMA2020 surveys have been implemented. We assessed the level of reporting completeness for birth month and year and heaping of birth month, analyzing 39 PMA2020 surveys. Finally, TFR were calculated and adjusted for biases introduced from the questionnaire and heaping in birth month. Results: Simple questions introduced minor bias from undercounting multiple births, which was expected and correctable. Meanwhile, incomplete reporting of birth month was relatively high, and the default value of January in data collection software systematically moved births with missing months out of the reference period. On average across the 39 surveys, TFR increased by 1.6Š and 2.4Š, adjusted for undercounted multiple births and heaping on January, respectively. Contribution: This study emphasizes the importance of enumerator training and provides critical insight in software programming in surveys using mobile technologies.

Guided Discovery with Socratic Questioning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Hakan Türkçapar

2015-04-01

Full Text Available “The Socratic method” is a way of teaching philosophical thinking and knowledge by asking questions. It was first used by in ancient times by the Greek philosopher Socrates who taught his followers by asking questions; these conversations between them are known as “Socratic dialogues”. In this methodology, no new knowledge is taught to the individual; rather, the individual is guided to remember and rediscover what was formerly known through this process. The main method used in cognitive therapy is guided discovery. There are various methods of guided discovery in cognitive therapy. The form of verbal exchange between the therapist and client which is used during the process of cognitive behavioral therapy is known as “socratic questioning”. In this method the goal is to make the client rediscover, with a series of questions, a piece of knowledge which he could otherwise know but is not presently conscious of. The Socratic Questioning consists of several steps, including: identifying the problem by listening to the client and making reflections, finding alternatives by examining and evaluating, reidentification by using the newly rediscovered information and questioning the old distorted belief, and reaching a new conclusion and applying it. Question types used during these procedures are: questions for collecting information, questions revealing meanings, questions revealing beliefs, questions about behaviours during similar past experiences, analytic questions and analytic synthesis questions. In order to make the patient feel understood, it is important to be empathetic and summarize the problem during the interview. In this text, steps of Socratic Questioning-Guided Discovery will be reviewed with sample dialogues provided for each step. [JCBPR 2015; 4(1.000: 47-53

Epistemology: 5 Questions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Epistemology: 5 Questions is a collection of short interviews based on 5 questions presented to some of the most influential and prominent scholars in epistemology. We hear their views on epistemology with particular emphasis on the intersection between mainstream and formal approaches to the field...

Survey nonresponse among ethnic minorities in a national health survey - a mixed-method study of participation, barriers, and potentials

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ahlmark, Nanna; Algren, Maria Holst; Holmberg, Teresa

2015-01-01

, to alienation generated by the questions' focus on disease and cultural assumptions, or mistrust regarding anonymity. Ethnic minorities seem particularly affected by such barriers. To increase survey participation, questions could be sensitized to reflect multicultural traditions, and the impact of sender......Objectives. The participation rate in the Danish National Health Survey (DNHS) 2010 was significantly lower among ethnic minorities than ethnic Danes. The purpose was to characterize nonresponse among ethnic minorities in DNHS, analyze variations in item nonresponse, and investigate barriers...... and incentives to participation. Design. This was a mixed-method study. Logistic regression was used to analyze nonresponse using data from DNHS (N = 177,639 and chi-square tests in item nonresponse analyses. We explored barriers and incentives regarding participation through focus groups and cognitive...

Psychometric Analysis and Qualitative Review of an Outpatient Radiology-Specific Patient Satisfaction Survey: A Call for Collaboration in Validating a Survey Instrument.

Science.gov (United States)

Dibble, Elizabeth H; Baird, Grayson L; Swenson, David W; Healey, Terrance T

2017-10-01

The aim of this study was to perform a psychometric analysis of the constructs and reliability of an outpatient radiology-specific patient satisfaction survey and identify factors that drive patient experience so that radiology practices can improve the quality of their diagnostic imaging services. This retrospective study examined responses to eight patient satisfaction questions from a survey originally developed by a nascent marketing team and then administered at five outpatient imaging centers from January 7, 2013, to November 11, 2015. Patients' responses were reviewed to identify factors that affected patient experience, and a psychometric analysis of the survey instrument itself was performed, including exploratory factor analyses and reliability testing. Patient responses were compared among sites, examination types, and questions. Free-text comments were qualitatively categorized and compared by examination type. In total, 6,512 surveys were completed among 137,059 patient encounters. Using exploratory factor analyses of the eight survey questions, three relevant patient experience constructs were derived: (1) front office experience, (2) intake experience, and (3) examination experience. Overall, good scale reliability was observed. Perceived quality of care had the most positive ratings; wait time had the most nonpositive ratings. Of 2,024 free-text comments, 1,859 were positive (most pertaining to staff), and 155 were negative (most pertaining to convenience). MRI patients were most likely to share negative comments, typically regarding the examination experience itself. Psychometric analysis of a patient survey derived three core patient experience constructs: front office experience, intake experience, and examination experience. The survey indicates the need to decrease wait times, streamline the registration process, and improve patient comfort during MRI examinations. Copyright © 2017 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All

Teacher's Questions in Reading Classes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zuliati Rohmah

2002-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract: The present paper discusses an English teacher's questions in Reading classes at MAN Malang III. Types of questions, functions of teacher's questions, question levels and the strategies applied by the teacher were put as the research problems. Non-participant observa­tion was applied to collect the data with the researcher as the main in­strument aided by field-notes and a tape recorder. It was found that the distribution of the questions did not allow the students to talk longer and to think more analytically. Meanwhile, the strategies applied by the teacher helped the students to respond to the questions previously unanswered. The teacher is suggested to produce more open and refer­ential question as well as inference and evaluation questions as to give more chances for the students to think aloud more.

A nationwide survey of pharmacists' perception of pharmacogenetics in the context of a clinical decision support system containing pharmacogenetics dosing recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

Bank, Paul Cd; Swen, Jesse J; Guchelaar, Henk-Jan

2017-02-01

To benchmark Dutch pharmacists knowledge, experience and attitudes toward pharmacogenetics (PGx) with a specific focus on the effects of awareness of the Dutch Pharmacogenetics Working Group guidelines. A web-based survey containing 41 questions was sent to all certified Dutch pharmacists. A total of 667 pharmacists completed the survey (18.8%). Virtually all responders believed in the concept of PGx (99.7%). However, only 14.7% recently ordered a PGx test (≤6 months), 14.1% felt adequately informed and 88.8% would like to receive additional training on PGx. Being aware of the Dutch Pharmacogenetics Working Group guidelines did not have any significant effect on knowledge or adoption of PGx. Dutch pharmacists are very positive toward PGx. However, test adoption is low and additional training is warranted.

Survey on the awareness of Czechoslovak students on energy and the environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blazek, Jaroslav

1993-01-01

The Nuclear Information Centre in Prague took part in the international project surveying the knowledge and opinion of secondary school students. The survey was performed on the initiative of the Japan Atomic Energy Relations Organization (JAERO). It took place in June 1992 simultaneously in seven countries: Japan, France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Czechoslovakia. The survey was aimed at finding out the level of acquaintance of secondary school students with issues of the environment, and at determining the attitude of the young to nuclear power. In Czechoslovakia 1030 students aged between 15 and 18 took part in the survey. The questionnaire contained 17 basic questions and a number of more detailed questions. Because of the amount of evaluated answers not all results are given here. The complete evaluation of the survey was handed over to JAERO

The Priority of the Question: Focus Questions for Sustained Reasoning in Science

Science.gov (United States)

Lustick, David

2010-08-01

Science education standards place a high priority on promoting the skills and dispositions associated with inquiry at all levels of learning. Yet, the questions teachers employ to foster sustained reasoning are most likely borrowed from a textbook, lab manual, or worksheet. Such generic questions generated for a mass audience, lack authenticity and contextual cues that allow learners to immediately appreciate a question’s relevance. Teacher queries intended to motivate, guide, and foster learning through inquiry are known as focus questions. This theoretical article draws upon science education research to present a typology and conceptual framework intended to support science teacher educators as they identify, develop, and evaluate focus questions with their students.

Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey Scores for Reading Versus Other Near Visual Activities in School-Age Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Tiana Y; Clark, Robert A

2015-11-01

To measure the difference in Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey scores for reading vs favorite near visual activities. Comparative validity analysis of diagnostic tools. At a single clinical private practice, 100 children aged 9-18 with normal binocular vision were recruited to receive either the original survey emphasizing reading or a modified survey replacing "reading" with their favorite near activity. Average survey scores and subscores for questions emphasizing fatigue, discomfort, impaired vision, and cognitive performance were compared using t tests, while responses to individual questions were compared using Mann-Whitney U tests. The average reading survey score was significantly greater than the favorite near activity survey score (14.1 ± 11.5 vs 6.7 ± 5.8, P = .0001). The largest difference resulted from questions emphasizing cognitive performance (subscore 5.8 ± 4.3 vs 2.0 ± 2.1, P = .0000002), although significant differences were also found for fatigue (5.4 ± 3.8 vs 3.0 ± 2.7, P = .0003), discomfort (3.9 ± 4.6 vs 1.8 ± 2.2, P = .004), and impaired vision (3.2 ± 3.9 vs 1.8 ± 2.2, P = .02). Significant differences were found for 7 survey questions, with higher symptom scores for the reading survey in every case. Using survey scores ≥16 to diagnose convergence insufficiency, significantly more children taking the reading survey would have been diagnosed with convergence insufficiency than children taking the favorite near activity survey (19 of 50 [38%] vs 5 of 50 [10%], P = .001). By emphasizing reading, the Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey score significantly overestimates near visual symptoms in children with normal binocular vision compared with symptoms caused by preferred near activities that require similar amplitudes of accommodation and convergence. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

2015 American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology (AACN) student affairs committee survey of neuropsychology trainees.

Science.gov (United States)

Whiteside, Douglas M; Guidotti Breting, Leslie M; Butts, Alissa M; Hahn-Ketter, Amanda E; Osborn, Katie; Towns, Stephanie J; Barisa, Mark; Santos, Octavio A; Smith, Daniel

2016-07-01

Surveys of practicing neuropsychologists have been conducted for years; however, there have been no comprehensive surveys of neuropsychology trainees, which may result in important issues being overlooked by the profession. This survey assessed trainees' experiences in areas such as student debt, professional development, and training satisfaction. Survey items were written by a task force of the AACN Student Affairs Committee (SAC), and neuropsychology trainees were recruited via neuropsychology-focused listservs. In total, 344 trainees completed the survey (75% female) and included participants from every region of the US and Canada. Based on the survey questions, nearly half of all trainees (47%) indicated financial factors were the greatest limitation in their training. Student debt had a bimodal distribution; 32.7% had minimal debt, but 45% had debt >$100,000. In contrast, expected starting salaries were modest, but consistent with findings ($80-100,000). While almost all trainees intended to pursue board certification (97% through ABPP), many were 'not at all' or only 'somewhat' familiar with the process. Results indicated additional critical concerns beyond those related to debt and lack of familiarity with board certification procedures. The results will inform SAC conference programming and the profession on the current 'state of the trainees' in neuropsychology.

The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula survey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Taylor, W.D.; Evans, C.J.; Henault-Brunet, V.; Bastian, N.; Beletsky, Y.; Bestenlehner, J.; Brott, I.; Cantiello, M.; Carraro, G.; Clark, J.S.; Crowther, P.A.; de Koter, A.; de Mink, S.E.; Doran, E.; Dufton, P.L.; Dunstall, P.; Gieles, M.; Grafener, G.; Herrero, A.; Howarth, I.D.; Langer, N.; Lennon, D.J.; Maiz-Apellaniz, J; Markova, N.; Najarro, P.; Puls, J.; Sana, H.A.A.; Simon-Diaz, S.; Smartt, S.J.; Stroud, V.E.; van Loon, J.T.; Vink, J.S.; Walborn, N.R.

2011-01-01

The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey is an ESO Large Programme that has provided multi-epoch spectroscopy of over 1000 stars in the 30 Doradus region in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Armed with this unique dataset the assembled consortium is now addressing a broad range of fundamental questions in both

Importance of Survey Design for Studying the Epidemiology of Emerging Tobacco Product Use Among Youth.

Science.gov (United States)

Delnevo, Cristine D; Gundersen, Daniel A; Manderski, Michelle T B; Giovenco, Daniel P; Giovino, Gary A

2017-08-15

Accurate surveillance is critical for monitoring the epidemiology of emerging tobacco products in the United States, and survey science suggests that survey response format can impact prevalence estimates. We utilized data from the 2014 New Jersey Youth Tobacco Survey (n = 3,909) to compare estimates of the prevalence of 4 behaviors (ever hookah use, current hookah use, ever e-cigarette use, and current e-cigarette use) among New Jersey high school students, as assessed using "check-all-that-apply" questions, with estimates measured by means of "forced-choice" questions. Measurement discrepancies were apparent for all 4 outcomes, with the forced-choice questions yielding prevalence estimates approximately twice those of the check-all-that-apply questions, and agreement was fair to moderate. The sensitivity of the check-all-that-apply questions, treating the forced-choice format as the "gold standard," ranged from 38.1% (current hookah use) to 58.3% (ever e-cigarette use), indicating substantial false-negative rates. These findings highlight the impact of question response format on prevalence estimates of emerging tobacco products among youth and suggest that estimates generated by means of check-all-that-apply questions may be biased downward. Alternative survey designs should be considered to avoid check-all-that-apply response formats, and researchers should use caution when interpreting tobacco use data obtained from check-all-that-apply formats. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Study on team evaluation (4). Reliability and validity of questionnaire survey-based team work evaluation method of power plant operator team

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sasou, Kunihide; Hirose, Ayako; Misawa, Ryou; Yamaguchi, Hiroyuki

2006-01-01

The series of this study describes the necessity of the evaluation of team work from two aspects of operator's behavior and operators' mind. The authors propose Team Work Element Model which consists of necessary elements to build high performance team. This report discusses a method to evaluate team work from the second aspect, that is, competency trust, competition, for-the team spirit, etc. The authors survey the previous studies on psychological measures and organize a set of questions to evaluate 10 team work sub elements that are the parts of Team Work Element Model. The factor analysis shows that this set of questions is consists of 13 factors such as task-oriented leadership, harmony-oriented team atmosphere, etc. Close examination of the questions in each factor shows that 8 of 10 team work sub elements can be evaluated by this questionnaire. In addition, this questionnaire comprises scales additional 8 scales such as job satisfaction, leadership, etc. As a result, it is possible to evaluate team work from more comprehensive view points. (author)

Executive function impairment in community elderly subjects with questionable dementia.

Science.gov (United States)

Lam, Linda C W; Lui, Victor W C; Chiu, Helen F K; Chan, Sandra S M; Tam, Cindy W C

2005-01-01

The neurocognitive profile of community-dwelling Chinese subjects with 'questionable' dementia was studied. One hundred and fifty-four ambulatory Chinese subjects were recruited from local social centers for the elderly. Each subject was examined using the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), the Cantonese version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (CMMSE), the Chinese version of the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale (ADAS-Cog), the Category Verbal Fluency Test (CVFT), digit and visual span tests, and the Cambridge Neurological Inventory. The neurocognitive profile of nondemented subjects (CDR 0) was compared with that of subjects with 'questionable' dementia (CDR 0.5). Subjects with 'questionable' dementia were older, and had lower educational levels and global cognitive assessment scores than the controls (CMMSE and ADAS-Cog; t tests, p < 0.001). In addition, they also had significantly lower scores in delayed recall, reverse span, verbal fluency tests and worse performance in complex motor tasks related to executive function (Mann-Whitney tests, p < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis revealed that ADAS-Cog, CVFT, and reverse visual span were significant predictors for the CDR of 'questionable' dementia. Aside from memory impairment, executive function deficits were also present in subjects with 'questionable' dementia. To identify groups cognitively at risk for dementia, concomitant assessments of memory and executive function are suggested.

Internet delivered question and answer column for patients with schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Maijala, Riikka; Anttila, Minna; Koivunen, Marita; Pitkänen, Anneli; Kuosmanen, Lauri; Välimäki, Maritta

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to describe the use of an Internet delivered question and answer column among patients with schizophrenia. The column was developed for research purposes. The study sample consisted of patients (N = 100) admitted to acute inpatient psychiatric care in two hospital districts. Descriptive data were collected from the column to which a nurse replied within 3 days and analysed using qualitative content analysis. The column had four to five questions weekly. The most common age of users was 18-24 years, and the gender distribution was almost equal. Column use was heaviest among students (44%) and least among unemployed people (19%). Out of 85 questions or comments sent to the column, 25 (29%) were related to program training and the remaining 60 (71%) were related to medication (31%), illness and tests (25%), other questions or comments (9%), daily life and coping with it (4%), and places to receive treatment (2%). An Internet delivered question and answer column can be included in the care of patients with schizophrenia. However, it requires a new type of basic and additional education in the field of mental health care in order for nurses to be able to provide nursing via the Internet forum.

Does the underground sidewall station survey method meet MHSA ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The question is asked whether or not this method of sur-veying will meet the MHSA standards of accuracy that was developed for typical hangingwall traverse type networks. Results obtained from a survey closure using a network of clusters of four sidewall stations demonstrates that under the described circumstances it will ...

A Survey of Privacy on Data Integration

OpenAIRE

Do Son, Thanh

2015-01-01

This survey is an integrated view of other surveys on privacy preserving for data integration. First, we review the database context and challenges and research questions. Second, we formulate the privacy problems for schema matching and data matching. Next, we introduce the elements of privacy models. Then, we summarize the existing privacy techniques and the analysis (proofs) of privacy guarantees. Finally, we describe the privacy frameworks and their applications.

Questions and answers on nuclear energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grupe, H.; Koelzer, W.

Highly developed technologies, such as the nuclear power plant technology, have met with an increasing interest on the part of the general public during the last few years. As it is our duty to meet this demand for information and to supply the general public with objective and complete information on technical details, this series of brochures has been started. The present fourth and revised issue of 'Questions and answers on nuclear energy' explains the subjects in even greater detail and has been enlarged by an additional chapter on 'Waste disposal and waste management.' (orig.) [de

The operationalisation of religion and world view in surveys of nurses' attitudes toward euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Science.gov (United States)

Gielen, Joris; Van den Branden, Stef; Broeckaert, Bert

2009-11-01

Most quantitative studies that survey nurses' attitudes toward euthanasia and/or assisted suicide, also attempt to assess the influence of religion on these attitudes. We wanted to evaluate the operationalisation of religion and world view in these surveys. In the Pubmed database we searched for relevant articles published before August 2008 using combinations of search terms. Twenty-eight relevant articles were found. In five surveys nurses were directly asked whether religious beliefs, religious practices and/or ideological convictions influenced their attitudes, or the respondents were requested to mention the decisional basis for their answers on questions concerning end-of-life issues. In other surveys the influence of religion and world view was assessed indirectly through a comparison of the attitudes of different types of believers and/or non-believers toward euthanasia or assisted suicide. In these surveys we find subjective religious or ideological questions (questions inquiring about the perceived importance of religion or world view in life, influence of religion or world view on life in general, or how religious the respondents consider themselves) and objective questions (questions inquiring about religious practice, acceptance of religious dogmas, and religious or ideological affiliation). Religious or ideological affiliation is the most frequently used operationalisation of religion and world view. In 16 surveys only one religious or ideological question was asked. In most articles the operationalisation of religion and world view is very limited and does not reflect the diversity and complexity of religion and world view in contemporary society. Future research should pay more attention to the different dimensions of religion and world view, the religious plurality of Western society and the particularities of religion in non-Western contexts.

[A Survey about the Radiation Effects and A Health Survey of Fukushima Inhabitants after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident].

