Evaluation of environments in hospital settings with regard to their therapeutic qualities has been a problem for clinicians and evaluation specialists for some time. Thepresentproject examined the Ward Atmosphere Scale (WAS) factor-analytically and derived secondorder factors inconsistent with those proposed by the authors of the scale. Items ofthe WAS were arrangedpsychometrically into three scales as implied by the factor analysis. Results suggest that interpretation ofthe WAS can be simplified considerably if these three superordinate dimensions are used to organize item-level data.
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