Solman Research Method PDF

CHAPTER1
INTRODUCTIONTORESEARCH
InstructionalGoals
1.Togenerateinterestinresearchforthestudentsbydrivinghomethepointthat
successfulmanagerialproblemsolvingisnothingotherthanunderstandingand
analyzingthesituationathand,whichiswhatresearchisallabout.
2.Tohelpstudentsdifferentiatebetweenresearchbasedproblemsolvingandgoingby
gutfeeling,thelatterofwhichmightsometimeshelptosolveproblemsintheshort
term,butmightleadtosystemiclongtermadverseconsequences.
3.Tocreateanappreciationinstudentsthatresearchisusefulforsolvingproblemsin
ALLareasofbusiness.
4.Tohelpstudentsdevelopanappreciationoftheroleofthemanagerinfacilitatingthe
researcherortheconsultantswork.
5.Tostresstheimportanceofskilldevelopmentinresearch,asopposedtomere
gatheringofknowledgeaboutresearch.
6.Toemphasizethatresearchandknowledgeaboutresearchenhancemanagerial
effectiveness.
7.Tosensitizestudentstoethicalconductinbusinessresearch.
DiscussionQuestions
1.Whyshouldamanagerknowaboutresearchwhenthejobentailsmanagingpeople,
products,events,environmentsandthelike?
Themanager,whilemanagingpeople,products,events,andenvironments,will
invariablyfaceproblems,bigandsmall,andwillhavetoseekwaystofindlong
lasting,effectivesolutions.Thiscanbeachievedonlythroughknowledgeofresearch
evenifconsultantsareengagedtosolveproblems.
2.ForwhatspecificpurposeisBasicresearchimportant?
2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
www.wileyeurope.com/college/sekaran
Basicresearchisimportantforgeneratingandbuildingupontheexisting
knowledgeintheareasofinterest.Itoffersthefoundationforappliedresearchby
whichonecancircumventreinventingthewheel.
3.WhenisAppliedresearch,asdistinctfromBasicresearch,useful?
Appliedresearchisusefulinsolvingspecificproblemsinparticularsituations
whereearlyactionmightbeneededtosolveproblemsinorganizations.
4.Whyisitimportanttobeadeptinhandlingthemanagerresearcherrelationship?
Themanagerwhoknowshowtorelatetoresearchersfacilitatestheproblem
solvingprocessandbenefitstheresearchteamaswellastheorganization.Onewho
isnotadeptatthiswillfrustrateandbefrustratedduringtheresearchprocessand
thereafter.
Beingcapableofhandlingthemanagerresearcherrelationshipisthusabig
advantageandsomeofthenuancesofhandlingresearchteamsare:
(i) knowinghowmuchandwhatinformationtogivetotheteam;
(ii) meaningfulandpurposefulinteractionswiththeteammembers;
(iii)statingfromtheoutsetwhatrecordsofthecompanywillandwillnotbeaccessibletothe
teammembersandexpressingthecorevaluesofthesystem.
5.Explain,givingreasons,whichismoreimportantAppliedorBasicresearch?
Bothareequallyimportant.Withoutbasicresearch,appliedresearchcannot
workaswell,andiftheresultsofbasicresearcharenotapplied,suchresearchwould
befutile.Whereasbasicresearchisthefoundationofknowledge,appliedresearchis
itspracticalapplicationandhelpstoprovidetheadditionalinformationbasefor
theorybuildingandfurthergenerationofknowledge.
6.Givetwospecificinstanceswhereanexternalresearchteamwouldbeusefuland
twootherscenarioswhereaninternalresearchteamwouldbedeployed,with
adequateexplanationsastowhyeachscenarioisjustifiedforanexternalor
internalteam.
Theanswerswillvary.
Fortheexternalteam,thesuggestionscouldbe:
a. tohelpnontechcompaniestobuildupsophisticatedtechnologyintheir
environment;(onlythosewithspecializedknowledgeoftechnologycanhelpnon
techcompanies).
b. toevaluatethesuccessfulanddeficientoperationsofthecompany;(toavoidbiasof
internalteammembers).