Science.gov (United States)

Okazaki, Ryuji; Ohga, Kazuhiro; Yoko-O, Makoto; Kohzaki, Masaoki

According to questionnaire surveys in 2011 and 2013 about the health effects of radiation after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident, the guardians of child patients were more anxious than doctors and medical students. Also, according to the thyroid examinations in a Fukushima health survey, 190 cases of thyroid cancer were reported, and anxiety about radiation effects remained. This study is based on a survey about the guardians of child patients anxiety about radiation effects six years after the nuclear power plant accident, and includes a questionnaire survey about radiation effects and thyroid examinations in a Fukushima health survey. Anonymous question sheets with 20 questions were sent to pediatric medical facilities in Fukushima, and the parents of children who consulted the pediatric and medical staff answered the questionnaire. Thirty percent of the guardians of child patients had never been educated about radiation and 67% had never been educated about the effects of radiation on humans. The guardians of child patients were more anxious than the medical staff about thyroid cancer, health effects on children and genetic effects. Our results indicate that the guardians of child patients think that the increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer is due to radiation effects after the nuclear power plant accident and they desire continued thyroid examinations.

Steps being taken to resolve questions on natural gas use for power generation in the New England region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gulick, C.

1995-01-01

Steps being taken to resolve questions on natural gas use for power generation in the New England Region are outlined. The following topics are discussed: bridging the gap, gas/electric discussion group, energy consumption by fuel, NEPOOL energy mix forecast, the players and their needs, pipelines serving New England, evaluation of pipeline reliability, industry survey, summary of survey conclusions, communications, operational differences, recommended red alert information sequence, handling a crisis, and major accomplishments to date

Survey: Did the TFP Growth Rate in Japan Decline in the 1990s?(in Japanese)

OpenAIRE

INUI Tomohiko; KWON Hyeog Ug

2004-01-01

This paper surveys the body of research grounded on a basic question "Did the total factor productivity (TFP) growth rate in Japan decline in the 1990s?" In addition, using industry-level data of the Japan Industrial Productivity Database (JIP database) we estimate the mark-ups and the degree of returns to scale and then re-estimate TFP growth rates. Most of studies reviewed in this paper show a decline in TFP growth in the 1990s at the macro-level and the industry-level. There are some studi...

Parental compliance - an emerging problem in Liverpool community child health surveys 1991-2006

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Koshy Gibby

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Compliance is a critical issue for parental questionnaires in school based epidemiological surveys and high compliance is difficult to achieve. The objective of this study was to determine trends and factors associated with parental questionnaire compliance during respiratory health surveys of school children in Merseyside between 1991 and 2006. Methods Four cross-sectional respiratory health surveys employing a core questionnaire and methodology were conducted in 1991, 1993, 1998 and 2006 among 5-11 year old children in the same 10 schools in Bootle and 5 schools in Wallasey, Merseyside. Parental compliance fell sequentially in consecutive surveys. This analysis aimed to determine the association of questionnaire compliance with variation in response rates to specific questions across surveys, and the demographic profiles for parents of children attending participant schools. Results Parental questionnaire compliance was 92% (1872/2035 in 1991, 87.4% (3746/4288 in 1993, 78.1% (1964/2514 in 1998 and 30.3% (1074/3540 in 2006. The trend to lower compliance in later surveys was consistent across all surveyed schools. Townsend score estimations of socio-economic status did not differ between schools with high or low questionnaire compliance and were comparable across the four surveys with only small differences between responders and non-responders to specific core questions. Respiratory symptom questions were mostly well answered with fewer than 15% of non-responders across all surveys. There were significant differences between mean child age, maternal and paternal smoking prevalence, and maternal employment between the four surveys (all p Conclusion Methodological differences or changes in socio-economic status of respondents between surveys were unlikely to explain compliance differences. Changes in maternal employment patterns may have been contributory. This analysis demonstrates a major shift in community parental

Efficient question answering with question decomposition and multiple answer streams

OpenAIRE

Hartrumpf, Sven; Glöckner, Ingo; Leveling, Johannes

2009-01-01

The German question answering (QA) system IRSAW (formerly: InSicht) participated in QA@CLEF for the fth time. IRSAW was introduced in 2007 by integrating the deep answer producer InSicht, several shallow answer producers, and a logical validator. InSicht builds on a deep QA approach: it transforms documents to semantic representations using a parser, draws inferences on semantic representations with rules, and matches semantic representations derived from questions and documents. InS...

U.S. residential consumer product information: Validation of methods for post-stratification weighting of Amazon Mechanical Turk surveys

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Greenblatt, Jeffery B. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Yang, Hung-Chia [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Desroches, Louis-Benoit [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Young, Scott J. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Beraki, Bereket [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Price, Sarah K. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Pratt, Stacy [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Willem, Henry [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Donovan, Sally M. [Consultant, Melbourne (Australia)

2013-04-01

other variables, while statistically significant in some cases, were nonetheless considered to be minor. Depending on the intended purpose of the data collected using AMT, these biases may or may not be important; to correct them, additional questions and/or further post-survey adjustments could be employed. In general, based on the analysis methods and the sample datasets used in this study, AMT surveys appeared to provide useful data on appliance and consumer electronics devices.

CAT questions and answers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-02-01

This document, prepared in February 1993, addresses the most common questions asked by APS Collaborative Access Teams (CATs). The answers represent the best judgment on the part of the APS at this time. In some cases, details are provided in separate documents to be supplied by the APS. Some of the answers are brief because details are not yet available. The questions are separated into five categories representing different aspects of CAT interactions with the APS: (1) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), (2) CAT Beamline Review and Construction, (3) CAT Beamline Safety, (4) CAT Beamline Operations, and (5) Miscellaneous. The APS plans to generate similar documents as needed to both address new questions and clarify answers to present questions

Toward Question-Asking Machines: The Logic of Questions and the Inquiry Calculus

Science.gov (United States)

Knuth,Kevin H.

2005-01-01

For over a century, the study of logic has focused on the algebra of logical statements. This work, first performed by George Boole, has led to the development of modern computers, and was shown by Richard T. Cox to be the foundation of Bayesian inference. Meanwhile the logic of questions has been much neglected. For our computing machines to be truly intelligent, they need to be able to ask relevant questions. In this paper I will show how the Boolean lattice of logical statements gives rise to the free distributive lattice of questions thus defining their algebra. Furthermore, there exists a quantity analogous to probability, called relevance, which quantifies the degree to which one question answers another. I will show that relevance is not only a natural generalization of information theory, but also forms its foundation.

Research in thermal biology: Burning questions for coldwater stream fishes

Science.gov (United States)

McCullough, D.A.; Bartholow, J.M.; Jager, H.I.; Beschta, R.L.; Cheslak, E.F.; Deas, M.L.; Ebersole, J.L.; Foott, J.S.; Johnson, S.L.; Marine, K.R.; Mesa, M.G.; Petersen, J.H.; Souchon, Y.; Tiffan, K.F.; Wurtsbaugh, W.A.

2009-01-01

With the increasing appreciation of global warming impacts on ecological systems, in addition to the myriad of land management effects on water quality, the number of literature citations dealing with the effects of water temperature on freshwater fish has escalated in the past decade. Given the many biological scales at which water temperature effects have been studied, and the growing need to integrate knowledge from multiple disciplines of thermal biology to fully protect beneficial uses, we held that a survey of the most promising recent developments and an expression of some of the remaining unanswered questions with significant management implications would best be approached collectively by a diverse research community. We have identified five specific topic areas of renewed research where new techniques and critical thought could benefit coldwater stream fishes (particularly salmonids): molecular, organism, population/species, community and ecosystem, and policy issues in water quality. Our hope is that information gained through examination of recent research fronts linking knowledge at various scales will prove useful in managing water quality at a basin level to protect fish populations and whole ecosystems. Standards of the past were based largely on incipient lethal and optimum growth rate temperatures for fish species, while future standards should consider all integrated thermal impacts to the organism and ecosystem. ?? Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Asking the Right Questions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Richter, Line

Based on fieldwork in Mali this paper discusses the role of anthropology (and the anthropologist) in a large public health research project on children's health. In the uncertainty and disquiet that comes with the battle to combat and avoid diseases in a setting where poverty and abysmal diseases......, is the ability to move beyond even the best hidden assumptions and question our own questions, thereby enabling us to ask the right questions....

Development and validation of the BRIGHTLIGHT Survey, a patient-reported experience measure for young people with cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Rachel M; Fern, Lorna A; Solanki, Anita; Hooker, Louise; Carluccio, Anna; Pye, Julia; Jeans, David; Frere-Smith, Tom; Gibson, Faith; Barber, Julie; Raine, Rosalind; Stark, Dan; Feltbower, Richard; Pearce, Susie; Whelan, Jeremy S

2015-07-28

Patient experience is increasingly used as an indicator of high quality care in addition to more traditional clinical end-points. Surveys are generally accepted as appropriate methodology to capture patient experience. No validated patient experience surveys exist specifically for adolescents and young adults (AYA) aged 13-24 years at diagnosis with cancer. This paper describes early work undertaken to develop and validate a descriptive patient experience survey for AYA with cancer that encompasses both their cancer experience and age-related issues. We aimed to develop, with young people, an experience survey meaningful and relevant to AYA to be used in a longitudinal cohort study (BRIGHTLIGHT), ensuring high levels of acceptability to maximise study retention. A three-stage approach was employed: Stage 1 involved developing a conceptual framework, conducting literature/Internet searches and establishing content validity of the survey; Stage 2 confirmed the acceptability of methods of administration and consisted of four focus groups involving 11 young people (14-25 years), three parents and two siblings; and Stage 3 established survey comprehension through telephone-administered cognitive interviews with a convenience sample of 23 young people aged 14-24 years. Stage 1: Two-hundred and thirty eight questions were developed from qualitative reports of young people's cancer and treatment-related experience. Stage 2: The focus groups identified three core themes: (i) issues directly affecting young people, e.g. impact of treatment-related fatigue on ability to complete survey; (ii) issues relevant to the actual survey, e.g. ability to answer questions anonymously; (iii) administration issues, e.g. confusing format in some supporting documents. Stage 3: Cognitive interviews indicated high levels of comprehension requiring minor survey amendments. Collaborating with young people with cancer has enabled a survey of to be developed that is both meaningful to young

Integrated alarm annunciation and entry control systems -- Survey results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clever, J.J.; Arakaki, L.H.; Monaco, F.M.; Juarros, L.E.; Quintana, G.R.

1993-10-01

This report provides the results and analyses of a detailed survey undertaken in Summer 1993 to address integrated intrusion detection alarm annunciation and entry control system issues. This survey was undertaken as a first attempt toward beginning to answer questions about integrated systems and commercial capabilities to meet or partially meet US Department of Energy (DOE) site needs

Using Structured Additive Regression Models to Estimate Risk Factors of Malaria: Analysis of 2010 Malawi Malaria Indicator Survey Data

Science.gov (United States)

Chirombo, James; Lowe, Rachel; Kazembe, Lawrence

2014-01-01

Background After years of implementing Roll Back Malaria (RBM) interventions, the changing landscape of malaria in terms of risk factors and spatial pattern has not been fully investigated. This paper uses the 2010 malaria indicator survey data to investigate if known malaria risk factors remain relevant after many years of interventions. Methods We adopted a structured additive logistic regression model that allowed for spatial correlation, to more realistically estimate malaria risk factors. Our model included child and household level covariates, as well as climatic and environmental factors. Continuous variables were modelled by assuming second order random walk priors, while spatial correlation was specified as a Markov random field prior, with fixed effects assigned diffuse priors. Inference was fully Bayesian resulting in an under five malaria risk map for Malawi. Results Malaria risk increased with increasing age of the child. With respect to socio-economic factors, the greater the household wealth, the lower the malaria prevalence. A general decline in malaria risk was observed as altitude increased. Minimum temperatures and average total rainfall in the three months preceding the survey did not show a strong association with disease risk. Conclusions The structured additive regression model offered a flexible extension to standard regression models by enabling simultaneous modelling of possible nonlinear effects of continuous covariates, spatial correlation and heterogeneity, while estimating usual fixed effects of categorical and continuous observed variables. Our results confirmed that malaria epidemiology is a complex interaction of biotic and abiotic factors, both at the individual, household and community level and that risk factors are still relevant many years after extensive implementation of RBM activities. PMID:24991915

Public Opinion Survey - Energy - The Present and the Future - 2009/10

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trontl, K.; Jecmenica, R.; Pevec, D.

2010-01-01

During the academic year 2009/10 the Department of Applied Physics of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing conducted a public opinion survey entitled 'Energy - The Present and the Future' among student population of 622 individuals age 18-20 (413 male students, 202 female students, and 7 students without the answer on gender question). The tested population consisted of the University of Zagreb four faculties' students: the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, the Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, the Faculty of Civil Engineering. The questions in the survey covered several different energy issues, including the present and the future energy resources, the acceptability of different fuel type power plants, the environmental protection and global warming, the radioactivity, the waste issues, as well as reliable information sources. The basic results of survey analysis for nuclear oriented questions, as well as the comparison of results of the current survey with the results of the similar survey conducted in the academic year 2007/08, are reported in this paper. Participants generally express high level of formal environmental awareness. However, their choices and attitudes are in a contradiction to claimed eco-orientation, as well as to the scientific facts. The discrepancies are particularly noticeable in parts of the survey dealing with the nuclear energy and the nuclear power plants. The participants are also demonstrating lack of knowledge on nuclear issues especially regarding radioactive waste management, as well as economics and operational safety of nuclear power plants.(author).

Exploring undergraduates' understanding of photosynthesis using diagnostic question clusters.

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Joyce M; Anderson, Charles W; Heidemann, Merle; Merrill, John; Merritt, Brett; Richmond, Gail; Urban-Lurain, Mark

2012-01-01

We present a diagnostic question cluster (DQC) that assesses undergraduates' thinking about photosynthesis. This assessment tool is not designed to identify individual misconceptions. Rather, it is focused on students' abilities to apply basic concepts about photosynthesis by reasoning with a coordinated set of practices based on a few scientific principles: conservation of matter, conservation of energy, and the hierarchical nature of biological systems. Data on students' responses to the cluster items and uses of some of the questions in multiple-choice, multiple-true/false, and essay formats are compared. A cross-over study indicates that the multiple-true/false format shows promise as a machine-gradable format that identifies students who have a mixture of accurate and inaccurate ideas. In addition, interviews with students about their choices on three multiple-choice questions reveal the fragility of students' understanding. Collectively, the data show that many undergraduates lack both a basic understanding of the role of photosynthesis in plant metabolism and the ability to reason with scientific principles when learning new content. Implications for instruction are discussed.

An innovative addition to team-based-learning pedagogy to enhance teaching and learning: Students' perceptions of team exams.

Science.gov (United States)

Khansari, Parto S; Coyne, Leanne

The study investigates students' perceptions of the value of implementing a team exam to enhance learning prior to a summative assessment. Team exams are similar to midterm exams, except that answering questions is a team effort. Data was collected from second year pharmacy students at California Northstate University College of Pharmacy (CNUCOP) through a self-administered online survey. The survey questions included closed-ended questions to evaluate students' perception on preparedness for a summative assessment and to rank advantages and disadvantages of the team exams. Of the 40 students who completed the survey (38% response rate), 100% of participants agreed that having a team exam prior to a major exam made them feel more prepared for a major summative exam. Ninety-seven percent of students believed that the team exam helped them to identify gaps in their knowledge and 85% agreed that taking a team exam reinforced their knowledge by teaching other students. The survey results did not identify any major disadvantages to holding a team exam. Students perceived that taking a team exam prior to a midterm exam is an effective approach to review the course contents and identify areas of improvement. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

A survey of managed care strategies for pregnant smokers

OpenAIRE

Barker, D.; Robinson, L.; Rosenthal, A.

2000-01-01

OBJECTIVE—The purpose of this study was to measure the content and comprehensiveness of pregnancy specific smoking cessation strategies within managed care organisations (MCOs) responding affirmatively to the national 1997-98 Addressing Tobacco in Managed Care (ATMC) survey.
DESIGN—This cross sectional follow up study consisted of a fax survey sent to medical directors and a 37 question telephone survey of program overseers about the smoking cessation strategy.
SUBJECTS—147 MCOs identifying a...

Federal Office of Energy Research program: Survey on Markers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buser, M.

2012-01-01

Marcos Buser presented the state of the art on markers by means of a literature survey; the study has synthesized the knowledge on markers, identified gaps and contradictions in the marker programs and addressed research areas that have been covered in the past. The boundary conditions for the study were that it would take a very broad inter- and trans- disciplinary approach that incorporates results and evidences. Questions related to knowledge transfer and long-term societal issues show important gaps of knowledge, particularly regarding message transmission. The transmission process is strongly dependent on contextual understanding, and better understanding of such contextual changes is necessary for better encoding. The general findings of the survey are: - Need of synthesis has been confirmed; - Contradictions in the goals of marker strategies must be identified; - Entirety: although questions of technical nature or relating to the natural sciences are easier than societal questions, all processes must be analyzed from a inter- and trans-disciplinary point of view, and not from specific perspectives; - The importance of social sciences is greatly underestimated. The specific findings are: - Research on intrusion motivation is crucial for the design of marker programs (as well as for the configuration of a repository); - System development has to be understood, not just the development of single elements; - Findings in semiotic sciences, message transmission and misinterpretation and misuse are decisive. In the discussion, the question was raised whether the repository itself may acts as a marker, for instance because of the fact that all advanced drills apparently have a radiation detector, or, additionally, by adding symbols on the walls of the shafts. Buser underlined that knowledge transfer and long-term societal issues raises a series of questions related to stability of societies, stability of social structures, evolution of laws and regulations, transfer

Handwashing in 51 Countries: Analysis of Proxy Measures of Handwashing Behavior in Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys and Demographic and Health Surveys, 2010–2013

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Swapna; Loughnan, Libbet; Luyendijk, Rolf; Hernandez, Orlando; Weinger, Merri; Arnold, Fred; Ram, Pavani K.

2017-01-01

Abstract. In 2009, a common set of questions addressing handwashing behavior was introduced into nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), providing large amounts of comparable data from numerous countries worldwide. The objective of this analysis is to describe global handwashing patterns using two proxy indicators for handwashing behavior from 51 DHS and MICS surveys conducted in 2010–2013: availability of soap anywhere in the dwelling and access to a handwashing place with soap and water. Data were also examined across geographic regions, wealth quintiles, and rural versus urban settings. We found large disparities for both indicators across regions, and even among countries within the same World Health Organization region. Within countries, households in lower wealth quintiles and in rural areas were less likely to have soap anywhere in the dwelling and at designated handwashing locations than households in higher wealth quintiles and urban areas. In addition, disparities existed among various geographic regions within countries. This analysis demonstrates the need to promote access to handwashing materials and placement at handwashing locations in the dwelling, particularly in poorer, rural areas where children are more vulnerable to handwashing-preventable syndromes such as pneumonia and diarrhea. PMID:28722572

Live your questions now

OpenAIRE

Brownrigg, Jenny

2016-01-01

'Live Your Questions Now' is a case study for Cubitt Education's publication 'Aging in Public: creative practice in ageing and the public realm from across the UK', edited by Daniel Baker and published by Cubitt Gallery, Studios and Education, London in 2016. The publication was linked to Cubitt's programme 'Public Wisdom' (2011-2015). My case study is about 'Live your questions now', a group exhibition I curated in 2011 for Mackintosh Museum, The Glasgow School of Art. 'Live your questions n...

Effect of survey mode on response patterns

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Anne Illemann; Ekholm, Ola; Glümer, Charlotte

2014-01-01

.7%). Marital status, ethnic background and highest completed education were associated with non-response in both modes. Furthermore, sex and age were associated with non-response in the self-administered mode. No significant mode effects were observed for indicators related to use of health services......BACKGROUND: While face-to-face interviews are considered the gold standard of survey modes, self-administered questionnaires are often preferred for cost and convenience. This article examines response patterns in two general population health surveys carried out by face-to-face interview and self......-administered questionnaire, respectively. METHOD: Data derives from a health interview survey in the Region of Southern Denmark (face-to-face interview) and The Danish Health and Morbidity Survey 2010 (self-administered questionnaire). Identical questions were used in both surveys. Data on all individuals were obtained from...

