SOCI AL PERCEPTI ON OF NURSI NG PROFESSI ONAL ASSESSED BY DI FFERENT SCALES
Fát im a Apar ecida Em m Faleir os Sousa1 Pr iscilla Hor t ense2
Sousa FAEF, Hor t ense P. Social per cept ion of nur sing pr ofessional assessed by differ ent scales. Rev Lat ino- am En f er m agem 2 0 0 6 n ov em br o- dezem br o; 1 4 ( 6 ) : 8 5 7 - 6 2 .
The pur pose of t his ex per im ent w as t o scale t he social per cept ion of nur ses t hr ough t he m et hods of m agnit ude est im at ion, cat egor y est im at ion and cr oss- m odalit y m at ching ( line lengt hs) . The st udy par t icipant s w er e high school and under gr aduat e st udent s, act iv e and r et ir ed m edicine, psy chology , nur sing and dent ist r y pr ofession als. Resu lt s r ev ealed t h at : ( 1 ) t h e ch ar act er ist ics n eat , r espon sible, clean , car efu l an d efficaciou s occupied t he first posit ions in t erm s of nurses’ social percept ions, while useless, sham eful, dishonest , irresponsible and hat eful occupied t he last posit ions on all scales obt ained by t he different direct psychophysics m et hods; ( 2) t he scale of nur ses’ social per cept ion is v alid, st able and consist ent and ( 3) t he r ank ings r esult ing fr om t he t hr ee m et hods pr oduce highly concor dant posit ions of per cept ion for t he differ ent adj ect iv es.
DESCRI PTORS: social per cept ion s; psy ch oph y sics; scales
PERCEPCI ÓN SOCI AL DE PROFESI ONALES DE ENFERMERÍ A
EVALUADA MEDI ANTE DI FERENTES ESCALAS
La finalidad de est e experim ent o fue la de escalonar la percepción social del enferm ero a t ravés de los m ét od os d e est im ación d e m ag n it u d es y em p ar ej am ien t o cr u zad o ( a lo lar g o d e lín eas) . Par t icip ar on d el est udio est udiant es de 2º gr ado y univ er sit ar ios, pr ofesionales act uant es y j ubilados de m edicina, psicología, enfer m er ía y odont ología. Los r esult ados m ost r ar on: ( 1) los t r azos aseado, r esponsable, lim pio, cuidadoso y ef icaz ocu pan las pr im er as posicion es en t ér m in os de per cepción social del en f er m er o, m ien t r as los t r azos in ú t il, d esh on r oso, d esh on est o, ir r esp on sab le y od ioso ocu p an las ú lt im as p osicion es en t od as las escalas obt enidas por los difer ent es m ét odos psicofísicos dir ect os; ( 2) la escala de per cepción social del enfer m er o es válida, est able y consist ent e y ( 3) las ordenaciones result ant es de los m ét odos producen posiciones de percepción alt am ent e concor dant es par a los difer ent es adj et iv os.
DESCRI PTORES: per cepción social; psicofísica; escalas
PERCEPÇÃO SOCI AL DE PROFI SSI ONAI S DE ENFERMAGEM
AVALI ADA POR MEI O DE DI FERENTES ESCALAS
O ob j et iv o d est e ex p er im en t o f oi escalon ar a p er cep ção social d o en f er m eir o p elos m ét od os d e est im ação de m agnit udes e de cat egorias e de em parelham ent o int erm odal ( com prim ent o de linhas) . Part iciparam est udant es do 2º grau e universit ários, profissionais at uant es e aposent ados em m edicina, psicologia, enferm agem e odon t ologia. Os r esu lt ados m ost r ar am qu e ( 1 ) os t r aços asseado, r espon sáv el, lim po, cu idadoso e ef icaz ocupam as prim eiras posições em t erm os da percepção social do enferm eiro, enquant o os t raços inút il, desonroso, desonest o, ir r esponsáv el e odioso ocupam as últ im as posições em t odas as escalas obt idas pelos difer ent es m ét odos psicofísicos dir et os; ( 2) a escala de per cepção social do enfer m eir o é v álida, est áv el e consist ent e e ( 3) as or denações r esult ant es dos m ét odos pr oduzem posições de per cepção alt am ent e concor dant es par a os dif er en t es adj et iv os.
