The purpose of this paper is to find a construct in which I would like to measure. The construct of my choice will be developing a test that measures depression in men and women who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness. An operational definition of depression will be provided using three peer review journal articles as sources and references. In addition to that a method of scaling will be selected to justify my selection. I will then be proposing how I will be norming the instrument. Depression is a medical illness that causes an individual to a have a persistent feeling of loss of interest and sadness.
Depression affects how an individual thinks, feels and behaves, and in addition to that depression causes physical symptoms as well. Depression leads to a variety of physical and emotional problems. An individual may have trouble doing day-to-day activities; it can also make an individual feel, as life is not worth living anymore. Depression is more than just feeling blue, and it is not a weakness, nor can an individual just snap out o it. Depression is considered a chronic illness that will require long-term treatment for some individuals.
Most people with depression begin to feel better after psychological counseling, medication, and other forms of treatment. Where are your references??? This is a lot of information without a references… The Hamilton Depression Scale is a test that measures the severity of an individual’s depressive symptoms. This test is administered to individuals who have already been diagnosed with depression (Prasad, Udupa, Kishore, Thirthalli, Sathyaprabha, Gangadhar, 2009). Another named used for this test is the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression.
The Hamilton Depression Scale is used assesses the severity of depressive symptoms in both adult and child. In addition to measuring the severity of the depression, medical professions use it to determine the antidepressant medication and its dosage (Prasad, Udupa, Kishore, Thirthalli, Sathyaprabha, Gangadhar, 2009). Depending on the version that is used there can be a number of 17 or 21 items used, in which the interviewer uses for the rating (Stage, Middelboe, Pisinger, 2003). In addition to the interview with the patient other information is collected and utilized in preparing the ratings.
Information on the patient’s records, family, and friends can also be utilized to formulate results. During the interview the entire process has to be even-tempered and relaxed. There are no specific questions in which the health professional shall ask, the version that contains 17 items is used more commonly than the 21 item version (Prasad, Udupa, Kishore, Thirthalli, Sathyaprabha, Gangadhar, 2009). The 21 item version contains an additional four items that measure symptoms, such as obsession and paranoia, rather than just the depressive symptoms (Prasad, Udupa, Kishore, Thirthalli, Sathyaprabha, Gangadhar, 2009).
Some examples of the items that interviewers must give ratings on are insomnia, suicide, guilt, depression, retardation, anxiety, work related problems, loss of libido, loss of weight, and gastrointestinal symptoms. To get the overall score of depression health professions should look for gloominess, hopelessness the tendency to cry and pessimism. To get the rating on suicide health professions should look for suicidal thoughts and ideas, and suicide attempts (Prasad, Udupa, Kishore, Thirthalli, Sathyaprabha, Gangadhar, 2009). Below you have centered your paragraph… not correct APA format.
Instruments that are used for self-rating are available, but have not been fully explored. Hamilton Subscale and Bech-Refaelesen Melancholia Scale were evaluated compared against each other, along with the clinical version. The property of each score was tested by item response theory model; they were also tested for their sensitivity. The some of the scores in the self-rating and the sum of the scores in with the observer scale did not differ much. The validity of between the observer and self-rating had a very high correspondence score of 0. 90 (Bent-Hansen, Bech, 2011).
With modern technology self-rating scores provide inexpensive and large scale research. Self-rating also reduces professional time in the observation scale, along with providing a degree of standardization that may be complex to achieve with observation readings (Bent-Hansen, Bech, 2011). Psychological factors can influence many diseases; one of the diseases that were studied was coronary heart disease. The purpose of this study was for the patient’s depression symptoms to be measured. Such measurement levels of depression would be anxiety, panic depression, and agoraphobia.
A study was conducted in which the scores of anxiety, panic depression, and agoraphobia were in relation to the risk factors or coronary heart disease. The study included 82 subjects (28 females and 52 males). Previous history and of coronary heart disease we researched and taken in account, along with index, body mass, treatment, intervention, medication, and physical a exam (Vural, Acer, Akbas, 2008) Studies show that female patients had a higher score of depression than in men, along with panic agoraphobia and anxiety.
Other studies demonstrated that women have higher levels of depression and anxiety in their everyday life. Studies have also shown that there is a higher risk of depression associated with coronary heart disease and diabetes (Vural, Acer, Akbas, 2008) 17 patients with diabetes were tested (8 male and 9 female) the Hamilton Depression Scale scores were greater or equal to 14, which fell under moderate to major depression. Major depression was found in all 9 women which concluded 100%, while only 3 of the men were found to be depressed 37. %, thus provided the health professions that gender and diabetes play a major role in depression (Vural, Acer, Akbas, 2008). The five items used to sample the domain for this study will be similar to seen in the Patient Health Questionnaire designed to be a self-administered usually set on scoring each of the nine DSM criteria (Watson, Brandon, & Thrash, 2010). This scale of measurement used for this particular study will be a yes/no questionnaire. This is considered a nominal scale, which is simplest form of measurement in the field of assessment (Cohen, & Swerdlik, 2010).