Survey research.

Science.gov (United States)

Alderman, Amy K; Salem, Barbara

2010-10-01

Survey research is a unique methodology that can provide insight into individuals' perspectives and experiences and can be collected on a large population-based sample. Specifically, in plastic surgery, survey research can provide patients and providers with accurate and reproducible information to assist with medical decision-making. When using survey methods in research, researchers should develop a conceptual model that explains the relationships of the independent and dependent variables. The items of the survey are of primary importance. Collected data are only useful if they accurately measure the concepts of interest. In addition, administration of the survey must follow basic principles to ensure an adequate response rate and representation of the intended target sample. In this article, the authors review some general concepts important for successful survey research and discuss the many advantages this methodology has for obtaining limitless amounts of valuable information.

Expectations for Tinnitus Treatment and Outcomes: A Survey Study of Audiologists and Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Husain, Fatima T; Gander, Phillip E; Jansen, Jaclyn N; Shen, Sa

2018-04-01

Roughly 10-15% of the general population is affected by tinnitus and this percentage is estimated to rise in future. Because there is currently no cure for tinnitus, treatment is limited and is primarily achieved through management of symptoms and counseling. This study compared audiologists' and patients' responses to related survey questions about their expectations regarding tinnitus treatment. Two separate surveys were created, one for patients with tinnitus, and one for practicing audiologists who may treat such patients. The surveys included several related questions, such that comparison of the two could reveal where patients' and audiologists' expectations for tinnitus care were in agreement and areas in which they differed. The surveys for audiologists and adults with tinnitus were 31- and 38-item questionnaires, respectively. Both surveys comprised demographic questions followed by several tinnitus-related questions in either multiple-choice or Likert-scale format. We received 230 completed Patient Surveys and 68 completed Audiologist Surveys. All survey recruitment was completed online. Responses were collected via the Survey Monkey web tool (http://www.surveymonkey.com/). Responses were analyzed within and between surveys and grouped into topical categories (assessment, counseling, current available tinnitus information, satisfaction and expectations, improving tinnitus management). For data within each survey, descriptive statistics and correlation analyses were used. For selected comparisons between surveys, cross-tabulations were used. Hierarchical regression modeling was conducted to further explore (1) the perceived effectiveness of treatment received, and (2) how each group defined treatment success. Differences were noted between the two groups' responses to the question on the definition of treatment success; audiologists reported decreased awareness (77%), stress/anxiety relief (63%), and increased knowledge of tinnitus (63%) most commonly

National Chemistry Teacher Safety Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Plohocki, Barbra A.

This study evaluated the status of secondary school instructional chemistry laboratory safety using a survey instrument which focused on Teacher background Information, Laboratory Safety Equipment, Facility Safety, General Safety, and a Safety Content Knowledge Survey. A fifty question survey instrument based on recent research and questions developed by the researcher was mailed to 500 secondary school chemistry teachers who participated in the 1993 one-week Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation Chemistry Institute conducted at Princeton University, New Jersey. The data received from 303 respondents was analyzed by t tests and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The level of significance for the study was set at ~\\ performance on the Safety Content Knowledge Survey and secondary school chemistry teachers who have had undergraduate and/or graduate safety training and those who have not had undergraduate and/or graduate safety training. Secondary school chemistry teachers who attended school district sponsored safety inservices did not score higher on the Safety Content Knowledge Survey than teachers who did not attend school district sponsored safety inservice sessions. The type of school district (urban, suburban, or rural) had no significant correlation to the type of laboratory safety equipment found in the instructional chemistry laboratory. The certification area (chemistry or other type of certificate which may or may not include chemistry) of the secondary school teacher had no significant correlation to the type of laboratory equipment found in the instructional chemistry laboratory. Overall, this study indicated a majority of secondary school chemistry teachers were interested in attending safety workshops applicable to chemistry safety. Throughout this research project, many teachers indicated they were not adequately instructed on the collegiate level in science safety and had to rely on common sense and self-study in their future teaching careers.

PMP practice makes perfect over 1000 PMP practice questions and answers

CERN Document Server

Estrella, John A; Zahran, Sami

2011-01-01

A unique learning resource to prepare for the PMP certification exam Without sufficient practice and preparation for taking the Project Management Institute's (PMI's) PMP certification exam, you won't be able to actually put your skills into practice in the real world! To help you achieve your goal of passing the exam, this two-part prep book covers all elements of the brand-new Project Management Professional exam. A team of experts presents you with a solid overview of the exam as well as hundreds of questions, detailed answers, and explanations. In addition, each question is accompa

A Technique Socratic Questioning-Guided Discovery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Hakan Türkçapar

2012-03-01

Full Text Available “Socratic Method” is a way of teaching philosophical thinking and knowledge by asking questions which was used by antique period greek philosopher Socrates. Socrates was teaching knowledge to his followers by asking questions and the conversation between them was named “Socratic Dialogues”. In this meaning, no novel knowledge is taught to the individual but only what is formerly known is reminded and rediscovered. The form of socratic questioning which is used during the process of cognitive behavioral therapy is known as Guided Discovery. In this method it is aimed to make the client notice the piece of knowledge which he could notice but is not aware with a series of questions. Socratic method or guided discovery consists of several steps which are: Identifying the problem by listening to the client and making reflections, finding alternatives by examining and evaluating, reidentification by using the newly found information and questioning the old distorted belief and reaching to a conclusion and applying it. Question types used during these procedures are, questions for gaining information, questions revealing the meanings, questions revealing the beliefs, questions about behaviours during the similar past experiences, analyse questions and analytic synthesis questions. In order to make the patient feel understood it is important to be empathetic and summarising the problem during the interview. In this text, steps of Socratic Questioning-Guided Discovery will be reviewed with sample dialogues after each step

A Survey of Electronic Serials Managers Reveals Diversity in Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Costello

2014-09-01

Full Text Available A Review of: Branscome, B. A. (2013. Management of electronic serials in academic libraries: The results of an online survey. Serials Review, 39(4, 216-226. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.serrev.2013.10.004 Abstract Objective – To examine industry standards for the management of electronic serials and measure the adoption of electronic serials over print. Design – Survey questionnaire. Setting – Email lists aimed at academic librarians working in serials management. Subjects – 195 self-selected subscribers to serials email lists. Methods – The author created a 20 question survey that consisted primarily of closed-ended questions pertaining to the collection demographics, staff, budget, and tools of serials management groups in academic libraries. The survey was conducted via Survey Monkey and examined using the analytical features of the tool. Participants remained anonymous and the survey questions did not ask them to reveal identifiable information about their libraries. Main Results – Collection demographics questions revealed that 78% of surveyed librarians estimated that print-only collections represented 40% or fewer of their serials holdings. The author observed diversity in the factors that influence print to digital transitions in academic libraries. However 71.5% of participants indicated that publisher technology support like IP authentication was required before adopting digital subscriptions. A lack of standardization also marked serials workflows, department responsibilities, and department titles. The author did not find a correlation between serials budget and the enrollment size of the institution. Participants reported that they used tools from popular serials management vendors like Serials Solutions, Innovative Interfaces, EBSCO, and Ex Libris, but most indicated that they used more than one tool for serials management. Participants specified 52 unique serials management products used in their libraries. Conclusion �

Utility survey on nuclear power plant siting and nuclear energy centers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cope, D.F.; Bauman, H.F.

1977-01-01

Most of the large U.S. utilities were surveyed by telephone and mail on questions concerning nuclear power plant siting and nuclear energy centers (NECs). The main purpose of the survey was for guidance of ERDA's NEC program. The questions covered the following topics: availability of sites; impact of environmental and other restraints; plans for development of multi-unit sites; interest in NEC development; interest in including fuel-cycle facilities in NECs; and opinions on the roles desired for the state and Federal governments in power plant siting. The main conclusion of the survey was that, while many utilities were considering multiple-unit sites of 2 to 5 units, none were planning larger energy centers at the present time. However, several expressed interest in NECs as a long-range future development

Technical evaluation of available state of Nevada survey instruments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1993-02-01

Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) is reviewing the survey research studies completed by Mountain West Research (1987-1989) for the state of Nevada`s Nuclear Waste Project Office. In this research, 14 survey instruments were used to seek data on whether perceptions of risk could be associated with the possible siting of a high-level radioactive waste repository in Nevada and could be a dominant source of potential, significant, adverse economic impacts. This report presents results from phase 1 of the review, in which ANL contracted with the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago to evaluate the technical merits of the nine survey instruments that ANL had been able to acquire. The scope of NORC`s work was limited to rating the questions and stating their strengths and weaknesses. NORC concluded that the surveys could provide valuable data about risk perceptions and potential behavioral responses. NORC identified a few minor problems with a number of questions and the calculated response rates but claimed these problems would probably not have any major biasing effect. The NORC evaluation would have been more complete if the terms used in the questionnaires had been defined, all survey instruments had been acquired, and all data had been made available to the public.

Technical evaluation of available state of Nevada survey instruments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-02-01

Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) is reviewing the survey research studies completed by Mountain West Research (1987-1989) for the state of Nevada's Nuclear Waste Project Office. In this research, 14 survey instruments were used to seek data on whether perceptions of risk could be associated with the possible siting of a high-level radioactive waste repository in Nevada and could be a dominant source of potential, significant, adverse economic impacts. This report presents results from phase 1 of the review, in which ANL contracted with the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago to evaluate the technical merits of the nine survey instruments that ANL had been able to acquire. The scope of NORC's work was limited to rating the questions and stating their strengths and weaknesses. NORC concluded that the surveys could provide valuable data about risk perceptions and potential behavioral responses. NORC identified a few minor problems with a number of questions and the calculated response rates but claimed these problems would probably not have any major biasing effect. The NORC evaluation would have been more complete if the terms used in the questionnaires had been defined, all survey instruments had been acquired, and all data had been made available to the public

Literary Mystification: Hermeneutical Questions of the Early Dialectical Theology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tolstoj, E.V.

2012-01-01

This contribution addresses some hermeneutical problems related to Karl Barth's Römerbrief II. First, it surveys the role of the unpublished archive materials from the Karl Barth-Archiv, i.e. the commentaries, text additions and corrections Eduard Thurneysen sent to Barth during his work on

Feelings: what questions best discriminate women with and without eating disorders?

Science.gov (United States)

Abraham, S F; von Lojewski, A; Anderson, G; Clarke, S; Russell, J

2009-03-01

This study explored feelings that discriminate between eating disorder and community groups of women. Responses to 25 questions about body image (9), eating (8) self-esteem (3) general psychology (5) were collected in 2002-2003 (N=268) and 2005-2006 (N=472). Wilk's lambda was used to test discrimination. The most discriminating psychological questions were: 'feeling unhappy and unable to cope as well as usual', 'unease attending social functions', 'fearing loss of control over emotions'; and for eating questions were: 'feeling uneasy if other people saw you eating', 'feeling preoccupied with food/eating', 'fearing loss of control over eating'. For body image only 'feeling preoccupied with body weight/shape' and 'fearing loss of control over your body' discriminated. Questions relating to weight and shape for self-esteem ('feeling fat', 'fearing weight gain' and 'wanting to lose weight') discriminated poorly. Results for both cohorts were consistent. Preoccupation with thoughts of eating or body image and fear of loss of control of these would be useful additions to eating disorders criteria. Psychological impairment should also be present.

Aerial radiation surveys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jobst, J.

1980-01-01

A recent aerial radiation survey of the surroundings of the Vitro mill in Salt Lake City shows that uranium mill tailings have been removed to many locations outside their original boundary. To date, 52 remote sites have been discovered within a 100 square kilometer aerial survey perimeter surrounding the mill; 9 of these were discovered with the recent aerial survey map. Five additional sites, also discovered by aerial survey, contained uranium ore, milling equipment, or radioactive slag. Because of the success of this survey, plans are being made to extend the aerial survey program to other parts of the Salt Lake valley where diversions of Vitro tailings are also known to exist

Do Productive Uses of ICT Connect to Income Benefits: A Case Study on Teleuse@BOP4 Survey in Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ibrahim Kholilul Rohman

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The question whether the telecommunication sector has been really supporting poverty alleviation and increasing welfare at the household level, in terms of an additional income in Indonesia is still undisclosed. This paper aims at investigating whether the mobile phone access and the uses on productive features/content/services have brought many benefits to the households in terms of an additional income based on the BOP survey conducted by LIRNEAsia and the Institute for Economic and Social Research, University of Indonesia (LPEM FEUI in 2011. The paper found that the respondents with the productive use to their device have a higher likelihood for contributing to their household income.

An assessment of survey measures used across key epidemiologic studies of United States Gulf War I Era Veterans

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Over the past two decades, 12 large epidemiologic studies and 2 registries have focused on U.S. veterans of the 1990–1991 Gulf War Era. We conducted a review of these studies’ research tools to identify existing gaps and overlaps of efforts to date, and to advance development of the next generation of Gulf War Era survey tools. Overall, we found that many of the studies used similar instruments. Questions regarding exposures were more similar across studies than other domains, while neurocognitive and psychological tools were the most variable. Many studies focused on self-reported survey results, with a range of validation practices. However, physical exams, biomedical assessments, and specimen storage were not common. This review suggests that while research may be able to pool data from past surveys, future surveys need to consider how their design can yield data comparable with previous surveys. Additionally, data that incorporate recent technologies in specimen and genetic analyses would greatly enhance such survey data. When combined with existing data on deployment-related exposures and post-deployment health conditions, longitudinal follow-up of existing studies within this collaborative framework could represent an important step toward improving the health of veterans. PMID:23302181

Evaluation questions ''I'' concerning the interim job enterprises proposing personnel of A or B category to work in nuclear facilities

CERN Document Server

Int. At. Energy Agency, Wien

2002-01-01

This document is a reference evaluation of a list of questions on the following subject: management, organization, medical survey, formation and information of the personnel, contract dispositions, CEFRI demands respect control. (A.L.B.)

Entropic uncertainty relations-a survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wehner, Stephanie; Winter, Andreas

2010-01-01

Uncertainty relations play a central role in quantum mechanics. Entropic uncertainty relations in particular have gained significant importance within quantum information, providing the foundation for the security of many quantum cryptographic protocols. Yet, little is known about entropic uncertainty relations with more than two measurement settings. In the present survey, we review known results and open questions.

Frequent Questions on Recycling

Science.gov (United States)

This is a list of frequent questions on recycling, broken down into five categories. These are answers to common questions that EPA has received from press and web inquiries. This list is located on the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle website.

Use of medical technologies in rehabilitation medicine settings in Israel: results of the TECHNO-R 2005 survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Ring, Haim; Keren, Ofer; Zwecker, Manuel; Dynia, Aida

2007-10-01

With the development of computer technology and the high-tech electronic industry over the past 30 years, the technological age is flourishing. New technologies are continually being introduced, and questions regarding the economic viability of these technologies need to be addressed. To identify the medical technologies currently in use in different rehabilitation medicine settings in Israel. The TECHNO-R 2005 survey was conducted in two phases. Beginning in 2004, the first survey used a questionnaire with open questions relating to the different technologies in clinical use, including questions on their purpose, who operates the device (technician, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, physician, etc.), and a description of the treated patients. This questionnaire was sent to 31 rehabilitation medicine facilities in Israel. Due to difficulties in comprehension of the term "technology," a second revised standardized questionnaire with closed-ended questions specifying diverse technologies was introduced in 2005. The responder had to mark from a list of 15 different medical technologies which were in use in his or her facility, as well as their purpose, who operates the device, and a description of the treated patients. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, the TILT bed, continuous passive movement, and therapeutic ultrasound were the most widely used technologies in rehabilitation medicine facilities. Monitoring of the sitting position in the wheelchair, at the bottom of the list, was found to be the least used technology (with 15.4% occurrence). Most of the technologies are used primarily for treatment purposes and to a lesser degree for diagnosis and research. Our study poses a fundamental semantic and conceptual question regarding what kind of technologies are or should be part of the standard equipment of any accredited rehabilitation medicine facility for assessment, treatment and/or research. For this purpose, additional data are needed.

Measuring determinants of career satisfaction of anesthesiologists: validation of a survey instrument.

Science.gov (United States)

Afonso, Anoushka M; Diaz, James H; Scher, Corey S; Beyl, Robbie A; Nair, Singh R; Kaye, Alan David

2013-06-01

To measure the parameter of job satisfaction among anesthesiologists. Survey instrument. Academic anesthesiology departments in the United States. 320 anesthesiologists who attended the annual meeting of the ASA in 2009 (95% response rate). The anonymous 50-item survey collected information on 26 independent demographic variables and 24 dependent ranked variables of career satisfaction among practicing anesthesiologists. Mean survey scores were calculated for each demographic variable and tested for statistically significant differences by analysis of variance. Questions within each domain that were internally consistent with each other within domains were identified by Cronbach's alpha ≥ 0.7. P-values ≤ 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Cronbach's alpha analysis showed strong internal consistency for 10 dependent outcome questions in the practice factor-related domain (α = 0.72), 6 dependent outcome questions in the peer factor-related domain (α = 0.71), and 8 dependent outcome questions in the personal factor-related domain (α = 0.81). Although age was not a variable, full-time status, early satisfaction within the first 5 years of practice, working with respected peers, and personal choice factors were all significantly associated with anesthesiologist job satisfaction. Improvements in factors related to job satisfaction among anesthesiologists may lead to higher early and current career satisfaction. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Harriet Martineau and Her Contemporaries: Past Studies and Methodological Questions on Historical Surveys of Women.

Science.gov (United States)

Weiner, Gaby

2000-01-01

Presents the results of a historical survey of the contemporaries of Harriet Martineau who were born in the United Kingdom between 1792 and 1812. Focuses on the length of life, marital status, number of children, women's occupations, husbands' occupations (of married women), and fathers' occupations (of unmarried women). (CMK)

Development and testing of new candidate psoriatic arthritis screening questionnaires combining optimal questions from existing tools.

Science.gov (United States)

Coates, Laura C; Walsh, Jessica; Haroon, Muhammad; FitzGerald, Oliver; Aslam, Tariq; Al Balushi, Farida; Burden, A D; Burden-Teh, Esther; Caperon, Anna R; Cerio, Rino; Chattopadhyay, Chandrabhusan; Chinoy, Hector; Goodfield, Mark J D; Kay, Lesley; Kelly, Stephen; Kirkham, Bruce W; Lovell, Christopher R; Marzo-Ortega, Helena; McHugh, Neil; Murphy, Ruth; Reynolds, Nick J; Smith, Catherine H; Stewart, Elizabeth J C; Warren, Richard B; Waxman, Robin; Wilson, Hilary E; Helliwell, Philip S

2014-09-01

Several questionnaires have been developed to screen for psoriatic arthritis (PsA), but head-to-head studies have found limitations. This study aimed to develop new questionnaires encompassing the most discriminative questions from existing instruments. Data from the CONTEST study, a head-to-head comparison of 3 existing questionnaires, were used to identify items with a Youden index score of ≥0.1. These were combined using 4 approaches: CONTEST (simple additions of questions), CONTESTw (weighting using logistic regression), CONTESTjt (addition of a joint manikin), and CONTESTtree (additional questions identified by classification and regression tree [CART] analysis). These candidate questionnaires were tested in independent data sets. Twelve individual questions with a Youden index score of ≥0.1 were identified, but 4 of these were excluded due to duplication and redundancy. Weighting for 2 of these questions was included in CONTESTw. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that involvement in 6 joint areas on the manikin was predictive of PsA for inclusion in CONTESTjt. CART analysis identified a further 5 questions for inclusion in CONTESTtree. CONTESTtree was not significant on ROC curve analysis and discarded. The other 3 questionnaires were significant in all data sets, although CONTESTw was slightly inferior to the others in the validation data sets. Potential cut points for referral were also discussed. Of 4 candidate questionnaires combining existing discriminatory items to identify PsA in people with psoriasis, 3 were found to be significant on ROC curve analysis. Testing in independent data sets identified 2 questionnaires (CONTEST and CONTESTjt) that should be pursued for further prospective testing. Copyright © 2014 by the American College of Rheumatology.

