Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 13, 2026
09:07
Experimental Research Examining How People Can Cope with Uncertainty Through Soft Haptic Sensations
Published on: September 16, 2015
[Methodologic difficulties in measuring patient satisfaction--discrepancy coming from formulating questions]
Ludmiła Marcinowicz1, Agnieszka Borzuchowska, Ryszard Grebowski
1Zakładu Medycyny Rodzinnej i Pielegniarstwa Srodowiskowego Akademii Medycznej w Białymstoku. marcinek@amb.edu.pl
Wiadomosci Lekarskie (Warsaw, Poland : 1960)
|March 9, 2004
Summary
Patient satisfaction surveys can be misleading. Closed questions often yield positive patient feedback, while open questions reveal negative experiences, indicating a need for more qualitative research methods.
Area of Science:
- Health Services Research
- Patient Experience Studies
Context:
- Patient satisfaction surveys are widely used to evaluate healthcare services.
- Methodological choices in surveys, such as question framing, can significantly influence responses.
- The 'leniency effect' describes the tendency for closed-ended questions to elicit more positive feedback than open-ended questions.
Purpose:
- To compare patient responses to open-ended versus closed-ended questions regarding satisfaction with family doctor services.
- To investigate the discrepancy between quantitative ratings and qualitative feedback in patient surveys.
Summary:
- A study in Poland surveyed 560 patients using mailed questionnaires about their satisfaction with family doctor services.
- A significant number of patients (19.4%) who rated their care positively on a closed-ended scale provided negative justifications in open-ended questions.
- Common negative themes included short consultation times, difficulties obtaining specialist referrals, and a lack of holistic patient care.
Impact:
- Findings suggest that standard questionnaire surveys may not be precise enough for a comprehensive evaluation of doctor's care.
- Qualitative research methods, such as in-depth interviews and open-ended questions, may be necessary to complement or replace quantitative surveys for a deeper understanding of patient satisfaction.
Related Concept Videos
02:16Surveys
Often, psychologists develop surveys as a means of gathering data. Surveys are lists of questions to be answered by research participants, and can be delivered as paper-and-pencil questionnaires, administered electronically, or conducted verbally. Generally, the survey itself can be completed in a short time, and the ease of administering a survey makes it easy to collect data from a large number of people.
02:07Blind Procedures
Ideally, the people who observe and record the children’s behavior are unaware of who was assigned to the experimental or control group, in order to control for experimenter bias. Experimenter bias refers to the possibility that a researcher’s expectations might skew the results of the study. Remember, conducting an experiment requires a lot of planning, and the people involved in the research project have a vested interest in supporting their hypotheses. If the observers knew which child was...
02:45Self-Discrepancy Theory
One influential perspective on what motivates people's behavior is detailed in Tory Higgin's self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987). He proposed that people hold disagreeing internal representations of themselves that lead to different emotional states.
03:37Uncertainty in Measurement: Accuracy and Precision
Scientists typically make repeated measurements of a quantity to ensure the quality of their findings and to evaluate both the precision and the accuracy of their results. Measurements are said to be precise if they yield very similar results when repeated in the same manner. A measurement is considered accurate if it yields a result that is very close to the true or the accepted value. Precise values agree with each other; accurate values agree with a true value.
01:21Methods of Documentation III: PIE
Problem-intervention-evaluation (PIE) is a systematic approach to documentation used in healthcare settings for clinical decision-making and patient care planning. It is a structured approach to organizing patient data based on problems, interventions, and evaluations. Here's a breakdown of its key features and considerations:
01:29Self-Discrepancy and Its Effects
Self-discrepancy theory explains how people compare their actual self to their ideal and ought selves and how mismatches between these self-guides can lead to emotional distress. Developed by E. Tory Higgins, the theory distinguishes among three components of self-concept: the actual self, the ideal self, and the ought self. These refer respectively to how individuals perceive themselves, how they aspire to be, and how they believe they are obligated to be. Emotional well-being, self-esteem,...