Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 6, 2026

Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Hyperscanning Study in Psychological Counseling
Published on: January 17, 2025
The barrier method as a new tool to assist in career selection: covert observational study
R Scott McCain1, Andrew R Harris, Kevin McCallion
1Department of General Surgery, Ulster Hospital, Dundonald, Belfast BT16 1RH, Northern Ireland. smccain01@qub.ac.uk
Objective:
To determine if senior doctors' parking habits and skills are associated with clinical specialty and, if so, whether observation of junior doctors' parking could provide guidance in choice of specialty.
Design:
Covert observational study.
Setting:
Pass-card controlled consultants' car park (parking lot), December 2009.
Participants:
103 consultants entering the car park on three consecutive mornings.
Main Outcome Measures:
The outcomes were specialty and sex of the consultants, manner of approaching the barrier (pass-card ready or not), and time taken to park, exit the vehicle, and walk to a designated point.
Results:
Approaches to the barrier and parking were recorded for 103 consultants (79 men, 24 women): 28 anaesthetists (22 men, six women), 29 physicians (internists, 18 men, 11 women), 14 radiologists (nine men, five women), and 32 surgeons (30 men, two women). The manner of approaching the barrier (card ready) differed by specialty but not by sex. The total time taken to park (seconds) differed significantly between specialties: surgery (median 68, interquartile range 61-71 seconds), anaesthesia (82, 76-91), radiology (86, 70-103), and general medicine (112, 96-136). The time taken to park was overall longer among women, but this was explained by their specialty (men and women matched by specialty did not differ).
Conclusions:
The total time taken to park and manner of approaching the barrier to gain entry to the car park differed across specialties. Surgical consultants were fastest, followed by consultant anaesthetists and consultant radiologists, with physicians slowest. Sex was not an influencing factor. If reproducible in studies of a similar nature the "barrier method" could allow for a low cost means of guiding junior doctors in career selection.
Related Concept Videos
Naturalistic Observations
Observational Studies
There are three types of observational studies – Prospective, retrospective, and cross-sectional.
Prospective Study
Prospective studies, also known as longitudinal or cohort studies, are carried out by collecting future data from groups sharing similar characteristics. One example of...
Halo Effect
Stereotype Threat and Self-fulfilling Prophecies
Theory of Attribution II: Kelley's Covariation Theory
Decision Making: Traditional Method
First, a specific claim about the population parameter is decided based on the research question and is stated in a simple form. Further, an opposing statement to this claim is also stated. These statements can act as null and alternative hypotheses, out of which a null hypothesis would be a...