DESCRI TORES: per cepção social; psicofísica; escalas
1
Associat e Professor, e- m ail: faleiros@eerp.usp.br; 2 Doct oral st udent . Universit y of São Paulo at Ribeirão Pret o College of Nursing, WHO Collaborat ing Cent re for Nursing Research Developm ent
I NTRODUCTI ON
T
he m agnit ude est im at ion m et hod has been successfully used t o m easure t he severit y of different diseases. A list of 126 diseases w as elabor at ed and sent by m ail t o t wo dist inct sam ples: one non- m edical and t he ot her m edical. The par t icipant s’ t ask w as t o est i m at e t h e m ag n i t u d e of t h e d i seases’ sev er i t y, indicat ing a num ber pr opor t ional t o 500, w hich w as t he score designat ed t o pept ic ulcer, t o each disease. S o m e e x a m p l e s o f t h e d i s e a s e s a r e : i n t e s t i n a l co n st i p a t i o n , h ea d a ch e, d i a r r h ea , si n u si t i s, a cn e, a st i g m a t i sm , m e n o p a u se , m e n st r u a t i o n , e cze m a , m ed i cat i o n al l er g y, g o n o r r h ea, co m a, d ep r essi o n , e p i l e p sy, ce r e b r o v a scu l a r a cci d e n t , h e a r t a t t a ck , u r em ia, can cer an d leu k em ia. We fou n d h igh lev els of agreem ent bet ween bot h sam ples in t erm s of t heir m a g n i t u d e e st i m a t e s a n d r e sp e ct i v e o r d e r s. Th e r esult s also indicat ed t hat t he age, gender and civ il st at us variables exert ed a st ronger effect on t he non-m ed ical t h an on t h e non-m ed ical sanon-m p le’s j u d g non-m en t s. When com bining t he m agnit ude est im at es fr om bot h sam ples, w e found t hat dandr uff r eceiv ed t he low est e st i m a t e , a b o r t i o n t h e m e d i a n a n d l e u k e m i a t h e highest est im at e( 1). The sam e result pat t ern was found in ot her st udies( 2- 3).I n a sim ilar st udy, t he or iginal r esear ch w as r eplicat ed( 4), using anot her sam ple of phy sicians and analyzing est im at es in funct ion of m edical specialt ies. The r esult s show ed no significant m ut ual differ ences a m o n g t h e n u m e r i c a l m a g n i t u d e e s t i m a t e s b y phy sicians fr om differ ent specialt ies, ex cept for fiv e d i se a se s, w h i ch i n d i ca t e d t h a t t h e r e sp o n d e n t ’ s specialt y is not a significant v ar iable.
Anot her st udy( 5) looked at how physicians and n u r ses r an k ed t h e sev er i t y o f 6 8 su r g i cal cl i n i cal condit ions t hrough t he m agnit ude est im at ion m et hod. D a t a r e v e a l e d t h a t a o r t i c a n e u r y s m e c t o m y,
ce r e b r a l a n e u r y sm e ct om y an d cor on a r y a r t e r y b y p a s s g r a f t i n g w e r e c o n s i d e r e d a s t h e m o s t sev er e, w h ile a d e n oid e ct om y, t on sille ct om y an d
u t e r in e cu r e t t a ge w er e est im at ed t o be t h e least severe clinical- surgical condit ions in all scales obt ained t hr ough differ ent dir ect psy chophy sical m et hods; t he n on - m et r ical sev er it y con t in u u m of clin ical- su r g ical condit ions has pr ot het ic char act er ist ics; t he r elat ion bet ween dynam om et ric force and line lengt h m at ching est im at es is a pow er funct ion w hose exponent is not significant ly different from 0.77 and, finally, t he severit y rat io scale of clinical- surgical condit ions is valid, st able
and consist ent , as t he exponent obt ained by line lengt h and dynam om et ric force m at ching was not significant ly differ ent fr om t he ex ponent pr edict ed by t he scales’ t r ansit iv it y char act er ist ic, t hat is, fr om t he ex ponent obt ained in t he calibrat ion t asks( 6- 10).
