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Records of the Research Institute for the Study of Man (RISM) Medical School Attitude Questionnaire (MSAQ)

Call Number

RISM.RG.7

Date

1958-1960, inclusive

Creator

Rubin, Vera D.
Research Institute for the Study of Man

Extent

4.5 Linear Feet in 6 boxes

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Abstract

Conducted between 1959 and 1960, the Medical Students Attitude Questionnaire was a cross-cultural study undertaken by the Research Institute for the Study of Man (RISM) and the World Federation on Mental Health, which examined the beliefs and feelings medical students had toward a variety of issues pertaining to their future roles as medical professionals. The materials include correspondence, questionnaires, and responses.

Historical note

Founded in 1955, the Research Institute for the Study of Man (RISM) is a non-profit organization that promotes and carries out multidisciplinary and cross cultural studies on topics of contemporary relevance. In 1959, a study was undertaken by RISM and the World Federation on Mental Health to understand the attitudes that medical students of all specialties and from around the world had towards issues of mental health in medicine.

Participants were asked about their feelings towards the salience of social and emotional factors in illness, their tolerance for handling cases where social and emotional problems complicated the medical problems, their attitudes towards diagnosing what falls within the scope of mental illness and the impact of social biases in diagnosing therapy. Questions regarding their personal backgrounds, their preferred specialties, stereotypes towards specialties and what environment they wanted to practice medicine in were also part of the questionnaire.

The questionnaire was administered to students in many parts of the world, including Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Great Britain, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, and the United States.

Arrangement note

This collection has been arranged in three series chronologically:

Series

  1. Series I: Pretesting Correspondence
  2. Series II: Research/Working Papers
  3. Series III: Completed Questionnaires

Scope and Contents

The records of the Medical School Attitude Questionnaire (MSAQ), part of the collection on the Research Institute on the Studies of Man, consist of 4.5 linear feet of material from 1959-1960. The collection has been broken into three series: Pretesting Correspondence, Research and Working Papers, and Questionnaires.

Series I: Pretesting Correspondence and Questionnaire Drafts contains correspondence regarding the content and development of the questionnaire as well as copies of the drafts with comments, pretests and official copies of the completed questionnaire. It is arranged by subject.

Series II: Research and Working Papers contains copies of questions and data from previous studies used as reference in the development of the MSAQ and is grouped by subject.

Series III: Questionnaires contains a bulk of the contents and is comprised of completed questionnaires by medical students from universities around the world and some blank copies of the questionnaires. The questionnaires have been grouped by the part of the world or specific institution where they were completed.

Conditions Governing Access

The Collection contains human subject data, and some material may be restricted. Please contact the University Archives for questions about restricted material.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the:

New York University Archives Elmer Holmes Bobst Library 70 Washington Square South New York, NY 10012 Phone: (212) 998-2646 Fax: (212) 995-4225 E-mail: university-archives@nyu.edu

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date; Records of the Research Institute for the Study of Man (RISM) Medical School Attitude Questionnaire (MSAQ); RISM RG 7, Box and Folder Number(s); New York University Archives; New York University

Location of Materials

Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please request materials at least two business days prior to your research visit to coordinate access.

Separated Materials note

No materials have been removed from the collection.

Related Archival Materials note

Vera D. Rubin Papers, RISM RG 1 Research and Training Program for the Study of Man in the Tropics Records of the RISM Bolivia Project Records of the Puerto Rico Study RISM Vertical Files RISM Guide to Records of the Interuniversity Consortium

Collection processed by

Inventory prepared by Margaret Fraser and Samantha Gibson, September 2010.

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 17:57:12 -0400.
Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

Decisions concerning the arrangement, description, and physical interventions taken on this collection prior to 2017 have not yet been recorded. In 2017 an accretion of two folders was added to the collection and incorporated into existing series based on content, although intellectual arrangement does not reflect physical arrangement.

Revisions to this Guide

June 2017: Record edited by Rachel Searcy to reflect incorporation of 2017 accretion

Repository

New York University Archives
Research Institute for the Study of Man
New York University Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012