Use of interviews (Goldstein)

Question 1

structured interview

Answer 1

Interviewer has a set of prepared questions in interview schedule where they read out what’s written.

Question 2

semi-structured interview

Answer 2

combines a pre-determined set of open questions with the opportunity for the interviewer to explore particular themes or responses further.

Question 3

unstructured interview

Answer 3

More like a conversation and the interviewer only facilitates the discussion. very little is decided in advance and therefore produces rich qualitative data.

Question 4

personal data

Answer 4

refers to information about the participant such as their age, gender and educational experiences. Used in questionnaire and interviews to enable analysis relating to such features of the participants.

Question 5

standardised instructions

Answer 5

in a psychology study are where each participant is given the same instructions so they are not effected differently. this acts as a control. standardised instructions are an opportunity to set out ethics in a study, such as enabling informed content if enough information is given, and clearly setting out the right to withdraw.

Question 6

researcher bias

Answer 6

a type of researcher. bias, where something about the researcher affects the results of the study. For example in a unstructured interview, the researcher is free to respond subjectively meaning the researcher can affect the data by what they choose to record or how they generate themes from qualitative data, which can affect results too.

Question 7

Objectivity

Answer 7

Objectivity is always required in science; it means not affected by personal feel or opinions (of the researcher in the case of interviews), which is why controls are put in place to avoid subjectivity.

Question 8

Aims

Answer 8

-to see if there are gender differences with regard to re-hospitalisation of people with schizophrenia and to the length of their hospital stays.

-To consider social factors, mainly factors present before diagnosis, to see if they had an impact on the course of the disorder with regard to gender.

-To look at DSM II and DSM III diagnosis to see if there were differences and to test the DSM for reliability and validity.

Question 9

sample

what was used to look at gender differences?

how many did the original sample consist of?

how old were they?

Answer 9

-Study used the DSM III to look at gender differences in schizophrenic patients.
-The original sample consisted of 199 patients who were male and female.
-all were re-diagnosed 10 years later with the newer version of the DSM (DSM III).
-data was collected in the mid-1970s at a private psychiatric teaching hospital in New York.
-patients were aged between 18 and 45 (mean age 24).

Question 10

further features of the sample

how many patients out of 169 were selected?

Answer 10

-90 (58 men and 32 women, first time admissions and one previous hospitalisation) out of 169 patients were selected.
-all had a high level of education and 87 were non-hispanic white and middle class.
-The sample included patients with many types of schizophrenia.

Question 11

procedure
re-diagnosis to test the DSM for reliability.

what agreement did the two other experts achieve?

how many out of the original 199 met the criteria of the DSM III?

Answer 11

-patients were re-diagnosed using DSM III. Hospital records gave detailed histories for the re-diagnosis and a single blind technique was used, where the psychiatrist was blind to the hypothesis.
-Goldstein also carried out re-diagnosis and she was not blind to the hypothesis, two other experts carried out re-diagnosis of a random sample of patients (4 men and 4 women- achieved a 0.80 agreement and only one case disagreed with Goldstein’s diagnosis) to test for reliability.
-out of an original 199 patients who had various forms of schizophrenia according to the DSM II, 169 met the criteria of the DSM III.

Question 12

Gathering data about the disorder
1. symptoms

Answer 12

-symptoms were rated by trained masters-level interviewers using an instrument developed specially for the original study.
-areas covered included hallucinations, formal thought disorders, paranoia, isolation, withdrawal, anxiety etc.
-these all give an idea of the characteristics of the schizophrenia. we can assume that Goldstein used trained interviewers to rate the symptoms using special developed questions, that the interview would have been structures, using rating scales and perhaps yes/no answers.

Question 13

Gathering data about the disorder
2. premorbid functioning

Answer 13

premorbid functioning (before the onset of an illness) was measured by questionnaire dealing with isolation, occupational status, peer relationships, and interests. Overall ratings were then found.

Question 14

Gathering data about the disorder
3. course of illness

Answer 14

-course of the illness was operationalised by the number of re-hospitalisations and lengths of stay in hospital, with data being obtained over a 10 year period.
-Statistical information about the re-hospitalisations and lengths of stay were obtained from the New York State department of mental health (secondary data).

Question 15

findings/ results

What were the results for women and men?