Based on an ear lier st u d y( 1 1 ), w e select ed f i f t e e n a d j e c t i v e s t h a t c h a r a c t e r i z e t h e n u r s i n g professional in our societ y, five of t he highest pow er, f i v e n e u t r a l a n d f i v e o f t h e l o w e st p o w e r. Th e se ad j ect iv es w er e r an k ed b y t h e cat eg or y est im at ion m et h od .
I n t h is ex p er im en t , t h ese ad j ect iv es w er e r ank ed by t he m agnit ude est im at ion and int er m odal m at ching m et hods, involving t he line lengt h response cont inuum , besides t he cat egor y est im at ion m et hod. Th is ex per im en t ’s gen er al obj ect iv e w as t o r a n k t h e so ci a l p e r ce p t i o n a b o u t n u r se s t h r o u g h differ ent scales. The specific obj ect iv es w er e: ( 1) To com par e t he scales der iv ed fr om int er v al j udgm ent s ( cat egory est im at es) wit h t he scales derived from rat io j udgm ent s ( m agnit ude and line lengt h est im at es) ; ( 2) To v e r i f y, t h r o u g h t h e c o m p a r i s o n b e t w e e n t h e m a g n i t u d e ( a n d l i n e l e n g t h ) e s t i m a t e s a n d t h e cat egor y est im at es w h et h er t h e n on - m et r ical social p er cep t i o n co n t i n u u m h as p r o t h et i c o r m et at h et i c char act er ist ics; ( 3) To v er ify if t he social per cept ion degr ee or der s der iv ed fr om t he t hr ee psy chophy sical m et hods are m ut ually sim ilar; ( 4) To validat e t he rat io scale der iv ed for t h e n on - m et r ical social per cept ion cont inuum t hr ough t he int er m odal m at ching m et hod. As w e m en t ion ed in t h e in t r od u ct ion , t h is m et h od p r o v i d e s c r i t e r i a f o r t h i s p u r p o s e a n d , a s a c o n s e q u e n c e ; ( 5 ) To v e r i f y t h e s t a b i l i t y a n d / o r equivalence of t he rat io scales produced t hrough t hree d if f er en t r esp on se m od es, i. e. u n lim it ed n u m er ical ( m a g n i t u d e e st i m a t e s) , v i su a l ( l i n e l e n g t h s) a n d lim it ed n u m er ical ( cat eg or y est im at es) an d ( 6 ) To v er ify t he st abilit y and/ or equiv alence of t hese r at io scales am ong t he four sam ples. For t his purpose, we com par ed t h e em pir ical ex pon en t der iv ed f r om t h e social p er cep t ion est im at es ab ou t n u r ses w it h t h e ex p o n en t p r ed i ct ed b y St ev en s t h r o u g h co u n t l ess psy ch op h y sical m et h ods.
METHOD
m e d i c i n e , p s y c h o l o g y a n d d e n t i s t r y, 5 6 a c t i v e pr ofession als ( n u r ses, ph y sician s, psy ch ologist s an d dent ist s) and 48 ret ired nursing, m edical, psychology and dent ist ry professionals. The lat t er t wo cam e from differ ent specialt y ar eas. Six ot her par t icipant s w er e e l i m i n a t e d b e ca u se t h e y d i d n o t u n d e r st a n d t h e inst ruct ions, as proved by t he very low det erm inat ion coef f icien t s ( r2) calcu lat ed f or each p ar t icip an t . All p ar t icip an t s cam e f r om Rib eir ão Pr et o. Th eir ag es ranged bet ween 18 and 75 and t hey were not aware about t he goals of t he experim ent . Table 1 shows t he n u m b er o f p a r t i ci p a n t s/ u sed m et h o d / p r o f essi o n a l cat eg or y.
M at erial. We elaborat ed t wo blocks, t he first page of which cont ained specific inst ruct ions for each t y p e o f p sy ch o p h y si ca l m et h o d a n d t h e f o l l o w i n g pages a list of 15 personalit y t rait s, result ing from an ear lier st u d y( 1 1 ), an d t h eir r esp ect iv e d ef in it ion s, a t ape m easur e of 3 m lengt h and 1 0 cm w idt h ( br and Lufkin) and a pen.