Fortheinternalteam,itcouldbe:
a. tofigureouthowthecompaniesaffectedbytheSeptember11thdisastercanrebuild
themselves;(internalteamwouldbemoreknowledgeableaboutthecompanyand
couldrebuildfaster).
b. tosolvetheproblemofconsistentlossesofasmalldivisionofalargecompany(only
asmallpocketofalargecompanyisinvolvedandthesituationcanberectifiedby
theinternalteam).
7.Describeasituationwhereresearchwillhelpyouasamanagertomakeagood
decision.
Again,theanswerswillvary.Onescenarioisthataworkteamfailstodeliver
resultstimeandagain.
8.Giventhesituationsbelow,(a)discusswithreasons,whethertheywillfallintothe
categoryofAppliedorBasicresearch,and(b)forscenario1explain,withreasons,
whowillconducttheresearch.
Scenario1
Companies are very interested in acquiring other firms even when the latter operate in totally unrelated realms of
business.Forexample, CocaColahasannouncedthatitwantstobuyChinaHuiyuanJuiceGroupinaneffortto
expand its activities in one of the worlds fastestgrowing beverage markets. Such acquisitions are claimed to
workmiracles.However,giventhevolatilityofthestockmarketandtheslowingdownofbusiness,manycompaniesare
notsurewhethersuchacquisitionsinvolvetoomuchrisk.Atthesametime,theyalsowonderiftheyaremissingoutona
greatbusinessopportunityiftheyfailtotakesuchrisk.Someresearchisneededhere!
Thisisageneralissuethatrelatestoallormostcompaniescontemplating
acquisitions.Ofcourse,theresultsofthestudyarelikelytobeusefulto,andapplied
by,alltheconcernedcompanies.Thiscouldfallintotherealmofbasicorapplied
research,dependingonwhosponsorsthestudy.Ifonecompanyoraconsortiumof
companiesinvestigatestheissuetofindananswerforimmediateapplication,thenit
willbeappliedresearchOntheotherhand,ifaFinanceprofessorinauniversity
undertakesthestudyasamatterofacademicinterest,itwillbebasicresearch.
Eitheranindividualsuchasaprofessororafinanceexpertcandothisbasicresearch,
oracompanyorconsortiumofcompaniescanundertaketheappliedresearch.
Scenario2
ReasonsforAbsenteeism
Auniversityprofessorwantedtoanalyzeindepththereasonsforabsenteeismofemployeesinorganizations.Fortunately,
acompanywithin20milesofthecampusemployedherasaconsultanttostudythatveryissue.

Thebasicresearchaspirationoftheprofessorhastakentheformofapplied
researchinthisparticularsystem,wheretheywouldapplythefindingsofher
researchtosolvetheproblem.Nodoubt,theprofessorwouldcontinueherresearch
inavarietyoforganizationstoaddtotheexistingbaseofknowledgeonabsenteeism
andcontinuethetopicasabasicresearchproject.
Scenario3
EffectsofServiceRecoveryonCustomerSatisfaction
Aresearchscientistwantstoinvestigatethequestion:Whatisthemosteffectivewayforanorganizationto
recoverfromaservicefailure?Herobjectiveistoprovideguidelinesforestablishingtheproper"fit"between
servicefailureandservicerecoverythatwillgeneralizeacrossavarietyofserviceindustries.
Thiswillbeacaseofbasicresearch,thepurposeofwhichwastostudythe
efficacyofdifferentservicerecoverystrategiesandaddtothebodyofexisting
marketingknowledge.

CHAPTER2
SCIENTIFICINVESTIGATION
InstructionalGoals
1. Tohelpparticipantscomprehendthatscientificresearchoffersassurancetothe
managerthattheresultsofastudycanberelieduponandfurtheractioncanbe
takenatlowrisk.
2. Toimpressonthestudentsthatbusinessresearch,howeverrigorouslyconducted,
cannotproduce100percentscientificresultsintermsofprecisesolutions.
3. Tosensitizeparticipantstobeingwatchfulaboutobservingthedifferentcuesinthe
environmentwhichoffersomeideaofagapinthedesiredandactualstateofaffairs.
4. Tohelpstudentsunderstandthatappliedresearch,thoughlimitedingeneralizability,
stillhastobescientific.
DiscussionQuestions
Thefirsttwoquestionsarestraightforwardandtheanswersmaybeextracted
fromthetext.
