Survey-based Studies Research Articles

A quick guide for using Microsoft OneNote as an electronic laboratory notebook.

Scientific data recording and reporting systems are of a great interest for endorsing reproducibility and transparency practices among the scientific community. Current research generates large datasets that can no longer be documented using paper lab notebooks (PLNs). In this regard, electronic laboratory notebooks (ELNs) could be a promising solution to replace PLNs and promote scientific reproducibility and transparency. We previously analyzed five ELNs and performed two survey-based studies to implement an ELN in a biomedical research institute. Among the ELNs tested, we found that Microsoft OneNote presents numerous features related to ELN best functionalities. In addition, both surveyed groups preferred OneNote over a scientifically designed ELN (PerkinElmer Elements). However, OneNote remains a general note-taking application and has not been designed for scientific purposes. We therefore provide a quick guide to adapt OneNote to an ELN workflow that can also be adjusted to other nonscientific ELNs.

Finasteride for Androgenetic Alopecia Is Not Associated with Sexual Dysfunction: A Survey-Based, Single-Centre, Controlled Study

Background: The occurrence of sexual dysfunction side-effects associated with finasteride use in men with androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is thought to be less prevalent than is publicized. There is a need to investigate sexual dysfunction among finasteride users with population-based controls. Objective: To evaluate the presence of sexual dysfunction in men using finasteride or not using finasteride. Method: Adult men visiting a dermatologist9s office for any reason were asked to complete a survey including a modified version of the Arizona Sexual Experience Scale (ASEX) to assess the presence of sexual dysfunction with and without finasteride use. Results: Data from 762 men aged 18-82 were collected: 663 finasteride users and 99 non-finasteride users. There were no significant differences between finasteride users and non-user controls in reporting sexual dysfunction using the ASEX. Regression analysis indicated that self-reporting libido loss and reduced sexual performance, not finasteride use, predict a higher ASEX score. Conclusion: The use of finasteride does not result in sexual dysfunction in men with AGA. These data are consistent with other large survey-based controlled studies.

Survey methods for neuropsychologists: A review of typical methodological pitfalls and suggested solutions

Objective: Survey research has enjoyed an increase in popularity, in part due to the availability of user-friendly software programs for online survey development and deployment. Neuropsychologists often use this methodology to learn about common clinical practices and attitudes in the field or to assess outcomes for patients. This paper aims to provide an overview of sound methods and common problems in survey research, along with specific recommendations for neuropsychologists wishing to conduct their own surveys or judge the quality of survey research. We also discuss some recent challenges and changes in the field of survey methodology.Method: We provide a brief literature review on survey design and methodology, as well as a review of recent studies addressing current challenges such as sampling, measurement, and response rates.Results: We suggest best practices that should be implemented when designing, administering and reporting on neuropsychological survey-based research studies. We discuss two approaches to improve survey design, Total Survey Error and the Tailored Design Method.Conclusions: In spite of the current challenges in modern survey research, with lower response rates and the proliferation of internet surveys, survey research continues to be a valuable tool in neuropsychology. We offer a list of DO’s and DON’T’s to guide neuropsychologists planning to conduct surveys of their field.

Finasteride for androgenetic alopecia is not associated with sexual dysfunction: a survey-based, single-centre, controlled study.

The occurrence of sexual dysfunction side-effects associated with finasteride use in men with androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is thought to be less prevalent than is publicized. There is a need to investigate sexual dysfunction among finasteride users with population-based controls. To evaluate the presence of sexual dysfunction in men using finasteride or not using finasteride. Adult men visiting a dermatologist's office for any reason were asked to complete a survey including a modified version of the Arizona Sexual Experience Scale (ASEX) to assess the presence of sexual dysfunction with and without finasteride use. Data from 762 men aged 18-82 were collected: 663 finasteride users and 99 non-finasteride users. There were no significant differences between finasteride users and non-user controls in reporting sexual dysfunction using the ASEX. Regression analysis indicated that self-reporting libido loss and reduced sexual performance, not finasteride use, predict a higher ASEX score. The use of finasteride does not result in sexual dysfunction in men with AGA. These data are consistent with other large survey-based controlled studies.