P r o c e d u r e . We u s e d t h e m e t h o d s o f c a t e g o r y e s t i m a t i o n , m a g n i t u d e e s t i m a t i o n a n d i n t e r m o d a l m a t c h i n g , i n v o l v i n g t h e l i n e l e n g t h r esp on se con t in u u m . I n t h e p r oced u r e u sed in t h e cat egor y est im at ion m et h od, par t icipan t s’ t ask w as t o at t ribut e a score t o each t rait , ranging from 0 and 6, in funct ion of it s pert inence t o charact erize nurses in our societ y. Part icipant s were inst ruct ed t o concede t he m axim um scor e of 6 t o t he m ost at t r ibut ed t r ait and t he m inim um scor e of 0 t o t he least at t r ibut ed. The ot her int er m ediar y scor es ( fr om 1 t o 5 ) should be used t o indicat e int er m ediar y usage lev els of t he t r ai t s t o ch ar act er i ze n u r ses. Th e m o st an d l east at t r ibut ed t r ait s had not been pr eviously est ablished. Each par t icipan t est ablish ed on ly 1 5 est im at es, on e f or each p er son alit y t r ait select ed f r om t h e ear lier st u d y( 1 1 ). Th ese w er e t h e 5 m ost at t r ib u t ed , t h e 5 neut ral and t he 5 t rait s least at t ribut ed t o nurses.
I n t he second m et hod, part icipant s’ t ask was t o at t r ibut e a scor e t o each t r ait , pr opor t ional t o t he qu an t it y of t h at adj ect iv e’s def in it ion in r elat ion t o n u r si n g p r o f essi o n a l s i n o u r so ci et y. Th u s, i f t h e par t icipant consider ed t hat a giv en adj ect iv e defined nurses t wo t im es m ore t han anot her one, ( s) he should at t ribut e a score t wice as high. On t he ot her hand, if ( s) he j udged t hat a given adj ect ive has only half t he pert inence of anot her adj ect ive, ( s) he should at t ribut e a score half t hat of t he ot her adj ect ive. The different a d j e ct i v e s w e r e p r e se n t e d i n a se r i e s o f f i f t e e n , displayed one by one on separat e cards, in a random
order for each part icipant . Each part icipant est ablished 1 5 est im at es, on e f or each ad j ect iv e. No st an d ar d st im ulus and m odule w er e pr ev iously designat ed.
W h e n a p p l y i n g t h e i n t e r m o d a l m a t ch i n g m et hod, involving t he line lengt h response cont inuum , part icipant s’ t ask was t o m at ch a line lengt h wit h each adj ect ive t hat was proport ional t o t he quant it y of t hat a d j e c t i v e ’ s d e f i n i t i o n i n r e l a t i o n t o n u r s i n g p r o f e ssi o n a l s i n o u r so ci e t y. Fo r e x a m p l e , i f t h e par t icipant consider ed t hat a giv en adj ect iv e defined nurses t wo t im es m ore t han anot her one, ( s) he should m at ch a line lengt h t hat was t wo t im es longer. I f ( s) he j u dged t h at a giv en adj ect iv e cor r espon ded t o h alf t h e defin it ion of n u r ses in com par ison w it h an ot h er adj ect iv e, t he par t icipant should m at ch a lengt h half a s l o n g a s f o r t h e o t h e r a d j e ct i v e . No st a n d a r d st im ulus and m odule were previously est ablished. The d if f er en t ad j ect iv es w er e p r esen t ed in a ser ies of fift een and display ed one by one on separ at e car ds, i n a r a n d o m o r d e r f o r e a c h p a r t i c i p a n t . Ea c h p ar t icip an t est ab lish ed 1 5 est im at es, on e f or each ad j ect iv e.
