Abstract
A questionnaire survey of shiftworkers, while somewhat less objective than a health and safety records evaluation or a medical study, can provide a fast and efficient way for collecting a large amount of detailed data about the psychological, social, and health consequences of shiftwork. In fact, this method can produce information that cannot be derived from either of the other two techniques. Measures of the many diverse and subtle factors relating shift-work and health, such as personal adjustment, personality characteristics, and social adjustment, can be evaluated using a questionnaire; the other methods are insensitive to these factors. This paper provides a description of a questionnaire survey study of the psychosocial factors in shiftworker health and a discussion of the most appropriate techniques to use in conducting this type of survey. The relative merits of a questionnaire survey vs. other data collection methods are also discussed.
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Smith, M.J., Colligan, M.J. & Tasto, D.L. A questionnaire survey approach to the study of the psychosocial consequences of shiftwork. Behavior Research Methods & Instrumentation 11, 9–13 (1979). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03205423
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03205423