Factual Questions Research Articles

Response Rates, Nonresponse Bias, and Data Quality

Survey response rate is regarded as a key data-quality indicator, yet response rate is not necessarily predictive of nonresponse bias. Our study objective was to use a high-response-rate survey to assess nonresponse bias across successive waves. This survey of healthcare leaders utilized a web-based, self-report format with an initial invitation and four nonrespondent follow-ups. Across five waves, comparisons were made for demographic and facility characteristics, proportion of items completed, and distribution of three question types: factual reports of customized categorical responses; single-item evaluations using five-point Likert scales; and multi-item scales, across four- or five-point Likert scales. The overall response rate was 95 percent (118/124); waves did not differ by demographic and facility characteristics or missing data. Across waves, there were no significant differences between responses to two factual report questions or the single- or multi-item scale measures of attitudes. According to a “what-if” analysis of cumulative results by wave, the same conclusions would have been reached if data collection had been halted at earlier points in time. Precision and statistical power increased as number of respondents accumulated by wave. The high response rate facilitated studying the impact of nonresponse bias by wave. Although high response rates are desirable because of precision and power, as survey fatigue increases, absolute thresholds representing “adequate” response rates may be less realistic. Results from “low” response-rate surveys should be considered on their merits, as they may accurately represent attitudes of the population. Therefore, low response rates should not be cited as reasons to dismiss results as uninformative.

Effect of minimal/mild hearing loss on children's speech understanding in a simulated classroom.

While classroom acoustics can affect educational performance for all students, the impact for children with minimal/mild hearing loss (MMHL) may be greater than for children with normal hearing (NH). The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of MMHL on children's speech recognition comprehension and looking behavior in a simulated classroom environment. It was hypothesized that children with MMHL would perform similarly to their peers with NH on the speech recognition task but would perform more poorly on the comprehension task. Children with MMHL also were expected to look toward talkers more often than children with NH. Eighteen children with MMHL and 18 age-matched children with NH participated. In a simulated classroom environment, children listened to lines from an elementary-age-appropriate play read by a teacher and four students reproduced over LCD monitors and loudspeakers located around the listener. A gyroscopic headtracking device was used to monitor looking behavior during the task. At the end of the play, comprehension was assessed by asking a series of 18 factual questions. Children also were asked to repeat 50 meaningful sentences with three key words each presented audio-only by a single talker either from the loudspeaker at 0 degree azimuth or randomly from the five loudspeakers. Both children with NH and those with MMHL performed at or near ceiling on the sentence recognition task. For the comprehension task, children with MMHL performed more poorly than those with NH. Assessment of looking behavior indicated that both groups of children looked at talkers while they were speaking less than 50% of the time. In addition, the pattern of overall looking behaviors suggested that, compared with older children with NH, a larger portion of older children with MMHL may demonstrate looking behaviors similar to younger children with or without MMHL. The results of this study demonstrate that, under realistic acoustic conditions, it is difficult to differentiate performance among children with MMHL and children with NH using a sentence recognition task. The more cognitively demanding comprehension task identified performance differences between these two groups. The comprehension task represented a condition in which the persons talking change rapidly and are not readily visible to the listener. Examination of looking behavior suggested that, in this complex task, attempting to visualize the talker may inefficiently utilize cognitive resources that would otherwise be allocated for comprehension.

Epistemology of Wave Function Collapse in Quantum Physics

Among several possibilities for what reality could be like in view of the empirical facts of quantum mechanics, one is provided by theories of spontaneous wave function collapse, the best known of which is the Ghirardi-Rimini-Weber (GRW) theory. We show mathematically that in GRW theory (and similar theories) there are limitations to knowledge, that is, inhabitants of a GRW universe cannot find out all the facts true about their universe. As a specific example, they cannot accurately measure the number of collapses that a given physical system undergoes during a given time interval; in fact, they cannot reliably measure whether one or zero collapses occur. Put differently, in a GRW universe certain meaningful, factual questions are empirically undecidable. We discuss several types of limitations to knowledge and compare them with those in other (no-collapse) versions of quantum mechanics, such as Bohmian mechanics. Most of our results also apply to observer-induced collapses as in orthodox quantum mechanics (as opposed to the spontaneous collapses of GRW theory).

