Reliability Flashcards
what is reliability?
reliability is how far the classification system produces the same diagnostic for a particular set of symptoms
what has to be in place for the classification system to be reliable?
the same diagnosis should be made each time it’s used
what does this mean?
different clinicians should reach the same diagnosis
cultural bias main studies
Harrison et al (1984)
Copeland et al (1971)
what did Harrison et al (1984) show?
showed that there was an overdiagnosis of schizophrenia in west-indian psychiatric patients in Bristol
because no evidence has been found to suggest a cause for this over-diagnosis…
it suggests that the symptoms of ethnic minority patients have been misinterpreted
what does Harrison’s study suggest?
people can receive different diagnoses due to their ethnic background even if they have the same symptoms.
where else has cultural bias been found?
in the medical staff themselves
what percentage of American psychiatrists diagnosed the patient in Copeland’s study?
69%
what percentage of English psychiatrists diagnosed the patient in Copeland’s study?
2%
copeland et al (1971) method
He showed a video of a potential schizophrenic to American and British Psychiatrists to see if they would diagnose them as schizophrenic or not
Key study for gender bias
Loring and Powell (1988)
how many psychiatrist took part in the study?
290
what were the 290 psychiatrists asked to do?
diagnose the same two patients
when the psychiatrists were told the patient was male, what percentage of them diagnosed them as Schizophrenic?
56%