I ndependent ly of what psychophysical m et hod w a s u se d , t h e i n st r u ct i o n s p a r t i ci p a n t s r e ce i v e d r e q u i r e d j u d g m e n t s t o b e m a d e i n t e r m s o f t h e adj ect iv es a m aj or it y of t he populat ion at t r ibut ed t o nursing professionals. The sam ples w ere independent an d con sist ed of 2 0 4 p ar t icip an t s: 5 6 h ig h sch ool st udent s, 28 of w hom m ade t heir j udgm ent t hr ough t h e ca t e g o r y e st i m a t i o n m e t h o d a n d 2 8 t h r o u g h m agn it u de est im at ion an d lin e len gt h m at ch in g; 4 4 college st udent s, 22 of whom reached t heir j udgm ent t h r o u g h c a t e g o r y e s t i m a t i o n a n d 2 2 t h r o u g h m agn it u de est im at ion an d lin e len gt h m at ch in g; 5 6 act ive professionals, 28 of whom m ade t heir j udgm ent t h r o u g h t h e ca t e g o r y e st i m a t i o n m e t h o d a n d 2 8 t h r ou g h t h e m ag n it u d e est im at ion an d lin e len g t h m at ching m et hods; and 48 r et ir ed pr ofessionals, 24 of w h om r each ed t h eir j u d g m en t t h r ou g h cat eg or y est im at ion and 24 t hrough m agnit ude est im at ion and line lengt h m at ching. The experim ent was carried out at a l ab o r at o r y an d al l p ar t i ci p an t s r each ed t h ei r j u dgm en t s in div idu ally.
RESULTS AND DI SCUSSI ON
ad j ect iv es, w h ile u se le ss, d ish o n e st , sh a m e f u l, irresponsible and ha t eful w er e t he least at t r ibut ed ones. I n fact , Kendall’s coefficient of agr eem ent ( W) sh ow ed h ig h ag r eem en t lev els am on g t h e v ar iou s sam ples as t o t h e r an k in g of t h ese dif f er en t t r ait s. Th e c o e f f i c i e n t s o f a g r e e m e n t c o r r e s p o n d e d t o W= 0.93 for t he CE m et hod, 0.95 for ME and 0.95 for LLM, all of which highly significant ( p< 0.001) .
As a con sequ en ce of t h ese h igh agr eem en t l e v e l s b e t w e e n d i f f e r e n t sa m p l e s’ j u d g m e n t s, a l l part icipant s’ est im at es were grouped for each m et hod ( Table 1) . I t can be clearly observed t hat , considering e a ch m e t h o d , t h e o r d e r s w e r e n o t su b st a n t i a l l y d i f f e r e n t f r o m t h o s e p r o d u c e d b y t h e d i f f e r e n t sam p l es. Li k e b ef o r e, n e a t , r e sp o n sib le , cle a n , ca r e f u l an d e f f ica ciou s w er e t h e m ost at t r ib u t ed t r a i t s ( a d j e c t i v e s ) , w h i l e u s e l e s s , s h a m e f u l , dishonest , irresponsible and hat eful were t he least at t r ibut ed ones.
Table 1 - Arit hm et ic m eans of cat egory est im at es ( CE) , g eo m et r i cal m ean s o f m ag n i t u d e est i m at es ( ME) , geom et rical m eans of line lengt h m at ching ( LLM) and o r d e r o f p o si t i o n s ( OP) a t t r i b u t e d t o e a ch t r a i t , consider ing all sam ples t oget her
m ean line lengt h m at ching. I n linear coordinat es, t he relat ion bet w een t hese est im at es ( cat egory est im at es X m agnit ude est im at es and cat egory est im at es X line l e n g t h m a t c h i n g ) s h o w i n g a s l i g h t l y d o w n w a r d con cav it y. Mor eov er, w h en t h e ar it h m et ic m ean s of t he cat egor y est im at es w er e pr oj ect ed in funct ion of t h e l o g a r i t h m s o f t h e m a g n i t u d e e s t i m a t e s ’ geom et r ical m eans and in funct ion of t he logar it hm s of t he line lengt h m at ching’s geom et r ical m eans, t he relat ion showed an upward concavit y. Figure 1 clearly shows t hese relat ions in linear coordinat es and Figure 2 in m ono- logar it hm ic coor dinat es. When consider ed j oint ly, it is dem onst rat ed t hat t he social per cept ion cont inuum has pr ot het ic or addit iv e char act er ist ics.
