ABSTRACT
Farsi and English are both Indo-European languages with similarities in their roots
As such, this experiment was conducted to understand which English accent [i.e. American, British or Australian accents] would be easier for Iranians to adapt. To answer this question, 30 medical students performed three different activities of [I] listening to audio texts in three accents, [II] taking part in an oral interview and [III] completing an attitude questionnaire. The activities examined comprehensibility of the accents the participants were subjected to, type of accent they themselves produced and their attitude toward the accents under study
As for the audio texts, the order of presenting the three accents to the subjects was counterbalanced in order to control the order effect. The data on audio materials were analyzed for comprehensibility, accentedness, intelligibility and acceptability. Regarding comprehensibility, American accent was the most comprehensible [85%]
Considering accentedness, intelligibility and acceptability, the participants found American accent the least accented [70%], the most intelligible 80% and the most acceptable [95%]
In the interviews, students' accents were closer to the American accent. 85 percent of the participants used American accent in their conversational exchanges. Those with British and Australian accents formed 10% and 5% respectively. Regarding attitude, also, the participants mostly [90%] preferred American accent over the British or Australian accents. Students' tendency to adapt American accent more openly is mainly rooted in a mentality that American accent is easiest for the brain to digest
ABSTRACT
The present research is an attempt to describe the quantity and quality of publication trends of media literacy based on Scopus reports. The population under study was composed of 510 documents on media literacy published through 2011. The results were analyzed based on date of publication, type of document, language of the documents, source of publications, subject areas, authors and their affiliations, and the countries involved in developing the articles. Citation indicators formed the second phase of investigation in the present study. With a negligible amount of fluctuation, the number of publications on media literacy has increased steadily over the years, with the greatest number occurring in 2011. The analysis of data based on document types indicated that, of the 510 documents, 330 were articles [64.70%], 85 were reviews [16.66%], and 64 were conference papers [12.54%]. 446 documents [84.45%] were published in English and the rest presented in other languages. The United States with 190 documents [37.25%], the United Kingdom with 43 documents [8.43%], and Australia with 14 documents [2.74%] were the most represented countries, with the most prolific authors known as Austin, Hobbs, and Cheung. Thematically, the greatest number of documents were produced in Social Sciences with 360 documents [70.57%], followed by Medicine with 92 documents [18.03%]. The largest number of documents has been published in Comunicar followed by American Behavioral Scientist, and Simile. The most cited articles from 1996 up to 2011 included 22 documents on the H-index zone. Analysis of the results of H-index zone by subject categories indicated that most documents on h-index zone belonged to social sciences and Medicine areas. Psychology had the most influence on media literacy, as was shown by the ratio of most cited documents to total number of documents on media literacy in any of the subject categories. The results highlight the multidisciplinary nature of media literacy. As for the H-index zone, 16 documents [73.91%] belonged to the United States. Overall, the United States, with 190 [37.25%] publications [out of a total of 510], had an important role in enhancing the quantity and quality of the media literacy literature
ABSTRACT
In most general and special English courses of the Iranian universities, reading comprehension is the main component of the syllabus. Nonetheless, in an attempt to improve listening and speaking skills, some general English courses were accompanied by oral presentations, according to which each student had to give a lecture lasting for nearly 10 minutes. The main objective was to investigate the effect of a 10-minute oral presentation on students' linguistic skills, in a comprehension-oriented syllabus. As such, two linguistically homogeneous general English classes were selected. Students in both classes were taught by the same English teacher, using the same textbook and syllabus, which, as usual, focused on reading comprehension. In one class [group 1] a 10-minute lecture, using a Power-point slide presentation software, was included in the syllabus whereas in the other class [group 2] the usual no-lecture syllabus was followed. At the beginning of the semester, both groups took a pretest composed of a set of reading comprehension, listening comprehension, vocabulary and grammar items, and at the semester end they sat for a posttest, which was similar to the pretest. The results of the two tests were then compared using the student t-test. Comparison of the mean scores on reading comprehension, listening comprehension, vocabulary and grammar, for the pre-test and post-test, showed no significant differences between the two groups although score gains on listening comprehension for the first group was noticeable. The conclusion may be that mini-lectures in a reading comprehension-oriented syllabus can improve students' listening comprehension although the level of improvement may not be so significant
ABSTRACT
Faculty members, as significant human resources, can play a crucial role in enhancing output in different social establishments, including universities and educational systems, if they are satisfied with their job condition. Nowadays nearly half the members belong to female employees in different organizations such as universities and educational settings. The attitude of this number of employees, including female faculty members, is of special significance if the quality of work is to be enhanced in universities or other educational establishments. Bearing in mind this significance, the current study investigated job satisfaction among female faculty members of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences [SBMU] in 2008, Tehran. The assumption was that the satisfaction level of faculty members from their job could significantly enhance the quality of education and clinical care at different colleges and teaching hospitals of the university. In line with this assumption, as a descriptive research, the study investigated job satisfaction among female faculty members at SBMU in 2008. Altogether a total of 116 subjects, selected randomly, were asked to complete the questionnaires. The Minnesota questionnaire and the Personal and Managerial questionnaire were used to measure the satisfaction level of the participants from their career. The researchers referred to different colleges and hospitals of SBMU to ask the participants to fill out the questionnaires. Then, following the data collection procedure and questionnaire analysis, the data were subjected to numerous statistical tests such as t-test, One- way ANOVA and Multiple comparisons tests. Job satisfaction among female faculty members at SBMU, according to the results, was low to some extent. The main factors accounting for a rather low satisfaction score were limited welfare facilities, low salaries and unpaid arrears, improper work environment and limited promotion opportunities
ABSTRACT