Spacing in a simulated undergraduate classroom: Long-term benefits for factual and higher-level learning

Despite showing robust benefits in lab-based research, there remain relatively few studies exploring the spacing effect in educational contexts with meaningful materials. In this study, participants (N = 169 undergraduate students) attended a simulated university lecture where they were presented with natural science curriculum material. Participants reviewed the material either one day or eight days after the lecture via an online review. Participants completed a final test on the material five weeks after each respective review. During the review and final test participants were asked both factual and higher-level (application) questions. Results showed that reviewing material eight days after the lecture led to better final test performance for both types of questions when compared to reviewing only one day after the lecture. This study suggests that spaced review is a robust and effective strategy that can be and should be adapted to classroom practice.

CHILD MALTREATMENT IDENTIFICATION AND REPORTING BEHAVIOR OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS

A majority of substantiated maltreatment reports are made by educators and thus, teacher knowledge of child maltreatment reporting mandates and reporting behavior has been a focus of research. The knowledge and behavior of school psychologists, however, has not received similar attention. This study investigated the child maltreatment reporting behavior and knowledge of school psychologists. Practicing school psychologists (N = 274) responded to scenarios from the Crenshaw Abuse Reporting Survey—Form S (CARS‐S) that required respondents to recognize reportable child maltreatment and answer factual questions regarding the reporting mandate. A significant correlation was found between school psychologists’ accuracy in deciding whether to report and their overall knowledge of the reporting mandate. Results highlight the knowledge and behavior of school psychologists working in varied settings when presented with cases focused on differing types of maltreatment issues. Practical implications for school psychology practice and training are discussed.

Does the Sun revolve around the Earth? A comparison between the general public and online survey respondents in basic scientific knowledge.

We conducted an online survey using a set of factual science questions that are commonly administered to assess fact-based scientific literacy. We report that the online population performed substantially better on this standard assessment than the traditional survey population. For example, it has been widely reported that 1 in 4 Americans does not know that the Earth revolves around the Sun, whereas among the online population, this ratio is reduced to 1 in 25. While new online platforms provide researchers with unprecedented ease of access to a large sample population for studying trends in public knowledge and attitudes, generalizing from online population samples to the US population at large poses a considerable challenge. We discuss the potential reasons for this discrepancy and the implications for conducting research online.

Risk factors, clinical course and long-term prognosis in hidradenitis suppurativa: a cross-sectional study.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) causes considerable morbidity. The long-term prognosis is of obvious interest to both patients and physicians. We conducted this study to determine the prognosis and risk factors in patients diagnosed with HS. To describe the long-term prognosis and the clinical course of HS and its association to known risk factors. A postal follow-up survey with uncomplicated factual questions was conducted. As all of the patients were well acquainted with their long-standing disease, this was thought to be sufficient for meaningful results. All cases were diagnosed by a dermatologist. Overall, 212 patients diagnosed with HS between 1981 and 2001 were studied after a median follow-up period of 22 years (range 12-32). The overall response rate was 71.2%, with 60.8% (129/212) valid (fully completed) questionnaires. Remission was reported by 39.4% (50/127) and improvement by 31.5% (40/127). Unchanged severity was reported by 20.5% (26/127), and 8.7% (11/127) experienced worsening disease. Tobacco smoking was reported by 92.2% (119/129). Among nonsmokers, 40% (35/88) reported remission vs. 29% (17/59) of active smokers. A higher proportion of nonobese patients (45%) reported remission than obese patients (23%). We found that 39.4% of the sample reported remission of HS. Suspected risk factors appeared to influence the prognosis. Smoking and obesity were significantly linked to a lower rate of self-reported remission. The notion that lifestyle factors play a role in HS appears to be supported by this survey.

