Graduation Year

2005

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.S.

Degree Granting Department

Audiology

Major Professor

Stefan A. Frisch, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Jean C. Krause, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Patricia Blake-Rahter, Ph.D., CCC-A.

Keywords

Speech production, Inter-rater reliability, Alveolar, Velar, Reproducibility measures

Abstract

As ultrasound imaging gains popularity in speech research, an important question to address is the reliability of the measures taken from these images. This study examines the reliability of hand measures of ultrasound data collected by graduate student researchers in the University of South Florida’s speech science lab. Speech production data from “Ultrasound analysis of velar fronting” (Wodzinski, 2004) and “Ultrasound study of errors in speech production” (Frisch, 2003) were used to obtain inter-rater reliability measures. This study compares the rater’s choice of video frame depicting alveolar or velar closure image, anterior and posterior points of closure, tongue blade and velar angle measurements, as well as a measurement of the tongue dorsum distance from the ultrasound probe. The measures obtained by one rater before and after experience in ultrasound analysis was gained were compared for additional information on the effect of experience on the reliability of measures. Overall, the measurements were found to be reliable between raters. Although some absolute differences in measures were found, the measures obtained from different raters led to the same quantitative description of speech articulation patterns. In addition, the measurements did become more reliable with increased rater experience

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