study pack 2 psch soc passage 9

Passage 9 (6 questions)

Research Method A (RMA) is a study design that has become common for health-related studies since the early 2000s because it allows respondents to build off one another's responses and reflect on and refine their views as they discuss issues with other respondents. 

A group of researchers conducted in-depth interviews with RMA moderators to explore the challenges and advantages of RMA for studying complex health issues in a West European country. The respondents were researchers on a project aimed at developing an online electronic personal health record to encourage patients to be more involved in their health. Respondents moderated RMA sessions with healthcare professionals and patients with type 2 diabetes and colorectal cancer, which can develop over time due to risk exposure and are more common among middle-aged and older adults.

The moderators discussed individual-level barriers to recruiting respondents for RMA sessions. Barriers to recruiting patients included childcare responsibilities for women, poor physical health, and the dislike of talking in public. According to the moderators, communicating that the patients are in a safe and trusting environment significantly improved their level of participation in sessions.

Unlike patient-based sessions, moderators reported that when physicians were given unlimited time to introduce themselves at the beginning, they discussed their expertise at length, which dissuaded physicians from discussing their personal experiences. Moderators also said that when clinicians participated in RMA locations outside of their clinics, they seemed to distance themselves better from their work duties and were more fully engaged in the moderated conversations. 

RMA sessions with a mix of healthcare professionals and expertise areas were considered to be particularly productive. However, differences in occupational rank could impact RMA sessions in other ways. Recruiting healthcare professionals was more effective in person if someone of a higher position recruited the potential respondent. Moreover, medical assistants felt inhibited from participating in RMA sessions when they were with superiors. Due to their subordinate position, medical assistants were worried that their superiors would consider them to be less knowledgeable if their views conflicted with those of their superiors.

Based on the final paragraph, which factor most likely influences the participation of healthcare professionals?

A

Social stratification

B

Social reproduction

C

Status inconsistency

D

Ascribed status

Solution: The correct answer is A.

1. Social stratification is a hierarchy where communities of different social backgrounds, such as gender, race/ethnicity, and class, have unequal access to resources. The final paragraph describes how recruitment from a superior was effective and how lower-status occupations (such as medical assistants) were inhibited from participating in front of superiors. Both demonstrate an influence from the class hierarchy among healthcare professionals, which is reflective of social stratification.

2. Social reproduction is when social institutions reinforce and perpetuate existing hierarchies of inequality. While the question prompt and final paragraph both point to unequal occupational statuses, neither discusses how healthcare is helping to perpetuate these status differences.  

3. Status inconsistency refers to the imbalance between the prestige of a social status and the social power that status occupies. The passage discussion is not relevant to status inconsistency. 

4. An ascribed status is a status that one is born into (for example, family-class background) or involuntarily placed into (for example, a prisoner). Occupational statuses are achieved statuses—a status that an individual works toward or joins voluntarily.  

Which factor would most directly influence the effectiveness of the project that the RMA moderators worked on?

A

Patients' level of activism in political globalization

Answer choice eliminated

B

Patients' level of familiarity with cultural globalization

Answer choice eliminated

C

Patients' level of participation in economic globalization

D

Patients' level of immersion in technological globalization

Solution: The correct answer is D.

1. Political globalization refers to the expansion of political systems at an international level. Political globalization would not necessarily influence the use of online electronic health records.

2. Cultural globalization refers to the expansion of cultural values and practices at an international level. Cultural globalization would not necessarily influence the use of online electronic health records.

3. Economic globalization refers to the expansion of economic operations at an international level. Economic globalization would not directly influence the effectiveness of the use of online electronic health records.

4. The project discussed in the passage focuses on developing an online electronic personal health record to encourage patients to be more involved in their health. Immersion in technological globalization would influence the use of communication technologies that facilitate online access to the electronic health records.

hich research method best represents RMA?

A

Ethnography

B

Field experiment

C

Focus group

D

Survey

Solution: The correct answer is C.

