Ic. Mcmanus et al., SELF-PERCEPTION OF COMMUNICATIVE ABILITY - EVALUATION OF A QUESTIONNAIRE COMPLETED BY MEDICAL-STUDENTS AND GENERAL-PRACTITIONERS, British journal of health psychology, 2, 1997, pp. 301-315
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.