Additives in food and their properties

OpenAIRE

TYLOVÁ, Kristýna

2013-01-01

The aim of this work is to deepen the knowledge about additives in foods, the importance of technological additives in foods, their properties and effects on human health. The aim of this work is a study of technical and scientific literature on the topic: "additives in foods and their properties" and review of the literature. Also in the practical part, implementation and evaluation of a questionnaire survey of the experimental group related to the topic: "Validation and comparison of knowle...

Reliability of a patient survey assessing cost-related changes in health care use among high deductible health plan enrollees

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Galbraith Alison A

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Recent increases in patient cost-sharing for health care have lent increasing importance to monitoring cost-related changes in health care use. Despite the widespread use of survey questions to measure changes in health care use and related behaviors, scant data exists on the reliability of such questions. Methods We administered a cross-sectional survey to a stratified random sample of families in a New England health plan's high deductible health plan (HDHP with ≥ $500 in annualized out-of-pocket expenditures. Enrollees were asked about their knowledge of their plan, information seeking, behavior change associated with having a deductible, experience of delay in care due in part to cost, and hypothetical delay in care due in part to cost. Initial respondents were mailed a follow-up survey within two weeks of each family returning the original survey. We computed several agreement statistics to measure the test-retest reliability for select questions. We also conducted continuity adjusted chi-square, and McNemar tests in both the original and follow-up samples to measure the degree to which our results could be reproduced. Analyses were stratified by self-reported income. Results The test-retest reliability was moderate for the majority of questions (0.41 - 0.60 and the level of test-retest reliability did not differ substantially across each of the broader domains of questions. The observed proportions of respondents with delayed or foregone pediatric, adult, or any family care were similar when comparing the original and follow-up surveys. In the original survey, respondents in the lower-income group were more likely to delay or forego pediatric care, adult care, or any family care. All of the tests comparing income groups in the follow-up survey produced the same result as in the original survey. Conclusions In this population of HDHP beneficiaries, we found that survey questions concerning plan knowledge, information

NREL Partnership Survey - FY 2016 Results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2016-09-01

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) conducts an annual partnership satisfaction survey in which we ask our clients to rate NREL in a number of areas. As a national laboratory, the principal areas we focus on include value, timeliness, quality, price, and capabilities. This fact sheet shows the results of a survey with 300 customers responding to 11 questions using ratings that vary from 'strongly agree' to 'strongly disagree.' In FY 16, 100% of the scores improved or were equal to FY 15 numbers.

Improving large class performance and engagement through student-generated question banks.

Science.gov (United States)

Hancock, Dale; Hare, Nicole; Denny, Paul; Denyer, Gareth

2018-03-12

Disciplines such as Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, which involve concepts not included in the high-school curriculum, are very challenging for many first year university students. These subjects are particularly difficult for students accustomed to surface learning strategies involving memorization and recall of facts, as a deeper understanding of the relationship between concepts is needed for successful transfer to related areas and subsequent study. In this article, we explore an activity in a very large first year Molecular Biology course, in which students create multiple-choice questions related to targeted learning outcomes, and then answer and evaluate one another's questions. This activity encompasses elements of both self- and peer-assessment and the generative tasks of creating questions and producing written feedback may contribute to a deeper understanding of the material. We make use of a free online platform to facilitate all aspects of the process and analyze the effect of student engagement with the task on overall course performance. When compared to previous semester's cohorts, we observe a pronounced improvement in class performance on exam questions targeting similar concepts to the student-generated questions. In addition, those students that engage to a greater extent with the activity perform significantly better on the targeted exam questions than those who are less active, yet all students perform similarly on a set of isolated control questions appearing on the same exam. © 2018 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2018. © 2018 The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Examining the Impact of Question Surface Features on Students’ Answers to Constructed-Response Questions on Photosynthesis

Science.gov (United States)

Weston, Michele; Haudek, Kevin C.; Prevost, Luanna; Urban-Lurain, Mark; Merrill, John

2015-01-01

One challenge in science education assessment is that students often focus on surface features of questions rather than the underlying scientific principles. We investigated how student written responses to constructed-response questions about photosynthesis vary based on two surface features of the question: the species of plant and the order of two question prompts. We asked four versions of the question with different combinations of the two plant species and order of prompts in an introductory cell biology course. We found that there was not a significant difference in the content of student responses to versions of the question stem with different species or order of prompts, using both computerized lexical analysis and expert scoring. We conducted 20 face-to-face interviews with students to further probe the effects of question wording on student responses. During the interviews, we found that students thought that the plant species was neither relevant nor confusing when answering the question. Students identified the prompts as both relevant and confusing. However, this confusion was not specific to a single version. PMID:25999312

Melodic Dictation Instruction: A Survey of Advanced Placement Music Theory Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Buonviri, Nathan O.; Paney, Andrew S.

2015-01-01

Based on relevant literature and recent qualitative findings, the purpose of this survey research was to identify pedagogical approaches to melodic dictation employed by Advanced Placement (AP) Music Theory teachers across the United States. The researcher-designed survey questions focused on pitch and rhythm skills, instructional resources,…

Mobile Application Testing in Pakistan: A Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Saqib

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Research regarding MAT (Mobile Application Testing in Pakistan is hard to discover and to the best of our knowledge, no work has been done in surveying MAT in Pakistan. In this work, we have examined the current trend and status of MAT in Pakistan. Main objective was to investigate to what extent MAT is currently applied in Pakistan software companies and what experience the companies have with using MAT. Furthermore, efforts were made to find out what testers think about MAT, e.g. issue, advantages and disadvantages of MAT, what factors affects MAT and how they plan to improve MAT. In order to achieve our objectives, we used a comprehensive online survey so we converted our research questions into correspondence survey questions. We served a questionnaire of the survey to 66 testing relevant officials of leading software companies in different cities of Pakistan to develop a model study about general trend and status of MAT which can be generalized all over Pakistan. We received 56 replies in total after over 2 months. After that, we used SPSS tool to analyze the replies of this questionnaire. Cross-Tabulation Analysis and Pearson Chi-square tests have been computed to examine the results. We found some interesting results on current status and practice of MAT in Pakistan software companies.

Biology Question Generation from a Semantic Network

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Lishan

Science instructors need questions for use in exams, homework assignments, class discussions, reviews, and other instructional activities. Textbooks never have enough questions, so instructors must find them from other sources or generate their own questions. In order to supply instructors with biology questions, a semantic network approach was developed for generating open response biology questions. The generated questions were compared to professional authorized questions. To boost students' learning experience, adaptive selection was built on the generated questions. Bayesian Knowledge Tracing was used as embedded assessment of the student's current competence so that a suitable question could be selected based on the student's previous performance. A between-subjects experiment with 42 participants was performed, where half of the participants studied with adaptive selected questions and the rest studied with mal-adaptive order of questions. Both groups significantly improved their test scores, and the participants in adaptive group registered larger learning gains than participants in the control group. To explore the possibility of generating rich instructional feedback for machine-generated questions, a question-paragraph mapping task was identified. Given a set of questions and a list of paragraphs for a textbook, the goal of the task was to map the related paragraphs to each question. An algorithm was developed whose performance was comparable to human annotators. A multiple-choice question with high quality distractors (incorrect answers) can be pedagogically valuable as well as being much easier to grade than open-response questions. Thus, an algorithm was developed to generate good distractors for multiple-choice questions. The machine-generated multiple-choice questions were compared to human-generated questions in terms of three measures: question difficulty, question discrimination and distractor usefulness. By recruiting 200 participants from

Conducting Surveys and Data Collection: From Traditional to Mobile and SMS-based Surveys

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iftikhar Alam

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Fresh, bias-free and valid data collected using different survey modes is considered an essential requirement for smooth functioning and evolution of an organization. Surveys play a major role in making in-time correct decisions and generating reports. The aim of this study is to compare and investigate state-of-the-art in different survey modes including print, email, online, mobile and SMS-based surveys. Results indicated that existing methods are neither complete nor sufficient to fulfil the overall requirements of an organization which primarily rely on surveys. Also, it shows that SMS is a dominant method for data collection due to its pervasiveness. However, existing SMS-based data collection has limitations like limited number of characters per SMS, single question per SMS and lake of multimedia support. Recent trends in data collection emphasis on data collection applications for smart phones. However, in developing countries low-end mobile devices are still extensively used which makes the data collection difficult from man in the street. The paper conclude that existing survey modes and methods should be improved to get maximum responses quickly in low cost manner. The study has contributed to the area of surveying and data collection by analysing different factors such as cost, time and response rate. The results of this study can help practitioners in creating a more successful surveying method for data collection that can be effectively used for low budget projects in developed as well as developing countries.

Questions for Music Education Research

Science.gov (United States)

Jorgensen, Estelle R.

2008-01-01

In addressing the question-set "What questions do music education researchers need to address?", an illustrative list of juxtaposed descriptive and normative questions is sketched as follows: What are and should be the dimensions of music education? What are and should be the institutional agencies of music education? What are and should be the…

Implementation of a Computerized Tablet-Survey in an Adolescent Large-Scale, School-Based Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Delk, Joanne; Harrell, Melissa B; Fakhouri, Tala H I; Muir, Katelyn A; Perry, Cheryl L

2017-07-01

Computerized surveys present many advantages over paper surveys. However, school-based adolescent research questionnaires still mainly rely on paper-and-pencil surveys as access to computers in schools is often not practical. Tablet-assisted self-interviews (TASI) present a possible solution, but their use is largely untested. This paper presents a method for and our experiences with implementing a TASI in a school setting. A TASI was administered to 3907 middle and high school students from 79 schools. The survey assessed use of tobacco products and exposure to tobacco marketing. To assess in-depth tobacco use behaviors, the TASI employed extensive skip patterns to reduce the number of not-applicable questions that nontobacco users received. Pictures were added to help respondents identify the tobacco products they were being queried about. Students were receptive to the tablets and required no instructions in their use. None were lost, stolen, or broken. Item nonresponse, unanswered questions, was a pre-administration concern; however, 92% of participants answered 96% or more of the questions. This method was feasible and successful among a diverse population of students and schools. It generated a unique dataset of in-depth tobacco use behaviors that would not have been possible through a paper-and-pencil survey. © 2017, American School Health Association.

[Return to Work and Stay at Work - The Question of Successful Operational Integration Management].

Science.gov (United States)

Ohlbrecht, Heike; Detka, Carsten; Kuczyk, Susanne; Lange, Bianca

2018-06-01

The study focuses on the question of how the design of operational integration management (OIM) can be optimized, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and how previous experience with operational integration management can be used to develop preventive measures to ensure employability. The study follows a multi-perspective qualitative research design. It focused on the survey of 40 retrospective interviews with employees who have undergone different variants of the OIM. In addition, company and inter-company actors were examined through expert surveys. The evaluation of the interviews followed the heuristics of case reconstruction and the research strategy of Grounded Theory. Various influencing factors for the design of a operational integration management can be identified - the biographically anchored attitudes of employers and employees, the corporate culture as well as (company-specific) structural factors - which can become successful conditions and inhibitors of OIM processes in SMEs. Dilemmas that can hinder OIM processes are also evident. OIM processes can also have effects that go beyond the OIM objectives in a narrower sense. The reintegration and retention of the employability of employees can be successful above all if there is a trust-based corporate culture of mindfulness, appreciation and openness. This depends in particular on the attitudes of all those involved. But even in such a corporate culture, dilemmas and conflict potential have an influence on the success of the OIM process. Each company also needs internal and/or external actors with sufficient knowledge and skills to carry out an OIM. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Inflammatory bowel disease and exercise: results of a Crohn's and Colitis UK survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, D; Robbins, H; Rogers, S; Clark, S; Poullis, A

2014-01-01

Over 250 000 people in the UK are affected with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and approximately 10 000 new cases are diagnosed every year. These chronic bowel conditions have been shown to affect both work and recreational activity. In the general population, regular exercise has numerous benefits to health and well-being and there are additional benefits for those with IBD. However, people with IBD face significant challenges in trying to take regular exercise. With the renewed focus on sport brought about by the recent London Olympics, Crohn's and Colitis UK surveyed its members to explore their sport and fitness habits. 918 members participated in the survey, which is the largest survey of its kind, investigating the exercise habits of people with IBD. The survey showed widespread uptake of exercise in those with IBD, with a large number feeling better for it. However, it also identified a considerable number of respondents who reported a significant negative impact of IBD on their ability to take up, enjoy and derive benefit from sporting activities. Asking questions about sporting leisure activity in clinical consultations may identify those in need of help and support and possibly identify factors to be dealt with, in order to enable them to take part in these beneficial activities.

City College of San Francisco 1997 Sexual Harassment Student Opinion Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

City Coll. of San Francisco, CA. Office of Institutional Research, Planning and Grants.

This document describes the findings of a 1997 sexual harassment student opinion survey conducted at City College of San Francisco. Survey questions were jointly developed by the Sexual Harassment Prevention Sub-Committee of the Diversity Advisory Committee and the Office of Research and Planning, approved by the College Advisory Council, and…

Contingent valuation method applied to survey on personal preferences on choice of electric power source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takahashi, Reiko; Nakagome, Yoshihiro

2004-01-01

A Survey was conducted on personal preferences regarding their choice of electric power source to verify the applicability of Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) to such analysis. The survey was carried out on local and urban inhabitants in two steps, first by mail and thereafter by direct interview. A choice of four typical forms of power source was presented: nuclear, coal, hydro and green power; and the question was asked whether the respondent would be willing to pay additional charge for specifying their preferable power source. The mail survey indicated more than half of the respondents hold some willingness to pay either for disuse of nuclear power or expansion of green power. The interview survey revealed various complex motives lying behind their answers. Consequently, it was found that their preference is significantly correlated to their personal image or knowledge of power sources, their thinking or attitude toward energy conservation, their sense of consumption and their private view of life. It is concluded that CVM is pertinently applicable to quantitative analysis of individual opinions, particularly in terms of their motivation to participate in national energy issues. A number of modifications, however, should be required to be brought to the survey design in order to ensure smooth application in practice. (author)

Results of the 2014–2015 Canadian Society of Nephrology Workforce Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David R. Ward

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Background: Nephrology was previously identified as a subspecialty with few Canadian employment opportunities, and in recent years, fewer trainees are choosing nephrology. Objective: The objective of this study is to better understand the current Canadian adult nephrology workforce and the expected workforce trends over the next 5 years. Design: This is an online self-administered survey. Setting: This study is set in Canada. Survey participants: Survey participants are Canadian adult nephrologists, including self-identified division heads. Measurements: The measurements of this study are demographics, training, current practice characteristics, work hours, and projected workforce needs. Methods: Survey questions were based on previous workforce surveys. Ethics approval was obtained through the University of Saskatchewan. The survey was piloted in both English and French and modified based on the feedback to ensure that responses accurately reflected the information desired. It was circulated to all identified Canadian nephrologists via an anonymous e-mail link for self-administration. Categorical data was aggregated, and free-text answers were thematically analyzed. Additional descriptive analysis was conducted by all authors. Results: Five hundred ninety-two Canadian nephrologists were contacted and 48 % responded, with representation from all Canadian provinces. One third of the respondents were female, and the largest age cohort was 41–50 years. Most nephrologists are trained in Canada and 61 % completed additional training. The majority of the respondents (69.1 % began working as a nephrologist immediately upon completion of fellowship training. Younger nephrologists reported more challenges in finding a job. Eighty percent of responding nephrologists were satisfied with their current work hours, 13.1 % will reduce work hours within 3 years, an additional 8.2 % will reduce work hours within 5 years, and a further 14.2 % will reduce work

Repetitive Questioning Exasperates Caregivers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. C. Hamdy MD

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Repetitive questioning is due to an impaired episodic memory and is a frequent, often presenting, problem in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (amnestic type. It is due to the patients’ difficulties learning new information, retaining it, and recalling it, and is often aggravated by a poor attention span and easy distractibility. A number of factors may trigger and maintain repetitive questioning. Caregivers should try to identify and address these triggers. In the case discussion presented, it is due to the patient’s concerns about her and her family’s safety triggered by watching a particularly violent movie aired on TV. What went wrong in the patient/caregiver interaction and how it could have been avoided or averted are explored. Also reviewed are the impact of repetitive questioning, the challenges it raises for caregivers, and some effective intervention strategies that may be useful to diffuse the angst that caregivers experience with repetitive questioning.

Anonymity In Survey Courses as Tool for More Diverse Engagement

Science.gov (United States)

Samson, P. J.

2017-12-01

It is not uncommon that students in introductory survey courses are reluctant to participate in verbal inquiry. In a survey submitted to students of CLIMATE 102, Extreme Weather, over the past four semesters about 45% of male students professed comfort in asking verbal questions in a large lecture hall but less than 25% of females and only 15% of students for whom English is not their first language. Hence, large lecture hall courses may be inadvertently dissuading the inclusion of many of the students we wish to encourage to participate in our discipline. To combat this a system was used in CLIMATE 102 wherein students could pose questions digitally and anonymously. These questions could be seen by all and answered by all. The instructor and/or teaching assistant can also participate and answer or offer corrections to others' answers. The use of this system had three important outcomes: The number of questions posed during class time rose dramatically from previous semesters when only verbal questions were entertained. The number of questions in CLIMATE 102 with this system generally exceeded 500 per semester where the number of students 200. The number of per-capita questions from female students exceeded the male students, thus differences in gender inquiry was eliminated. The number of per-capita questions from students whose first language was not English equaled the native English-speaking students. While it is the goal of higher education to encourage students to participate verbally in class discussions it is important to provide a "safe" environment in the first year(s) as many students are initially uncomfortable participating verbally in class. We hypothesize, but have not researched, that through this process students have the opportunity to see that their questions are as valid as others' in the class and will subsequently gain the confidence to participate verbally.

Social, psychological and demographic reflections on the Austrian nuclear power question

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bretschneider, R.

1980-01-01

The political history of an Austrian referendum in 1978, which led to abandonment of a nuclear power station, is reviewed, and an attempt is made to analyse the reasons for the 'No' vote. Surveys are presented which attempt to classify the yes, no and undecided voters in terms of political views. The effects of the Harrisburg accident on Austrian public opinion is examined and the possibility of accentuated differences between 'for' and 'against' groups is stated. It is noted that success in energy saving may reduce the significance of the atomic energy question. (G.M.E.)

Regulatory and licensee surveys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-01-01

Prior to the workshop two CSNI/WGHOF surveys were distributed. One survey was directed at regulatory bodies and the other was directed at plant licensees. The surveys were: 1 - Regulatory Expectations of Licensees' Arrangements to Ensure Suitable Organisational Structure, Resources and Competencies to Manage Safety (sent to WGHOF regulatory members). The survey requested that the respondents provide a brief overview of the situation related to plant organisations in their country, their regulatory expectations and their formal requirements. The survey addressed three subjects: the demonstration and documentation of organisational structures, resources and competencies, organisational changes, issues for improvement (for both current and new plants). Responses were received from eleven regulatory bodies. 2 - Approaches to Justify Organisational Suitability (sent to selected licensees). The purpose of the survey to was to gain an understanding of how licensees ensure organisational suitability, resources and competencies. This information was used to assist in the development of the issues and subjects that were addressed at the group discussion sessions. Responses were received from over fifteen licensees from nine countries. The survey requested that the licensees provide information on how they ensure effective organisational structures at their plants. The survey grouped the questions into the following four categories: organisational safety functions, resource and competence, decision-making and communication, good examples and improvement needs. The findings from these surveys were used in conjunction with other factors to identify the key issues for the workshop discussion sessions. The responses from these two surveys are discussed briefly in Sections 4 and 5 of this report. More extensive reviews of the regulatory and licensee responses are provided in Appendix 1

Pragmatic meaning in court interpreting: An empirical study of additions in consecutively interpreted question-answer dialogues

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jacobsen, Bente

Focusing on additions, my PhD thesis aims to demonstrate that, contrary to the expectation of most legal systems, court interpreters do not function as mere translating devices, but participate actively in the process of negotiating meaning in the courtroom.......Focusing on additions, my PhD thesis aims to demonstrate that, contrary to the expectation of most legal systems, court interpreters do not function as mere translating devices, but participate actively in the process of negotiating meaning in the courtroom....

