Personality in proportion: a bipolar proportional scale for personality assessments and its consequences for trait structure.

Trait structures resulting from personality assessments on Likert scales are affected by the additive and multiplicative transformations implied in interval scaling and correlational analysis. The effect comes into view on selecting a plausible alternative scale. To this end, we propose a bipolar bounded scale ranging from -1 to +1 representing an underlying process in which the assessor would review and discount positive and negative behavioral instances of a trait. As an appropriate index of likeness between variables X and Y, we propose LXY = SigmaXY/N, the average of the raw scores cross products. Using this index, we carried out a raw scores principal component analysis on data consisting of 133 participants who had each been rated by 5 assessors including self on 914 items. Contrary to the Big-Five structure that was found in these data on standard analysis, the results showed a relatively large first principal component F1 and 2 very small ones, F2 and F3. The sizes LFF=SigmaF2/N, the averages of the squared component scores, were modest to small. It thus appears that the scale, bipolar proportional versus standard, has a profound impact on the size and structure of personality assessments. The dissimilarity remains on analyzing self-ratings rather than averaged (over the 5 assessors) ratings.

The availability of diseases for medical students in a university hospital.

The Dutch national objectives for the education of medical doctors (in terms of diseases), expressed in the form of a student compiled logbook, must be attained at the time of graduation. The diseases that are required are divided into the categories 'essential' and 'compulsory choice'. The aim of this study is to investigate whether the inpatient department of internal nedicine offers medical students sufficient diseases during two four-week periods in the clerkship, such that the required diseases related to Internal Medicine as described in our logbook can be met. At five subdivisions, medical doctors recorded the diseases available for students. Of the 37 'essential' diseases students may be expected to encounter during one four-week stay in the department: 57% in internal medicine-I; 55% in internal medicine-II; 47% in nephrology; 41% in respiratory medicine; 13% in oncology. Of the 65 'compulsory choice' diseases the number of diseases encountered is respectively: 78%; 57%; 41%; 34%; 33%. We conclude that a considerable number of the diseases required by the Blueprint and therefore by the government is available in two four-week periods in the inpatient clerkship, when this comprises a stay at a general subdivision and a specialist-oriented subdivision. To be more precise about the fulfilment of the logbook requirements, further research is necessary.