Abstract

LEON PEREZ, Francisco; ESCUDERO NAHON, Alexandro  and  BAS CERDA, María del Carmen. Instruments to Measure Communication Skill: A Systematic Review. RIDE. Rev. Iberoam. Investig. Desarro. Educ [online]. 2019, vol.9, n.18, pp.102-128. ISSN 2007-7467.  https://doi.org/10.23913/ride.v9i18.414.

There is a broad consensus regarding the fact that there is a gap between the skills of the 21st century that the labor market demands from new professionals and the skills they acquire in the field of higher education. Several studies conclude that communication skill is one of the most demanded by employers as well as one of the most precarious among recent graduates.

The aim of the present work was to establish the current state of research regarding the measurement of communication skills in higher level students. A systematic review of the literature specialized in instruments to measure communication skill in students based on the PRISMA method was conducted. Texts published from 2014 to date were reviewed in Scopus and Web of Science databases. Emphasis was placed on the analysis of the risk of bias, made with the Cochrane collaboration tool. Thus, 243 articles were obtained and the text-full of 130 that met the first selection criteria was analyzed, of which twelve were selected by satisfying all established criteria, obtaining, among others, population and sample data, number of items, validity process and risk of bias.

A relevant finding is that, in the medical area, more instruments have been designed to measure communication skill. In addition, these instruments are based on common dimensions and have well-described content validity processes, however, the construct validity was carried out in more detail in an instrument of the engineering area. Another important finding is that, likely, the success of the communication process depends, mainly, on its preparation by the participants. The combination of dimensions of the medical area and the construct validity processes of other areas could generate more precise instruments to measure both communication skills and digital communication skills, nowadays necessary in a knowledge economy.

Keywords : communication; instrument; measurement; PRISMA method; systematic review.