DATA COLLECTION

This chapter contains an account of the subjects and informants, and methods of data collection for the main study. In all over 500 persons were involved - including student and qualified nurses, doctors and patients. The data which qualified for use in the final analysis came from only about eighty per cent of those. Some wastage occurred with all categories of respondent and for a variety of reasons. For a few subjects lack of interest and motivation were obvious, but the more usual reason for data

being discarded was incompleteness where circumstances had intervened to prevent the person from finishing a task which had been undertaken in good faith.

Entry to the hospital

As the research concerned occupational activities of

members of an organization it was necessary that the procedures have top level approval before they could be implemented. On the nursing and medical sides this came readily, with the Matron promptly suggest­ ing ways by which the plan for data collection could be accommodated within existing programs and time-tables. The General Superintend­ ent, however, expressed reservations about staff time being used for research purposes. His consent cane only after persuasive argument by the research supervisor, and a further assurance from the author that disruption to nursing services, or individuals, would be mini­ mal. A final decision concerning patients was deferred. In the knowledge that the part of the study involving nursing staff would have to extend over some months, it was decided to initiate that at once, at the same tine continuing negotiations concerning patients and doctors.

Within the conceptual framework of the study, data sources were dichotomized into Worm Senders and Worm Receivers. The latter were the focal subjects of the research, meaning that they represented the population about which it was intended to de­ velop generalizations. Administration of the questionnaires followed a slightly different procedure for the two categories.

Worm Receivers

Student nurses Data concerning both personality and per­ formance were obtained from 208 student nurses during the period from June 1969 to February 1970. The sample was stratified with respect to stages of training, and also was roughly proportional to student numbers at each of these stages. Nurse training is a three year course of which the initial orientation period, lasting two to three months is referred to as the Preliminary Training School ( hereafter abbreviated P.T.S. ). Student numbers tend to be smaller for the higher levels of training.

In the absence of any methodological contra-indications group testing was adopted. Existing groups were used, or more precisely collectivities of persons who, for reasons that were in­ dependent of the research, had been scheduled to gather together on certain occasions. There were six such groups in all, represent­ ing successive phases of training. These were numbered one to six, and subsequently throughout the text these numbers will be used to refer to training level. Groups 1 and 2 consisted in one case of P.T.S. nurses who had been in the organization only a few days, and in the other they had been members for four weeks*

Groups 3» 4, and 5 refer to first, second, and third years re­

spectively* Group 6 consisted of Grade 1 sisters or staff— nurses, these being registered nurses in non-supervisory positions, usually not long qualified.

The use of existing groups nay not always be the ideal way of obtaining subjects for a study, but in view of the longi­

tudinal interpretation that was planned such groups were very suitable in this instance. Perrow cynically connents that one of the advantages that hospitals have for social scientists is the fact that nurses tend to be "docile, captive, and bunched into groups convenient for questionnaires" ( Perrow,

1965, p* 953 )•

numbers of nurses* These so called "captive" groups are not favoured simply because of convenience, but due to conditions prevailing in most Australian schools of nursing the limitations of alternative methods of sampling often outweigh the advantages.

In terns of the design of the research the benefit of using existing groups is clear. The total length of the training course is calculated in days, and groups of students commence at irregularly spaced intervals throughout the year. The result of this is that a category such as second year, can contain students who differ from each other by almost a year, and only differ from others in the first or third year categories by a natter of days. By contrast, the groups which were used consisted of students most of whom had started training at exactly the sane time*

On the other hand there was the possible disadvantage that the act of incorporating the questionnaire sessions into the

with the hospital administration. The result of this could have been resentment engendered by a perceived obligation to participate, or a tendency for the students to try to present themselves in a good light. For these reasons special attention was given to establishing the independence of the researcher and

the study.

A preliminary circular was distributed to all nursing staff. In this the purpose of the project, and the participation which was required from nurses at different levels, were outlined. In addition, the author had a short meeting with each group a few days before the date on which they were scheduled to be presented with the questionnaires. This provided an informal opportunity for questions, and it was hoped that it would lead to good rapport when it came actually to answering the questionnaires.

At these meetings it was again emphasised that participation was entirely voluntary, and that there would be no reproach against anyone who chose not to take part. There were one or two people who elected not to attend the ’’testing” sessions, and others who were prevented by illness or other unforeseen reasons for doing so, but the overall participation rate was approximately ninety- five per cent. It was possible to check the numbers actually present with those ordinarily scheduled to be there. Not everyone who undertook to answer the questionnaires actually completed them both, so that the number of subjects who are included in the analysis

is smaller than the number who volunteered to participate. The questionnaire sessions were located in a classroom* The Job Performance Inventory, hereafter called the and the FIRO-B were both distributed at the beginning of the session, with instructions to complete the longer one first and then go on

to the other. The FIRO-F was introduced with the words "The first questionnaire is about nursing, but this one concerns you as a person, and the way that you interact with, and get on with, other people in all kinds of situations. To answer it, simply follow the instructions at the top of the first page".

The J.P.I. instructions, being somewhat more detailed, were read aloud from the instruction sheet, and time was allowed for questions about procedure. Questions about content received a standard reply : "Read the statement carefully and answer what it seems to mean to you. There are no right and wrong answers, and you can only respond for yourself. If you really cannot make any sense of an item then omit it and go on to the next." Because of their limited clinical experience groups 1 and 2 were given the additional instruction: "For those things in the Job Performance

Inventory of which you have had no direct experience, try to answer as you believe that you would act in such a situation. If you cannot envisage yourself in these circumstances, or if the situation has no meaning to you, then omit that item and go on to the next,” That subjects used this last instruction reasonably was clear from the nature of the one or two items which were consistently omitted. By allowing this option it was hoped to avoid making any subject feel that she was being forced into giving unrealistic responses.

