Interviewer bias when using multiple mini-interviews in selecting student nurses in a Chinese setting

Mike K. P. SO, Man Ying Amanda CHU, Agnes TIWARI

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlespeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Background    Interviewer effects may cause unfairness in assessments in multiple mini-interviews (MMIs). Due to cultural differences, the bias factors of interviewers may vary between the East and the West. MMIs are a relatively new type of assessment setting in China and few studies have been conducted to examine the interviewer effects of MMIs in this context.
Objectives   We adopted a multi-faceted Rasch measurement (MFRM) to measure interviewer effects in assessments in Hong Kong.
Methods   Data were collected from a nursing school in Hong Kong. There were 431 candidates and 12 interviewers engaged in a six-station MMI setting. The scores collected from the interviews were analyzed in terms of 1) interviewer stringency/leniency, 2) candidate gender, 3) interview time, and 4) rating category in the station. The Student's t-statistic values were calculated to investigate the marking tendencies of individual interviewers.
Results   The research findings suggest that interviewers differ in their degree of stringency/leniency, but the number of candidates examined by each interviewer does not affect interviewer stringency/leniency in terms of the interviewer's assessment. There is not sufficient evidence indicating that candidate gender and interview time are bias factors affecting assessment score in this study. Among the six rating categories examined, honesty/integrity is the most stringent category, while self-awareness is the most lenient category. Interview bias from individuals was identified. When we consider the interview scores given by individual interviewers, it is evident that some interviewers may have been biased toward a certain gender or rating categories.
Conclusions   MMIs are useful when selecting student nurses in a Chinese setting. However, interviewer bias may exist. We used an MFRM to better understand interviewer bias across various dimensions. The present study contributes to the development and use of MMIs in non-Western countries and can be used as a reference to extend this research to other locations. Copyright © 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Original languageEnglish
Article number105676
JournalNurse Education Today
Volume121
Early online date29 Nov 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2023

Citation

So, M. K. P., Chu, A. M. Y., & Tiwari, A. (2023). Interviewer bias when using multiple mini-interviews in selecting student nurses in a Chinese setting. Nurse Education Today, 121. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2022.105676

Keywords

  • Interviews
  • MMI
  • Multi-faceted Rasch measurement
  • Nursing program
  • Selecting candidates
  • Student nurse

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