Measuring attitudes: Current practices in health professions education

Ted Brown, Stephen Isbel, Mong Lin Yu, Thomas Bevitt

Research output: A Conference proceeding or a Chapter in BookOther chapter contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Attitudes are an enduring set of beliefs, perceptions, and ideas. Students enrolled in health professional courses may have strong beliefs and opinions on certain topics related to professional education and their clinical practice. These attitudes may become more apparent while health professional students are completing clinical placements. This chapter provides an overview of definitions of what attitudes are; why attitudes are important; how attitudes develop, change, and evolve; approaches to the measurement of and gathering attitude-related data; types of quantitative attitude scales; qualitative approaches to gathering attitude data; the steps involved in constructing an attitude measurement scale; and the relevance of attitudes to health professional clinical education. Academic and clinical educators need to be conversant on the topic of students’ attitudes and its relationship to clinical education.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationClinical education for the health professions
Subtitle of host publicationtheory and practice
EditorsDebra Nestel, Gabriel Reedy, Lisa McKenna, Suzanne Gough
Place of PublicationSingapore
PublisherSpringer
Pages1-28
Number of pages29
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

Publication series

Name Living reference work
PublisherSpringer

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