Background: A pharmacy information system must retrieve process and update the information it obtains for safe and effective use of drugs. It is used to manage drug usage in the patient health care process and to communicate a large volume of information to pharmacy and pharmaceutical firms. Bearing in mind such issues, the current study adopted a descriptive method of research to investigate the pharmacy information systems in university hospitals and their relationship with pharmaceutical firms. The research data were collected through observation and interview based on a checklist and a questionnaire. Validity and reliability of the data gathering tools were specified through content validity and test re-test methods. The collected data were then analyzed, using a set of descriptive statistics. According to the results, pharmacy information systems in the hospitals under study were partially computerized. Databases for drugs, patients and prescriber databases, with different values of 50.1%, 21.9%, and 33.3% respectively, were not complete, as had been recorded in the pharmacy information system of the hospitals. The pharmacy information system is normally used to support therapeutic activities and the inventory, but such support had not been provided for 43.9 % of the hospitals. 32.2 % of the hospitals under study had not reported pharmaceutical information such as statistical data and drugs' prices. Also, 27.3% of the pharmaceutical firms did not have any relationship with pharmacy information systems. Pharmaceutical companies had developed some relationship, on marketing issues, with hospital pharmacies. The findings were in favor of further therapeutic activities by pharmacy information systems, which could be achieved by improving relationship between hospitals and pharmaceutical firms, particularly in Tehran. This could help to manage drug consumption and supervision, after marketing, in order to eliminate adverse drug reactions and develop high quality pharmaceutical services
ABSTRACT
Investigation of the web impact factor and analysis of the web links belong to webometric studies. A high impact factor, accompanied by more frequent links to a particular website, can indicate greater influence and better accessibility of that particular site. In this regard, bearing in mind the significance of medical universities' web sites for education and research, the current study compared and analyzed their impact factors, their web links and web pages, using AltaVista search engine. The investigation included different ranks of medical universities, commonly referred to as type 1, type 2 and type 3 universities in Iran. The median was used as a measure of central tendency of the scores. The search engines of AltaVista were adopted on 26 February 2010 to collect the data. According to the results, in terms of indexed pages, Shahid Baheshti of type 1, Guilan of type 2, and Shahrekord of type 3 universities had the best records. Regarding web links, medical universities of Iran, Kermanshah and Lorestan, from type 1, type 2 and type 3 universities had the best records and, in terms of impact factor, universities of Ahvaz [type 1], Zahedan [type 2], and Fessa [type 3] manifested the greatest influence. As the results imply, the universities are expected to pay more attention to webometric issues; they are also recommended to allocate more budget to enhance their web pages
ABSTRACT
This study analyzed the qualitative and quantitative developments of medical informatics articles in Iran from 1987 to 2009, based on ISI Citation databases. The first phase of the analysis included date of publication, type of document, language of the article, source of publication, subject areas, and the countries involved in developing the articles. Citation indicators formed the second phase of investigation in this study. In the third phase, the citing articles were analyzed in terms of their date of publication, type of document, language, subject area, citation sources and the country where the citation had taken place. The publications, with some fluctuations, followed a rising trend until 2007, but after this date there was some decline in publishing such articles. Among 62 documented articles investigated, 58 were published in journals, and the remaining four were presented in conferences. The language of all 62 articles was English. Britain had the greatest contribution, i.e. 13 [21%] documents, in publishing such articles. Regarding their subject area, most of the articles, i.e. 28 [45%] documents, dealt with "health care sciences and health services". As for their source of publication, 7 [11.29%] articles had been published in the Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing Journal. The greatest number of citations belonged to 2005 while the greatest number of H-Index and citation average per year belonged to 2007. There were a total of 196 citations to 62 articles, out of 186 articles. 20% of all citing articles embarked upon self-citation. The overall average for referencing to each article was 3.16 and the H-Index of all Iranian medical informatics articles was 7. Most of the citing articles belonged to more recent years. The language of most citing articles was English. Most of the references to the articles first belonged to scholars from the United States, i.e. 41 [22%] times, and then to those from Iran, i.e. 40 [21.5%] times. The greatest number of citing articles [12 articles or 6.45%] were published in the journal of Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing. Generally speaking, the year 2007 seemed to mark a turning point in publishing the greatest number of medical informatics articles from Iran. The articles published this year showed some improvement in quality as well
ABSTRACT
Although the physician-patient relationship is of special significance for a proper diagnosis, few studies have been done to find out how successful these interactions are across various medical specialties. Common physician knowledge measured by a questionnaire tended to view fields such as psychiatry more successful in achieving patient satisfaction than other specialties. However, the validity of such assumptions has rarely been assessed scientifically. The current study was designed to find out whether medical specialties with greater mental/emotional orientation, such as psychiatry, are more successful in achieving patient satisfaction than specialties with a stronger manual orientation, such as surgery A total of 27 physicians were randomly selected from different medical orientations. They were requested to use their common-sense to rate the specialties under study depending on whether they were more mentally oriented or manually inclined. They were also asked to indicate which groups of specialties are likely to be more successful in achieving patient satisfaction from clinical interactions. Another sample of 561 patients was selected from nine different medical specialty clinics based on a quota sample method. Patients were asked to complete a 15-item Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire following their clinical interviews with their physicians The results obtained from the patients did not fully corroborate the results of the physicians' questionnaire, which predicted greatest patient satisfaction from psychiatrists. Our results showed that pediatricians and gynecologists were more successful in achieving patient satisfaction [P < 0.001] than psychiatrists. Patients' satisfaction with different medical specialties is different from physicians' common-sense assumptions. Patients were more satisfied with pediatricians and gynecologists rather than psychiatrists