Intra-urban location of stores and labour turnover in retail

ABSTRACTThe aim of this paper is to analyse labour turnover in retail firms with stores in different city locations. This case study of a Swedish mid-sized city uses comprehensive longitudinal register data on individuals. In a first step, an unconditional descriptive analysis shows that labour turnover in retail is higher in out-of-town locations, compared to more central locations in the city. In a second step, a generalized linear model (GLM) analysis is conducted where labour turnover in downtown and out-of-town locations are compared. Firm internal and industry factors, as well as employee characteristics, and location-specific factors are controlled for. The results indicate that commuting costs and intra-urban location have no statistically significant effect on labour turnover in retail firms. Instead, firm internal factors, such as human resource management, has a major influence on labour turnover rates. The findings indicate that in particular firms with multiple locations may need to pay extra attention to work conditions across stores in different places in a city, in order to avoid diverging levels of labour mobility. This paper complements previous survey-based studies on labour turnover by using a comprehensive micro-level dataset to analyse revealed rather than stated preferences concerning job-to-job mobility. An elaborated measure of labour turnover is used to analyse differences between shopping areas in different locations within the city. The particular research design used in this paper makes it possible to isolate the effect of intra-organizational conditions by analysing mobility within firms with workplaces in both downtown and out-of-town locations. This is the first comprehensive study of labour turnover and mobility with an intra-urban perspective in the retail sector.

Abstract # 2070 The mental health and wellbeing of medical trainees – autonomic, immunological and behavioural considerations

News of unacceptable levels of mental health problems among medical trainees was widely broadcast. The available evidence is largely derived from survey-based studies. Less is known about biological concomitants of distress in this group. In a series of studies, we assessed behavioural (health behaviours, sleep, cognitive performance), and biological (autonomic and inflammatory) contributors to wellbeing in more than 300 medial trainees. Psychiatric interviews (M.I.N.I.7) were conducted in a subset of 150 student doctors. Autonomic activity was derived from ambulatory electrocardiogram (Equivital, UK). C-reactive protein levels were determined via HS-ELISA (Invitrogen, Australia). Consistent with previous reports, 32% of respondents reported substantive psychological distress (Kessler10 > 20). This was linked to poor sleep quality (p 8) were more likely to have mental health problems (p = 0.027), disordered sleep (p = 0.035), and CRP levels above 3 mg/L (0.016). Disturbances in biological systems are evident in student doctors who experience mental health problems during their training. This may engender a vicious cycle of ill health at great cost to the individual and society.

Inclusive leadership and team innovation: The role of team voice and performance pressure

In today's complex and rapidly changing business environment, team innovation is increasingly critical to the survival and success of organizations. Although the relevant literature highlights the importance of leadership in team innovation, previous studies have mainly focused on transformational leadership and have yielded inconsistent results. To address this void, this study integrates the goal-setting theory into the input-process-output framework and proposes a moderated mediation model to examine the relationship between inclusive leadership and team innovation. The results of hierarchical regression analysis from two survey-based field studies in China demonstrated that team voice mediated the relationship between inclusive leadership and team innovation and performance pressure moderated the direct relationship between inclusive leadership and team voice as well as the indirect relationship between inclusive leadership and team innovation via team voice such that the relationships were stronger when performance pressure was high.

Neighborhood affluence is not associated with positive and negative valence processing in adults with mood and anxiety disorders: A Bayesian inference approach.

Survey-based studies show that neighborhood disadvantage is associated with community reported mental health problems. However, fewer studies have examined whether neighborhood characteristics have measurable impact on mental health status of individuals in general and whether neighborhood characteristics impact positive/negative valence processing at both behavioral and brain levels. This study addressed these questions by investigating effects of census-based neighborhood affluence on self-reported symptoms, brain functions, and structures associated with positive/negative valence processing in a sample of individuals with mood and anxiety disorders (n = 262). Employing a Bayesian inference approach, our investigation demonstrates that neighborhood affluence fails to be associated with positive/negative valence processing measured across multiple modalities, with the only effects of neighborhood affluence identified in trait anxiety scores. These findings highlight that while community-based relationships between neighborhood characteristics and mental health problems are strong, it is much less clear that these characteristics have a measurable impact on the individual.

Procurement 4.0: How the digital disruption supports cost-reduction in Procurement

Abstract Paper aims “Without purchasing, Industry 4.0 will not take place”. Procurement ensures supplies at the lowest level of costs. Those costs account for more than 50% of the gross production value. This paper analyses, explains and proves that digitization reduces cost even further. Originality This empirical examination as well as the explanatory approach are key supplements to previous survey-based studies on the effect of digitization on procurement costs. Research method The digitized procurement process and the application of technologies were analysed in detail by establishing a Procurement 4.0-Framework in order to prove evidence of digitally induced cost-cutting effects. The hypothesis that the use of Industry 4.0-Technologies leads to cost reductions is empirically tested with data by the federal statistical office. The Pearson correlation coefficient measures the strength of correlation between the degree of technology usage and costs of material and commodities. The correlations are empirically tested using a t-test. Main findings The correlations’ strength between digitization and the development of procurement costs enables to confirm the hypothesis and allows an in-depth analysis of technology-specific effects based on a Procurement 4.0-Framework. Implications for theory and practice This paper effectively supports the implementation of technologies for the reduction of costs.

