Homer Tolson

Stability of response characteristics of a Delphi panel: application of bootstrap data expansion

BackgroundDelphi surveys with panels of experts in a particular area of interest have been widely utilized in the fields of clinical medicine, nursing practice, medical education and healthcare services. Despite this wide applicability of the Delphi methodology, there is no clear identification of what constitutes a sufficient number of Delphi survey participants to ensure stability of results.MethodsThe study analyzed the response characteristics from the first round of a Delphi survey conducted with 23 experts in healthcare quality and patient safety. The panel members had similar training and subject matter understanding of the Malcolm Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence in Healthcare. The raw data from the first round sampling, which usually contains the largest diversity of responses, were augmented via bootstrap sampling to obtain computer-generated results for two larger samples obtained by sampling with replacement. Response characteristics (mean, trimmed mean, standard deviation and 95% confidence intervals) for 54 survey items were compared for the responses of the 23 actual study participants and two computer-generated samples of 1000 and 2000 resampling iterations.ResultsThe results from this study indicate that the response characteristics of a small expert panel in a well-defined knowledge area are stable in light of augmented sampling.ConclusionPanels of similarly trained experts (who possess a general understanding in the field of interest) provide effective and reliable utilization of a small sample from a limited number of experts in a field of study to develop reliable criteria that inform judgment and support effective decision-making.

Injuries in intercollegiate rodeo athletes

Collegiate rodeo athletes (N = 156) in the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) Southern Re gion, were examined for injuries during a 7 month (10 rodeo) season from 1987 to 1988. Sixty-two athletes sustained a total of 138 acute injuries resulting from 3292 exposures. One hundred twenty-seven injuries (92% of total injuries) occurred in the roughstock and steer wrestling events, and 11 injuries (8%) occurred in the roping and female events. When calculating oppor tunity for injury, rodeo athletes face an 89% potential for injury per season. Ninety-one of the injuries incurred were upper body injuries; 47 were lower body injuries. A 6:1 exposure to injury ratio among roughstock events exemplifies the magnitude of injury potential in this sport, affecting 25% of roughstock competitors. Con tusions, strains, and concussions comprised 42%, 16%, and 11 % of the total injuries, respectively, whereas fractures and dislocations comprised only 5% of the total. Twenty-three percent of the injuries oc curred during the completion of an athletes ride, with 21 % of injuries attributed to equipment mishaps. Fre quency of injury by performance, relation of seasonal participation and exposure to injury, orthotic care, use of conditioning programs, medication history, and need for enhanced sports medicine education in this sport are discussed.

Perceptions of emotion expressiveness: gender differences among senior executives

Purpose – Folk theory and empirical studies generally indicate that women tend to be somewhat more expressive than men. The present study seeks to determine whether there are gender‐related emotion‐expressiveness differences among senior executives and to explore the extent to which there are emotion expressiveness differences by organizational position.Design/methodology/approach – The levels of self‐reported expressiveness among senior organizational leaders (781 males, 669 females) were examined. Differences by gender and position were explored using ANOVAs.Findings – In several key positions, including CEOs, males reported themselves to be significantly more expressive than females. However, differences between male and female expressiveness were not observed for certain executive positions. Further, both males and females reported statistically significant low levels of expressiveness.Research limitations/implications – Professionals charged with addressing conflict within organizations may find them...

Stimulus Velocity, Duration and Uncertainty as Determiners of Response Structure and Timing Accuracy

Abstract The present experiments examined the effects of stimulus velocity, stimulus duration, and stimulus uncertainty on the spatial-temporal structure and timing accuracy of coincident timing responses. The results of Experiment 1 indicated that the response structure for aimed movements differed from that of ballistic movements but response accuracy was comparable for both movement conditions. However, when information concerning the stimulus velocity was provided, the responses to the faster stimuli (i.e., stimuli of shorter duration) appeared to be “speeded up” copies of those to slower stimuli and response accuracy increased as the stimulus velocity increased (i.e., stimulus duration decreased). When the stimulus velocity was not known, subjects initiated a common response for approximately 260 msec and response accuracy appeared to decrease as the stimulus velocity increased (i.e., stimulus duration decreased). Experiment 2 indicated that the stimulus duration rather than the stimulus velocity was...

Examining the Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire A Review and Critique of Research Utilizing the DLOQ

Although the Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ) has been used internationally, especially in the field of Human Resource Development, during the last two decades, researchers have reported problems with multicollinearity and a lack of discriminant validity. The purpose of this study was to review the use of the DLOQ in published research and, in particular, from a construct validity perspective. Our aim was to better understand the deployment, outcomes, and utility of the instrument. Toward this purpose, we conducted a systematic literature review examining research using the DLOQ. Concurrently, we reviewed literature at the center of the DLOQ that led to the formation and early validation of the construct and items. These study findings may help researchers and theorists address the utility of the DLOQ and develop a more valid instrument to measure the learning organization culture.