3.Onehearsthewordresearchbeingmentionedbyseveralgroupssuchasresearch
organizations,collegeanduniversityprofessors,doctoralstudents,graduate
assistantsworkingforfaculty,graduateandundergraduatestudentsdoingtheir
termpapers,researchdepartmentsinindustries,newspaperreporters,journalists,
lawyers,doctors,andseveralotherprofessionalsandnonprofessionals.Inthelight
ofwhatyouhavelearnedinthisunit,howwouldyouranktheaforementioned
groupsofpeopleintermsoftheextenttowhichtheymightbedoingscientific
investigations?Why?
Totheextentthatanyoftheabovegroupsconformstothehallmarksofscience,
theywouldbedoingscientificinvestigation.Itisquitepossiblethatpoorresearchis
donebyresearchagencies,andexcellentresearchisconductedbyagraduate
assistant.Theultimatetestistherigoroftheresearchwhichwouldlenditselfto
testability,replicability,accuracyandprecision,generalizability,objectivity,and
parsimony.
Researchorganizationsandresearchdepartmentsinindustriesengage
themselvesinbothbasicandappliedresearchandusuallyhavetheresources
requiredtoconductscientificinvestigationsusingrigorousdatacollectionmethods,
samplingdesigns,anddataanalysis.Mostprofessorsincollegesanduniversitiesare
welltrainedtoconductscientificinvestigations,thoughtheirresourcesmaynot,in
mostcases,beasplentifulasthatmadeavailableinresearchorganizationsand
researchdepartments.Becauseofrestrictedresources,professorsmayhaveto
compromisesomewhatonmethodologicalrigor(e.g.useasmallsample)which
mightrestrictthegeneralizabilityoftheirfindings.However,theirresearchmight
otherwisebescientific.Appliedresearchersdoingactionorientedresearch,are
somewhatrestrictedinevendisseminatinginformationabouttheirfindingsdueto
thelocalizednatureoftheirinquirywhichmaynotpassmanyofthecriteriaofthe
hallmarksofscience.Doctoraldissertationsconductedunderableguidanceand
supervisionquitefrequentlymakevaluablecontributionstothebodyofexisting
knowledge.Muchofthisresearchislaterpublishedasjournalarticles,andsomeget
publishedasbooksbecauseoftheircontributionstoknowledge.
Studentstermpapersaremeanttobeexercisesinskilldevelopmentfor
integratingmaterialsandcommunicatingideasinwrittenform.Exceptionalresearch
papers,whenrefinedandpublished,couldqualifyforbeingtermedasscientific
investigations.Newspaperreportersandjournalistsmayobtainextensiveprimary
andsecondarydatabuttheirinvestigationsareconfinedtoanarrowrangeof
currentincidents,events,orindividuals,whichareofpassinginterestwithlittle
generalizabilitytoothertimes,eventsorindividuals.Hence,theycannotordinarily
betermedscientificinvestigations.Somenewspaperarticles,howeverasfor
instance,economicandenvironmentalinvestigationsprovidedata,analysisof
data,andvalidconclusionsdrawntherefrom,whichmightlaterbeusedas
secondarydatabyotherresearchers.Thesewouldbecategorizedasmorescientific
incontrasttoarticlesoreditorialsinthepaper.
Academicjournalsusuallypublisharticlesthatarescientificandsomeofthe
practitionerorientedarticlesareprobablysomewhatlessscientificthanthe
academicarticlesintermsofrigorandgeneralizability.Totheextentthatlawyers,
doctors,professionalsandnonprofessionalspresenttheirfindingsthathavewide
testability,replicability,generalizability,accuracyandprecision,objectivity,and
parsimony,theywillbescientific.However,iftheseinvestigationsareconfinedto
singlecases,incidents,orindividuals,theycannotbecalledscientificinvestigations
despitethefactthattheymaybefounduseful.
4.Explaintheprocessesofdeductionandinduction,givinganexampleofeach.
Thehypotheticodeductivemethodofresearchhelpstheresearchertodeduceor
inferfromtheresultsofdataanalysisandhenceisthedeductiveprocess.For
example,ifasaresultofanalysisofdatacollected,oneinfersthattheproblemof
turnovercanbeminimizedbythreeimportantfactors:(i)flexibleworkhours;(ii)
recognitionofsuperiorperformanceofworkersthroughsuitablemeritpayraises;
and(iii)enrichingcertaintypesofjobs,thisisthedeductiveapproach.