The Google Shortcut to Trademark Law

Trademark distinctiveness—the extent to which consumers view a mark as identifying a particular source—is the key factual issue in assessing whether a mark is protectable and what the scope of that protection should be. But distinctiveness is difficult to evaluate in practice: assessments of “inherent distinctiveness” are highly subjective, survey evidence is expensive and unreliable, and other measures of “acquired distinctiveness” such as advertising spending are poor proxies for consumer perceptions. But there is now a simpler way to determine whether consumers associate a word or phrase with a certain product: Google. Through a study of trademark cases and contemporaneous search results, I argue that Google can generally capture both prongs of the test for trademark distinctiveness: if a mark is strong—either inherently distinctive or commercially strong—then many top search results for that mark relate to the source it identifies. The extent of results overlap between searches for two different marks can also be relevant for assessing the likelihood of confusion of those marks. In the cases where Google and the court disagree, I argue that Google more accurately reflects how consumers view a given mark. Courts have generally given online search results little weight in offline trademark disputes. But the key factual questions in these cases depend on the wisdom of the crowds, making Google’s “algorithmic authority” highly probative.

Coastal resident knowledge of new marine reserves in Oregon: The impact of proximity and attachment

This article examines resident proximity and attachment to a new system of marine reserves in Oregon (USA), and the extent that these factors are related to both self-assessed and factual knowledge about these reserves. Data were from a survey of residents along the Oregon coast (n = 596). Residents reported higher self-assessed than factual knowledge about these reserves, which was low with 65% answering half or fewer of 16 factual questions correctly. Self-assessed and factual knowledge did not differ between communities proximate to (i.e., communities of place within 10 miles of these reserves) and more distant from these reserves (i.e., rest of coast). Factual knowledge also did not differ based on attachment to these areas, but place attachment was slightly related to aspects of self-assessed knowledge where those with higher attachment believed they were somewhat more knowledgeable about these reserves. Implications of these results for management and research are discussed.

Local Political Units and Sovereignty in the Perspective of Carl Schmitt’s Political Philosophy

To Schmitt, a parliamentary system is a direct product of the liberal rule of law, which is by itself an attempt of bourgeoisie to protect itself from the state, and as such an anti-political form. As the whole liberal position of bourgeoisie, the parliamentarism is inconsistent in its position towards political matters. The second problem of parliamentarism is that it historically represents a tool of bourgeoisie to integrate in the monarchic state and achieve political unity. The historical antagonism between the bourgeoisie and proletariat does not seem to be solved even in a present day state, being it particularly true for the post-communist states, but also the rest of the world, as clearly demonstrated by the latest economic crisis. The liberal ties of parliamentarism with representative democracy based on individual secret ballot only contribute to the problem. These notions are for Schmitt closely connected to the concept of sovereignty. A sovereign is the one who decides about the state of exception within the legal order. This power is not only a legal but also a factual question. Every political subject aspiring to gain independence should note this fact in order to be able to claim the sovereign power.

Does deliberation contribute to decreasing the gender gap in knowledge?

This article tests the role of deliberation in potentially reducing the gender gap in knowledge. It compares gender differences in knowledge of both participants and non-participants before and after the Europolis deliberative event took place by making use of the difference in difference estimation method. Findings show that deliberation increases the political knowledge of participants (especially women) suggesting that it contributes to reducing the gender gap in knowledge by providing participants not only with information and awareness about the topics discussed but also with confidence when answering factual knowledge questions. These results suggest the need to conduct further research about the way in which information–rich contexts might reduce other potential inequalities in sources of knowledge.

Analogies, metaphors, and wondering about the future: Lay sense-making around synthetic meat

Drawing on social representations theory, we explore how the public make sense of the unfamiliar, taking as the example a novel technology: synthetic meat. Data from an online deliberation study and eighteen focus groups in Belgium, Portugal and the UK indicated that the various strategies of sense-making afforded different levels of critical thinking about synthetic meat. Anchoring to genetic modification, metaphors like 'Frankenfoods' and commonplaces like 'playing God' closed off debates around potential applications of synthetic meat, whereas asking factual and rhetorical questions about it, weighing up pragmatically its risks and benefits, and envisaging changing current mentalities or behaviours in order to adapt to scientific developments enabled a consideration of synthetic meat's possible implications for agriculture, environment, and society. We suggest that research on public understanding of technology should cultivate a climate of active thinking and should encourage questioning during the process of sense-making to try to reduce unhelpful anchoring.