s t i a r
T CE OP ME OP LLM OP
t a e
N 5.57 1º 17.76 1º 12.81 3º
e l b i s n o p s e
R 5.42 2º 17.46 2º 12.90 1º
n a e l
C 5.36 4º 17.05 3º 12.08 5º
l u f e r a
C 5.40 3º 16.83 4º 12.22 4º
s u o i c a c if f
E 5.09 5º 15.53 5º 12.85 2º
d e if s it a s n
U 2.15 10º 6.67 7º 5.60 7º
d e n r a e
L 4.16 7º 4.10 10º 3.45 10º
e t a c il e
D 4.25 6º 8.03 6º 7.48 6º
l u f t h g u o h
T 3.70 8º 5.34 8º 4.96 8º
l a t n e m a r e p m e
T 2.67 9º 4.62 9º 4.09 9º
l u f e t a
H 0.43 11º 1.21 12º 1.09 14º
e l b i s n o p s e r r
I 0.35 12º 1.32 11º 1.30 11º
t s e n o h s i
D 0.35 13º 1.17 13º 1.13 12º
l u f e m a h
S 0.31 14º 1.17 14º 1.12 13º
s s e l e s
U 0.22 15º 1.15 15º 1.06 15º
An a g r e e m e n t co e f f i ci e n t a p p l i e d t o t h e
est im at es r each ed b y each m et h od , f or t h e f if t een a d j ect i v es, r esu l t ed i n W = 0 . 9 6 ( p < 0 . 0 0 1 ) , w h i ch indicat es high agr eem ent lev els am ong t he est im at e
or der s achiev ed by each m et hods. For ex am ple, t he a d j ect i v e u se l e ss o ccu p i es t h e 1 5t h p o si t i o n a n d
responsible t he 4t h posit ion in all response cont inua.
I n o r d e r t o v e r i f y w h e t h e r t h e s o c i a l p er cep t ion con t in u u m h ad p r ot h et ic or m et at h et ic ch ar act er i st i cs, as h ap p en s w i t h ad d i t i v e sen so r y
cont inua, t he adj ect ives’ arit hm et ic m eans of cat egory est im at es were proj ect ed in funct ion of t he geom et rical m eans of m agnit ude est im at es and in funct ion of t he
Fi g u r e 1 - Rel a t i o n b et w een a r i t h m et i c m ea n s o f cat eg or y est im at es an d g eom et r ical m ean s of lin e lengt h m at ching of nur ses’ social per cept ion in linear coor d in at es
Fi g u r e 2 - Rel a t i o n b et w een a r i t h m et i c m ea n s o f ca t e g o r y e st i m a t e d a n d l o g a r i t h m s o f g e o m e t r i c m e a n s o f l i n e l e n g t h m a t ch i n g o f n u r se s’ so ci a l p er cep t ion
m et hods, we can obt ain t he order, t he difference and, a l so , t h e r a t i o s b et w een t h e d i f f er en t a d j ect i v es’ at t ribut ion degrees. Based on dat a present ed in Table
1, for ex am ple, consider ing t he ar it hm et ic m eans of t he geom et rical m eans of t he m agnit ude est im at es for
t he five adj ect ives wit h t he highest at t ribut ion degrees i n co m p a r i so n w i t h t h e a r i t h m e t i c m e a n s o f t h e
geom et rical m eans of t he m agnit ude est im at es for t he five adj ect ives wit h t he lowest at t ribut ion degrees, we can affirm t hat t he at t ribut ion degree of t he adj ect ives
t h a t b e s t c h a r a c t e r i z e d n u r s i n g p r o f e s s i o n a l s
( ME= 17.00) is appr oxim at ely sevent een t im es higher t han t he at t ribut ion degree of t he adj ect ives t hat least c h a r a c t e r i z e t h e s e p r o f e s s i o n a l s ( ME= 1 . 0 0 ) , o r
approxim at ely t hree t im es higher t han t he at t ribut ion degree of t he neut ral adj ect ives ( ME= 6.00) .
