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Recurrence Quantification Analysis of Personal Statements from Applicants to a Physical Therapy Doctoral Program: A
John H Hollman1, Darren Q Calley, Beth A Cloud-Biebl
1Dep. of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, 200 First Street SW, Siebens 11, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. Tel 507-284-9547. Hollman.John@mayo.edu.
Purpose:
We examined lexical sophistication of written personal statements from physical therapy applicants to determine whether recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) indices distinguish higher- versus lower-scored candidates and correlate with other admissions variables.
Methods:
Written personal statements were extracted from 152 applications, coded numerically, and analyzed with RQA. Along with other RQA indices, determinism-representing predictability of words and phrases-was quantified. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to examine discriminative validity of RQA indices to distinguish between top-10 and bottom-10 candidates. Correlation coefficients between RQA indices and other admissions variables (grade point averages, standardized exam, behavioral interview, and cumulative admissions scores) were also examined.
Results:
Determinism in personal statements was lower in top-scored (mean 7.38%) than bottom-scored candidates (mean 11.29%, p = 0.015), differentiated between them with 70% sensitivity (95% CI 34.8%-93.3%) and 100% specificity (95% CI 69.2%-100%), and correlated negatively with candidates' behavioral interview scores (r = -0.168, p = 0.039).
Discussion:
The greater expressive lexical sophistication characterized by lower determinism in personal statements provides information about candidates' writing proficiency as a component of their communication abilities that may not otherwise be assessed in traditional admissions variables.
