Thesis (M.Med.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 45-47). Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Aberdeen University, 2008. / Title from web page (viewed on July 23, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Disability statistics are an important component of an informational base to monitor the needs and rights of people with disabilities within all spheres of life. The effective use of disability statistics is based on measures that are transparent and valid and where potential sources of sampling, interviewer or respondent error are clearly understood. This study investigates respondent sources of survey data error generated by three sets of existing questions on disability, as applied to adults in South Africa as a case study contributing to the growing work in this field at an international level. The questions are the Short and Extended sets of the Washington Group on Disability Statistics, and the Global Study on Ageing’s (SAGE) health state description questions used by the World Health Organization. Disability is defined as the outcome of the interaction between a person’s health condition or impairment, and the context in which he or she lives. The question evaluation considers: a) the wording, comparing asking about difficulties and disabilities; b) respondents’ understanding and interpretations of whole questions; and c) the association between various life factors and the type and severity of functional profiles. The study uses a mixed methods design comprising focus groups, semi-structured interviews, in-depth interviews that tapped into the thinking behind respondents’ answers to questions, and standard questionnaires. There were 21 focus groups located nationally, and 69 semi-structured interviews and ten detailed cognitive testing interviews at the Agincourt Health and Population Unit, located in a rural area in north eastern South Africa. The results provide insight into the performance of the questions, and, particularly, the need for revisions of the questions, potential respondent sources of error, and factors in people’s lives that are associated with different response profiles. The analysis of wording shows that asking about ‘difficulty’ people have is a more inclusive and transparent measure than asking about disability. Analysis of respondents’ understanding and interpretation of questions shows that questions on vision, hearing, walking and climbing, self-care and communication are well understood as intended, while the questions on remembering are misinterpreted in similar ways by a high number of respondents. Responses to non-traditional disability domains of pain, affect (anxiety and depression) and fatigue (or problems with sleep) reflect predominantly people’s reactions to living in adverse conditions. The measures provide a way to broaden the notion of who is counted as disabled because of functional limitations for statistical purposes, but the identity of being disabled remains a separate concern. The differences between measuring identity and functional status and the implications of these separate concepts is one area identified as an important focus of future research arising from this thesis. This thesis builds on existing knowledge by: providing strong evidence on the effect of asking about disability versus difficulty; illustrating the importance of question evaluation as part of validity testing and provide a further example to add to the growing literature on this approach; providing evidence on how responses to basic activity domains differ to those given to questions on feeling domains and the implications of this for how disability is understood in a low income and resources context of rural South Africa.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

D.Litt. et Phil. / The main aim of this study was to compile a career interest inventory – the Career Preference Inventory (CPI) – that would succeed in identifying the career preferences or vocational interests of learners from Grades 9 to 12. The specific objectives of the study involved an empirical examination of the content validity, construct validity, as well as reliability of the inventory. A study was also made of the structure of vocational interests of the test groups that formed part of the study. The study entailed two empirical investigations. When the inventory was administered for the first time, additional items were added to the SAVII and the test group was made up of a representative sample of 1385 Grade 9 and 12 learners in the North West Province. As a result of the item analysis that was based on this sample, 54 of the items in the questionnaire were either changed or replaced. The reliability coefficients of the subfields of the SAVII for the population involved in the first administration were acceptable and ranged between 0,747 and 0,901. After an analysis of the items in the SAVII and the selection of the most suitable items, the questionnaire – by now known as the Career Preference Inventory (CPI) – was administered once again. The reason for the second administration was to establish whether the amended items met the statistical requirements that had been set. Convenience sampling was used in this part of the study, since it was not possible to draw a representative sample of the population. The sample consisted of 1271 Afrikaans first language speakers, 2699 English second language speakers and 306 English first language speakers. Item analysis revealed that all the items were acceptable. The reliability coefficients of the fields of the CPI were also acceptable and varied between 0,714 and 0,860 for the particular test group. Test-retest reliability coefficients could be calculated for a group of 197 English second language speakers only and varied between 0,689 and 0,863. A factor analysis was made to determine the constructs or factors that emerged with regard to the CPI. Initially six factors were specified, but since the fields for Clerical-Administrative, Business, and Management manifested within a single factor, seven factors were subsequently withdrawn to establish whether the two latter-mentioned components could indeed function independently. The following fields or dimensions eventually realised: 1) Human-Communication; 2) Medical and related; 3) Technical-Scientific; 4) Practical-Handcraft; 5) Artistic; 6) Business and Management; and 7) Clerical-Administrative. The final questionnaire contains 18 fields that are described individually and that are not categorised into 6 main fields. The questionnaire is also supposed to disclose the vocational information in Career Mentor in an ordered and structured manner. The 18 fields are therefore linked to more than 500 occupations and the CPI results serve as a search strategy that unlocks the mentioned occupational database according to specific vocational preferences.

The purpose of this study was to examine the usefulness of electronic-based questionnaires as a tool to gather data from field supervisors in the medical profession at various military bases. The study compared the response effects of an electronic evaluation questionnaire with the traditional method of paper-based questionnaires in gathering Level 3 data. The number of returns affects the amount of information available to the course personnel in creating a viable program that ensures the success of service members entering the occupational field and, ultimately, affecting the number of service members who remain beyond their first enlistment. The return rate and amount of missing data were tracked. Supervisors of graduates of a medical program who had observed service members for a minimum of 4-months were participants in the study. The z-test for comparing two proportions was used to determine significance of the study at the .05 level. Findings indicate that there was a significant difference in return rates and the amount of missing data when using the electronic format. Based on this study, the electronic-based questionnaire as a data-gathering tool provided a higher number of returns in a quicker time frame with fewer missing data in the technical training environment. Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise note

Thesis (M.Tech.: Chiropractic)- Dept. of Chiropractic, Durban Institute of Technology, 2004 128 leaves / Background: Lower back pain is a common problem, globally, as well as in South Africa. Zulu is the first language of a very large proportion of the South African population, and as such, addressing the needs of this population group with respect to lower back pain is a priority. Many reliable pain indexes exist in English to record the degree of disability with regard to Lower back pain. These are invaluable tools in aiding the health practitioner to assess the progress of treatment and the severity of the patient’s disability. One of the most creditable and frequently used indexes is the Roland – Morris Low Back Pain Disability Questionnaire. However, no such scale exists in Zulu Objective: The purpose of this investigation was, firstly, to interpret the data from the statistical tests for discordance in order to assess whether the face validated Zulu translation of the questionnaire (ZRM1.1) is sensitive and specific enough for use as a tool in data collection, when compared to the English version (ERM). Secondly, to make recommendations for further improvement in terms of the ZRM1.1.