W h e n u s i n g l i n e l e n g t h m a t c h i n g , t h e a t t r i b u t i o n d e g r e e o f t h e a d j e c t i v e s t h a t b e s t
ch ar act er ize n u r sin g p r of ession als ( LLM= 1 3 . 0 0 ) is a p p r o x i m a t e l y t h i r t e e n t i m e s h i g h e r t h a n t h e a t t r i b u t i o n d e g r e e o f t h e a d j e c t i v e s t h a t l e a s t
c h a r a c t e r i z e t h e s e p r o f e s s i o n a l s ( LLM= 1 . 0 0 ) o r
appr ox im at ely t w o and a half t im es higher t han t he at t r ibut ion degr ee of neut r al adj ect iv es ( LLM= 5. 00) . As a r esu lt of t h is r at io r an k in g , an y ot h er r at ios
b et w een t h e scale scor es can b e r each ed b et w een differ ent adj ect iv es’ at t r ibut ion degr ees.
I n Fi g u r e 3 , t h e g e o m e t r i c a l m e a n s o f n u m e r i ca l e st i m a t e s a r e p r o j e ct e d i n l o g a r i t h m i c
c o o r d i n a t e s i n f u n c t i o n o f t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g geom et r ical m eans of line lengt h m at ching for each t r ait ( ad j ect iv e) . A st r aig h t lin e w it h an in clin at ion
( p ow er f u n ct ion ex p on en t ) of 1 . 0 6 ( r ² = 0 . 9 0 ) w as ad j u st ed t o t h ese d at a t h r o u g h t h e l east sq u ar es
m et h od. How ev er, as t h e obser v er t en ds t o r est r ict t h e r a n g e o f h i s a d j u st m e n t s i n f u n ct i o n o f t h e
v ar iab le h e con t r ols, w e p r oj ect ed t h ese m ean s in i n v er t ed coor d i n at es i n Fi g u r e 4 , t h at i s, t h e l i n e
l en g t h m at ch i n g i n f u n ct i o n o f t h e co r r esp o n d i n g n u m e r i c a l e s t i m a t e s f o r e a c h a d j e c t i v e . T h i s “ r e g r e s s i o n e f f e c t ” h a s b e e n f o u n d i n d i f f e r e n t
ex p er i m en t s an d w as an al y zed( 1 2 ). Th e i n cl i n at i o n o f t h i s st r a i g h t l i n e eq u a l s 0 . 9 1 ( r ² = 0 . 9 9 ) . Th e
g eom et r i cal m ean s of t h e t w o i n cl i n at i on s can b e a n a p p r o p r i a t e w a y o f m e d i a t i n g t h e r e g r e ssi o n
effect( 13 ) . I n t his case, t he geom et r ical m ean of 1 . 0 6 and 0 . 9 1 is 0 . 9 8 . None of t hese inclinat ions, neit her
in Fig u r e 3 n or 4 , w as sig n if ican t ly d if f er en t f r om t h e pr edict ed v alu e of 1 . 0 0 .
Figure 3 - Relat ion bet ween logarit hm s of geom et rical m ean s o f m ag n i t u d e est i m at es an d l o g ar i t h m s o f geom et rical m eans of line lengt h m at ching of nurses’ social per cept ion
Figure 4 - Relat ion bet ween logarit hm s of geom et rical m ean s o f l i n e l en g t h m at ch i n g an d l o g ar i t h m s o f geom et r ic m eans of m agnit ude est im at es of nur ses’ social per cept ion
The m ean exponent was 1.06 ( see Figure 3) . This m ean value lies close t o 1.00, which is t he m ean v a l u e p r e d i c t e d w h e n l i n e l e n g t h m a t c h i n g a n d m agnit ude est im at ion ar e dir ect ly involv ed. Pr ov iding t he equiv alence bet w een t he em pir ical and pr edict ed e x p o n e n t s i n a c a l i b r a t i o n t a s k t h a t i n v o l v e s sen sat ion s bet w een t w o m odalit ies pr ov ides st r on g e v i d e n c e a b o u t t h e v a l i d i t y o f t h e m a g n i t u d e est im at ion m et hod and, consequent ly, t he pow er law or St ev en s’ law . Bot h dy n am om et r ic f osse an d lin e l en g t h h a v e b een f r eq u en t l y u sed a s co n t i n u a i n in t er m od al m at ch in g t ask s. Th e log ic can b e q u it e ea si l y a p p r eh en d ed w i t h l i n e l en g t h . I t h a s b een consist ent ly( 12- 14) v er ified t hat num er ical est im at es of line lengt hs produce a power funct ion whose exponent is very close t o 1.00. I n ot her words, line lengt hs are linear ly pr opor t ional t o phy sical lengt hs.
per m anent v esical pr obing as t he m ost st r essful and tem perature taking as the least stressful type of care.