Facebook Digital Traces for Survey Research: Assessing the Efficiency and Effectiveness of a Facebook Ad–Based Procedure for Recruiting Online Survey Respondents in Niche and Difficult-to-Reach Populations

Survey-based studies are increasingly experimenting with strategies that employ digital footprints left by users on social media as entry points for recruiting participants and complementary data sources. In this perspective, the Facebook advertising platform provides unique opportunities and challenges through its marketing tools that target advertisements based on users’ demographics, behaviors, and interests. This article presents a procedure that employed the most recent developments in Facebook marketing tools to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of an innovative method for recruiting niche and traditionally hard-to-reach respondents. Although the multiple innovations introduced in the method hinder a proper comparison with previous studies, the survey provides evidence concerning the efficacy of the procedure and offers scholars a set of implementations to design future comparable Facebook ad–based surveys. Challenges, opportunities, and results for effectiveness are discussed in light of a previous survey on Italian adults carried out with a panel-based computer-assisted web interviewing method.

Young People, Digital Media, and Engagement: A Meta-Analysis of Research

New technologies raise fears in public discourse. In terms of digital media use and youth, the advice has been to monitor and limit access to minimize the negative impacts. However, this advice would also limit the positive impacts of digital media. One such positive impact is increased engagement in civic and political life. This article uses meta-analysis techniques to summarize the findings from 106 survey-based studies (965 coefficients) about youth, digital media use, and engagement in civic and political life. In this body of research, there is little evidence to suggest that digital media use is having dire impacts on youth’s engagement. We find that the positive impacts depend on directly political uses of digital media, such as blogging, reading online news, and online political discussion. These online activities have off-line consequences on participation, such as contacting officials, talking politics, volunteering, and protesting. We also find a very strong relationship between online political activities, such as joining political groups and signing petitions, with off-line political activities, which undermine claims of slacktivism among youth. Finally, while research generally assumes a causal flow from digital media to participation, the evidence for the alternative causal flow is strong and has very different implications on interventions designed to address youth’s levels of engagement in civic and political life.

1156. Observation of Stethoscope Sanitation Practices in an Emergency Department Setting

BackgroundNosocomial infections pose significant risk to patients and hygienic standards may be easily overlooked, especially in fast-paced emergency department settings. Studies have shown that stethoscopes can harbor pathogens, which can be transferred to patients when proper sanitary measures are not taken. Survey-based studies have mostly assessed stethoscope hygiene, but they may not accurately represent cleaning practice. This study aimed to accurately assess cleaning practice through observation of stethoscope cleaning and hand hygiene among medical providers in an emergency department setting.MethodsFour hundred twenty-six provider–patient encounters were observed in the emergency department of the VA San Diego Healthcare System. The frequency and methods of stethoscope and hand hygiene practices were anonymously observed and recorded. Stethoscope hygiene was recorded during and after each encounter if cleaning took place for at least 15 seconds. Hand hygiene data were also gathered before and after each encounter. Data analysis was performed to determine the frequency of these practices.ResultsOf 426 encounters, 115 involved the use of a personal stethoscope. In 15 of 115 encounters (13.0%), the provider placed a glove over the stethoscope before patient contact. Following patient interaction, 13 of 115 encounters (11.3%) involved stethoscope hygiene with an alcohol swab. Stethoscope hygiene with water and hand towel before patient interaction was observed in 5 of 115 encounters (4.3%). Hand sanitizer use or hand washing was observed in 213 of 426 encounters (50.0%) before patient interaction. Gloves were also used prior to patient interaction in 206 of 426 (48.4%) encounters, some overlapping with those who used hand sanitizer or washed their hands. Hand sanitizer or hand washing was used in 332 of 426 encounters (77.9%) after patient interaction.ConclusionOnly 11.3% of encounters involving the use of a personal stethoscope had stethoscope sanitation with an alcohol swab. In 4.3% post-encounters, there was an attempt to clean stethoscopes with water and towel. Rates of appropriate hand hygiene were also lower than expected. Stethoscope and hand hygiene standards need to be raised to reduce infection risk and further studies need to be conducted to set guidelines for adequate stethoscope sanitation.Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.

Why we can’t have nice things: Replications, applied external theories and accumulated knowledge

• Replication and extension of two recent opportunity assessment survey-based studies. • Replicated results for new sample in opposite direction than in original studies. • Evidence that application of general external theories to the field can be misleading. • Results support that entrepreneurs and their phenomena are unlike relevant peers. • Replications and extensions will uncover issues that will improve the field.