Answer 15

-the question was whether men had a higher mean number of re-hospitalisations and longer stays in hospital over a 10 year period of the study than women. It was found they did.
-schizophrenic women had a significantly lower mean number of re-hospitalisations and shorter stays in hospital from 1973-1983 than men.

women
mean number of re-hospitalisations- 1.12
mean length of hospital stay (days) - 206.81

men
mean number of re-hospitalisations- 2.24
mean length of hospital stay (days)- 417.83

Question 16

conclusion
state the four conclusions

Answer 16

1. Females with schizophrenia experienced fewer re-hospitalisations and shorter lengths of stay over a 5 and 10 year period than males.
2. The gender difference was strong enough even when the DSM III was used, given the relatively small sample.
3. Gender differences seemed to start early in the disorder.
4. suggests males have poorer outcomes than females.

Question 17

Generalisability

what’s good about the variety in age and types of schizophrenia studied?

what’s a problem about there being no participants over the age of 45 at the start of the study?

Answer 17

-The original sample consisted of 199 patients both male and female, aged between 18 and 45. This means that any potential differences effected by age are eliminated as well as covering patients with many types of schizophrenia allowing a wide range of patients to be studied, making the sample more representative of the general public.

-No participants over the age of 45 at the start of the study, leading to gender bias. There are a significant % of women who have their first episode of schizophrenia after the age of 45 subsequently;y being more severe in nature (Levine, 1981) this means that the findings, implying that men have more severe course of schizophrenia, must be cautiously considered as they do not represent the diagnosis in women across the population.

Question 18

reliability

inter-rater reliability
test re test reliability

What’s good about the data being highly objective?

Answer 18

-high inter-rater reliability, a psychiatrist carried out a blind re-diagnosis to which Goldstein then carried out a re-diagnosis where she was not blind. then again with two other experts on a random sample of 4 men and 4 women. Having multiple researchers carry out re-diagnoses, increases the reliability of the method as they come to the same agreement, thus eliminating any bias or mistakes in the diagnosis.

-high in test re test reliability, for example Angermeyer (1987) confirmed Goldstein’s findings that pre morbid functioning was important in predicting the severity of the disorder. coming to the same conclusion 3 years later increases the reliability of the questionnaire to gather pre morbid functioning data, as it remains accurate and still as important.

-The data collected is highly objective, for example, patients were re diagnosed using the DSM III and hospital records gave detailed histories for a re diagnosis. The DSM III is a scientific source used by many researchers, as well as using information from hospital records, this eliminates bias so researchers can come to similar, objective conclusions without the interruption of subjective views, increasing reliability of the procedure.

Question 19

validity

matched pairs
what’s good about including both primary and secondary data? (triangulation)

Answer 19

-one strength of the study is that a matched pairs design was employed. For example the males and females were matched on marital status, education, age, religion and social class. All were also from New York and from a similar cultural background. This means that an easy comparison can be made between the two groups, eliminating any individual differences increasing the validity of the results.

-one strength of the study is that both primary and secondary data was collected. For example premorbid functioning was measured by questionnaire then overall ratings were then found. Statistical information about the re-hospitalisations and lengths of stay were obtained from the New York State department of mental health, which is secondary. Combining more than one data source provides more comprehensive data, insights and allows stronger value messages to be given, allowing for triangulation making the results more in depth and valid.

Question 20

ethics

name an example of where ethical guidelines where adhered to

Answer 20

-One strength of the study is that ethical guidelines were adhered to. For example, secondary data of the re- hospitalisations and lengths of stay were obtained from hospital records from the New York State department of mental health. This means that ethical issues regarding confidentiality and intrusion of personal data were already dealt with by the hospital before giving away, thus following the BPS ethical guidelines.

Question 21

application

what does the study have positive implications for understanding?

Answer 21

-one strength of the study is that has positive implications for understanding gender differences in prognosis of schizophrenia. For example, it was found that schizophrenic women had a significantly lower mean number of re-hospitalisations and shorter stays in hospital from 1973-1983 than men. This means that more attention can be brought to the treatment and care of males when dealing with schizophrenia.

-Has positive application to society in that it informs us about the reliability of the DSM, when specifically diagnosing schizophrenia. For example, patients were re-diagnosed using the DSM III, out of an original 199 patients who had various forms of schizophrenia according to the DSM II, 169 met the criteria of the DSM III. This means that the DSM remained mostly accurate in diagnosing the patients with schizophrenia, increasing reliability for future use.