VARIABEL PENGETAHUAN DALAM PENELITIAN KESEHATAN MASYARAKAT

Abstract

Researches in public health area often used composite variable. The composite variable used
in public health researches includes health knowledge, attitude, intention, motivation, behavior, and
many other more. The objective of this study is to provide an overview of data processing and
analysis on composite variables in public health research. This study used a descriptive design
method. Two scientific work assignments were used as the example of composite variable data
processing which were selected using purposive sampling technique. Descriptive analysis was used
to analyze data. The result shows that the composite variable consists of several items of question
or statement. The creation of the knowledge composite variable started by determining the answer
key of the question or statement item. The correct answer was then scored and totaled. Several
studies continue to create categorical variables for knowledge composite variables. The categories
can be sorted into 2 groups or more. The total score of knowledge composite variables can be
grouped using mean or median value as the cut off point. Mean value can be used if the total
knowledge score variable has a normal distribution, while median value is used if the distribution
is not normal. The grouping of knowledge composite variables can also be done based on the value
of Q1 (quartile 1) or Q3 (quartile 3). Finally, previous reference classification can be used to group
the variable.