Inductionisaprocessofdrawinginferencesfromobservedphenomenawhich
maysubsequentlybeputtothetestthroughhypotheticodeductivemethodof
research.Forinstance,ifamanagerobservesthatpeopleresidingatdistances
beyond50milesfromtheworkplaceremainabsentmorefrequentlythanthosehe
knowstoresidecloseby,andinferstherebythatdistanceisafactorinabsenteeism,
thisisaninductiveprocess.
5.Ifresearchinthemanagementareacannotbe100percentscientific,whybotherto
doitatall?Commentonthisstatement.
Researchinthemanagementareadealingwithhumanbehaviorcannotbe100
percentscientific.However,suchresearchisnecessaryandusefulfordetecting
problemsandcomingupwithsolutionstoensurethatproblemsdonotgetoutof
control.Managementresearchmakesavaluablecontributioninasmuchthatitcan
helporganizationsfunctionsmoothlyandeffectivelyandhelpmanagersand
individualsatalllevelsinorganizationsexperienceandenjoyabetterqualityoflife.
6.Critiquethefollowingresearchdoneinaserviceindustryastotheextenttowhichit
meetsthehallmarksofscientificinvestigationdiscussedinthischapter.
TheFriendlyTelephoneCompany
Customercomplaintsweremounting,andlettersofcomplaintregardingthe
problemstheyexperiencedwiththeresidentialtelephonelineswereconstantly
pouringinattheFriendlyTelephoneCompany.Thecompanywantedtopinpointthe
specificproblemsandtakecorrectiveaction.
Researcherswerecalledin,andtheyspoketoanumberofcustomers,notingdown
thenatureofthespecificproblemstheyfaced.Sincetheproblemhadtobeattended
toveryquickly,theydevelopedatheoreticalbase,collectedrelevantdetailed
informationfromasampleof100customers,andanalyzedthedata.Theresultsare
expectedtobefairlyaccuratewithatleastan85%chanceofsuccessinproblem
solving.Theresearcherswillmakerecommendationstothecompanybasedonthe
resultsofdataanalysis.
Thehallmarksofsciencearepurposiveness,rigor,testability,replicability,
precisionandconfidence,objectivity,generalizability,andparsimony.Thisstudy
meetsthebasiccriterionofpurposiveness.Itcannotbecalledarigorousstudy
inasmuchasatheoreticalframeworkseemstohavebeenformulatedmerelyonthe
basisofconversationwithanumberofcustomersandnoscientificdataseemsto
havebeencollectedthereafter.Forthisreason,thereplicabilityandgeneralizability
criteriaalsosuffer.Withcustomercomplaintsmounting,an85%confidencelevel
maynotsuffice.Unlessweknowthetheoreticalbase,wecannotbesurethatthe
criterionofparsimonyismet.Allinall,thisisagoodexampleofanonscientific
investigation.
7.Strictlyspeaking,wouldcasestudiesbeconsideredasscientificresearch?Whyor
whynot?
Casestudiescannotbeconsideredscientificsincetheydonotsubscribetomost
ofthehallmarksofscientificresearch.Thoughtheymaybepurposiveand
parsimonious,theyarenotrigorous.Testabilityandreplicabilityaredifficultand
generalizabilityisvirtuallynonexistentsinceeachcasesituationisunique.
8.WhatisActionResearch?Describeaspecificsituationwhereactionresearchwillbe
warranted.
Actionresearchisundertakenwhenincrementalplannedchangesare
contemplatedinasystem.Itisaprocessoftrialanderrorwheretentativesolutions
aregeneratedtotestouthowwelltheywork.Modificationsareundertakenaseach
stepinthechangeprocessanditsconsequencesareevaluated.
Anexamplewouldportraythatofanorganizationwantingtoattainacertaingoal
(shootingforastar)andtakingincrementalstepstoreachthegoal,onestepata
time.Specifically,acompanycouldbeaimingfornearzeroturnoverofitsstaff.It
couldtryincreasingtheperksbyfirstofferingdaycarefacilitiesandwatchitseffects.
Thenitmightgivemorevacationtime,andthenenhancepay,andsoon.
TheDilemmasofDorothyDunning
DorothyDunning,ChiefProductionManager,wasontopoftheworldjusttwo
yearsago.Inhernontraditionaljob,shewascitedtobetherealbackboneofthe
company,andherperformancewasinnosmallmeasureresponsibleforthemergers
theinstitutionwascontemplatingwithotherwellknownglobalcorporations.