Specialized Trial Courts: Concentrating Expertise on Fact

In the absence of a specialized patent trial court with expertise in fact-finding, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit often reviews de novo the many factual questions that pervade patent law. De novo review of fact by an appellate court is problematic. In the area of patent law, as in other areas of law, there are sound institutional justifications for the conventional division of labor that gives trial courts primary responsibility for questions of law. This Article identifies the problems created by de novo appellate review of fact and argues for the creation of a specialized trial court to which the Federal Circuit would feel compelled to defer on questions of fact. It also discusses how such a court would be designed, focusing on the manner in which trial court judges could use the court-appointed advisors to evaluate competing factual claims.

A day without a search engine: an experimental study of online and offline searches

With the evolution of the Web and development of web-based search engines, online searching has become a common method for obtaining information. Given this popularity, the question arises as to how much time people save by using search engines for their information needs compared to offline sources, as well as how online searching affects both search experiences and search outcomes. Using a random sample of queries from a major search engine and a sample of reference questions from the Internet Public Library (IPL), we conduct a real-effort experiment to compare online and offline search experiences and outcomes. We find that participants are significantly more likely to find an answer on the Web (100 %), compared to offline searching (between 87 % and 90 %). Restricting our analysis to the set of questions in which participants find answers in both treatments, a Web search takes on average 7 (9) minutes, whereas the corresponding offline search takes 22 (19) minutes for a search-engine (IPL) question. Furthermore, while raters judge library sources to be significantly more trustworthy and authoritative than the corresponding Web sources, they judge Web sources as significantly more relevant. Balancing all factors, we find that the overall source quality is not significantly different between the two treatments for the set of search-engine questions. However, for IPL questions, we find that non-Web sources are judged to have significantly higher overall quality than the corresponding Web sources. In comparison, for factual questions, Web search results are significantly more likely to be correct (66 % vs. 43 %). Lastly, post-search questionnaires reveal that participants find online searching more enjoyable than offline searching.

Social influence and the collective dynamics of opinion formation.

Social influence is the process by which individuals adapt their opinion, revise their beliefs, or change their behavior as a result of social interactions with other people. In our strongly interconnected society, social influence plays a prominent role in many self-organized phenomena such as herding in cultural markets, the spread of ideas and innovations, and the amplification of fears during epidemics. Yet, the mechanisms of opinion formation remain poorly understood, and existing physics-based models lack systematic empirical validation. Here, we report two controlled experiments showing how participants answering factual questions revise their initial judgments after being exposed to the opinion and confidence level of others. Based on the observation of 59 experimental subjects exposed to peer-opinion for 15 different items, we draw an influence map that describes the strength of peer influence during interactions. A simple process model derived from our observations demonstrates how opinions in a group of interacting people can converge or split over repeated interactions. In particular, we identify two major attractors of opinion: (i) the expert effect, induced by the presence of a highly confident individual in the group, and (ii) the majority effect, caused by the presence of a critical mass of laypeople sharing similar opinions. Additional simulations reveal the existence of a tipping point at which one attractor will dominate over the other, driving collective opinion in a given direction. These findings have implications for understanding the mechanisms of public opinion formation and managing conflicting situations in which self-confident and better informed minorities challenge the views of a large uninformed majority.

Comprensión de narraciones orales en niños con Trastorno Específico del Lenguaje

El propósito del trabajo es aportar información sobre la comprensión de narraciones orales de un grupo de niños chilenos con TEL sin problemas pragmáticos. Participaron 60 niños distribuidos en tres grupos: 20 niños con TEL con una edad promedio de 6,6 años, 20 niños pareados por edad cronológica y 20 niños equiparados por edad lingüística. Ambos grupos controles presentaban desarrollo típico de lenguaje. Se evalúa la comprensión narrativa con preguntas literales e inferenciales a partir de tres cuentos. Los resultados muestran que los niños con TEL se asemejan a sus controles lingüísticos al considerar la comprensión global de la narración y también la de preguntas literales e inferenciales, diferenciándose signifi cativamente de los controles cronológicos.