DSM-5 field survey

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lochner, Christine; Grant, Jon E; Odlaug, Brian Lawrence

2012-01-01

The aim of this multisite field survey was to examine the DSM-IV-TR criteria, proposed DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, as well as a number of possible additional diagnostic criteria, in patients with hair-pulling disorder (HPD, or trichotillomania).......The aim of this multisite field survey was to examine the DSM-IV-TR criteria, proposed DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, as well as a number of possible additional diagnostic criteria, in patients with hair-pulling disorder (HPD, or trichotillomania)....

Pittsburgh American Community Survey Data 2015 - Household Types

Data.gov (United States)

Allegheny County / City of Pittsburgh / Western PA Regional Data Center — The data on relationship to householder were derived from answers to Question 2 in the 2015 American Community Survey (ACS), which was asked of all people in...

Results of the 2014-2015 Canadian Society of Nephrology workforce survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Ward, David R; Manns, Braden; Gil, Sarah; Au, Flora; Kappel, Joanne E

2016-01-01

Nephrology was previously identified as a subspecialty with few Canadian employment opportunities, and in recent years, fewer trainees are choosing nephrology. The objective of this study is to better understand the current Canadian adult nephrology workforce and the expected workforce trends over the next 5 years. This is an online self-administered survey. This study is set in Canada. Survey participants are Canadian adult nephrologists, including self-identified division heads. The measurements of this study are demographics, training, current practice characteristics, work hours, and projected workforce needs. Survey questions were based on previous workforce surveys. Ethics approval was obtained through the University of Saskatchewan. The survey was piloted in both English and French and modified based on the feedback to ensure that responses accurately reflected the information desired. It was circulated to all identified Canadian nephrologists via an anonymous e-mail link for self-administration. Categorical data was aggregated, and free-text answers were thematically analyzed. Additional descriptive analysis was conducted by all authors. Five hundred ninety-two Canadian nephrologists were contacted and 48 % responded, with representation from all Canadian provinces. One third of the respondents were female, and the largest age cohort was 41-50 years. Most nephrologists are trained in Canada and 61 % completed additional training. The majority of the respondents (69.1 %) began working as a nephrologist immediately upon completion of fellowship training. Younger nephrologists reported more challenges in finding a job. Eighty percent of responding nephrologists were satisfied with their current work hours, 13.1 % will reduce work hours within 3 years, an additional 8.2 % will reduce work hours within 5 years, and a further 14.2 % will reduce work hours within 10 years. Nephrology division heads forecasted the number of clinical and academic

Occupational Therapy in the Context of Head Start: A Preliminary Survey Study

Science.gov (United States)

Bowyer, Patricia; Moore, Cary C.; Thom, Carly

2016-01-01

This preliminary, descriptive study yields information on the utilization of occupational therapy services within Head Start programs. Participants completed an Internet-based survey of 25 questions pertaining to the understanding, scope, and utilization of occupational therapy services. Surveys were completed by 35 respondents nationwide. A total…

To lead or to manage? That is a question the review of leadership theories

OpenAIRE

Lipińska-Grobelny, Agnieszka

2005-01-01

One of the major domain of empirical and theoretical interest in psychology of organisation and management is a leadership. Long ago professionals and scientists have been searching for universal prescription for an effective management. The inventor for sure will become one of the richest people in the world. Instantly, the question arises if such a universal prescription really exists? This article presents the survey of leadership theories as an important aspect of a managem...

Community Survey Q5: Public safety - Police services

Data.gov (United States)

Town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina — This question is from the 2015 Chapel Hill Community Survey.Using a scale of 1 to 5 where 5 means “Very Satisfied” and 1 means “Very Dissatisfied,” residents were...

The Value Question in Metaphysics

Science.gov (United States)

Kahane, Guy

2012-01-01

Much seems to be at stake in metaphysical questions about, for example, God, free will or morality. One thing that could be at stake is the value of the universe we inhabit—how good or bad it is. We can think of competing philosophical positions as describing possibilities, ways the world might turn out to be, and to which value can be assigned. When, for example, people hope that God exists, or fear that we do not possess free will, they express attitudes towards these possibilities, attitudes that presuppose answers to questions about their comparative value. My aim in this paper is to distinguish these evaluative questions from related questions with which they can be confused, to identify structural constraints on their proper pursuit, and to address objections to their very coherence. Answers to such evaluative questions offer one measure of the importance of philosophical disputes. PMID:23024399

The Value Question in Metaphysics.

Science.gov (United States)

Kahane, Guy

2012-07-01

Much seems to be at stake in metaphysical questions about, for example, God, free will or morality. One thing that could be at stake is the value of the universe we inhabit-how good or bad it is. We can think of competing philosophical positions as describing possibilities, ways the world might turn out to be, and to which value can be assigned. When, for example, people hope that God exists, or fear that we do not possess free will, they express attitudes towards these possibilities, attitudes that presuppose answers to questions about their comparative value. My aim in this paper is to distinguish these evaluative questions from related questions with which they can be confused, to identify structural constraints on their proper pursuit, and to address objections to their very coherence. Answers to such evaluative questions offer one measure of the importance of philosophical disputes.

IT Department User Survey Engineering Tools Usage Report

CERN Document Server

Jones, Pete

2017-01-01

Engineering tools are supports by the IT-CDA-AD section and these include Electronic, Mechanical, Mathematical and Field Solver tools. The survey carried out by IT-CDA during 2016 asked CERN users questions concerning their working environments, habits and preferences and also included several question pertaining to the use of engineering tools. This analysis will help IT-CDA to better understand who is using these tools, the user requirements and their problems and so help us to improve the service.

Legal Philosophy - Five Questions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

This collection gathers together a host of the most eminent contemporary legal philosophers, who writes about their take on legal philosophy, its fundamental questions and potential.......This collection gathers together a host of the most eminent contemporary legal philosophers, who writes about their take on legal philosophy, its fundamental questions and potential....

Engaging nurse aide students to develop a survey to improve enrollment and retention in college.

Science.gov (United States)

Boyd, Jamie Kamailani; Hernandez, Jesika Y; Braun, Kathryn L

2011-01-01

Students from lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds have historically experienced high rates of college dropout. Surveys often are used to assess supports and barriers (SB) to college enrollment and completion, and findings drive the design of interventions to improve student recruitment and retention. However, standard surveys may not include questions that solicit the breadth of issues facing low-income minority individuals. We used community-based participatory research (CBPR) principles to develop an SB survey to better reflect the concerns of rural, first-generation college students in Hawai'i. An advisory panel (AP) of students and community partners guided the work. The literature informed the first draft of the SB survey. Then we worked with students who had successfully completed a vocational Nurse Aide (NA) Training Program (NATP) course to refine four versions of the SB survey through multiple cycles of online survey review and focus groups. The final product included questions in new areas and differently phrased questions in standard areas (e.g., transportation, dependent care, housing, financial aid) to better capture reasons for students dropping out. The survey has proven useful as a student assessment tool, and findings are being used by instructors, counselors, and community partners to add resources and modify programs to increase student success in community college. Findings confirm the usefulness of engaging target partners in tool development. An enhanced understanding of SB of students from underrepresented groups will help to improve college recruitment and retention interventions.

Thousand Questions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2012-01-01

(perhaps as an expanded Turing test) on its listeners. These questions are extracted in real-time from Twitter with the keyword search of the ‘?’ symbol to create a spatio-temporal experience. The computerized voice the audience hears is a collective one, an entanglement of humans and non-humans......In this work the network asks “If I wrote you a love letter would you write back?” Like the love letters which appeared mysteriously on the noticeboards of Manchester University’s Computer Department in the 1950s, thousands of texts circulate as computational processes perform the questions......, that circulates across networks. If I wrote you a love letter would you write back? (and thousands of other questions’ ) (封不回的情書？千言萬語無人回 was commissioned by the Microwave International New Media Festival 2012....

78 FR 12271 - Wireline Competition Bureau Seeks Additional Comment In Connect America Cost Model Virtual Workshop

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-22

... Competition Bureau seeks public input on additional questions relating to modeling voice capability and Annual... the model. 4. The Bureau now seeks public input on additional questions relating to modeling voice... with fewer than 25 employees, pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, Public Law...

Wide-Field Astronomical Surveys in the Next Decade

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Strauss, Michael A.; /Princeton U.; Tyson, J.Anthony; /UC, Davis; Anderson, Scott F.; /Washington U., Seattle, Astron. Dept.; Axelrod, T.S.; /LSST Corp.; Becker, Andrew C.; /Washington U., Seattle, Astron. Dept.; Bickerton, Steven J.; /Princeton U.; Blanton, Michael R.; /New York U.; Burke, David L.; /SLAC; Condon, J.J.; /NRAO, Socorro; Connolly, A.J.; /Washington U., Seattle, Astron. Dept.; Cooray, Asantha R.; /UC, Irvine; Covey, Kevin R.; /Harvard U.; Csabai, Istvan; /Eotvos U.; Ferguson, Henry C.; /Baltimore, Space Telescope Sci.; Ivezic, Zeljko; /Washington U., Seattle, Astron. Dept.; Kantor, Jeffrey; /LSST Corp.; Kent, Stephen M.; /Fermilab; Knapp, G.R.; /Princeton U.; Myers, Steven T.; /NRAO, Socorro; Neilsen, Eric H., Jr.; /Fermilab; Nichol, Robert C.; /Portsmouth U., ICG /Harish-Chandra Res. Inst. /Caltech, IPAC /Potsdam, Max Planck Inst. /Harvard U. /Hawaii U. /UC, Berkeley, Astron. Dept. /Baltimore, Space Telescope Sci. /NOAO, Tucson /Carnegie Mellon U. /Chicago U., Astron. Astrophys. Ctr.

2011-11-14

Wide-angle surveys have been an engine for new discoveries throughout the modern history of astronomy, and have been among the most highly cited and scientifically productive observing facilities in recent years. This trend is likely to continue over the next decade, as many of the most important questions in astrophysics are best tackled with massive surveys, often in synergy with each other and in tandem with the more traditional observatories. We argue that these surveys are most productive and have the greatest impact when the data from the surveys are made public in a timely manner. The rise of the 'survey astronomer' is a substantial change in the demographics of our field; one of the most important challenges of the next decade is to find ways to recognize the intellectual contributions of those who work on the infrastructure of surveys (hardware, software, survey planning and operations, and databases/data distribution), and to make career paths to allow them to thrive.

The surveys to the companies: A tool for the improvement of degrees

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Montserrat Cruells Cadevall

2017-03-01

Full Text Available In scientific and technical degrees, the opinion of the final employers on the given subjects is really important. For this reason, the Quality Committee (CQ of the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Barcelona prepared a survey for chemical, engineering and pharmaceutical companies asking about the academic training required by the companies. The survey consists of nine sections including items related to laboratory operations, chemical processes, calculation methods, management systems (quality, environment and safety or general management information. In addition, at the end of each section, a question inquires the companies about the competences shown by students in the items of the section. The results were compared with that of a similar survey carried out in 2007. The scores obtained, between 2 and 3, for all the items (score: 1, not important; 2, unimportant; 3, important; 4, very important, show that companies accept the training given to our students and the competences achieved by them. However, according to their opinion, it is possible to improve this training, especially in the subjects related to management (time, information, environment, quality, safety, etc.. Therefore, surveys are a good tool for the evaluation of the training achieved in our degrees and, consequently, for improving degrees and the teaching task, according the Quality Management System implemented in the Faculty of Chemistry.

Septic tank additive impacts on microbial populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Pradhan, S; Hoover, M T; Clark, G H; Gumpertz, M; Wollum, A G; Cobb, C; Strock, J

2008-01-01

Environmental health specialists, other onsite wastewater professionals, scientists, and homeowners have questioned the effectiveness of septic tank additives. This paper describes an independent, third-party, field scale, research study of the effects of three liquid bacterial septic tank additives and a control (no additive) on septic tank microbial populations. Microbial populations were measured quarterly in a field study for 12 months in 48 full-size, functioning septic tanks. Bacterial populations in the 48 septic tanks were statistically analyzed with a mixed linear model. Additive effects were assessed for three septic tank maintenance levels (low, intermediate, and high). Dunnett's t-test for tank bacteria (alpha = .05) indicated that none of the treatments were significantly different, overall, from the control at the statistical level tested. In addition, the additives had no significant effects on septic tank bacterial populations at any of the septic tank maintenance levels. Additional controlled, field-based research iswarranted, however, to address additional additives and experimental conditions.

Practical Usage of Multiple-Choice Questions as Part of Learning and Self-Evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paula Kangasniemi

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The poster describes how the multiple-choice questions could be a part of learning, not only assessing. We often think of the role of questions only in order to test the student's skills. We have tested how questions could be a part of learning in our web-based course of information retrieval in Lapland University. In web-based learning there is a need for high-quality mediators. Mediators are learning promoters which trigger, support, and amplify learning. Mediators can be human mediators or tool mediators. The tool mediators are for example; tests, tutorials, guides and diaries. The multiple-choice questions can also be learning promoters which select, interpret and amplify objects for learning. What do you have to take into account when you are preparing multiple-choice questions as mediators? First you have to prioritize teaching objectives: what must be known and what should be known. According to our experience with contact learning, you can assess what the things are that students have problems with and need more guidance on. The most important addition to the questions is feedback during practice. The questions’ answers (wrong or right are not important. The feedback on the answers are important to guide students on how to search. The questions promote students’ self-regulation and self-evaluation. Feedback can be verbal, a screenshot or a video. We have added a verbal feedback for every question and also some screenshots and eight videos in our web-based course.

Legacy question

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Healy, J.W.

1977-01-01

The legacy question discussed refers to the definition of appropriate actions in this generation to provide a world that will allow future generations to use the earth without excessive limitations caused by our use and disposal of potentially hazardous materials

An Online National Archive of Multiple-Choice Questions for Astro 101 and the Development of the Question Complexity Rubric

Science.gov (United States)

Cormier, S.; Prather, E.; Brissenden, G.

2011-09-01

We are developing a national archive of multiple-choice questions for use in the Astronomy 101 classroom. These questions are intended to supplement an instructor's implementation of Think-Pair-Share or for their assessment purposes (i.e., exams and homework). We are also developing the Question Complexity Rubric (QCR) to guide members of the Astro 101 teaching and learning community in assisting us with hierarchically ranking questions in this archive based on their conceptual complexity. Using the QCR, a score is assigned to differentiate each question based on the cognitive steps necessary to comprehensively explain the reasoning pathway to the correct answer. The lowest QCR score is given to questions with a reasoning pathway requiring only declarative knowledge. The highest QCR score is given to questions with a reasoning pathway that requires multiple connected cognitive steps. When completed, the online question archive will provide users with the utility to 1) use the QCR to score questions 2) search for and download questions based on topic and/or QCR score, and 3) add their own questions to the archive. Stop by our poster to test your skills at determining question complexity by trying out the QCR with our sample questions.

Colostomy Irrigation: Issues Most Important to Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Tallman, Nancy J; Cobb, Martha D; Grant, Marcia; Wendel, Christopher S; Colwell, Janice; Ercolano, Elizabeth; Krouse, Robert

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to describe issues that WOC nurses find most important related to colostomy irrigation (CI). This is an additional analysis of a study focusing on qualitative responses to a survey querying WOC nurses about CI practices. The target population was members of the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society. Of the 985 nurses who responded to the survey, 338 (34.3%) answered the optional open-ended question asking for additional comments. A 1-time online survey was conducted. In addition to demographic, educational information, and forced-choice questions about CI, an open-ended question asked for any additional comments about their experience with irrigation and WOC practice. Content analysis was used to identify common themes identified by WOC nurses. Three hundred thirty-eight out of 985 WOC nurses (34.3%) answered the optional open-ended question asking for additional comments; analysis for this study is based on these responses. WOC nurses who responded to the open-ended question had similar characteristics to those who responded to the entire survey but were significantly more experienced (15.1 vs 11.0 years; P irrigation techniques are recommended.

Difficult Questions of Difficult Questions: The Role of The Researcher and Transcription Styles

Science.gov (United States)

Henderson, Holly

2018-01-01

This paper refracts a comparison of three distinct transcription styles through questions of researcher reflexivity. It uses the data from a single question asked by the researcher in multiple interviews for a small empirical project. These data are transcribed in three ways, and the resulting transcripts are discussed in relation to the analysis…

Knowledge of binge eating disorder: a cross-sectional survey of physicians in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Supina, Dylan; Herman, Barry K; Frye, Carla B; Shillington, Alicia C

2016-01-01

Binge eating disorder (BED)--now a designated disorder in the DSM-5--is the most prevalent eating disorder (ED), affecting 2-3% of the US population. This survey of US physicians assesses how BED is diagnosed, treated and referred. Internists, family practitioners, obstetrics/gynecologist (OB/GYNs) and psychiatrists were randomly selected from a nationally-representative panel. Participants completed an online survey and reviewed case vignettes consistent with DSM-5-defined BED, then answered questions to elicit whether they would assess for psychiatric conditions including EDs. Those reporting they would screen and who correctly identified BED in vignettes received additional questions about BED diagnosis, treatment, and referral patterns. Of 278 physicians surveyed, 96% were board-certified and 87% had practiced >10 years. 23% were psychiatrists, 27% family practitioners, 31% internists and 19% OB/GYNs. 92% were 'somewhat likely' to screen for ED after reviewing DSM-5-consistent vignettes. 206 (74%) correctly identified BED. Of these, 33% and 68% reported they proactively screen eating habits for all patients and obese patients, respectively. 10% reported not screening eating habits even in the presence of ED symptoms. Fewer than half reported using DSM criteria in Diagnosing BED, and 56 (27%) did not recognize BED to be a discreet ED. Although ED awareness is improving, understanding BED as a distinct ED is lacking, which may result in low rates of screening and diagnosis. This study illustrates how taking a complete patient history (including probing BED characteristics) may be an effective first-line strategy for clinicians to facilitate optimal care for these patients.

Factors influencing perception of radiation risk in people around Chernobyl. Survey in Ukraine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shibata, Yoshisada

2010-01-01

To elucidate the factors influencing perception of radiation risk in people around Chernobyl, we conducted a survey in Ukraine using self-administered questionnaire consisting of 37 questions including 5 questions about radiation contamination of their living places and foodstuffs, and 9 questions about radiation and risk. The subjects were high school or university students and their parents living in Zhytomyr, Rivne, Kirovograd and Odesa regions, and Slavutych city. In each of these 5 survey areas, we distributed 330 questionnaires to students and their parents, respectively. A total of 1,536 students (93%) responded to the questionnaire, while in parents only 861 (52%) responded. In students, a significant difference by place of residence was observed in the frequency of those regarding radiation accident or radon in dwellings being highly dangerous. (author)

IRRITABLE MOOD IN ADULT MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER: RESULTS FROM THE WORLD MENTAL HEALTH SURVEYS

Science.gov (United States)

Kovess-Masfety, Viviane; Alonso, Jordi; Angermeyer, Matthias; Bromet, Evelyn; de Girolamo, Giovanni; de Jonge, Peter; Demyttenaere, Koen; Florescu, Silvia E.; Gruber, Michael J.; Gureje, Oye; Hu, Chiyi; Huang, Yueqin; Karam, Elie G.; Jin, Robert; Lépine, Jean-Pierre; Levinson, Daphna; McLaughlin, Katie A.; Medina-Mora, María E.; O’Neill, Siobhan; Ono, Yutaka; Posada-Villa, José A.; Sampson, Nancy A.; Scott, Kate M.; Shahly, Victoria; Stein, Dan J.; Viana, Maria C.; Zarkov, Zahari; Kessler, Ronald C.

