scholarly journals Designing Informative Rating Systems: Evidence from an Online Labor Market

Author(s):  
Nikhil Garg ◽  
Ramesh Johari

Problem definition: Platforms critically rely on rating systems to learn the quality of market participants. In practice, however, ratings are often highly inflated and therefore, not very informative. In this paper, we first investigate whether the platform can obtain less inflated, more informative ratings by altering the meaning and relative importance of the levels in the rating system. Second, we seek a principled approach for the platform to make these choices in the design of the rating system. Academic/practical relevance: Platforms critically rely on rating systems to learn the quality of market participants, and so, ensuring these ratings are informative is of first-order importance. Methodology: We analyze the results of a randomized, controlled trial on an online labor market in which an additional question was added to the feedback form. Between treatment conditions, we vary the question phrasing and answer choices; in particular, the treatment conditions include several positive-skewed verbal rating scales with descriptive phrases or adjectives providing specific interpretation for each rating level. We then develop a model-based framework to compare and select among rating system designs and apply this framework to the data obtained from the online labor market test. Results: Our test reveals that current inflationary norms can be countered by reanchoring the meaning of the levels of the rating system. In particular, positive-skewed verbal rating scales yield substantially deflated rating distributions that are much more informative about seller quality. Further, we demonstrate that our model-based framework for scale design and optimization can identify the most informative rating system and substantially improve the quality of information obtained over baseline designs. Managerial implications: Our study illustrates that practical, informative rating systems can be designed and demonstrates how to compare and design them in a principled manner.

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 112-117
Author(s):  
V. K. Narayan ◽  
S. R. Samuel

A youngster’s response to dental treatment may greatly facilitate or hinder the course and quality of treatment provided. Numerous children tend to experience various clinical levels of anxiety and some will go on to develop as an anxiety disorder. Estimates suggest that approximately 10–25% of the population may experience an anxiety disorder at some time. Without adequate tools to measure the levels of anxiety in children, it is not possible to isolate the problem and give them the early attention they need. Problems which have arisen in using rating scales typically involve difficulties related to reliability, validity, and measurement level. The major drawbacks of the rating system lie in possible undetected bias and misrepresentation of data. The scorer weighs the evidence on which the rating is based on a complex manner which is not easily specified, standardized, or objectified. The present review was carried out to understand the clinical significance of various behavior rating scales practiced over the years in pediatric practice.


2006 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 105-111
Author(s):  
Rae de Lisle ◽  
Dale B Speedy ◽  
John M D Thompson ◽  
Donald G Maurice

Focal dystonia is a debilitating movement disorder that occurs from many repetitions of a specific task. It typically manifests in involuntary muscle contractions and, in pianists, causes an incoordination between fingers, making it impossible to play at concert level. Prognosis is poor, and most sufferers are forced to abandon their careers. The aim of this research was to ascertain whether pianism retraining would enable pianists affected by focal hand dystonia to play again. Three pianists with focal hand dystonia participated in a retraining programme based on a biomechanically sound way of playing with minimal tension. Quality of scales and repertoire were assessed before and after pianism retraining by several rating systems, which included assessment by a listener blinded as to which hand was dystonic and whether the playing was pre- or post-retraining. Scale quality improved with retraining (p < 0.0001) in all three pianists, with improvement in both hands but greater improvement in the dystonic hand. Although there was no change in the blinded listener's ability to identify the nondystonic hand from pre-retraining to post-retraining, they could correctly identify the dystonic hand 79% of the time pre-retraining, but this decreased to 28% post-retraining. The test repertoire evaluation and the visual evaluation rating were shown to improve significantly by 1.0 and 1.3 points, respectively (on a five-point rating system), from pre-retraining to post-retraining (p < 0.0001). Our data show that pianism retraining can improve the symptoms of focal dystonia in pianists.