Perception and reality: Public knowledge of plug-in electric vehicles in 21 U.S. cities

This paper examines the extent of consumer knowledge about plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) and the current policies in place to encourage their purchase and use. Data are collected via a survey administered to a sample of 2302 adult drivers in 21 of the largest cities in the United States. Almost two-thirds of the respondents provided incorrect answers to basic factual questions about PEVs and, of those, approximately 75% underestimated their private value or advantages. The vast majority (94.5%) of respondents were not aware of the current state and local incentives in place in their locale to encourage PEV purchase and use. Based on a review of consumer theory, multivariate models are developed and used to assess the factors associated with consumer interest in the two major types of PEV technologies, Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV). Results show demographic and attitudinal characteristics having the largest influence on interest in either type of PEV. Misperceptions about purchase price and expected fuel and maintenance savings are likewise significant, although their impacts differ between BEVs and PHEVs. Better informing consumers about already available public incentives and advantageous aspects of existing PEV technologies offer promising steps toward their mass commercialization.

Encouraging Children to Think Counterfactually Enhances Blocking in a Causal Learning Task

According to a higher order reasoning account, inferential reasoning processes underpin the widely observed cue competition effect of blocking in causal learning. The inference required for blocking has been described as modus tollens (if p then q, not q therefore not p). Young children are known to have difficulties with this type of inference, but research with adults suggests that this inference is easier if participants think counterfactually. In this study, 100 children (51 five-year-olds and 49 six- to seven-year-olds) were assigned to two types of pretraining groups. The counterfactual group observed demonstrations of cues paired with outcomes and answered questions about what the outcome would have been if the causal status of cues had been different, whereas the factual group answered factual questions about the same demonstrations. Children then completed a causal learning task. Counterfactual pretraining enhanced levels of blocking as well as modus tollens reasoning but only for the younger children. These findings provide new evidence for an important role for inferential reasoning in causal learning.

Structural Constitutionalism as Counterterrorism

During the past decade, federal courts have adjudicated proliferating challenges to novel policy responses to terrorism. Judges often resolve the individual rights and statutory interpretation questions implicated in those controversies by deploying presumptions or rules of thumb derived from the Constitution’s Separation of Powers. These “structural constitutional presumptions” serve as heuristics to facilitate adjudication and to enable judicial bypass of difficult legal, policy, and factual questions. This Article challenges the use of such structural presumptions in counterterrorism cases. Drawing upon recent empirical research in political science, political psychology, and security studies, it demonstrates that abstract eighteenth-century Separation of Powers ideals do not translate into robust and empirically defensible generalizations for twenty-first-century security decisions. Structural constitutionalism thus cannot serve as a foundation for heuristics or shortcuts in the judicial consideration of new security measures. To the extent courts properly pass on the legality of counterterrorism policies, judges should rely instead on the ordinary tools of doctrine, statutory construction, and fact finding. The ensuing jurisprudence of counterterrorism would look much more like ordinary public law.

Development of a Questionnaire and Cross-Sectional Survey of Patient eHealth Readiness and eHealth Inequalities.

BackgroundMany speak of the digital divide, but variation in the opportunity of patients to use the Internet for health (patient eHealth readiness) is not a binary difference, rather a distribution influenced by personal capability, provision of services, support, and cost. Digital divisions in health have been addressed by various initiatives, but there was no comprehensive validated measure to know if they are effective that could be used in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) covering both non-Internet-users and the range of Internet-users.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to develop and validate a self-completed questionnaire and scoring system to assess patient eHealth readiness by examining the spread of scores and eHealth inequalities. The intended use of this questionnaire and scores is in RCTs of interventions aiming to improve patient eHealth readiness and reduce eHealth inequalities.MethodsBased on four factors identified from the literature, a self-completed questionnaire, using a pragmatic combination of factual and attitude questions, was drafted and piloted in three stages. This was followed by a final population-based, cross-sectional household survey of 344 people used to refine the scoring system.ResultsThe Patient eHealth Readiness Questionnaire (PERQ) includes questions used to calculate four subscores: patients’ perception of (1) provision, (2) their personal ability and confidence, (3) their interpersonal support, and (4) relative costs in using the Internet for health. These were combined into an overall PERQ score (0-9) which could be used in intervention studies. Reduction in standard deviation of the scores represents reduction in eHealth inequalities.ConclusionsPERQ appears acceptable for participants in British studies. The scores produced appear valid and will enable assessment of the effectiveness of interventions to improve patient eHealth readiness and reduce eHealth inequalities. Such methods need continued evolution and redevelopment for other environments. Full documentation and data have been published to allow others to develop the tool further.