1. Ethnography is a qualitative research method to make in-person observations in a cultural setting over an extended period of time. RMA is not an ethnographic study.

2. Experiment is a quantitative research method where all external factors are isolated, and the independent variable is manipulated to establish causality. RMA is not based on an experimental design.

3. Focus group is a research method where multiple participants are brought together into a discussion, responding to open-ended questions. The study indicates that respondents build off one another's responses and reflect on and refine their views as they discuss issues with other respondents. This is most consistent with a focus group approach.

4. Survey is a method where respondents are asked closed-ended questions so that the responses can be statistically analyzed. RMA is not a survey method.

Which condition would most likely pose a culture lag relevant to the study?

A

Younger patients without stable internet services will be less likely to engage with their electronic personal health records.

Answer choice eliminated

B

Having access to personal electronic health records will lessen the stigma associated with chronic illnesses for patients of all ages.  

C

Working-age patients will not experience a difficulty in following their health status based on their electronic personal health records.

D

The use of electronic personal health records will be considered problematic by the elderly patients before it becomes part of their daily routines.

Solution: The correct answer is D.

1. Highlighting that some individuals do not have as much access to communication and informational technologies indicates socioeconomic inequalities. This is not an example of culture lag.

2. Using technology to lessen the shame associated with chronic illnesses emphasizes stigmatization rather than cultural lag. 

3. Focusing on age differences in adopting new technology better describes generational cohort differences or a life history approach to embracing technology than cultural lag. 

4. Culture lag refers to the dynamic in which cultural and social norms take time to catch up to technological innovation, and social issues emerge in the application of these new technologies. Experiencing problems before adopting electronic personal health records as part of daily routines suggests a cultural lag.

Which construct is most relevant to medical assistants' inhibition when participating in RMA sessions in the presence of their superiors?

A

Impression management

B

Incongruence

C

Obedience

D

Self-serving bias

Solution: The correct answer is A.

1. Impression management refers to attempts by an individual to control how they are perceived by others. The medical assistants are less likely to share during RMA sessions with their superiors because they are concerned regarding how their superiors will perceive them.

2. Incongruence is a humanistic term that refers to the discrepancy between the actual and ideal selves. The medical assistants are worried about how others perceive them, not about their own self-image.

3. Obedience is modifying one's behavior in response to the direct orders of an authority figure. Although medical assistants are concerned about participating in front of their superiors, their concerns are not directly relevant to being obedient.

4. Self-serving bias refers to the tendency to attribute one’s successes to internal, stable traits, and failures to situational factors. This is not relevant to the medical assistants becoming more inhibited in the presence of their superiors.

Which construct best explains clinicians' level of engagement with the moderated conversations when the conversations were held outside of their clinics?

A

Deindividuation 

Answer choice eliminated

B

Diffusion of responsibility

C

Selective attention

D

Social facilitation

Solution: The correct answer is C.

1. Deindividuation is a state of reduced individuality, reduced self-awareness, and reduced attention to personal standards that occurs when individuals are part of a group and separated from their usual identities. Although the passage describes clinicians behaving differently when they are distanced from their work duties, there is no evidence that they experience deindividuation or that deindividuation would explain their greater engagement with the conversations.

2. Diffusion of responsibility occurs when being in a group reduces the individual sense of responsibility to take action. Although moderated conversations are described as taking place in a group, diffusion of responsibility cannot explain why clinicians show greater engagement when the groups are held outside their clinics.

3. Selective attention occurs when individuals channel their attention to the target stimulus, ignoring other stimuli, and is associated with improved performance. The passage describes that when clinicians participate in moderated conversations held outside of their clinics, they distance themselves better from their work duties and more fully engage in the moderated conversations. This indicates that they are better able to selectively attend to the conversations.

4. Social facilitation occurs when the presence of an audience improves performance. As all moderated conversations were held in groups, social facilitation cannot explain different levels of engagement experienced in different conditions.