Tourism-philia versus tourism-phobia: residents and destination management organization’s publicly expressed tourism perceptions in Barcelona

The current research on hosts’ perceptions of tourism has focused on survey-based studies, proving their heterogeneity at the moment of the study, but lacking to present any evolution over time. This paper aims to show if, and how, hosts’ public narratives of tourism have changed in the particular case of the city of Barcelona (Spain) from 2004 to 2015, analyzing any common and opposing points of their argumentation as they may change over time. These narratives represent the perspectives of two opposing groups of hosts: residents and destination management organizations (DMOs). We used thematic analysis to portray their public discourse, as expressed in the residents’ magazine Carrer, and the annual reports of Turisme de Barcelona. Through the analysis of common and opposing points of their argumentation, our findings show a clear division between the residents’ tourism-phobic perception and the DMO’s tourism-philic one, which appears to change their structure over time, going from complete opposites to searching for common ground when tourism is addressed as part of the city’s identity by both sides.

Factors associated with participation and completion of a survey-based study

PurposeThe Healthy Work Place (HWP) study investigated methods to improve clinicians’ dissatisfaction and burnout. The purpose of this paper is to identify factors that influenced study enrollment and completion and assess effects of initial clinic site enrollment rates on clinician outcomes, including satisfaction, burnout, stress and intent to leave practice.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 144 primary care clinicians (general internists, family physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants) at 14 primary care clinics were analyzed.FindingsIn total, 72 clinicians enrolled in the study and completed the first survey (50 percent enrollment rate). Of these, 10 did not complete the second survey (86 percent completion rate). Gender, type, burnout, stress and intervention did not significantly affect survey completion. Hence, widespread agreement about most moral/ethical issues (72 percent vs 22 percent; p=0.0060) and general agreement on treatment methods (81 percent vs 50 percent; p=0.0490) were reported by providers that completed both surveys as opposed to just the initial survey. Providers with high initial clinic site enrollment rates (=50 percent providers) obtained better outcomes, including improvements in or no worsening of satisfaction (odds ratio (OR)=19.16; p=0.0217) and burnout (OR=6.24; p=0.0418).Social implicationsMore providers experiencing workplace agreement completed the initial and final surveys, and providers at sites with higher initial enrollment rates obtained better outcomes including a higher rate of improvement or no worsening of job satisfaction and burnout.Originality/valueThere is limited research on clinicians’ workplace and other factors that influence their participation in survey-based studies. The findings help us to understand how these factors may affect quality of data collecting and outcome. Thus, the study provides us insight for improvement of quality in primary care.

ADHD prevalence estimates in Italian children and adolescents: a methodological issue

BackgroundAttention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is recognized as the most common, and most studied, developmental age disorder. Basic information, such as the most appropriate case definition and the best way to evaluate the disorder’s prevalence rate, however, remains an open issue.MethodsA comprehensive meta-analysis on the epidemiology of ADHD in Italy, which was lacking from the literature, was therefore performed to attempt to estimate the actual prevalence rate of ADHD, highlighting conceptual and quantitative differences between clinical-diagnosis and survey-based symptoms studies. The Medline, Embase, and PsycINFO databases, and the grey literature, were searched up to January 2018. The review was laid out in three main sections: an overall prevalence estimate, an epidemiological profile of ADHD symptoms, and an attempt to define the actual rate of ADHD diagnosis, as emerged from Italian studies.ResultsA total of 15 unique studies were included. These contributed to estimating the prevalence of ADHD in 67,838 subjects aged 5–17, representing 9 of the 20 regions (45%) of Italy. Overall, the pooled prevalence of ADHD was 2.9% (range: 1.1–16.7%). When distinguishing studies based on case definition, however, we found an average prevalence estimate, based on symptoms criteria, of 5.9% (range: 1.4 to 16.7%) and a best-estimate prevalence rate of 1.4% (range: 1.1 to 3.1%).ConclusionsFollowing the case definition for epidemiological studies of ADHD, counting only subjects with an ADHD diagnosis performed and confirmed by clinical assessment would reduce the wide variability in prevalence estimates, and, above all, would both describe the real rate of subjects suffering from ADHD disorder and avoid misdiagnosis.