Measu r em en t con st it u t es t h e f r am ew or k of science. The study of m easurem ent is the study of how t o represent em pirical relat ions t hrough m at hem at ical structures. Thus, scientific evolution largely depends on the technical evolution of instrum ents researchers have at t heir disposal. A consider able am ount of scient ific discov er ies in hum anit y can be dir ect ly at t r ibut ed t o t h e d i scov er y or i m p r ov em en t of ob ser v at i on an d m easurem ent instrum ents( 15). Nursing is inserted in this cont ext as a profession t hat needs t o base it s clinical pract ice on knowledge acquired t hrough research wit h consist ent and reliable result s. This st udy est ablished t he char act er ist ic t r ait s of nur ses, t hat is, t he social perception about nurses was dem onstrated through the p sy ch o p h y si cal m easu r em en t m et h o d , p r o v i n g i t s consist ency.
CONCLUSI ONS
Dat a from t he experim ent carried out in t his st udy lead t o t he following conclusions: ( 1) t he t rait s
ne a t , r e sponsible , cle a n, ca r e ful and e ffica cious occupy t he first posit ion in t erm s of social percept ion about nur ses, w hile use le ss, sha m e ful, dishone st , irresponsible and ha t eful occupy t he last posit ions i n a l l s c a l e s o b t a i n e d t h r o u g h d i f f e r e n t d i r e c t psychophysical m et hods; ( 2) t he ranking result ing from all m et hods produce social percept ion posit ions about
n u r ses w it h h igh agr eem en t lev els f or t h e dif f er en t ad j ect i v es; ( 3 ) t h e n on - m et r i cal soci al p er cep t i on co n t i n u u m h a s p r o t h e t i c ch a r a ct e r i st i cs; ( 4 ) t h e variabilit y of t he est im at es, indicat ed by t he geom et rical st andar d dev iat ion, is a linear funct ion of t he m ean m agnit ude ( or line lengt h m at ching) est im at es; ( 5) t he r e l a t i o n b e t w e e n t h e m a g n i t u d e a n d l i n e l e n g t h m at ching est im at es is a power funct ion whose exponent does not significant ly differ fr om 1.0 and, finally ( 6) t he scale of social per cept ions about nur ses is v alid, st able and consist ent , as t he exponent obt ained t hrough line lengt h m at ching and m agnit ude est im at es was not significant ly different from t he exponent predict ed by t he scales’ t ransit ivit y charact erist ic, t hat is, from t he ex p o n en t p r ed i ct ed b y St ev en s t h r o u g h co u n t l ess psy ch oph y sical m et h ods.
I n su m m a r y, t h e r e su l t s p r o v i d e a r a t i o m easurem ent scale of social percept ions about nurses w h ich is v alid , st ab le an d con sist en t . I n su m m ar y, t he rat io scale of social percept ion about nurses, based o n t h e j u d g m en t s o b t a i n ed f o r t h e f o u r d i f f er en t sam ples, evidences t hat t he social percept ion consist s of a block of adj ect iv es t h at con st it u t e t h e n u r sin g pr ofession al st er eot y pe: n e a t , r e spon sible , cle a n , c a r e f u l a n d e f f i c a c i o u s. Th e t r a i t s t h a t l e a s t ch a r a ct e r i ze t h e n u r se , o n t h e o t h e r h a n d , a r e :
u se le ss, sh a m e fu l, dish on e st , ir r e spon sible and
h a t e f u l . Th e a g r eem en t l ev el b et w een t h e sca l e sco r es o b t a i n ed t h r o u g h d i f f er en t p sy ch o p h y si ca l m e t h o d s i s h i g h , i n d i c a t i n g t h a t t h e s c a l e s a r e h om ogen eou s an d con sist en t .
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