2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 284-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Hammersley ◽  
Marie Reid ◽  
Stephen L. Atkin

Mood is widely assessed in nutrition research, usually with rating scales. A core assumption is that positive mood reinforces ingestion, so it is important to measure mood well. Four relevant theoretical issues are reviewed: (i) the distinction between protracted and transient mood; (ii) the distinction between mood and emotion; (iii) the phenomenology of mood as an unstable tint to consciousness rather than a distinct state of consciousness; (iv) moods can be caused by social and cognitive processes as well as physiological ones. Consequently, mood is difficult to measure and mood rating is easily influenced by non-nutritive aspects of feeding, the psychological, social and physical environment where feeding occurs, and the nature of the rating system employed. Some of the difficulties are illustrated by reviewing experiments looking at the impact of food on mood. The mood-rating systems in common use in nutrition research are then reviewed, the requirements of a better mood-rating system are described, and guidelines are provided for a considered choice of mood-rating system including that assessment should: have two main dimensions; be brief; balance simplicity and comprehensiveness; be easy to use repeatedly. Also mood should be assessed only under conditions where cognitive biases have been considered and controlled.


Crisis ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yves Sarfati ◽  
Blandine Bouchaud ◽  
Marie-Christine Hardy-Baylé

Summary: The cathartic effect of suicide is traditionally defined as the existence of a rapid, significant, and spontaneous decrease in the depressive symptoms of suicide attempters after the act. This study was designed to investigate short-term variations, following a suicide attempt by self-poisoning, of a number of other variables identified as suicidal risk factors: hopelessness, impulsivity, personality traits, and quality of life. Patients hospitalized less than 24 hours after a deliberate (moderate) overdose were presented with the Montgomery-Asberg Depression and Impulsivity Rating Scales, Hopelessness scale, MMPI and World Health Organization's Quality of Life questionnaire (abbreviated versions). They were also asked to complete the same scales and questionnaires 8 days after discharge. The study involved 39 patients, the average interval between initial and follow-up assessment being 13.5 days. All the scores improved significantly, with the exception of quality of life and three out of the eight personality traits. This finding emphasizes the fact that improvement is not limited to depressive symptoms and enables us to identify the relative importance of each studied variable as a risk factor for attempted suicide. The limitations of the study are discussed as well as in particular the nongeneralizability of the sample and setting.


2012 ◽  
pp. 63-87
Author(s):  
Anh Mai Ngoc ◽  
Ha Do Thi Hai ◽  
Huyen Nguyen Thi Ngoc

This study uses descriptive statistical method to analyze the income and life qual- ity of 397 farmer households who are suffering social exclusion in an economic aspect out of a total of 725 households surveyed in five Northern provinces of Vietnam in 2010. The farmers’ opinions of the impact of the policies currently prac- ticed by the central government and local authorities to give them access to the labor market are also analyzed in this study to help management officers see how the poli- cies affect the beneficiaries so that they can later make appropriate adjustments.


2016 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne M. Farrell ◽  
Jonathan H. Grenier ◽  
Justin Leiby

ABSTRACT Online labor markets allow rapid recruitment of large numbers of workers for very low pay. Although online workers are often used as research participants, there is little evidence that they are motivated to make costly choices to forgo wealth or leisure that are often central to addressing accounting research questions. Thus, we investigate the validity of using online workers as a proxy for non-experts when accounting research designs use more demanding tasks than these workers typically complete. Three experiments examine the costly choices of online workers relative to student research participants. We find that online workers are at least as willing as students to make costly choices, even at significantly lower wages. We also find that online workers are sensitive to performance-based wages, which are just as effective in inducing high effort as high fixed wages. We discuss implications of our results for conducting accounting research with online workers. Data Availability: Contact the authors.


Author(s):  
Arne L. Kalleberg

This chapter discusses how the growth of precarious work and the polarization of the US labor market have produced major problems for the employment experiences of young workers. A prominent indicator of young workers’ difficulties in the labor market has been the sharp increase in their unemployment rates since the Great Recession. Another, equally if not more severe, problem faced by young workers today is the relatively low quality of the jobs that they were able to get. Other problems include the exclusion of young workers from the labor market and from education and training opportunities; the inability to find jobs that utilize their education, training, and skills; and the inability to obtain jobs that provide them with an opportunity to get a foothold in a career that would lead to progressively better jobs and thus be able to construct career narratives.


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