Do ethnic group and gender influence the type of care that a heart patient
receives? The following passage is from the article "Heart Care Reflects Race
and Sex, Not Symptoms" (USA Today, February 25,1999 , reprinted with
permission): Previous research suggested blacks and women were less likely
than whites and men to get cardiac catheterization or coronary bypass surgery
for chest pain or a heart attack. Scientists blamed differences in illness
severity, insurance coverage, patient preference, and health care access. The
researchers eliminated those differences by videotaping actorstwo black men,
two black women, two white men, and two white women - describing chest pain
from identical scripts. They wore identical gowns, used identical gestures,
and were taped from the same position. Researchers asked 720 primary care
doctors at meetings of the American College of Physicians or the American
Academy of Family Physicians to watch a tape and recommend care. The doctors
thought the study focused on clinical decision-making. Evaluate this
experimental design. Do you think this is a good design or a poor design, and
why? If you were designing such a study, what, if anything, would you propose
to do differently?
