Recurrence Quantification Analysis of Personal Statements from Applicants to a Physical Therapy Doctoral Program: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.

PURPOSE

We examined lexical sophistication of written personal statements from physical therapy applicants to determine whether recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) indices distinguish higher- versus lower-scored candidates and correlate with other admissions variables.

METHODS

Written personal statements were extracted from 152 applications, coded numerically, and analyzed with RQA. Along with other RQA indices, determinism-representing predictability of words and phrases-was quantified. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to examine discriminative validity of RQA indices to distinguish between top-10 and bottom-10 candidates. Correlation coefficients between RQA indices and other admissions variables (grade point averages, standardized exam, behavioral interview, and cumulative admissions scores) were also examined.

RESULTS

Determinism in personal statements was lower in top-scored (mean 7.38%) than bottom-scored candidates (mean 11.29%, p = 0.015), differentiated between them with 70% sensitivity (95% CI 34.8%-93.3%) and 100% specificity (95% CI 69.2%-100%), and correlated negatively with candidates' behavioral interview scores (r = -0.168, p = 0.039).

DISCUSSION

The greater expressive lexical sophistication characterized by lower determinism in personal statements provides information about candidates' writing proficiency as a component of their communication abilities that may not otherwise be assessed in traditional admissions variables.