A wide variety of techniques are used to assess the development of survey-based scales. The majority of these techniques focus on the quality of information characterized by the scale. Aside from very rudimentary measures such as response rates and sample sizes, very few empirical techniques are available to measure the quantity of information contained in a scale. This article conducts an exploratory empirical analysis to assess whether information entropy can be useful for measuring the quantity of information in a scale’s development. If the quantity of information in the scale significantly increases (decreases) with the addition of the survey item, researchers may consider retaining (discarding) that item in the scale. The study was conducted within the context of a natural experiment that occurred at a major amateur sporting event in 2018. Customer satisfaction was assessed using a survey whose core questions have been assessed repeatedly over time. The most recent survey contained a previously validated empathy scale, with two items contained in the base measure. Six additional items were added to this base empathy measure. The quantity of information provided (as measured by information entropy) is calculated for each set of scale items. Statistical analysis indicates that, when adding the behavioral, cognitive, and affective scales to the two-item base scale, the quantity of information available increased. However, most of the increase in information quantity was attributable to three survey items, one item from each of the behavioral, cognitive, and affective domains. These findings suggest that information entropy may indeed be a useful quality control tool for survey scale development.
The use of the EVG1 rule in research may mislead policy makers to focus on trivial interventions. They are urged to use PA to obtain more parsimonious and externally valid interventions.
Public safety personnel (PSP), including correctional officers, firefighters, paramedics, and police officers, have higher rates of mental health conditions than other types of workers. This scoping review maps the impact of organizational factors on PSP mental health, reviewing applicable English language primary studies from 2000–2021. JBI methodology for scoping reviews was followed. After screening, 97 primary studies remained for analysis. Police officers (n = 48) were the most frequent population studied. Correctional officers (n = 27) and paramedics (n = 27) were the second most frequently identified population, followed by career firefighters (n = 20). Lack of supervisor support was the most frequently cited negative organizational factor (n = 23), followed by negative workplace culture (n = 21), and lack of co-worker support (n = 14). Co-worker support (n = 10) was the most frequently identified positive organizational factor, followed by supervisor support (n = 8) and positive workplace culture (n = 5). This scoping review is the first to map organizational factors and their impact on PSP mental health across public safety organizations. The results of this review can inform discussions related to organizational factors, and their relationship to operational and personal factors, to assist in considering which factors are the most impactful on mental health, and which are most amenable to change.
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