Oflatethough,theproductsofthecompanyhadtoberecalledseveraltimesowing
tosafetyconcerns.Qualityglitchesandproductiondelaysalsoplaguedthecompany.
Toprojectagoodimagetoconsumers,Dunningdevelopedaveryreassuringweb
siteandmadesweepingchangesinthemanufacturingprocessestoenhancethe
qualityoftheproduct,minimizedefects,andenhancetheefficiencyoftheworkers.
Ayearafterallthesechanges,thecompanycontinuestorecalldefectiveproducts!
Creatingawebsiteandmakingsweepingchangeshasnotproducedthe
desiredresults.Therealproblemisundetectedandcanonlybeidentifiedthrough
research.Maybe,theproblemisnotinthemanufacturingprocesses,butthelow
motivationofemployees!Ascientificresearchoftheproblemsituationwillhelpto
pinpointtheproblemandsolveit.

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11
CHAPTER3
THERESEARCHPROCESS:THEBROAD
PROBLEMAREAANDDEFININGTHE
PROBLEMSTATEMENT
InstructionalGoals
1. ToclarifytothestudentsthatthoughtheResearchProcesshasdistinctphases,some
ofthestepsfollowaniterative,ratherthanalinearprocess.Forexample,theproblem
statementcouldberedefinedafterthetheoreticalframeworkisconceptualized,after
dataanalysis,andinfact,atanyofthestagesintheprocess.
2. ToillustratethatidentifyingtheBroadProblemAreasetsthestageforfocusingon
literaturesearchandsubsequentlyclearlydefiningtheproblem.
3. Toemphasizethatpreliminarydatacollectionthroughinterviewsoffersagreat
opportunitytonarrowdowntheproblemandidentifytheprospectivevariables
influencingit.
4. Todevelopinterviewingandproblemidentificationskillsinstudents.
5. Tocreateamindsetinstudentsofviewingaproblemasagapbetweendesiredand
actualstateofthingsinasystem,andasolutionasnarrowingthisgap.
6. Toencouragestudentstodevelopbibliographiesbyaccessingavailableonlinedata
bases.
7. Torequirestudentstowriteagoodliteraturereviewintheareasoftheirresearch
interestsandtomakethemawarethatmostclasstermpaperscouldusethistypeof
introductiontoenhancetheirvalue.
DiscussionQuestions
1.Howwouldyoudescribetheresearchprocess?
Theresearchprocessincludesaseriesofstepsinidentifyingthevariablestobe
studiedandthemethodforconductingthestudy.Theproblemstatementisacritical
aspect.Thoughitisgeneratedbyhavingagoodfeelforwherethegapbetweena
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desiredstateandtheactualstateexistsinthesystem,theproblemstatementcanbe
repeatedlyhonedandmademorepreciseatvariousstagesintheresearchprocess.
Thetheoreticalframeworkandhypothesesareimportantpartsoftheresearch
processsincethesefocusonfindingtheanswerstotheresearchquestion.Good
researchdesignhelpsinfindingreliableanswerstotheproblemthatisinvestigated.
2.Explainthepreliminarydatacollectionmethods.
Preliminarydatacanbeobtainedthroughinterviewsand/orthroughliterature
search.Theseprocesseshelptodefinetheproblemstatementpreciselyandto
formulatethetheoreticalframework.Interviewsconductedatvariouslevelsare
aimedatobtainingbackgroundinformationonthesystemthatisinvestigated,the
structureandprocessesthatoperateinthesystem,theperceptions,attitudes,and
behaviorsofthepeopleintheinstitution,andotherrelatedmatters.Theliterature
searchwillbebasedonthefactorsthatseempertinenttotheproblemthatis
investigated.Afterlocatingallthereferencesinthearea,theworkrelevanttothe
problemathandwillbestudiedandaliteraturereviewwrittenup.
3.Whyisitimportanttogatherinformationonthebackgroundoftheorganization?
