Continuing Education: A Professional Dilemma

Recently, we mailed 1,095 questionnaires surveying preferences about content and format for continuing education programs to psychologists within the state of Texas who were on the mailing list of the American Psychological Association. Although a major goal of the survey was to determine whether support existed for continuing education among professional psychologists, we did not pose that question directly, feeling that it would be tantamount to asking for an endorsement of virtue. Rather, we regarded a willingness to complete the survey as an index of willingness to be involved in such an effort. Although the questionnaire was stamped for return mail and required less than 10 minutes to complete, only 418 (38%) psychologists chose to respond. This proportion of responses, although not in general unusual for this type of survey, seemed to us to reflect on the motivation of psychologists to use measurement techniques for which they are known, or to indicate a limited interest in continuing education endeavors. The results of the survey are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).