Reference no: EM133658747

Assignment

Assessment of the Study Design and Conduct:

Overall, the study's design is reasonable and appropriate. It uses quantitative (closed-set questions) and qualitative (open-ended) questions in the survey, which enables the authors to evaluate various experiences, perspectives, and feelings of different people. The authors oversampled from the hearing loss group to access the impacts of face covering to the group more comprehensively and thoroughly. Besides, the data of the samples were collected within two months, so the participants' experiences, perspectives, and feelings will not be dramatically changed, which reduces the bias caused by participants' different opinions at different times and increases the answer's accuracy.

There are some limitations of the study. The snowball sampling limits generalizability as the participants might not be able to represent the entire population. Besides, the online survey also restricts the generalizability as people who do not use the Internet or social media have been eliminated by the study. Thus, the sample may not be able to represent people who do not use the Internet or social media. Furthermore, as the data was collected from a period, participants' experiences, perspectives, and feelings will change over time. Thus, this study did not assess the views changing over time and the reasons for changes. However, the study provides valuable ideas about an emerging problem during the pandemic.

Future studies could consider applying more sampling methods to involve more diverse groups or comparing the participants' views over time to identify reasons and develop suggestions for face coverings based on that.

Pick two out of the three questions to answer.

Question I: The study used snowball sampling to recruit participants. However, it limits the generalizability of the results. Is there an alternative sampling method of snowball sampling to increase the generalizability of the results? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the new method? Why is it reasonable? In your response, cite at least one example/excerpt from the study.

Question II: The study discussed some of its limitations, such as it excluded people who do not have access to the Internet or use social media from the participants. What other limitations that the authors did not mention in the study do you think the study has? How will they affect the results? In your response, cite at least one example/excerpt from the study.

Question III: The study used both quantitative and qualitative questions in the survey. What are the advantages and challenges of these mixed questions in research? In your response, cite at least one example/excerpt from the study.

The purpose of the study is to understand how face coverings affect hearing and communication. To better assess the impacts of face coverings on the hearing loss group, the authors especially oversampled this group in the sampling (230 of 460 participants were hearing loss). The authors also gained and examined experience in interacting when wearing a face covering and communicating with the person wearing a face covering.

Methods:

Sampling:

The authors used snowball sampling to recruit participants through social media (Twitter and Facebook) and emails sent to professional and personal networks. The participants are 460 people who live in the UK and are equal to or over 18 years old. The authors sent an online survey that included closed-set questions (participants needed to select options from a 5-point Likert scale) and open-ended questions to participants.

The online survey has four sections:

A. Demographic and hearing-related items.
B. Items about communicating with someone who is wearing a face covering.
C. Items about communicating when wearing a face covering.
D. Perceptions of face coverings from a public health perspective.

Data collection and analysis:

Data was collected between 8 June 2020 and 5 August 2020. The authors used descriptive analyses and Kruskall-Wallis tests to examine close-set questions and inductive content analysis to evaluate open-ended questions.

Key findings:

Most of the participants indicate that face coverings have negative effects on hearing, understanding, engagement, and feelings of connection with the speaker, and the negative effects of face coverings in medical situations are much greater than in other situations. Besides, the negative impacts of face coverings are more significant to hearing loss groups compared with people with normal hearing. Communicating problems related to face coverings led to many negative emotions - 'anxiety, isolation, feeling stupid, and losing confidence' Face coverings affected the content of communications, the degree of interpersonal connection, and the willingness to converse. Thus, the authors indicated, based on the findings, that it is essential to design communication-friendly face coverings. Healthcare practitioners need to meet patients' communication requirements, and the public needs to understand effective communication strategies.