Journal article
Case Specificity: Empirical Phenomenon or Measurement Artifact?
Teaching and learning in medicine, Vol.19(4), pp.378-381
09/12/2007
DOI: 10.1080/10401330701542776
PMID: 17935468
Abstract
Measurement error is the variation between measurements of some attribute for the same individual. Simply stated, if we measure the attribute of a single individual many times and plot the results, the variation around the mean score will represent measurement error. For example, imagine taking multiple measurements of a single individual's thumb length using a simple ruler. When measurements are made by a reasonably competent person, they are likely to be clustered closely around the mean and, relative to the variation between different individuals, exhibit low levels of measurement error. Now consider repeatedly measuring a single student's clinical skills, each time with a different Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) station. With OSCE stations, medical educators attempt to assess a multifaceted clinical skills construct using raters who employ checklists or global rating scales that to varying degrees capture or describe performance on simulated clinical tasks. Compared with measures of thumb length, the definition and measures of clinical skills are less precise and hence display greater measurement error. Although this error is problematic to medical educators interested in assessing the skills of their students, cognitive psychologists have used this measurement error to gain insights into the process of clinical reasoning. These investigations, in turn, have contributed to cognitive theories explaining clinical performance.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Case Specificity: Empirical Phenomenon or Measurement Artifact?
- Creators
- Clarence D Kreiter - a Office of Consultation and Research in Medical Education , University of Iowa , Iowa City , Iowa , USAGeorge R Bergus - b Department of Family Medicine , University of Iowa , Iowa City , Iowa , USA
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Teaching and learning in medicine, Vol.19(4), pp.378-381
- DOI
- 10.1080/10401330701542776
- PMID
- 17935468
- ISSN
- 1040-1334
- eISSN
- 1532-8015
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 09/12/2007
- Academic Unit
- Physician Assistant Studies; Psychiatry; Family and Community Medicine
- Record Identifier
- 9984007186802771
Metrics
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