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Assessing recalibration as a response-shift phenomenon
Pamela Kidd1, Mark B Parshall, Susan Wojcik
1Graduate Programs and Research, College of Nursing, Arizona State University, Tempe, USA.
Nursing Research
|April 16, 2004
Summary
A recalibration response shift occurs when participants change their criteria for answering post-intervention surveys. The retrospective pretest method showed mixed results in detecting this safety climate change in construction workers.
Area of Science:
- Occupational Health and Safety
- Psychometrics
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Traditional pretest-posttest score differences may inaccurately estimate change, especially with self-report measures assessing shifts in beliefs or behaviors.
- Interventions can lead to a 'recalibration response shift,' where participants apply stricter criteria in post-tests due to increased awareness or understanding.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish scale recalibration as a quantifiable response shift.
- To demonstrate the retrospective pretest as a method for estimating the magnitude and direction of recalibration response shifts.
Main Methods:
- A quasi-experimental study in small construction companies evaluated narrative simulation exercises for back and fall injuries.
- A retrospective pretest was administered alongside a delayed posttest (4 months post-intervention).
Main Results:
- In year one, a brief retrospective pretest indicated a recalibration response shift in the intervention group, but not the control group.
- In year two, using a more comprehensive 10-item retrospective pretest, no evidence of recalibration was found.
Conclusions:
- Evidence for recalibration response shifts was equivocal, highlighting the complexity of measuring intervention-induced changes in self-perception.
- The study illustrates conditions conducive to recalibration and characteristic patterns suggesting its presence or absence.