To test whether an upgrade to the physical environment of a medical clinic would impact patient perceptions of medical staff, researchers surveyed patients immediately before and six months after a medical practice moved from a small office with outdated furnishings to a large, newly remodeled office. Patient perceptions of medical staff were significantly improved at the new location. Given this study design, which statement is supported?

Question

To test whether an upgrade to the physical environment of a medical clinic would impact patient perceptions of medical staff, researchers surveyed patients immediately before and six months after a medical practice moved from a small office with outdated furnishings to a large, newly remodeled office.  Patient perceptions of medical staff were significantly improved at the new location.  Given this study design, which statement is supported?

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

11ecba2d_0da8_2274_a3bf_857206f73128_MD0008_00 Stress can have far-reaching effects on physical, mental, and social well-being. Negative appraisals of the environment (eg, too crowded, noisy) may lead to negative perceptions of others and/or interpersonal aggression. Confounding variables are uncontrolled variables that have an effect on the independent and/or dependent variable. Researchers assessed if upgrading the physical environment of a clinic (independent variable) improved patient perceptions of staff (dependent variable). However, staff behavior may have also influenced the results. For example, lack of space in the small, old clinic may have caused staff to feel stressed and rush through interactions with patients, resulting in negative patient evaluations of staff. With the large, newly remodeled office, staff's stress levels and behavior may have improved, resulting in better patient evaluations. In other words, the environment itself may not have been directly responsible for the change in patient perceptions of staff. Therefore, the behavior of medical staff was a potentially confounding variable. (Choice B) The timing of the data collection (six months pre-to-post) presents a threat to internal validity (ie, result accuracy), not reliability (ie, similar results every time). Many factors (eg, staff turnover, seasonal illness) may have changed in that time, making it difficult to determine if upgrading the environment alone improved patient perceptions of staff. (Choice C) The halo effect, which is an attributional error that occurs when an individual with a positive quality (eg, physical attractiveness) is assumed to have other positive qualities (eg, intelligence), was not relevant to this study design. (Choice D) Because many factors (eg, staff changes) other than the change in environment may have influenced patient perceptions of staff, it is not possible to determine if the new office environment was directly responsible for the improvement. Educational objective: A confounding variable is an uncontrolled variable that has an impact on the independent and/or dependent variable.

To Test Whether an Upgrade to the Physical Environment of a Medical