This scale will measure measures a point value of 1 for yes and 0 for no. The scale will be measured in the range of 0-3 to assess severity, duration, and symptoms (Watson, Brandon, & Thrash, 2010). The five yes/ no questions used to sample the domain will be I feel depressed, I have been sad for the past week, I have noticed changes in my sleeping and eating, I do not feel as if life is going to get better, and I feel happy most of the day. All five of these questions will be answered in a simple yes or no and calculated to formulate a score.
There will be ten subjects (7 men and 3 women), with the ages ranging from 20-50 years of age. How is 10 a representative sample? Why more men than women??? Why this age range??? What about race??? This scale of measurement used for this particular study will be an 8 questionnaire that will be accessible though the online version of the Hamilton Depression Scale. You were to write 5 items… based on how YOU operationally defined the construct. The subject will answer each question by clicking on the dot to mark yes/no. All 5 items will need to be completed in order to get an accurate score.
Items 5 to 8 will provide additional information about the subject’s symptoms, but they will not be calculated in the score. The subject will then click on the score button after all 5 items have been completed. A score table will them pop up along with a brief statement that will indicate if the score is in normal range or if the subject needs medical treatment. 0 being normal, 1-2 being mild, 3-4 moderate, and 4-5 server. If the subjects score is 4 or greater this is an indication that the subject may be severely depressed.
The subject will have the option to follow up with a medical provider if they feel they are depressed of if the scale suggests that their results are not in normal range. The reason this method was selected was that it is a self- administered test, which has very positive aspects. The positive aspect is as followed: It is administered by you, which provides comfort and privacy, it’s quicker, it’s non expensive, it reduces the time of health professions, and it provides a degree of standardization that may be complex to achieve with observation readings (Bent-Hansen, Bech, 2011).
Not a complete paragraph. The reliability measure that will be using the study will be construct validity. The reliability measure is construct validity???? What about reliability??? Construct validity is the tool in which all other sub-types of validity fall under (Cohen & Swerdlik, 2010). Construct validity is an appropriate tool to use in a case where a test is trying to measure fundamental construct. Some examples of this would be anxiety and intelligence. However, it would not be appropriate where there is one clear construct.
Construct validity methods can be used to confirm fundamental construct followed by the decree of scientific methods (Cohen & Swerdlik, 2010). This does not demonstrate how you would use it or why it is appropriate to use. What about the other forms of validity? A hypothesis can be formulated that an individual possesses a great construct of intelligence. This is verified through other measures, they will then score high on the test according to their measure of intelligence (Cohen & Swerdlik, 2010). What does this have to do with anxiety??? This can be considered a prediction based on a scientific fact.
This method was chosen because the main goal was to test the construct validity of the instrument that was chosen to assess the levels of depression in men and in women with terminal illness. This instrument that is used in this study to measure depression has good construct validity. This instrument can also be used to screen personal for a lifetime, and in the general population. It was ca also be administered by interviewers or by self-report ratings (Teglasi, Nebbergall, Newman, Daniel, 2012). When a test of measuring is used as part of the data collection process the reliability and validity of the test is important.
Validity actually refers to the extent in which the test or their measuring devices are really measuring what they are suppose to. The researcher would consider the face validity of the questionnaire; this would indicate that the questionnaire looks like it measures what it is intended to (Teglasi, Nebbergall, Newman, Daniel, 2012). In this case the questionnaire is broken down into 5 short easy questions that are directed towards the study. The questions were phrased properly, and the options for the response were appropriate.
An expert in depression has been asked to consider if these questions were against known symptoms of depression. Examples of these questions would be symptoms that include sleeping problems, depressed mood, and change in weight. The study includes all of these. Consistencies among the questions are met in this study because all of the questions are related to depression, which would make them fairly consistent. However if the questionnaire was sloppy this would have great affect on the result and study. In conclusion the construct of depression in terminal illness patients was created and studied.
The operational definition on the construct chosen was given, along with examples. Five items were chosen and used to sample the domain. A method of scaling was also selected which was the yes/no method and then justified. The test was written out and was justified why that particular test was chosen. The norm of the instrument was then added, along with who the test was intended for. The type of reliability measure was given along with how validity was established in the study. All of these will conclude my testing of measuring depression in individuals with terminal illness.