Exercise performance of collegiate rodeo athletes.

In this study we examined the physical, hematologic, and exercise response of 20 male and 10 female ath letes of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association, Central Rocky Mountain Region. Male subjects were grouped by roughstock, steer wrestling, and roping events. Female athletes were grouped separately. Max imal aerobic capacity, pulmonary ventilation, respiratory exchange ratio, energy expenditure, maximal heart rate, blood pressure, treadmill time, pre- and postex ercise lactate, percent body fat, lean body mass, blood chemistry, serum lipids, and reaction/movement time were analyzed by event. No significant differences (P > 0.05) were found in any of these categories between male events. Mean resting blood chemistry parameters of rodeo athletes were within normal ranges. Steer wrestling athletes possessed greater body size and lean body mass than other groups. When analyzing body composition, blood pressure, and total choles terol:high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol ratios, results indicate average to low risk for coronary heart disease. When compared to other intermittent-activity sport athletes, college rodeo athletes appear to have similar aerobic capacities, but possess lower lean body mass and greater percent body fat.

Changes in Attitudes Toward Physical Activity as a Result of Individualized Exercise Prescriptions.

Summary College freshmen (n = 193) were subjected to a daily physical education and intramural program for six weeks. The physical education program centered around individualized prescription. Significant changes in attitude toward physical activity as assessed by the Kenyon Inventory for Determining Attitude Toward Physical Activity were obtained for four of the six scales of the instrument.

The Differential Effect of Indirect Instruction in the Teaching of Sport Skills on Critical Thinking and Self-esteem of Early Adolescent Boys Placed at Risk

The purpose of this study was to examine the differential effect of sport skills instruction (SSI) and sport skills instruction plus initiative games (SSI +) on the critical thinking (CT) and self-esteem scores of early adolescent boys placed at risk. Students in the SSI + group ( n = 36) participated in initiative games classes in addition to their sport skills activities. Students in the SSI group (n = 44) participated in the sport skills activities only. Since the boys were divided by age (10-11 & 12-13), the influence of age on the dependent variables was also investigated. Classes taught by the initiative games teacher were student-centered while the sport skills classes were teacher-centered. Significant differences between teacher behaviors occurred in interaction patterns, instructional strategies, and management concerns. There were no differences on self-esteem scores. The results supported the addition of initiative games to SSI to foster CT with this group of participants.

Exercise modality and selected coronary risk factors: a multivariate approach.

To evaluate group differences in coronary risk which could be attributed to the modality of habitual exercise, selected physiologic and lipid indices of coronary artery disease (CAD) were measured in 57 endurance trained (ET), strength trained (ST), or sedentary (SED) men (19 per group, aged 21 to 44 yr). Initial data reduction accomplished with principle component analysis identified three factors with eigenvalues greater than one. Orthogonal rotation of the preliminary solution demonstrated that low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), percent body fat (%BF) and VO2max, and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) could be used to represent Factors 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The subsequent MANOVA using these variables proved significant. Post hoc analysis via simultaneous confidence intervals indicated that LDL-C group differences were not significant. Values for %BF and HCL-C in the ST group (14.0% and 1.17 mmol.l-1, respectively) were between but did not differ significantly from respective values in the ET (11.8% and 1.34 mmol.l-1) and SED (18.7% and 1.13 mmol.l-1) groups. However, %BF and HDL-C differences between the ET and SED groups were significant. The VO2max of the ET subjects (63.2 ml.kg-1.min-1) was significantly higher than that of either the ST or SED subjects (49.5 and 46.7 ml.kg-1.min-1, respectively). These results suggest that ET is the most effective modality of exercise for CAD risk reduction while benefits derived from ST are minimal.

Memory Characteristics Of Two Dimensional Movement Information

Abstract Two experiments examined the reproduction accuracy and retention characteristics of two-dimensional movement information. Distance, location, and combined location plus distance groups were examined under three retention intervals. The results of both experiments generally revealed that distance cues were maintained over a 15-second rest interval and subject to decay when interpolated activity was introduced. In contrast, recall accuracy for both the location group and the location plus distance group decayed during the rest interval. Following the presentation of interpolated activity, the location group exhibited no further decrement while the location plus distance group continued to demonstrate a decay in accuracy. These results imply a differential access to central processing for the two sources of movement information. That is, contrary to the results of previous studies utilizing one-dimensional tasks, two-dimensional distance cues appear to be centrally processed while location cues are ...