Missing Data Techniques and the Statistical Conclusion Validity of Survey-Based Alcohol and Drug Use Research Studies: A Review and Comment on Reproducibility

The goal of the present review was to examine whether or not the use of modern missing data techniques impacts the statistical conclusion validity of research on alcohol and drug use outcomes in survey-based research studies. We identified 28 papers and received complete case data from the authors of 12 studies. Seven studies (25%) reported the missing data pattern (missing not at random [MNAR], missing at random [MAR], missing completely at random [MCAR]), 15 studies (53.6%) indicated the amount of missing observations in the data set, and a significant proportion of studies ( n = 13, 46.4%) did not report any of the conditions or assumptions under which the missing data analysis was performed or implemented. Six of the 12 (50%) studies analyzed reported a different number of statistically significant associations between the complete case and full sample analyses. Efforts should be made to make missing data analysis more accessible, easy to implement and report to improve transparency and reproducibility of findings.

On cyberbullying incidents and underlying online social relationships

Cyberbullying is an important social challenge that takes place over a technical substrate. Thus, it has attracted research interest across both computational and social science research communities. While the social science studies conducted via careful participant selection have shown the effect of personality, social relationships, and psychological factors on cyberbullying, they are often limited in scale due to manual survey or ethnographic study components. Computational approaches on the other hand have defined multiple automated approaches for detecting cyberbullying at scale, and have largely focused only on the textual content of the messages exchanged. There are no existing efforts aimed at testing, validating, and potentially refining the findings from traditional bullying literature as obtained via surveys and ethnographic studies at scale over online environments. By analyzing the social relationship graph between users in an online social network and deriving features such as out-degree centrality and the number of common friends, we find that multiple social characteristics are statistically different between the cyberbullying and non-bullying groups, thus supporting many, but not all, of the results found in previous survey-based bullying studies. The results pave way for better understanding of the cyberbullying phenomena at scale.

Quality of reporting web-based and non-web-based survey studies: What authors, reviewers and consumers should consider.

BackgroundSeveral influential aspects of survey research have been under-investigated and there is a lack of guidance on reporting survey studies, especially web-based projects. In this review, we aim to investigate the reporting practices and quality of both web- and non-web-based survey studies to enhance the quality of reporting medical evidence that is derived from survey studies and to maximize the efficiency of its consumption.MethodsReporting practices and quality of 100 random web- and 100 random non-web-based articles published from 2004 to 2016 were assessed using the SUrvey Reporting GuidelinE (SURGE). The CHERRIES guideline was also used to assess the reporting quality of Web-based studies.ResultsOur results revealed a potential gap in the reporting of many necessary checklist items in both web-based and non-web-based survey studies including development, description and testing of the questionnaire, the advertisement and administration of the questionnaire, sample representativeness and response rates, incentives, informed consent, and methods of statistical analysis.ConclusionOur findings confirm the presence of major discrepancies in reporting results of survey-based studies. This can be attributed to the lack of availability of updated universal checklists for quality of reporting standards. We have summarized our findings in a table that may serve as a roadmap for future guidelines and checklists, which will hopefully include all types and all aspects of survey research.

Anatomy of use-inspired researchers: From Pasteur’s Quadrant to Pasteur’s Cube model

Pasteur’s Quadrant model, published by Stokes in 1997, presents a two-dimensional abstract conceptual framework that proved immensely helpful to study and discuss institutional and policy arrangements in science. However, during the last 10 years the PQ model was also applied in a series of large-scale, survey-based studies worldwide to classify individual modern-day researchers according to their research orientation and performance.This paper argues that such applications are inadequate to capture key characteristics of individual researchers, especially those within the heterogeneous ‘Pasteur type’ group who engage in ‘use-inspired’ basic scientific research. Addressing this shortcoming, Pasteur’s Cube (PC) model introduces a new heuristic tool. Departing from a three-dimensional conceptual framework of research-related activities, the model enables a range of typologies to describe and study the large variety of academics at today’s research-intensive universities. The PC model’s analytical robustness was tested empirically in two interrelated ‘proof of concept’ studies: an exploratory survey among 150 European universities and a follow-up case study of Leiden University in the Netherlands. Both studies, collecting data for the years 2010–2015, applied a metrics-based taxonomy to classify individual academic researchers according to four performance categories: scientific publication output, research collaboration with the business sector, patents filings, and being engaging in entrepreneurial activities.The collective results of both studies provide more clarity on relevant subgroups of use-inspired researchers. The PC model can be used to guide empirical, metrics-based investigations of research activities and productivities, applies this approach to two case studies, and demonstrates the utility of the method while also reinforcing and enriching the growing body of literature showing that cross-sectoral and cross-functional research activities are more scientifically productive than research carried out in isolation of the context of use. Introducing the ‘Crossover Collaborator’ subtype helps to explain why Pasteur type researchers tend to outperform other types of researchers in terms of publication output and citation impact.