Figure 1
The flowchart consists of nine sequential tests grouped, starting from “Test F 1,” at the top to “Test F 9,” at the bottom. The tests F 1 to F 7 are separated by dashed horizontal lines and follow a similar structure: a decision process beginning with a “False,” oval, a conditional statement box, a “True,” oval, and a concluding action. Additionally, each test’s “False,” oval is connected by a downward arrow to the next test’s conditional statement box, continuing the evaluation sequence. Test F 1 begins with a rectangular box labeled “Test F 1.” To its right is an oval labeled “False.” A right-pointing arrow leads to a box labeled “Average less than 1.01.” From there, an arrow leads to a “True,” oval, which then connects downward to a rectangle labeled “Reject relationship.” An additional downward arrow from the “False,” oval continues to the conditional statement box of Test F 2. Test F 2 begins with a rectangular box labeled “Test F 2.” To its right is an oval labeled “False.” A right-pointing arrow leads to a box labeled “Average less than 1.50 and (W minus S) greater than 4.” From there, an arrow leads to a “True,” oval, which then connects downward to a rectangle labeled “Reject relationship.” An additional downward arrow from the “False,” oval continues to the conditional statement box of Test F 3. Test F 3 begins with the rectangular box “Test F 3.” To its right is an oval labeled “False.” A right-pointing arrow leads to a box labeled “Average less than 1.50 and Skewness equals Positive,” leading to “True,” and then “Reject relationship.” The “False,” oval also connects to the conditional statement box of Test F 4. Test F 4 begins with the rectangular box “Test F 4.” To its right is an oval labeled “False.” A right-pointing arrow leads to a box labeled “Average greater than 2.49,” leading to “True,” and then “Accept relationship.” The “False,” oval also connects to the conditional statement box of Test F 5. Test F 5 begins with the rectangular box “Test F 5.” To its right is an oval labeled “False.” A right-pointing arrow leads to a box labeled “Average greater than 1.99 and (S minus W) greater than 4,” leading to “True,” and then “Accept relationship.” The “False,” oval also connects to the conditional statement box of Test F 6. Test F 6 begins with the rectangular box “Test F 6.” To its right is an oval labeled “False.” A right-pointing arrow leads to a box labeled “Average greater than 1.99 and Skewness equals Negative,” leading to “True,” and then “Accept relationship.” The “False,” oval also connects to the conditional statement box of Test F 7. Test F 7 begins with the rectangular box “Test F 7.” To its right is a box labeled “No 0 score, experts see some relationship.” A right-pointing arrow leads to a box labeled “True,” and finally to “Accept relationship.” A downward arrow from the “No 0 score, experts see some relationship,” via a “False,” oval splits into “Scores are inclined towards 3,” on the left and “Scores are inclined towards 0,” on the right side. On the left side, the rectangular decision box labeled “Scores are inclined towards 3,” has a downward arrow leading to a “False,” oval directly below it. If “False,” the arrow makes a 90-degree turn to the right, continuing horizontally and then leading to a rectangle labeled “Reject relationship,” via ”Test F 8,” written outside the arrow. If “True,” from the box “Scores are inclined towards 3,” a horizontal arrow extends right, crosses the vertical arrow from “Scores are inclined towards 0,” then makes a 90-degree downward turn and ends at an oval labeled “True,” which is positioned on the opposite side of the “False,” to the left of the “Scores are inclined towards 0,” box. This “True,” oval connects downward to a rectangle labeled “Accept relationship.” On the right, the rectangular decision box labeled “Scores are inclined towards 0,” has a downward arrow leading to a “False,” oval directly below it. If “False,” the arrow makes a 90-degree turn to the left, continuing horizontally to reach a rectangle labeled “Accept relationship,” via ”Test F 9,” written outside the arrow. If “True,” the arrow from the box “Scores are inclined towards 0,” extends leftward, crossing over the vertical line from the arrow from “Scores are inclined towards 3,” then makes a 90-degree downward turn ending at the oval labeled “True,” which is placed on the opposite side next to the “Scores are inclined towards 3,” box. This “True,” oval connects downward to a rectangle labeled “Reject relationship.”Nine logical tests. Source: Adapted from Nasir et al. (2003). W-S - The measure of the weight of the experts’ opinions (Herein, the notation ‘weak (W)’ indicated the number of experts who scored the relationship as either 0 or 1, while the notation ‘strong (S)’ indicated the number of experts scoring the relationship as 2 or 3). Produced by author