The development and psychometric properties of a measure to assess the written submission of an admissions application

• Published in: The British journal of occupational therapy 2022-09, Vol.85 (9), p.733-742
• Main Authors: Stier, Jill, Cameron, Jill, Nowrouzi-Kia, Behdin, Brammer, Chantel, Asher, Sara, Lipszyc, Deborah
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic degrees; Applicants; Application; Cronbach's alpha; Health services; Occupational therapy; Quantitative psychology; Questionnaires; Test-Retest reliability; Written statements
• ISSN: 0308-0226; 1477-6006
• DOI: 10.1177/03080226221080871

Introduction Health care programs evaluate prospective applicants using cognitive and non-cognitive criteria. The aim of this research was to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of a measure to evaluate the non-cognitive criteria of admissions applications. Method A Masters of Occupational Therapy Written Submission Measure (MOTWSM) was developed and evaluated over 3 phases, using applicants’ written statements, resumes, and reference letters. Participants included 50 students who completed an occupational therapy program for determination of internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Additionally, 195 written submissions selected from the applicants who were admitted, waitlisted, and not admitted to the program were evaluated to determine inter-rater reliability using a two-way ANOVA. Analysis of 195 submissions using a one-way ANOVA determined the measure’s discriminative validity. Findings Results indicated test-retest reliability of 0.95 and internal consistency reliability of 0.76. Inter-rater reliability reported a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.86 using a horizontal scoring method. Good discriminative validity was established. Conclusion The MOTWSM is a reliable and valid measure that can be used to evaluate the non-cognitive criteria of admissions applications in health profession programs. Use of this measure can facilitate selection of the highest caliber of students.