SELF-PERCEPTION OF COMMUNICATIVE ABILITY - EVALUATION OF A QUESTIONNAIRE COMPLETED BY MEDICAL-STUDENTS AND GENERAL-PRACTITIONERS

Objectives. To evaluate the psychometric properties of the 50-item Com munication Style Measure of Norton (1978), to assess the number of its subscales, and to provide normative descriptions of the subscales for providing feedback in teaching sessions. Design. Questionnaire admini stered to 245 undergraduate medical students and 267 general practitio ners. Methods. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis of the str ucture of the 50-item questionnaire. Regression analysis of scores on subscales in relation to age and sex. Results. Norton's original 10-fa ctor structure for the questionnaire could not be sustained. Explorato ry factor analysis suggested three factors which we labelled effective , dominant and non-verbal, which were reliable (Cronbach's alpha = .73 , .76 and .74), and which each showed different patterns of associatio n with age and sex. On the basis of the factor analysis we also report a brief, easy to score questionnaire with 18 items, and we give norma tive distributions which might be useful for teaching in small groups. Conclusions. Doctors and medical students found the Communication Sty le Measure easy to complete and to provide useful normative feedback o n their self-perceptions relative to those of other doctors and studen ts. The 10 statistical factors proposed by Norton are not supported by the data, but three factors are readily identifiable.