A time limit was not stated, but in order to counteract any tendency to treat each item as a problem to be pondered until an absolute answer had been reached, respondents were given a rough guide to their expected rate of progress. At two points, one after about twenty minutes, and another after about forty minutes, an announcement was made to the effect that non the average most people who have answered this questionnaire would now be somewhere

ab o u t Page 4 ( 8 ) . I f you a r e much behind t h i s , th e n you a r e p ro b a b ly g iv in g each ite m a b i t to o much c o n s i d e r a t i o n . Remember t h a t t h e r e a r e no a b s o lu te r i g h t o r wrong a n sw e rs. I t i s what you b e lie v e t h a t you a r e most l i k e l y to do i n th e s e k in d s o f s i t u a t i o n s . The re sp o n se t h a t f i r s t comes to mind i s l i k e l y to be th e one t h a t i s most tr u e f o r y o u ." I t was p o s s ib le to o b serv e any s u b je c t who

ap p eared to be p r o g r e s s in g u n u s u a lly s lo w ly . These p eo p le were u rg ed to work th ro u g h th e q u e s ti o n n a ir e s k ip p in g any item s t h a t th e y c o u ld n H answ er f a i r l y q u ic k ly , and th e n to work th ro u g h i t a g a in t r y i n g to f i l l i n th e g a p s .

S u b je c ts were asked t o p u t t h e i r names on th e q u e s ti o n n a ir e s i n o rd e r to f a c i l i t a t e com m unication i n th e c a se of th e p r o j e c t b e in g ex ten d ed » The u s u a l a s s u ra n c e of anonym ity and c o n f i d e n t i a l tre a tm e n t o f th e d a ta was g iv e n . O th er ite m s of in fo r m a tio n which were re q u e s te d r e f e r r e d to age and o c c u p a tio n a l h i s t o r y .

An e x c e p tio n to th e group s i t u a t i o n was made f o r some of th e t h i r d y e a r c a te g o ry » Because o f s tu d e n t w astage th e r e a r e a c t u a l l y few er n u rs e s i n t h i s c a te g o r y , and when th e d a ta c o l l e c t i o n was planned i t was n o te d t h a t th e sc h o o l tim e - ta b le w hich was p re p a re d some s i x to e ig h t months in advance p ro v id e d f o r o n ly one t h i r d y e a r group to be assem bled f o r s tu d y b lo c k . C o n seq u en tly a number of o th e r t h i r d y e a r n u rs e s were approached in d e p e n d e n tly . Those people com pleted th e q u e s ti o n n a ir e t a s k i n d i v i d u a l l y , and u n d e r u n s u p e rv ise d c o n d itio n s .

T h is d e c is io n to in c lu d e i n th e same a n a l y s i s d a ta o b ta in e d in g ro u p , and in in d i v i d u a l s e t t i n g s was made o n ly a f t e r c a r e f u l c o n s id e r a tio n of th e c o m p a r a b ility o f th e two m ethods. C e r ta i n ly th e p e rso n a n sw erin g on h is own i s open to more i n t e r r u p t i o n s and d i s t r a c t i o n s . On th e o th e r hand he i s l i k e l y to b e g in th e

and hence give it full .attention. An interesting example

appeared in the data where one questionnaire answered in a group setting had to he discarded when it was recognized that the re- sponses were only a systematic repetition of the code# One assumes that under individual conditions the person, rather than engaging in subterfuge, would not have responded at all# Systematic error due to response set and social desirability are as likely to occur in one setting as in the other. All respondents were offer­ ed the option of remaining anonymous if they so desired. The reasons why group testing was the method of choice have already been discussed# These were not seen as precluding the use of alternatives# Group testing resulted in lower wastage as there was less chance for other events to intervene, but there was no reason to expect systematic differences in the pi t t e m of respond­ ing under one condition rather than the other#

TABLE VI-1 J D i s t r i b u t i o n o f Norm R e c e iv e r C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s

Group N AGE EXPERIENCE OF

ANOTHER OCCUPATION* 18 & u n d er 19-24 2 5 -3 5 Over 35 n/a Yes No n/a 1 P .T .S . 1970 51 47 2 1 - 1 16 34 1 2 P .T .S . 1969 38 27 11 - -• - 22 16 - 3 1 s t y e a r 45 31 11 - — 3 15 2 T 3 4 2nd y e a r 47 21 24 1 mm- _{1 25 r e 4} 5 3 rd y e a r 31 — 27 2 - 2 16 13 2 6 Grade 1 s i s t e r s 43 29 11 t 2 15 27 1 TOTAL 255 126 104 15 1 9 109 135 11

* For a p e rio d o f a t l e a s t 3 months

Grade 1 s i s t e r s

A lthough f o r th e p u rpose o f t h i s s tu d y Grade 1 s i s t e r s were c a te g o r iz e d a s norm r e c e i v e r s , f r o n th e p o in t o f view o f th e o rg a n iz a ­ t i o n o f th e h o s p i t a l t i n e - t a b l e th e y a r e grouped w ith th e more s e n io r n u r s in g s t a f f * C o n seq u en tly th e q u e s ti o n n a ir e s had to be g iv e n to

th e two c a t e g o r i e s a t th e one s e s s i o n . The p ro ced u re i s d e s c rib e d i n th e n e x t s e c tio n * The c o m p o sitio n o f th e Norm R e c e iv e r c l a s s i f i c a ­ t i o n w ith r e s p e c t to su b g ro u p s, and o th e r c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s i s shown i n