Design of the study

The three hospitals were selected for study because they seemed to differ markedly in social conditions and administrative policies and their staffs were likely to collaborate actively and closely. The characteristics of the hospitals are described in detail in Chapter 3. It was decided to study female patients, first in order to check previous work which had been concerned with men only, and secondly because, in these particular hospitals, the contrasts between women's wards seemed likely to be greater.

The matron of each hospital was asked to supply a list of names of all female patients in the hospital together with age, length of stay, diagnosis and ward. A random sample was taken from each ward in Netherne Hospital and Severalls Hospital of 120 female schizophrenics who had been resident more than two years and were aged under 60. Twenty of these acted as ‘spares’. All the 73 women in Mapperley Hospital with these characteristics were selected. The diagnosis was checked from the case-notes and at interview with each patient. Four patients at Netherne Hospital, none at Mapperley Hospital and one at Severalls Hospital had to be replaced on diagnostic grounds. In addition a sample of case-notes at each hospital was checked to make sure that long-stay patients with other diagnoses were not in fact schizophrenic by the criteria used in this study—very few extra cases were discovered in this way and no change of procedure was necessary.