Page 174 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 14

explore response bias. Social desirability factors terms of ethnicity, with 93% reporting white
were examined using the 13-item Short Form non-Hispanic. The majority (82%) of the samp-
C of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability le reported the United States of America as
Scale (Reynolds, 1982). This shortened -versi- their home or passport country. The countries
on in a true/false response format provides the or geographical areas of service span the globe
closest language to missionary populations and with 92% of respondents reporting that their
was found in studies by Reynolds (1982) to be country of service felt relatively stable and safe,
reliable and valid. or if unstable still felt relatively safe. Only 28%
The Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Li- reported language proficiency as either poor or
berty University approved this study prior to beginner/survivor level.
its initiation. Participants’ data was collected There was a wide range of previous cross-cul-
through the Survey Monkey website, downloa- tural experience before the current term. This
ded to an Excel spreadsheet, and analyzed using range varied from 0-3 months (25%) up to more
Systat statistical software. than 20 years (11%). There was also a wide ran-
ge of time frames in the current assignment
Results with the most frequent response of 3-5 years
Participant Characteristics (27%).
During the one-month time frame, 361 parti- In this sample 82% reported having member
cipants accessed the survey via the internet. Of care services available or available upon request.
those, 94 were eliminated due to incomplete In this sample the following percentages were
responses or they did not meet eligibility for reported as agreeing or strongly agreeing that
the study. This resulted in 267 valid surveys. they felt supported by family back home (82%),
The majority (70%) of the study sample were friends (73%), and by their organization (73%).
females. Individuals between the ages of 31 to Based on scales used to measure response bias,
40 comprised the largest age group of the samp- the participants answered the questionnaire in
le (31%). Seventy percent (70%) of the sample an unbiased fashion.
reported being currently married with 80% re-
porting their spouse was from the same coun- Perception of Stress
try of origin. The sample was homogenous in Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) noted that

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