2014-01-01

Background Although irritability is a core symptom of DSM-IV major depressive disorder (MDD) for youth but not adults, clinical studies find comparable rates of irritability between nonbipolar depressed adults and youth. Including irritability as a core symptom of adult MDD would allow detection of depression-equivalent syndromes with primary irritability hypothesized to be more common among males than females. We carried out a preliminary examination of this issue using cross-national community-based survey data from 21 countries in the World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys (n = 110,729). Methods The assessment of MDD in the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview includes one question about persistent irritability. We examined two expansions of the definition of MDD involving this question: (1) cases with dysphoria and/or anhedonia and exactly four of nine Criterion A symptoms plus irritability; and (2) cases with two or more weeks of irritability plus four or more other Criterion A MDD symptoms in the absence of dysphoria or anhedonia. Results Adding irritability as a tenth Criterion A symptom increased lifetime prevalence by 0.4% (from 11.2 to 11.6%). Adding episodes of persistent irritability increased prevalence by an additional 0.2%. Proportional prevalence increases were significantly higher, but nonetheless small, among males compared to females. Rates of severe role impairment were significantly lower among respondents with this irritable depression who did not meet conventional DSM-IV criteria than those with DSM-IV MDD. Conclusion Although limited by the superficial assessment in this single question on irritability, results do not support expanding adult MDD criteria to include irritable mood. PMID:23364997

GPS satellite surveying

CERN Document Server

Leick, Alfred; Tatarnikov, Dmitry

2015-01-01

THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE, UP-TO-DATE GUIDE ON GPS TECHNOLOGY FOR SURVEYING Three previous editions have established GPS Satellite Surveying as the definitive industry reference. Now fully updated and expanded to reflect the newest developments in the field, this Fourth Edition features cutting-edge information on GNSS antennas, precise point positioning, real-time relative positioning, lattice reduction, and much more. Expert authors examine additional tools and applications, offering complete coverage of geodetic surveying using satellite technologies. The past decade has seen a major evolut

Let's talk nuclear energy in 30 questions; Parlons nucleaire en 30 questions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reuss, Paul

2012-01-11

The Fukushima catastrophe of March 11, 2011 has called into question the share of nuclear energy in France and in foreign countries. Its replacement by renewable energy sources and the safety of nuclear power plants are in the center of today's debates. But what is the reality behind the mass of contradictory information that exists on this complex topic? This book moves the question out of the media noise and supplies objective and factual information with reliable figures about the nuclear industry by answering 30 key-questions. (J.S.)

Question, answer, compare: a cross-category comparison of answers on question and answer websites

Science.gov (United States)

Ocepek, Melissa G.; Westbrook, Lynn

2015-10-01

Online information seekers make heavy use of websites that accept their natural language questions. This study compared the three types of such websites: social question and answer (Q&A), digital reference services, and ask-an-expert services. Questions reflecting daily life, research, and crisis situations were posed to high use websites of all three types. The resulting answers' characteristics were analyzed in terms of speed, transparency, formality, and intimacy. The results indicate that social Q&A websites excel in speed, ask-an-expert websites in intimacy, and digital reference services in transparency and formality.

Findings from the 2013 NZCER Primary and Intermediate Schools National Survey

Science.gov (United States)

New Zealand Council for Educational Research, 2014

2014-01-01

The New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) primary and intermediate schools national survey was carried out in July-August 2013. NZCER questioned principals, teachers and trustees at a representative sample of schools, and sought the views of a random sample of 1 in 4 parents in 36 of these schools. In all, the survey gathered data…

Examining the Impact of Question Surface Features on Students' Answers to Constructed-Response Questions on Photosynthesis

Science.gov (United States)

Weston, Michele; Haudek, Kevin C.; Prevost, Luanna; Urban-Lurain, Mark; Merrill, John

2015-01-01

One challenge in science education assessment is that students often focus on surface features of questions rather than the underlying scientific principles. We investigated how student written responses to constructed-response questions about photosynthesis vary based on two surface features of the question: the species of plant and the order of…

Generic Drugs: Questions and Answers

Science.gov (United States)

... Vaccines, Blood & Biologics Animal & Veterinary Cosmetics Tobacco Products Drugs Home Drugs Resources for You Information for Consumers (Drugs) Questions & Answers Generic Drugs: Questions & Answers Share Tweet Linkedin Pin it More ...

Analysis of consumer preferences focused on food additives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dagmar Kozelová

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper is aimed to evaluate the role of additives in food production and to identify how these additives are known and used by consumers in their households. The questionnaire technique was used, the research involved 220 respondents. It was found that the respondents are perceptive to adding of additives into food. Cluster analysis confirmed that the majority of respondents is about the incidence of food additives only partially informed, although 87% of respondents knew what the (E letter of additive means. The correct answers for each question depended on the age and education of respondents and were not dependent on gender of respondents. We recommend to enhance public knowledge about nutrition, diet and food composition, functions, benefits and safety of food additives.

U.S. Naval Unit Behavioral Health Needs Assessment Survey, Overview of Survey Items and Measures

Science.gov (United States)

2014-05-20

all Soldiers. The BHNAS and MHAT surveys have yielded valuable information regarding the effects of combat and deployment on service members...and Barriers to Care • Amount of Sleep and Sleep Deficit • Sleep Difficulties • Military Specialty • Positive Effects of Assignment • Contribution...nonopioid prescription painkillers was added; (3) the definition of “constantly and frequent” was omitted in the question; and (4) the NUBHNAS

Comparison of Performance on Multiple-Choice Questions and Open-Ended Questions in an Introductory Astronomy Laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

Wooten, Michelle M.; Cool, Adrienne M.; Prather, Edward E.; Tanner, Kimberly D.

2014-01-01

When considering the variety of questions that can be used to measure students' learning, instructors may choose to use multiple-choice questions, which are easier to score than responses to open-ended questions. However, by design, analyses of multiple-choice responses cannot describe all of students' understanding. One method that can…

A survey of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees regarding topics for distance education-Summary report to respondents

Science.gov (United States)

Ratz, Joan M.; Shuster, Rudy M.; Marcy, Ann M.

2011-01-01

This report provides a summary of responses to the questions included in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) Distance Education survey conducted from January 26, 2010, to February 8, 2010. The survey included questions for two studies sponsored by the Division of Education Outreach (DEO) at the NCTC. The first study identifies the topics of interest to FWS employees on which training could be provided via distance education. The topics were limited to the area of conservation and environmental education, outreach, and partnerships because these topics are within the scope of the DEO. The second study focused on characterizing the relation between onsite course enrollment at NCTC and distance education offerings. Because there were only a few questions on the survey for the second study and because the target populations were the same for both, the two surveys were combined.

On counterbalancing of symptom-reporting in trauma surveys.

Science.gov (United States)

Reddy, Madhavi K; Polusny, Melissa A; Murdoch, Maureen

2009-12-01

Some traumatic stress research surveys are potentially subject to context effects, such as priming, because they include questions about traumatic experiences and trauma-related symptoms within the same survey. In this study, asking about traumatic experiences before or after asking about PTSD influenced symptom reporting was investigated in a sample of 424 National Guard soldiers. Results indicate ordering of symptom measures immediately before or after reports of combat experiences did not influence reports of PTSD symptoms. Implications of results are discussed.

Survey of licensee control room habitability practices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boland, J.F.; Brookshire, R.L.; Danielson, W.F.; Driscoll, J.W.; Graham, E.D.; McConnell, R.J.; Thompson, V.N.

1985-04-01

This document presents the results of a survey of Licensee control-room-habitability practices. The survey is part of a comprehensive program plan instituted in August 1983 by the NRC to respond to ongoing questions from the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS). The emphasis of this survey was to determine by field review the control-room habitability practices at three different plants, one of which is still under construction and scheduled to receive an operating license in 1986. The other two plants are currently operating, having received operating licenses in the mid-1970's and early 1980's. The major finding of this survey is that despite the fact that the latest control-room-habitability systems have become larger and more complex than earlier systems surveyed, the latest systems do not appear to be functionally superior. The major recommendation of this report is to consolidate into a single NRC document, based upon a comprehensive systems engineering approach, the pertinent criteria for control-room-habitability design

Questioning context: a set of interdisciplinary questions for investigating contextual factors affecting health decision making

Science.gov (United States)

Charise, Andrea; Witteman, Holly; Whyte, Sarah; Sutton, Erica J.; Bender, Jacqueline L.; Massimi, Michael; Stephens, Lindsay; Evans, Joshua; Logie, Carmen; Mirza, Raza M.; Elf, Marie

2011-01-01

Abstract Objective  To combine insights from multiple disciplines into a set of questions that can be used to investigate contextual factors affecting health decision making. Background  Decision‐making processes and outcomes may be shaped by a range of non‐medical or ‘contextual’ factors particular to an individual including social, economic, political, geographical and institutional conditions. Research concerning contextual factors occurs across many disciplines and theoretical domains, but few conceptual tools have attempted to integrate and translate this wide‐ranging research for health decision‐making purposes. Methods  To formulate this tool we employed an iterative, collaborative process of scenario development and question generation. Five hypothetical health decision‐making scenarios (preventative, screening, curative, supportive and palliative) were developed and used to generate a set of exploratory questions that aim to highlight potential contextual factors across a range of health decisions. Findings  We present an exploratory tool consisting of questions organized into four thematic domains – Bodies, Technologies, Place and Work (BTPW) – articulating wide‐ranging contextual factors relevant to health decision making. The BTPW tool encompasses health‐related scholarship and research from a range of disciplines pertinent to health decision making, and identifies concrete points of intersection between its four thematic domains. Examples of the practical application of the questions are also provided. Conclusions  These exploratory questions provide an interdisciplinary toolkit for identifying the complex contextual factors affecting decision making. The set of questions comprised by the BTPW tool may be applied wholly or partially in the context of clinical practice, policy development and health‐related research. PMID:21029277

Additive vs non-additive genetic components in lethal cadmium tolerance of Gammarus (Crustacea): Novel light on the assessment of the potential for adaptation to contamination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chaumot, Arnaud; Gos, Pierre; Garric, Jeanne; Geffard, Olivier

2009-01-01

Questioning the likelihood that populations adapt to contamination is critical for ecotoxicological risk assessment. The appraisal of genetic variance in chemical sensitivities within populations is currently used to evaluate a priori this evolutionary potential. Nevertheless, conclusions from this approach are questionable since non-additive genetic components in chemical tolerance could limit the response of such complex phenotypic traits to selection. Coupling quantitative genetics with ecotoxicology, this study illustrates how the comparison between cadmium sensitivities among Gammarus siblings enabled discrimination between genetic variance components in chemical tolerance. The results revealed that, whereas genetically determined differences in lethal tolerance exist within the studied population, such differences were not significantly heritable since genetic variance mainly relied on non-additive components. Therefore the potential for genetic adaptation to acute Cd stress appeared to be weak. These outcomes are discussed in regard to previous findings for asexual daphnids, which suggest a strong potency of genetic adaptation to environmental contamination, but which contrast with compiled field observations where adaptation is not the rule. Hereafter, we formulate the reconciling hypothesis of a widespread weakness of additive components in tolerance to contaminants, which needs to be further tested to gain insight into the question of the likelihood of adaptation to contamination.

IT Department User Survey PDF Usage Report

CERN Document Server

Jones, Pete

2017-01-01

During 2016 the IT-CDA group carried out a study of IT users and their working environments and habits with the aim of understanding the user community better. This project involved interviews with users from different working backgrounds and an online survey containing questions of user devices and software preferences. A section of the questions was aimed at understanding how people handle PDF documents and this note analyses the responses to these. This analysis will help IT-CDA to better understand the PDF requirements and so help us to improve the services that rely on these documents.

How well does a single question about health predict the financial health of Medicare managed care plans?

Science.gov (United States)

Bierman, A S; Bubolz, T A; Fisher, E S; Wasson, J H

1999-01-01

Responses to simple questions that predict subsequent health care utilization are of interest to both capitated health plans and the payer. To determine how responses to a single question about general health status predict subsequent health care expenditures. Participants in the 1992 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey were asked the following question: "In general, compared to other people your age, would you say your health is: excellent, very good, good, fair or poor?" To obtain each participant's total Medicare expenditures and number of hospitalizations in the ensuing year, we linked the responses to this question with data from the 1993 Medicare Continuous History Survey. Nationally representative sample of 8775 noninstitutionalized Medicare beneficiaries 65 years of age and older. Annual age- and sex-adjusted Medicare expenditures and hospitalization rates. Eighteen percent of the beneficiaries rated their health as excellent, 56% rated it as very good or good, 17% rated it as fair, and 7% rated it as poor. Medicare expenditures had a marked inverse relation to self-assessed health ratings. In the year after assessment, age- and sex-adjusted annual expenditures varied fivefold, from $8743 for beneficiaries rating their health as poor to $1656 for beneficiaries rating their health as excellent. Hospitalization rates followed the same pattern: Respondents who rated their health as poor had 675 hospitalizations per 1000 beneficiaries per year compared with 136 per 1000 for those rating their health as excellent. The response to a single question about general health status strongly predicts subsequent health care utilization. Self-reports of fair or poor health identify a group of high-risk patients who may benefit from targeted interventions. Because the current Medicare capitation formula does not account for health status, health plans can maximize profits by disproportionately enrolling beneficiaries who judge their health to be good. However, they are at

Survey of diagnostic and treatment practices for multiple sclerosis (MS) in Europe. Part 2: Progressive MS, paediatric MS, pregnancy and general management.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández, O; Delvecchio, M; Edan, G; Fredrikson, S; Giovannoni, G; Hartung, H-P; Havrdova, E; Kappos, L; Pozzilli, C; Soerensen, P S; Tackenberg, B; Vermersch, P; Comi, G

2018-05-01

The European Charcot Foundation supported the development of a set of surveys to understand current practice patterns for the diagnosis and management of multiple sclerosis (MS) in Europe. Part 2 of the report summarizes survey results related to secondary progressive MS (SPMS), primary progressive MS (PPMS), pregnancy, paediatric MS and overall patient management. A steering committee of MS neurologists developed case- and practice-based questions for two sequential surveys distributed to MS neurologists throughout Europe. Respondents generally favoured changing rather than stopping disease-modifying treatment (DMT) in patients transitioning from relapsing-remitting MS to SPMS, particularly with active disease. Respondents would not initiate DMT in patients with typical PPMS symptoms, although the presence of ≥1 spinal cord or brain gadolinium-enhancing lesion might affect that decision. For patients considering pregnancy, respondents were equally divided on whether to stop treatment before or after conception. Respondents strongly favoured starting DMT in paediatric MS with active disease; recommended treatments included interferon, glatiramer acetate and, in John Cunningham virus negative patients, natalizumab. Additional results regarding practice-based questions and management are summarized. Results of part 2 of the survey of diagnostic and treatment practices for MS in Europe largely mirror results for part 1, with neurologists in general agreement about the treatment and management of SPMS, PPMS, pregnancy and paediatric MS as well as the general management of MS. However, there are also many areas of disagreement, indicating the need for evidence-based recommendations and/or guidelines. © 2018 EAN.

Annotating Logical Forms for EHR Questions.

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Kirk; Demner-Fushman, Dina

2016-05-01

This paper discusses the creation of a semantically annotated corpus of questions about patient data in electronic health records (EHRs). The goal is to provide the training data necessary for semantic parsers to automatically convert EHR questions into a structured query. A layered annotation strategy is used which mirrors a typical natural language processing (NLP) pipeline. First, questions are syntactically analyzed to identify multi-part questions. Second, medical concepts are recognized and normalized to a clinical ontology. Finally, logical forms are created using a lambda calculus representation. We use a corpus of 446 questions asking for patient-specific information. From these, 468 specific questions are found containing 259 unique medical concepts and requiring 53 unique predicates to represent the logical forms. We further present detailed characteristics of the corpus, including inter-annotator agreement results, and describe the challenges automatic NLP systems will face on this task.

Can psychosocial and socio-demographic questions help identify sexual risk among heterosexually-active women of reproductive age? Evidence from Britain’s third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natalie Edelman

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Contraceptive advice and supply (CAS and sexually transmitted infection (STI testing are increasingly provided in primary care. Most risk assessment tools are based on sexual risk behaviours and socio-demographics, for use online or in specialist services. Combining socio-demographic and psychosocial questions (e.g. religious belief and formative experience may generate an acceptable tool for targeting women in primary care who would benefit from intervention. We aimed to identify psychosocial and socio-demographic factors associated with reporting key sexual risk behaviours among women in the British general population. Methods We undertook complex survey analysis of data from 4911 hetero-sexually active women aged 16–44 years, who participated in Britain’s third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3, a national probability sample survey undertaken 2010–2012. We used multivariable regression to examine associations between the available psychosocial and socio-demographic variables in Natsal-3 and reports of three key sexual behaviours: a 2+ partners in the last year (2PP; b non-use of condoms with 2+ partners in the last year (2PPNC; c non-use of condoms at first sex with most recent sexual partner (FSNC. We adjusted for key socio-demographic factors: age, ethnicity and socio-economic status (measured by housing tenure. Results Weekly binge drinking (6+ units on one occasion, and first sex before age 16 were each positively associated with all three sexual behaviours after adjustment. Current relationship status, reporting drug use (ever, younger age and living in rented accommodation were also associated with 2+ partners and 2 + partners without condoms after adjustment. Currently being a smoker, older age and respondent ethnicity were associated with FSNC after adjustment for all other variables. Current smoking status, treatment for depression (last year, and living at home with both

Measuring teamwork in health care settings: a review of survey instruments.

Science.gov (United States)

Valentine, Melissa A; Nembhard, Ingrid M; Edmondson, Amy C

2015-04-01

Teamwork in health care settings is widely recognized as an important factor in providing high-quality patient care. However, the behaviors that comprise effective teamwork, the organizational factors that support teamwork, and the relationship between teamwork and patient outcomes remain empirical questions in need of rigorous study. To identify and review survey instruments used to assess dimensions of teamwork so as to facilitate high-quality research on this topic. We conducted a systematic review of articles published before September 2012 to identify survey instruments used to measure teamwork and to assess their conceptual content, psychometric validity, and relationships to outcomes of interest. We searched the ISI Web of Knowledge database, and identified relevant articles using the search terms team, teamwork, or collaboration in combination with survey, scale, measure, or questionnaire. We found 39 surveys that measured teamwork. Surveys assessed different dimensions of teamwork. The most commonly assessed dimensions were communication, coordination, and respect. Of the 39 surveys, 10 met all of the criteria for psychometric validity, and 14 showed significant relationships to nonself-report outcomes. Evidence of psychometric validity is lacking for many teamwork survey instruments. However, several psychometrically valid instruments are available. Researchers aiming to advance research on teamwork in health care should consider using or adapting one of these instruments before creating a new one. Because instruments vary considerably in the behavioral processes and emergent states of teamwork that they capture, researchers must carefully evaluate the conceptual consistency between instrument, research question, and context.

Generating ethnographic research questions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Friberg, Torbjörn

2015-01-01

? By drawing on the conceptual history of anthropology, the aim of this article is to generate ethnographic-oriented research questions concerned with higher education. The first part of the article provides an ethnographic background, while the second part focuses on Paul Willis's reasoning on ethnographic......As part of recent complex transformations, it seems that higher educational organisations are being forced to reorganise, standardise and streamline in order to survive in the new political and economic context. How are ethnographers in general going to approach these contemporary phenomena...... imagination, as a prerequisite for generating alternative research questions. The third part makes explicit anthropologist Maurice Godelier's theoretical imagination, carving out some specific theoretical parts which may be used in the generating process. The conclusion then suggests a number of questions...

