Test Design and Evaluation
Participants
Two groups of participants will be recruited; a control group consisting of healthy American soldiers and an experimental group consisting of American soldiers who sustain a concussion. Participation will be voluntary and participants should be free of any history of concussion or cognitive impairment. Due to the disproportionate gender representation of soldiers only men will be included and participants have to be between 18-50 years.
The study will aim to consist of 200 participants (100 healthy soldiers; 100 concussed soldiers), however, if less than 100 participants sustain a concussion the amount collected will be used.
As concussion cannot be manipulated a large sample will be recruited …show more content…
As tests of concussion are performed through the year the difference between post-concussion and the follow-up at the end of the year will differ which is a limitation of the study. The primary analysis will be between control groups pre and post-test scores and experimental participant pre-test, post-concussion and follow-up test scores. The control group is used to assess the validity of the battery, ensuring the scores baseline and follow-up scores are the same. Participants will be recruited as they are representative of the population being studied and the concussive circumstances in which will be specific to the area of study.
Design
Pre-test, post-concussion and follow-up measures will be assessed using the same cognitive tests. Two groups will be compared: a control group who do not sustain a concussion and an experimental group who sustained a concussion within the year. The design will be longitudinal testing over one-year. Thus, the design will be a 2 (health: concussed vs healthy) x 3 (testing outcome: pre-test, post-test, follow-up test) repeated measures design.
Materials and …show more content…
Firstly, the test will need to accurately measure cognitive performance for concussed individuals; it is expected that healthy individuals will attain significantly better performance. As the test is based on cognitive performance, comparison across groups is essential to establish the construct validity of the measure. Next, participant’s scores dictate their level of cognition, therefore, the adequacy of the score is essential in determining if there is a discernable difference between concussed and healthy individuals, thus, criterion validity is essential. Lastly, the test needs to ensure it covers all areas of cognition and is applicable in a military content, thus content validity is
Participants
Two groups of participants will be recruited; a control group consisting of healthy American soldiers and an experimental group consisting of American soldiers who sustain a concussion. Participation will be voluntary and participants should be free of any history of concussion or cognitive impairment. Due to the disproportionate gender representation of soldiers only men will be included and participants have to be between 18-50 years.
The study will aim to consist of 200 participants (100 healthy soldiers; 100 concussed soldiers), however, if less than 100 participants sustain a concussion the amount collected will be used.
As concussion cannot be manipulated a large sample will be recruited …show more content…
As tests of concussion are performed through the year the difference between post-concussion and the follow-up at the end of the year will differ which is a limitation of the study. The primary analysis will be between control groups pre and post-test scores and experimental participant pre-test, post-concussion and follow-up test scores. The control group is used to assess the validity of the battery, ensuring the scores baseline and follow-up scores are the same. Participants will be recruited as they are representative of the population being studied and the concussive circumstances in which will be specific to the area of study.
Design
Pre-test, post-concussion and follow-up measures will be assessed using the same cognitive tests. Two groups will be compared: a control group who do not sustain a concussion and an experimental group who sustained a concussion within the year. The design will be longitudinal testing over one-year. Thus, the design will be a 2 (health: concussed vs healthy) x 3 (testing outcome: pre-test, post-test, follow-up test) repeated measures design.
Materials and …show more content…
Firstly, the test will need to accurately measure cognitive performance for concussed individuals; it is expected that healthy individuals will attain significantly better performance. As the test is based on cognitive performance, comparison across groups is essential to establish the construct validity of the measure. Next, participant’s scores dictate their level of cognition, therefore, the adequacy of the score is essential in determining if there is a discernable difference between concussed and healthy individuals, thus, criterion validity is essential. Lastly, the test needs to ensure it covers all areas of cognition and is applicable in a military content, thus content validity is