Good researcher, poor midwife: an investigation into the impact of central trait descriptions on assumptions of professional competencies.
OBJECTIVE
in an attempt to explain the serious shortfall in published midwifery research an attempt was made to assess whether the way in which midwives construe their professional role acts as a deterrent to undertaking research.


METHODS
different subject experimental.


METHODS
a college of nursing and midwifery in central England.


METHODS
30 midwives attending postregistration continuing education courses.


METHODS
the midwives were divided into two groups and were asked to imagine that they were interviewing a candidate for a midwifery post following Asch's (1946) paradigm. The candidate had been described by her referee using six adjectives. Five of these were common to both groups of subjects, but the sixth descriptor for one group was 'good clinician', while for the other group it was 'good researcher'.


RESULTS
the groups were asked to assess how much of each of 16 dimensional traits their candidate possessed. Analysis of the findings, using unrelated t-tests, suggested that if the candidate had been described as a poor researcher, it was also assumed that the candidate was more ambitious, a poorer communicator, less kind, stronger, more logical, less emotional, more confident, less popular, less compassionate, more rational, more organised and more analytical than the candidate described as a good clinician.


CONCLUSIONS
these findings suggest that if midwives are to become more research active they can only do so if they sacrifice their constructs of themselves as good midwives. If midwifery is to accept research as part of its responsibility it appears that there has to be a radical shift in predispositional assumptions to integrate the traits required for good clinical practice, sound research and femaleness?
Hicks
C
C
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007587:Job Description; D008875:Middle Aged; D009721:Nurse Midwives / Q000523:psychology*; D015399:Nursing Research / Q000592:standards*; D010551:Personality; D011361:Professional Competence / Q000592:standards*; D012649:Self Concept