78 FR 64911 - 2013 Company Organization Survey

Science.gov (United States)

2013-10-30

... Organization Survey AGENCY: Bureau of the Census, Commerce. ACTION: Notice of Determination. SUMMARY: The Bureau of the Census (Census Bureau) is conducting the 2013 Company Organization Survey. The survey's... organizations included in the survey, and additional copies are available upon written request to the Director...

An online network tool for quality information to answer questions about occupational safety and health: usability and applicability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

van Dijk Frank JH

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Common information facilities do not always provide the quality information needed to answer questions on health or health-related issues, such as Occupational Safety and Health (OSH matters. Barriers may be the accessibility, quantity and readability of information. Online Question & Answer (Q&A network tools, which link questioners directly to experts can overcome some of these barriers. When designing and testing online tools, assessing the usability and applicability is essential. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to assess the usability and applicability of a new online Q&A network tool for answers on OSH questions. Methods We applied a cross-sectional usability test design. Eight occupational health experts and twelve potential questioners from the working population (workers were purposively selected to include a variety of computer- and internet-experiences. During the test, participants were first observed while executing eight tasks that entailed important features of the tool. In addition, they were interviewed. Through task observations and interviews we assessed applicability, usability (effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction and facilitators and barriers in use. Results Most features were usable, though several could be improved. Most tasks were executed effectively. Some tasks, for example searching stored questions in categories, were not executed efficiently and participants were less satisfied with the corresponding features. Participants' recommendations led to improvements. The tool was found mostly applicable for additional information, to observe new OSH trends and to improve contact between OSH experts and workers. Hosting and support by a trustworthy professional organization, effective implementation campaigns, timely answering and anonymity were seen as important use requirements. Conclusions This network tool is a promising new strategy for offering company workers high quality information

Is Cyberbullying a Stand Alone Construct? Using Quantitative Analysis to Evaluate a 21st Century Social Question

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ryan Randa

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Using a subsample of the 2009 National Crime Victimization Survey, School Crime Supplement (NCVS-SCS, the present study explores the nature of the relationship between cyberbullying and traditional bullying victimization among students aged 12–18. One question of particular interest in the recent cyberbullying literature regards the classification of cyberbullying relative to traditional school yard bullying. As is the case in the cyber victimization literature in general, the question has become whether cyberbullying is an extension of traditional bullying or whether it is a unique independent phenomenon. Using the available data we attempt to address this question by exploring cyberbullying victimization as a standalone construct. Results of exploratory factor analyses suggest that cyberbullying victimization is both interlaced with traditional bullying modalities, and experienced as a unique phenomenon. Our results contribute a 21st century texture and dimension to the traditional construct.

A framework for laboratory pre-work based on the concepts, tools and techniques questioning method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huntula, J; Sharma, M D; Johnston, I; Chitaree, R

2011-01-01

Learning in the laboratory is different from learning in other contexts because students have to engage with various aspects of the practice of science. They have to use many skills and knowledge in parallel-not only to understand the concepts of physics but also to use the tools and analyse the data. The question arises, how to best guide students' learning in the laboratory. This study is about creating and using questions with a specifically designed framework to aid learning in the laboratory. The concepts, tools and techniques questioning (CTTQ) method was initially designed and used at Mahidol University, Thailand, and was subsequently extended to laboratory pre-work at the University of Sydney. The CTTQ method was implemented in Sydney with 190 first-year students. Three pre-work exercises on a series of electrical experiments were created based on the CTTQ method. The pre-works were completed individually and submitted before the experiment started. Analysed pre-work, surveys and interviews were used to evaluate the pre-work questions in this study. The results indicated that the CTTQ method was successful and the flow in the experiments was better than that in the previous year. At the same time students had difficulty with the last experiment in the sequence and with techniques.

Learning from peer feedback on student-generated multiple choice questions: Views of introductory physics students

Science.gov (United States)

Kay, Alison E.; Hardy, Judy; Galloway, Ross K.

2018-06-01

PeerWise is an online application where students are encouraged to generate a bank of multiple choice questions for their classmates to answer. After answering a question, students can provide feedback to the question author about the quality of the question and the question author can respond to this. Student use of, and attitudes to, this online community within PeerWise was investigated in two large first year undergraduate physics courses, across three academic years, to explore how students interact with the system and the extent to which they believe PeerWise to be useful to their learning. Most students recognized that there is value in engaging with PeerWise, and many students engaged deeply with the system, thinking critically about the quality of their submissions and reflecting on feedback provided to them. Students also valued the breadth of topics and level of difficulty offered by the questions, recognized the revision benefits afforded by the resource, and were often willing to contribute to the community by providing additional explanations and engaging in discussion.

Breast Density Legislation in New England: A Survey Study of Practicing Radiologists.

Science.gov (United States)

Lourenco, Ana P; DiFlorio-Alexander, Roberta M; Slanetz, Priscilla J

2017-10-01

This study aimed to assess radiologists' knowledge about breast density legislation as well as perceived practice changes resulting from the enactment of breast density legislation. This is an institutional review board-exempt anonymous email survey of 523 members of the New England Roentgen Ray Society. In addition to radiologist demographics, survey questions addressed radiologist knowledge of breast density legislation, knowledge of breast density as a risk factor for breast cancer, recommendations for supplemental screening, and perceived practice changes resulting from density notification legislation. Of the 523 members, 96 responded, yielding an 18% response rate. Seventy-three percent of respondents practiced in a state with breast density legislation. Sixty-nine percent felt that breast density notification increased patient anxiety about breast cancer, but also increased patient (74%) and provider (66%) understanding of the effect of breast density on mammographic sensitivity. Radiologist knowledge of the relative risk of breast cancer when comparing breasts of different density was variable. Considerable confusion and controversy regarding breast density persists, even among practicing radiologists. Copyright © 2017 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Association between Food Insecurity and Obesity in Children-The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaur, Jasbir; Lamb, Molly M; Ogden, Cynthia L

2015-05-01

Food insecurity can put children at greater risk of obesity because of altered food choices and nonuniform consumption patterns. We examined the association between obesity and both child-level food insecurity and personal food insecurity in US children. Data from 9,701 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2001-2010, aged 2 to 11 years were analyzed. Child-level food insecurity was assessed with the US Department of Agriculture's Food Security Survey Module based on eight child-specific questions. Personal food insecurity was assessed with five additional questions. Obesity was defined, using physical measurements, as body mass index (calculated as kg/m²) greater than or equal to the age- and sex-specific 95th percentile of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts. Logistic regressions adjusted for sex, race/ethnic group, poverty level, and survey year were conducted to describe associations between obesity and food insecurity. Obesity was significantly associated with personal food insecurity for children aged 6 to 11 years (odds ratio=1.81; 95% CI 1.33 to 2.48), but not in children aged 2 to 5 years (odds ratio=0.88; 95% CI 0.51 to 1.51). Child-level food insecurity was not associated with obesity among 2- to 5-year-olds or 6- to 11-year-olds. Personal food insecurity is associated with an increased risk of obesity only in children aged 6 to 11 years. Personal food-insecurity measures may give different results than aggregate food-insecurity measures in children. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Instance-Based Question Answering

Science.gov (United States)

2006-12-01

cluster-based query expan- sion, learning answering strategies, machine learning in NLP To my wife Monica Abstract During recent years, question...process is typically tedious and involves expertise in crafting and implement- ing these models (e.g. rule-based), utilizing NLP resources, and...questions. For languages that use capitalization (e.g. not Chinese or Arabic ) for named entities, IBQA can make use of NE classing (e.g. “Bob Marley

Understanding student use of mathematics in IPLS with the Math Epistemic Games Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Eichenlaub, Mark; Hemingway, Deborah; Redish, Edward F.

2017-01-01

We present the Math Epistemic Games Survey (MEGS), a new concept inventory on the use of mathematics in introductory physics for the life sciences. The survey asks questions that are often best-answered via techniques commonly-valued in physics instruction, including dimensional analysis, checking special or extreme cases, understanding scaling relationships, interpreting graphical representations, estimation, and mapping symbols onto physical meaning. MEGS questions are often rooted in quantitative biology. We present preliminary data on the validation and administration of the MEGS in a large, introductory physics for the life sciences course at the University of Maryland, as well as preliminary results on the clustering of questions and responses as a guide to student resource activation in problem solving. This material is based upon work supported by the US National Science Foundation under Award No. 15-04366.

Ohio Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 1993: When, Why, and What Was Discovered.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohio State Dept. of Health, Columbus.

This report summarizes the survey answers Ohio high school students (N=2,314) reported about alcohol, tobacco, and other health risk behaviors. The survey contains questions relating to: (1) behaviors that result in intentional and non-intentional injuries; (2) tobacco use; (3) alcohol and other drug use; (4) sexual behaviors that result in HIV…

Embryo transfer techniques: an American Society for Reproductive Medicine survey of current Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology practices.

Science.gov (United States)

Toth, Thomas L; Lee, Malinda S; Bendikson, Kristin A; Reindollar, Richard H

2017-04-01

To better understand practice patterns and opportunities for standardization of ET. Cross-sectional survey. Not applicable. Not applicable. An anonymous 82-question survey was emailed to the medical directors of 286 Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology member IVF practices. A follow-up survey composed of three questions specific to ET technique was emailed to the same medical directors. Descriptive statistics of the results were compiled. The survey assessed policies, protocols, restrictions, and specifics pertinent to the technique of ET. There were 117 (41%) responses; 32% practice in academic settings and 68% in private practice. Responders were experienced clinicians, half of whom had performed Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

75 FR 71417 - 2010 Company Organization Survey

Science.gov (United States)

2010-11-23

... Organization Survey AGENCY: Bureau of the Census, Commerce. ACTION: Notice of determination. SUMMARY: The Bureau of the Census (Census Bureau) is conducting the 2010 Company Organization Survey. The survey's... organizations included in the survey, and additional copies are available on written request to the Director, U...

76 FR 62759 - 2011 Company Organization Survey

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-11

... Organization Survey AGENCY: Bureau of the Census, Commerce. ACTION: Notice of determination. SUMMARY: The Bureau of the Census (Census Bureau) is conducting the 2011 Company Organization Survey. The survey's... organizations included in the survey, and additional copies are available by written request to the Director, U...

Protein Electrochemistry: Questions and Answers.

Science.gov (United States)

Fourmond, V; Léger, C

This chapter presents the fundamentals of electrochemistry in the context of protein electrochemistry. We discuss redox proteins and enzymes that are not photoactive. Of course, the principles described herein also apply to photobioelectrochemistry, as discussed in later chapters of this book. Depending on which experiment is considered, electron transfer between proteins and electrodes can be either direct or mediated, and achieved in a variety of configurations: with the protein and/or the mediator free to diffuse in solution, immobilized in a thick, hydrated film, or adsorbed as a sub-monolayer on the electrode. The experiments can be performed with the goal to study the protein or to use it. Here emphasis is on mechanistic studies, which are easier in the configuration where the protein is adsorbed and electron transfer is direct, but we also explain the interpretation of signals obtained when diffusion processes affect the response.This chapter is organized as a series of responses to questions. Questions 1-5 are related to the basics of electrochemistry: what does "potential" or "current" mean, what does an electrochemical set-up look like? Questions 6-9 are related to the distinction between adsorbed and diffusive redox species. The answers to questions 10-13 explain the interpretation of slow and fast scan voltammetry with redox proteins. Questions 14-19 deal with catalytic electrochemistry, when the protein studied is actually an enzyme. Questions 20, 21 and 22 are general.

Results of the 2004 Knowledge and Opinions Surveys for the Baseline Knowledge Assessment of the U.S. Department of Energy Hydrogen Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schmoyer, Richard L [ORNL; Truett, Lorena Faith [ORNL; Cooper, Christy [U.S. Department of Energy

2006-04-01

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Hydrogen Program focuses on overcoming critical barriers to the widespread use of hydrogen fuel cell technology. The transition to a new, hydrogen-based energy economy requires an educated human infrastructure. With this in mind, the DOE Hydrogen Program conducted statistical surveys to measure and establish baselines for understanding and awareness about hydrogen, fuel cells, and a hydrogen economy. The baseline data will serve as a reference in designing an education program, and it will be used in comparisons with future survey results (2008 and 2011) to measure changes in understanding and awareness. Scientific sampling was used to survey four populations: (1) the general public, ages 18 and over; (2) students, ages 12-17; (3) state and local government officials; and (4) potential large-scale hydrogen users. It was decided that the survey design should include about 1,000 individuals in each of the general public and student categories, about 250 state and local officials, and almost 100 large-scale end users. The survey questions were designed to accomplish specific objectives. Technical questions measured technical understanding and awareness of hydrogen technology. Opinion questions measured attitudes about safety, cost, the environment, and convenience, as well as the likelihood of future applications of hydrogen technology. For most of the questions, "I don't know" or "I have no opinion" were acceptable answers. Questions about information sources assessed how energy technology information is received. The General Public and Student Survey samples were selected by random digit dialing. Potential large-scale end users were selected by random sampling. The State and Local Government Survey was of the entire targeted population of government officials (not a random sample). All four surveys were administered by computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). For each population, the length of the survey was less than

IMS Learning Design Frequently Asked Questions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tattersall, Colin; Manderveld, Jocelyn; Hummel, Hans; Sloep, Peter; Koper, Rob; De Vries, Fred

2004-01-01

This list of frequently asked questions was composed on the basis of questions asked of the Educational Technology Expertise Centrum. The questions addessed are: Where can I find the IMS Learning Design Specification? What is meant by the phrase “Learning Design”? What is the IMS LD Specification

A cognitive evaluation of four online search engines for answering definitional questions posed by physicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Hong; Kaufman, David

2007-01-01

The Internet is having a profound impact on physicians' medical decision making. One recent survey of 277 physicians showed that 72% of physicians regularly used the Internet to research medical information and 51% admitted that information from web sites influenced their clinical decisions. This paper describes the first cognitive evaluation of four state-of-the-art Internet search engines: Google (i.e., Google and Scholar.Google), MedQA, Onelook, and PubMed for answering definitional questions (i.e., questions with the format of "What is X?") posed by physicians. Onelook is a portal for online definitions, and MedQA is a question answering system that automatically generates short texts to answer specific biomedical questions. Our evaluation criteria include quality of answer, ease of use, time spent, and number of actions taken. Our results show that MedQA outperforms Onelook and PubMed in most of the criteria, and that MedQA surpasses Google in time spent and number of actions, two important efficiency criteria. Our results show that Google is the best system for quality of answer and ease of use. We conclude that Google is an effective search engine for medical definitions, and that MedQA exceeds the other search engines in that it provides users direct answers to their questions; while the users of the other search engines have to visit several sites before finding all of the pertinent information.

Response Strategies and Response Styles in Cross-Cultural Surveys

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Morren, M.H.; Gelissen, J.P.T.M.; Vermunt, J.K.

2012-01-01

This article addresses the following research questions: Do respondents participating in cross-cultural surveys differ in their response style when responding to attitude statements? If so, are characteristics of the response process associated with their ethnicity and generation of immigration? To

Effect of two types of control questions and two question formats on the outcomes of polygraph examinations.

Science.gov (United States)

Horvath, Frank; Palmatier, John J

2008-07-01

Two major variations of polygraph "Control Question" testing, the Zone Comparison (ZoC) and the Modified General Question Test (MGQT) were evaluated. Within each, the type of control question, Exclusive or "time bar" (e.g., "Before you were 21, did you ever...") and Nonexclusive or "no time bar" (e.g., "Did you ever....?") was manipulated in a mock theft scenario, with 80 male and 40 female subjects randomly assigned to be either innocent or guilty. Polygraphic data collected by experienced field examiners were numerically scored by an evaluator blind to all aspects of the study. Decision accuracy was not related to the type of procedure (ZoC/MGQT) used or the subject's sex. Accuracy was significantly related to the type of control question [chi(2) (2) = 11.46, p = 0.003; tau c = 0.29]. Nonexclusive control questions produced greater accuracy than Exclusive control questions on both innocent and guilty subjects. These results and subjects' self-reports support the general "theory" on which control question (CQ) testing is based. The need for better empirical support of accepted dogma and current field practices is strongly indicated by these findings.

Questioning As a Pedagogical Tool for Eliciting Student Generated Questions During the Teaching of Acid-base Equilibria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ayoade Ejiwale Okanlawon

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Traditionally, teachers simply taught problem-solving by explaining the worked-out examples taken from textbooks and students were expected to listen quietly, copy the solution to the problem, and then work independently at their desks. But a large body of research notes that guiding students to develop a solution pathway with questioning is more effective than simply explaining the sequence of steps to solve the problem. Students involved in question- and-answer sessions are more attentive than those who listen passively to teacher explanations and they are more likely to generate questions. The questions students ask during a lesson perform a number of important functions, including providing the teacher with valuable information about students’ understanding and misunderstanding, fostering self-regulation, inviting classroom discussions and aiding comprehension of contents presented. The skill of posing questions during classroom instruction is often under-valued and under taught in today’s classrooms. To encourage students to ask quality and thought provoking questions related to the contents taught, explicit instruction is required. This paper, therefore, qualitatively reports factors that foster student generated questions during the problem-solving instruction involving acid-base titration problem.

Addition of HO-nucleophiles to free and coordinated nitriles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bokach, Nadejda A; Kukushkin, Vadim Yu

2005-01-01

The review surveys data on the addition of HO-nucleophiles (water, oximes, hydroxylamines, hydroxamic acids, alcohols) to nitriles. Main methods for C≡N bond activation in nucleophilic addition reactions are discussed. Particular attention is given to activation of nitriles through coordination to metal centres.

Survey of Stimulant Use in U.S. Air Force Special Tactics Operators

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-26

NUMBER(s) 12. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT Approved for public release ; distribution is unlimited. 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES The views...Frequency of Energy Drink/ Workout Supplements and Caffeine Consumption ............. 8 Table 3. Effects of Energy Drink and Caffeine Consumption on...less honest may have been lower for the stimulant survey than for the more sensitive questions (e.g., questions about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Brazilian beef cattle feedlot manure management: a country survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Costa, C; Goulart, R S; Albertini, T Z; Feigl, B J; Cerri, C E P; Vasconcelos, J T; Bernoux, M; Lanna, D P D; Cerri, C C

2013-04-01

No information regarding the management of manure from beef cattle feedlots is available for Brazil. To fill this knowledge gap, a survey of 73 feedlots was conducted in 7 Brazilian states. In this survey, questions were asked regarding animal characteristics, their diets, and manure handling management from generation to disposal. These feedlots finished 831,450 animals in 2010. The predominant breed fed was Nellore, with average feeding periods of 60 to 135 d. Corn was the primary source of grain used in the feedlot diets (76% of surveyed animals) with concentrate inclusion levels ranging from 81 to 90% (38% of surveyed animals). The most representative manure management practice was the removal of manure from pens only at the end of the feeding period. Subsequently, the manure was stored in mounds before being applied to crop and pasture lands. Runoff, mainly from rainwater, was collected in retention ponds and used for agriculture. However, the quantity of runoff was not known. Manure was composted for only 20% of the animals in the survey and was treated in anaerobic digesters for only 1% of the animals. Manure from 59% of the cattle surveyed was used as fertilizer, providing a cost savings over the use of synthetic fertilizers. Overall, chemical analysis of the manure before application to fields was conducted for the manure of 56% of the surveyed animals, but the exact quantity applied (per hectare) was unknown for 48%. Feedlots representing 48% of the surveyed animals noted similar or greater crop and pasture yields when using manure, rather than synthetic fertilizers. In addition, 32% mentioned an increase in soil organic matter. Feedlots representing 88% of the surveyed cattle indicated that information concerning management practices that improve manure use efficiency is lacking. Feedlots representing 93% of the animals in the survey reported having basic information regarding the generation of energy and fertilizer with anaerobic digesters. However

Veterans Health Administration Survey of Healthcare Experiences of Patients (SHEP)

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — A list of VHA hospitals with inpatient experience of care survey data. The VA SHEP uses the same questions as the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Health Providers...

A Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness in America's Cities: 1990. A 30-City Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Waxman, Laura DeKoven; Reyes, Lilia M.

To assess the status of hunger and homelessness in urban America during 1990, the U.S. Conference of Mayors surveyed the 30 major cities whose mayors are members of its Task Force on Hunger and Homelessness. This report summarizes survey findings. The survey sought information from each city on the following questions: (1) the demand for emergency…

Musculoskeletal impairment survey in Rwanda: Design of survey tool, survey methodology, and results of the pilot study (a cross sectional survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simms Victoria

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Musculoskeletal impairment (MSI is an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, especially in developing countries. Prevalence studies for MSI in the developing world have used varying methodologies and are seldom directly comparable. This study aimed to develop a new tool to screen for and diagnose MSI and to pilot test the methodology for a national survey in Rwanda. Methods A 7 question screening tool to identify cases of MSI was developed through literature review and discussions with healthcare professionals. To validate the tool, trained rehabilitation technicians screened 93 previously identified gold standard 'cases' and 86 'non cases'. Sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value were calculated. A standardised examination protocol was developed to determine the aetiology and diagnosis of MSI for those who fail the screening test. For the national survey in Rwanda, multistage cluster random sampling, with probability proportional to size procedures will be used for selection of a cross-sectional, nationally representative sample of the population. Households to be surveyed will be chosen through compact segment sampling and all individuals within chosen households will be screened. A pilot survey of 680 individuals was conducted using the protocol. Results: The screening tool demonstrated 99% sensitivity and 97% specificity for MSI, and a positive predictive value of 98%. During the pilot study 468 out of 680 eligible subjects (69% were screened. 45 diagnoses were identified in 38 persons who were cases of MSI. The subjects were grouped into categories based on diagnostic subgroups of congenital (1, traumatic (17, infective (2 neurological (6 and other acquired(19. They were also separated into mild (42.1%, moderate (42.1% and severe (15.8% cases, using an operational definition derived from the World Health Organisation's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health

Analyzing false positives of four questions in the Force Concept Inventory

Science.gov (United States)

Yasuda, Jun-ichiro; Mae, Naohiro; Hull, Michael M.; Taniguchi, Masa-aki

2018-06-01

In this study, we analyze the systematic error from false positives of the Force Concept Inventory (FCI). We compare the systematic errors of question 6 (Q.6), Q.7, and Q.16, for which clearly erroneous reasoning has been found, with Q.5, for which clearly erroneous reasoning has not been found. We determine whether or not a correct response to a given FCI question is a false positive using subquestions. In addition to the 30 original questions, subquestions were introduced for Q.5, Q.6, Q.7, and Q.16. This modified version of the FCI was administered to 1145 university students in Japan from 2015 to 2017. In this paper, we discuss our finding that the systematic errors of Q.6, Q.7, and Q.16 are much larger than that of Q.5 for students with mid-level FCI scores. Furthermore, we find that, averaged over the data sample, the sum of the false positives from Q.5, Q.6, Q.7, and Q.16 is about 10% of the FCI score of a midlevel student.

Modelling energy and non-energy substitution: A brief survey of elasticities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frondel, Manuel

2011-01-01

Estimating the degree of substitution between energy and non-energy inputs is the key for any evaluation of environmental and energy policies. Yet, given the variety of substitution elasticities, the central question arises as to which measure would be most appropriate. Apparently, Allen's elasticities of substitution have been the most-used measures in applied production analysis. In line with , this paper argues that cross-price elasticities are preferable for many practical purposes. This conclusion is based on a survey of classical substitution measures, such as those from Allen, Morishima, and McFadden. The survey highlights the fact that cross-price elasticities are their essential ingredients. - Highlights: → Given the large variety of substitution elasticities, the central question arises as to which measure would be most appropriate. Apparently, Allen's elasticities of substitution have been the most-used measures in applied production analysis. → In line with , this paper argues that cross-price elasticities are preferable for many practical purposes. → This conclusion is based on a survey of classical substitution measures, such as those from Allen, Morishima, and McFadden. → The survey also highlights the fact that cross-price elasticities are their essential ingredients.

Image Guided Cervical Brachytherapy: 2014 Survey of the American Brachytherapy Society

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grover, Surbhi, E-mail: Surbhi.grover@uphs.upenn.edu [Department of Radiation Oncology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (United States); Harkenrider, Matthew M. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois (United States); Cho, Linda P. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Brigham & Women' s Hospital/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts (United States); Erickson, Beth [Department Radiation Oncology, Froedtert Hospital and Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (United States); Small, Christina [Department of Public Health Sciences, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois (United States); Small, William [Department of Radiation Oncology, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois (United States); Viswanathan, Akila N. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Brigham & Women' s Hospital/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts (United States)

2016-03-01

Purpose: To provide an update of the 2007 American brachytherapy survey on image-based brachytherapy, which showed that in the setting of treatment planning for gynecologic brachytherapy, although computed tomography (CT) was often used for treatment planning, most brachytherapists used point A for dose specification. Methods and Materials: A 45-question electronic survey on cervical cancer brachytherapy practice patterns was sent to all American Brachytherapy Society members and additional radiation oncologists and physicists based in the United States between January and September 2014. Responses from the 2007 survey and the present survey were compared using the χ{sup 2} test. Results: There were 370 respondents. Of those, only respondents, not in training, who treat more than 1 cervical cancer patient per year and practice in the United States, were included in the analysis (219). For dose specification to the target (cervix and tumor), 95% always use CT, and 34% always use MRI. However, 46% use point A only for dose specification to the target. There was a lot of variation in parameters used for dose evaluation of target volume and normal tissues. Compared with the 2007 survey, use of MRI has increased from 2% to 34% (P<.0001) for dose specification to the target. Use of volume-based dose delineation to the target has increased from 14% to 52% (P<.0001). Conclusion: Although use of image-based brachytherapy has increased in the United States since the 2007 survey, there is room for further growth, particularly with the use of MRI. This increase may be in part due to educational initiatives. However, there is still significant heterogeneity in brachytherapy practice in the United States, and future efforts should be geared toward standardizing treatment.

What questions do board members in public service organizations ask about executive compensation?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chris Bart

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to investigate the governance questions that board members in public service organizations ask as they go about fulfilling their responsibilities for the oversight of executive compensation. The research uses 24 of the questions – as proposed by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants - that directors should ask about executive compensation and investigates both their usage and perceived importance by board members. The study is based on a usable sample of 47 board members from public service organizations who were attending a Canadian director training program. The research finds that, insofar as public service organizations are concerned, not all of the recommended executive compensation governance questions were asked with the same frequency nor were they considered equally important. Additionally, the relationship between a question’s usage frequency and its perceived importance was not perfect. However, there appears to be a significantly positive relationship among the number of executive compensation governance questions asked and selected elements of a board’s governance structure.

Community Survey Q2: What to emphasize in Q1

Data.gov (United States)

Town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina — This question is from the 2015 Chapel Hill Community Survey.Which THREE of these items do you think should receive the most emphasis from Town leaders over the next...

Community Survey Q7: Nature of police interactions with respondents

Data.gov (United States)

Town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina — This question is from the 2015 Chapel Hill Community Survey.Have you interacted with the Town’s Police Department in any of the following ways within the past 2...

Awareness of food allergies: a survey of pediatricians in Kuwait.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Herz, Waleed; Husain, Khalid; Al-Khabaz, Ahmed; Moussa, Mohamed A A; Al-Refaee, Fawaz

2017-01-11

Early diagnosis of food allergies (FA) is important for a favorable prognosis. This study aimed to determine the level of awareness of FA among pediatricians in Kuwait. A 43-item self-administered questionnaire was designed and distributed to pediatricians working at 4 government hospitals in Kuwait. A total of 140 pediatricians completed the questionnaire, with a participation rate of 51.1% (81 males and 59 females). The mean age of participants was 40.81 years, and the mean number of years working in pediatrics was 13.94 years. The mean overall knowledge score was 22.2. The pediatricians' overall knowledge scores were found to be significantly associated with their age (older pediatricians had higher overall scores) and years of experience as a pediatrician but were independent from hospital site, gender, or rank. A multiple linear regression revealed pediatrician age and gender were the only variables that were significantly associated with the overall knowledge score. Only 16.4% of the participants answered at least 2/3 of the survey questions correctly. The questions that were correctly answered by ≤ 2/3 of the participants constituted 80% of clinical presentation questions, 66.6% of diagnostics questions, 77.7% of treatment questions, and 42.8% of prevention questions. Interestingly, among 68 pediatricians (48.5%) who determined that they felt comfortable evaluating and treating patients with FA, only 12 (17.6%) passed the questionnaire. This survey demonstrates that there is a noteworthy deficiency of pediatricians' awareness about FA. The implementation of strategies to improve pediatricians' awareness is critical to diagnose food allergy patients early and improve their health and outcomes.

Insights, attitudes, and perceptions about asthma and its treatment: findings from a multinational survey of patients from Latin America.

Science.gov (United States)

Maspero, Jorge F; Jardim, Jose R; Aranda, Alvaro; Tassinari C, Paolo; Gonzalez-Diaz, Sandra N; Sansores, Raul H; Moreno-Cantu, Jorge J; Fish, James E

2013-11-04

In 2011 the Latin America Asthma Insight and Management (LA AIM) survey explored the realities of living with asthma. We investigated perception, knowledge, and attitudes related to asthma among Latin American asthma patients. Asthma patients aged ≥12 years from four Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela) and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico responded to questions during face-to-face interviews. A sample size of 2,169 patients (approximately 400 patients/location) provided an accurate representation of asthma patients' opinions. Questions probed respondents' views on topics such as levels of asthma control, frequency and duration of exacerbations, and current and recent use of asthma medications. A total of 2,169 adults or parents of children with asthma participated in the LA AIM survey. At least 20% of respondents experienced symptoms every day or night or most days or nights. Although 60% reported their disease as well or completely controlled, only 8% met guideline criteria for well-controlled asthma. 47% of respondents reported episodes when their asthma symptoms were more frequent or severe than normal, and 44% reported seeking acute care for asthma in the past year. Asthma patients in Latin America overestimated their degree of asthma control. The LA AIM survey demonstrated the discrepancy between patient perception of asthma control and guideline-mandated criteria. Additional education is required to teach patients that, by more closely following asthma management strategies outlined by current guidelines more patients can achieve adequate asthma control.

The Question Concerning Thinking

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riis, Søren

2008-01-01

Martin Heidegger's thought-provoking essay "The Question Concerning Technology" (1977a) placed technology at the heart of philosophy. Heidegger tried to show that the essence of technology provokes humans to think about the world in a very dangerous way. Yet if we follow Heidegger's analysis...... of technology, what role does that ascribe to philosophy? To be able to understand the programmatic scope of Heidegger's question ‘concerning' technology, we need to see it as inseparable from his famous thesis about the end of philosophy (1977c) and what he considers to be the ideal kind of thinking. However......, by doing so, we will in the end realize two important things. First, that Heidegger's declaration of the end of philosophy in fact also means the end of anything we can meaningfully call thinking. Second, that Heidegger's own thinking is completely different from his own ideal of thinking. Our question...

Dropout Rates and Response Times of an Occupation Search Tree in a Web Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tijdens Kea

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Occupation is key in socioeconomic research. As in other survey modes, most web surveys use an open-ended question for occupation, though the absence of interviewers elicits unidentifiable or aggregated responses. Unlike other modes, web surveys can use a search tree with an occupation database. They are hardly ever used, but this may change due to technical advancements. This article evaluates a three-step search tree with 1,700 occupational titles, used in the 2010 multilingual WageIndicator web survey for UK, Belgium and Netherlands (22,990 observations. Dropout rates are high; in Step 1 due to unemployed respondents judging the question not to be adequate, and in Step 3 due to search tree item length. Median response times are substantial due to search tree item length, dropout in the next step and invalid occupations ticked. Overall the validity of the occupation data is rather good, 1.7-7.5% of the respondents completing the search tree have ticked an invalid occupation.

Prevalence and Factors Associated with Teen Pregnancy in Vietnam: Results from Two National Surveys

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huong Nguyen

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This study asked two broad questions: (1 what is the prevalence of teen pregnancy in contemporary Vietnam; and (2 what selected social, family, and individual factors are associated with teen pregnancy in Vietnam? The study utilized Vietnam Survey Assessment of Vietnamese Youth surveys conducted in 2003 and 2008 to answer the two research questions within the context of fast political, economic, and social change in Vietnam in the last two decades. Results of this study show that the prevalence of pregnancy among Vietnamese teenagers in the surveys was stable at 4%, or 40 pregnancies per 1000 adolescent girls aged 14 to 19. Age, experience of domestic violence, and early sexual debut were positively correlated with higher odds of teenage pregnancy for both survey cohorts; however, being an ethnic minority, educational attainment, sexual education at school, Internet use, and depressive symptoms were significantly related to teenage pregnancy only in the 2008 cohort.

Predictors of pediatric surgeons' career satisfaction: a national survey

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Objective: A survey was performed to identify factors for professional career satisfaction and for dissatisfaction. Methods: During General Assembly of CSPS, attendees answered the 37-question form grouped into the following categories: demographic, professional activity and organizational issues, type of service, ...

What do providers want to know about opioid prescribing? A qualitative analysis of their questions.

Science.gov (United States)

Cushman, Phoebe A; Liebschutz, Jane M; Hodgkin, Joseph G; Shanahan, Christopher W; White, Julie L; Hardesty, Ilana; Alford, Daniel P

2017-01-01

In 2012, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) responded to the opioid crisis with a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, requiring manufacturers of extended-release/long-acting opioids to fund continuing medical education based on the "FDA Blueprint for Prescriber Education." Topics in the Blueprint are "Assessing Patients for Treatment," "Initiating Therapy, Modifying Dosing, and Discontinuing Use," "Managing Therapy," "Counseling Patients and Caregivers about Safe Use," "General Drug Information," and "Specific Drug Information." Based on the FDA Blueprint, Boston University School of Medicine's "Safe and Competent Opioid Prescribing Education" (SCOPE of Pain) offers live trainings for physicians and other prescribers. During trainings, participants submit written questions about the curriculum and/or their clinical experiences. The objective was to compare themes that arose from questions asked by SCOPE of Pain participants with content of the FDA Blueprint in order to evaluate how well the Blueprint answers prescribers' concerns. The authors conducted qualitative analyses of all 1309 questions submitted by participants in 29 trainings across 16 states from May 2013 to May 2015, using conventional content analysis to code the questions. Themes that emerged from participants' questions were then compared with the Blueprint. Most themes fell into the topic categories of the Blueprint. Five main themes diverged: Participants sought information on (1) safe alternatives to opioids, (2) overcoming barriers to safe opioid prescribing, (3) government regulations of opioid prescribing, (4) the role of marijuana in opioid prescribing, and (5) maintaining a positive provider-patient relationship while prescribing opioids. In addition to learning the mechanics of safe opioid prescribing, providers want to understand government regulations and effective patient communication skills. Aware of the limitations of opioids in managing chronic pain, providers seek advice

Supply Chain Simulation: A Survey

OpenAIRE

Kleijnen, J.P.C.

2003-01-01

This paper provides a survey of simulation in supply chain management.It reviews four types of simulation, namely spreadsheet simulation, system dynamics, discreteevent simulation, and business games.Which simulation type should be applied, depends on the type of managerial question to be answered by the model.Moreover, this paper summarizes novel sensitivity and robustness analyses.This sensitivity analysis yields a shortlist of the truly important factors in large simulation models with (sa...

A Group of 500 Women Whose Health May Depart Notably From the Norm: Protocol for a Cross-Sectional Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Schnelle, Christoph; Minford, Eunice J; McHardy, Vanessa; Keep, Jane

2017-11-23

Longitudinal studies of women's health often seek to identify predictors of good health. Research has shown that following simple guidelines can halve women's mortality. The ongoing Australian Longitudinal Study of Women's Health (ALSWH) shows that Australian women are getting better at reducing their smoking and alcohol use, and are generally diligent about attending recommended health screenings, but are becoming less successful at dealing with obesity. There are communities of women who live unusually healthy lives (Rosetans, Seventh-Day Adventists, traditional Japanese women), but their lifestyles are unlikely to be adopted widely. Universal Medicine (UM) is a complementary-to-medicine approach that emphasizes personal empowerment and the importance of menstrual health symptoms. This survey investigates whether the approximately 500 women associated with UM exhibit health status significantly above the norm. As part of this investigation, questions for a newly developed menstrual attitudes questionnaire will also be evaluated. A quantitative cross-sectional survey of women in a UM cohort was designed with the help of three focus groups of women at three life stages: in menses, peri-menopausal, and menopausal. The menstrual attitudes portion of the survey incorporates the insights of these women regarding female health issues. The survey also includes 41 questions taken from the ALSWH. Focus groups generated additional questions about symptoms experienced and attitudes toward female health issues. ALSWH questions, including a range of health scales like the Short Form 36 (SF-36), Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Perceived Control Scale, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, and the Multi-Item Summed Score for Perceived Stress, along with questions about experienced major health events, were investigated and incorporated if considered suitable. The validity of the menstrual attitudes questionnaire will be evaluated with Cohen's kappa. ALSWH

National health interview surveys in Europe: an overview.

Science.gov (United States)

Hupkens, C L; van den Berg, J; van der Zee, J

1999-05-01

In order to study the value of national health interview surveys for national and international research and policy activities, this paper examines the existence and content of recent and future health interview surveys in the 15 member states of the European Union (EU), Norway, Iceland and Switzerland. National health interview surveys are performed in most countries, but not in Greece (only regional surveys), Luxembourg, Ireland and Iceland (only multi-purpose surveys). The health interview surveys in the other 14 countries provide regular data on the main health topics. Of the 14 health topics that are examined in this inventory seven are measured in all countries. Questions on health status (e.g. self-assessed health, long-term physical disability, and height and weight) and medical consumption (e.g. consultations with the general practitioner, GP) are often included. Lifestyle topics are less often included, except smoking habits, information about which is sought in all countries. Topics like diet and drugs/narcotics are more often included in special surveys than in general health interview surveys. Despite differences in the content, frequency and methodology of national health interview surveys in different countries, these surveys are a valuable source of information on the health of Europeans.

Discovering Interacting Binaries with Halpha Surveys

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Witham, A.; Knigge, C.; Drew, J.; Groot, P.J.; Greimel, R.; Parker, Q.

2005-01-01

A deep (R ~ 19.5) photographic Halpha Survey of the southern Galactic Plane was recently completed using the UK Schmidt Telescope at the AAO. In addition, we have recently started a similar, CCD-based survey of the northern Galactic Plane using the Wide Field Camera on the INT. Both surveys aim to

Evidence-based speech-language pathology practices in schools: findings from a national survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffman, Lavae M; Ireland, Marie; Hall-Mills, Shannon; Flynn, Perry

2013-07-01

This study documented evidence-based practice (EBP) patterns as reported by speech-language pathologists (SLPs) employed in public schools during 2010-2011. Using an online survey, practioners reported their EBP training experiences, resources available in their workplaces, and the frequency with which they engage in specific EBP activities, as well as their resource needs and future training format preferences. A total of 2,762 SLPs in 28 states participated in the online survey, 85% of whom reported holding the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology credential. Results revealed that one quarter of survey respondents had no formal training in EBP, 11% of SLPs worked in school districts with official EBP procedural guidelines, and 91% had no scheduled time to support EBP activities. The majority of SLPs posed and researched 0 to 2 EBP questions per year and read 0 to 4 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) journal articles per year on either assessment or intervention topics. Use of ASHA online resources and engagement in EBP activities were documented to be low. However, results also revealed that school-based SLPs have high interest in additional training and resources to support scientifically based practices. Suggestions for enhancing EBP support in public schools and augmenting knowledge transfer are provided.

Nutrition surveys in Burma and northeast Brazil.