MRSC2100: Critique of Radiologic Technologists' Job Satisfaction

This assignment presents a critique of an article titled 'Radiologic Technologists’ Job Satisfaction: A Look at Work Environment, Communication, and Leadership.' The critique evaluates the article's title, author background, data relevance, journal suitability, and abstract clarity. It identifies potential biases due to the study's setting within a single hospital system and the lack of a pilot study. The critique also points out the absence of hypotheses or research questions and the limited expertise of the reviewers in human resources. Furthermore, it discusses the vague classification of the survey, the omission of age and gender considerations, and the lack of ethical considerations. The critique questions the data's accuracy, acknowledges limitations, and suggests improvements for data presentation. The discussion section reflects on the importance of a clear abstract, the roles of registered technologists, and the application of data analysis methods. The assignment concludes with insights on worker cooperation and the significance of employee-driven changes.

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Article Critique
Fultz AR, Walker M, Lengerich A, Bugajski A. Radiologic Technologists’ Job Satisfaction: A
Look at Work Environment, Communication, and Leadership. Radiologic technology.
2018 Jul 1; 89(6):536-40.
The title of the article is clear, it mentions clearly the purpose and any reader can clearly
draw from the title however the title fails to capture the scope and area of study, job satisfaction
of the radiologic technologist may vary from different countries and working environment. It
would be more appropriate if the author mentions the specific area of study for example -
Radiologic Technologists' Job Satisfaction in the USA: A Look at Work Environment,
Communication, and Leadership
The authors have a medical background, Allison R Fultz, MBA; R.T. (R) (M) (CT) is a
clinical radiologist while Alexander Lengerich is a registered nurse. As a result, the study could
have suffered biases in data targeting. This is not conclusive as having a career background as
that of the topic of study may be an added advantage.
The article was published in 2017; secondary data used in the literature review is from
between 2002 and 2017. Given that, the authors used only 15 articles. There was to look at data
that are more recent. This is because changes in the health sector are usually sudden with
changes in administration. We would have preferred that the author use data not older than 5
years.
The Journal of American Society of Radiologic Technologists is a journal that focuses on
emerging issues in radiology. Its content is targeted to radiologic technologies. The article

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although peer-reviewed is more of a human resource and labor issue than a radiologic issue. The
article fits better in the journal of the human resource than on journal of American Society of
Radiologic Technologists
The abstract captures the purpose of the article vague way. It does not state the location
of the study. This is necessary for any study. In the abstract, the author fails to capture the scope
of the surveys and states in a vague way the items by number.
The body has reviewed various studies on the subject of study.The study is based on 391-
bed Magnet redesignated Hospital and its affiliated clinics. This may have presented bias as all
the technologies in the same systems hence satisfaction or lack of satisfaction is affected across
the board. Instead, the authors should have conducted a comparative study to establish if there is
a difference in satisfaction with the change of system and leadership of the hospital involved.
In this study, a pilot study was not conducted. The authors have not mentioned any
adjustments made to fit the main study. It would have been necessary that a pilot study is
conducted in order to get the major controls of the study.
The authors have not stated any hypotheses and research questions. This makes it hard
for the audience to evaluate if the study has successfully proven the hypothesis or answered the
research questions. I this case the audience is left to wonder if the purpose of the study was
achieved.
The methods of the research were varied there was a precheck and verification of the
validity of the 12 item survey by experts. Unfortunately, the experts are radiologists and not
human resource experts. although the subject of the study is in the medical field the subject
matter falls squarely on labor and human resource hence there was a need for a human resource
expert opinion or input. The classification of the survey and administration was vague, it was

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inappropriate for the authors to think that segmentation by area of work/duties and education
level could affect the level of job satisfaction.
In the methods, the authors failed to acknowledge the aspect of age when it comes to job
satisfaction .they only looked at the job description and education level. Age and gender aspect is
an important aspect, in the medical field. The authors have not properly associated with these
factors. Although to a great extent the authors have looked at the years of experience.
A reason is not given for the establishment of the various categories of technologies.
There is inadequate data for some of the categories as not all the technologies were selected to
participate in the study. Method of selection of the 117 participants is not stated.
In the study, there is no mention of any ethical considerations as demanded any medical
field study. In any case, it can expose the hospital to criticism or end individual careers if
patients found that individuals who are not happy in their job treat them. The confidentiality and
anonymity of those who participated in the study were not detailed.
In the study the years of experience used were not discrete, categories could overlap
therefore there was a possibility that some of the technologies were categorized in an appropriate
group. This would have resulted in big errors from data misinterpretation. It would have also
been necessary for the study to be repeated in different states and hospitals with different
organizational structure to test the validity of finding.
The accuracy of data is in great doubt. In the limitation, the authors state that there was
missing data for 32 participants. This reduced the number of valid data hence the level of
significance of the data obtained.
The result and data presentation are done on tables. No graphs and charts have been used.
The author should have used charts and graphs to give a visual representation.

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From the face value and quality of the data provided, the peer-reviewed paper looks
legitimate. The authors have a reputable career in the medical field. The abstract and the general
structure of the paper covers all the major segments of a journal article.
Discussion
I learned the importance of the statement of purpose and a simple straight forward abstract. from
this, I can now appreciate that a quality abstract allows the audience to know the content of the
paper without going through the whole paper.
In the article, I learned the various roles played by registered technologist .in this article the
author brought into my attention the existing gap in research of factors affecting radiologist job
satisfaction.
The authors have given an overview of data and interpretation. All components of data analysis
have been well interpreted. The authors analyzed the data and results, we cannot dispute their
level of knowledge in the analysis of data but the estimation of bias was necessary. Given that,
one of the authors is in an administrative position.
The article helps me understand that span of individual expertise in a field can affect their job
satisfaction. In the same case, I was able to learn the various method of data operation and
analysis and how to interpret data. Some of the analysis components include descriptive data
such as calculation of frequency, mean independent t-test, and ANOVA.
The article allowed me to visualize how to create a data collection too i.e. using the survey
method. The information about how the survey question was mentioned for both open-ended and
closed-ended question was an eye-opener.

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The paper gave me the view of how workers are able to cooperate with the management. In a big
way, I learned how important it would be for a hospital to allow change derived from employees.
e.g. the change in the filing system in the hospital after the study.
.