Analytical materials for mapping critical thinking skills in competency frameworks: codebook, expert consultation, coding matrix, and integration display (Portuguese nursing regulation)
Description
This dataset supports the documentary mapping study operationalizing the seven critical thinking (CT) skills (Scheffer & Rubenfeld, 2000) onto Portugal's General Care Nurse Competency Profile Regulation (OE, 2011). It comprises two components: (i) a structured expert consultation (modified Delphi, Round 1, n = 9) and (ii) theory-guided deductive content analysis of 96 competency criteria. Supplementary_Material.pdf — Six components: (S1) Translation version history: comparative table (machine draft, two translators, final consensus) for all seven CT skill labels/definitions in European Portuguese, with terminological rationale. (S2) Expert consultation instrument (Round 1, 84 items: 12 competencies × 7 skills) and full aggregated results (N, n1–n3, %1–%3, Median, Mode, IQR per item). No participant-level data (see confidentiality note). Includes data dictionary. (S3) Codebook: operational definitions for all seven categories (AN, AS, DI, IS, LR, PR, TK) with direct anchor examples, exclusion rules, six cross-cutting decision rules (R1–R6), and four illustrative borderline cases. Primary replication instrument for applying the workflow to other frameworks. (S4) Criterion-level coding matrix — see Excel file. (S5) Joint display (macro–micro integration): CT1 frequencies and anchor types aligned with expert consultation indicators (IQR, %3) for each of the 12 competencies (A1–C3). (S6) Sensitivity analysis: CT1 distribution restricted to direct-anchor criteria (n = 27) vs. full corpus (n = 96). Key finding: Discriminating (19/20) and Transforming knowledge (21/22) are almost exclusively indirect-anchor coded; Predicting is proportionally more prominent among direct-anchor criteria (22.2% vs. 7.3%). Supplementary_S4_CodingMatrix.xlsx — Full criterion-level coding matrix (IDs 1–96), in two sheets: English (Coding) and European Portuguese (Codificação). Variables (15): ID; Competency; Competency criterion; PC1 core; CT1; CT1 anchor type; PC2 core; CT2; CT2 anchor type; Brief rationale; Rules applied; Uncertainty level; Uncertainty justification; Audit trail note; Recoding/rectification notes. CT2 is an audit device only and does not inform the substantive analysis. CORPUS Regulamento do Perfil de Competências do Enfermeiro de Cuidados Gerais. UNIT OF ANALYSIS Each competency criterion (ID 1–96), assigned sequentially across 3 domains, 12 competencies, and 96 criteria. Competency code (A1–C3) retained as interpretive context. References Ordem dos Enfermeiros. (2011). Regulamento do Perfil de Competências do Enfermeiro de Cuidados Gerais. https://www.ordemenfermeiros.pt/media/8910/divulgar-regulamento-do-perfil_vf.pdf Scheffer, B. K., & Rubenfeld, M. G. (2000). A consensus statement on critical thinking in nursing. Journal of Nursing Education, 39(8), 352–359. https://doi.org/10.3928/0148-4834-20001101-06
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Steps to reproduce
Phase 1 — Translation and terminological harmonization The seven CT skills were translated into European Portuguese through independent translations by two bilingual experts, followed by conceptual arbitration by a third CT specialist. Version history and decisions are documented in S1. Phase 2 — Structured expert consultation (modified Delphi; Round 1, n = 9) Experts rated the relevance of each CT skill across 12 nursing competencies (A1–C3) on a 3-point scale (1 = not relevant; 3 = extremely relevant). Aggregated outputs (n1/n2/n3, %, median, IQR) are provided in S2. No participant-level data are shared due to indirect identification risk. To verify: recompute median, IQR, and % rating = 3 from frequency counts and compare with manuscript Section 4.2. Phase 3 — Documentary mapping via deductive content analysis Corpus: OE Regulation (2011), 96 criteria (IDs 1–96), organized by competency (A1–C3). Categories: seven CT skills (AN, AS, DI, IS, LR, PR, TK) per codebook (S3). For each criterion: CT1 (primary code) and CT1 anchor (direct/indirect) were assigned; CT2 (secondary, audit layer only) recorded when a second independent textual trigger existed. Uncertainty level (low/medium/high), rationale, rules, and audit trail documented per row. Recodings recorded in column 15. Inter-coder reliability: Two independent blind coders. CT1: observed agreement 89/96 (92.7%), κ = 0.886. All disagreements arbitrated by a third coder (audit trail). CT2 agreement 84/96 (87.5%); κ not interpreted as reliability given low base rate. To reproduce summary results: (i) count CT1 → skill distribution; (ii) count CT1 anchor → direct/indirect proportions; (iii) group by Competency + count CT1 → Table 3; (iv) filter CT2 ≠ "—" → exploratory CT2 summary.
Institutions
- University of AveiroAveiro, Aveiro