Thebackgroundinformationofthecompanyislikelytooffertheresearcher
severalcluesonwhentheproblemsthatarecurrentlyexperiencedbythecompany
couldhavestartedandhowtheycouldhaveoriginated.Onecanalsoassesshowthe
othercompaniesoperatinginsimilartypesofenvironmentintheindustrymightbe
differentandinwhatway.Sincemultiplefactorscaninfluencetheproblem,the
possibilitythatsomeofthebackgroundfeaturesofthecompanyareinfluencingthe
situationalproblemcannotberuledout.Additionally,thebackgroundfactorsofferthe
researcheragoodideaofhowthephilosophyandcultureofthecompanyareshaped,
andtowhatextenttheycanbechanged,ifnecessary.
Collectingbackgroundinformationalsohelpstofocusoncriticalissuesandraise
appropriatequestionsduringtheinterviewprocess.Examplesofthisareprovidedin
thebook.
4.Shouldaresearcheralwaysfindinformationonstructuralandjobcharacteristics
fromthoseinterviewed?Givereasonsforyouranswerwithexamples.
Itisalmostalwaysadvisablefortheresearchertogathersomeinformationonthe
structureandjobcharacteristicseventhoughitmayappearthattheproblemmaynot
berelatedtoeitherofthesefactors.Forexample,theproblemofnotmeetingthe
productiondeadlinesmaybedirectlyrelatedtothedelayeddeliveriesoftheraw
materialsbythesuppliers.Insuchacase,thetendencymightbetofocusthedata
collectionmainlyasitrelatestosuppliers.However,interviewingtheemployeesand
ascertainingtheirreactionstotheirjob,workflowinterdependencies,structure,and
thelike,mightofferthesolutionthatdeadlinescanbemetevenwithdelayedraw
materialsuppliesbychangingtheworkflowpatterns,orotherstructuralaspects.Itis
forsuchreasonsthatsometimeshouldbespentonfindingthejobandstructure
relatedinformation.
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Thereisalsoanotherwayoflookingatthis.Humanbeingsoperatingin
organizationsfaceamultitudeoffactorssurroundingthem,manyofwhich,directlyor
indirectly,influencetheiroperatingeffectiveness.Thestructuralfactorssuchas
policiesandprocedures,rewardsystemsandjobfactorsdoplayacriticalpartinhow
outcomesfortheorganizationareachieved.Becauseofthis,itcertainlyhelpstogeta
feelforthesefactors.Ofcourse,thereisnoneedtospendagreatdealoftimeon
theseunlessthereissomeindicationthattherecouldbeproblemsintheseareas.
Asanexample,itispossiblethattheageofthemachinerycouldbeblamedforlow
production,andsophisticatedmachinerymightbeinstalledwithoutanyappreciable
differenceintheresults.Furtherinvestigationmightthrowlightonthefactthatthe
currentincentivesystemdoesnotencouragehighlevelsofproduction,andthisfact,
ratherthanthetypeofmachineryused,istheproblem.Notfindingthisbefore
investingheavilyonnewequipmentwouldbeacostlymistake!
5.Howwouldyougoaboutdoingaliteraturesurveyintheareaofbusinessethics?
Iwouldfirstobtainallthereferencesandabstractsrelatingtotheareaofbusiness
ethicsthroughonlinesystems,thenorganizethestudiesbasedontheparticular
aspectstheyaddress,andfinally,writeupareviewoftheavailableliterature.
6.Whatisthepurposeoftheliteraturesurvey?
Basicallytomakesurethatnoneoftheimportantvariablesareleftoutinthestudy
andtogenerateaparsimonioussetoffactorswhichwouldhelptoexplainorpredict
thephenomenonunderinvestigation.
7.Whyisappropriatecitationimportant?Whataretheconsequencesofnotgiving
credittothesourcefromwhichmaterialsareextracted?
Mostpublishedarticlesarecopyrighted.Therearerulesastohowmuchcanbe
quotedfromtheoriginaltextwithoutobtainingthejournalsandtheauthors
permission.Ifpermissionisnotobtainedforquotesexceedingtheauthorizedlimit,
theindividualquotingthematerialisliabletobesuedforplagiarismandcanevenbe
expelledfromtheprofessionalsocietytowhichheorshebelongs.
8.Theproblemdefinitionstageisperhapsmorecriticalintheresearchprocessthan
theproblemsolutionstage.Discussthisstatement.
Findingtherightsolutiontoanincorrectlyidentifiedproblemhelpsnoone
becausetheoriginalconcernswillstillcontinuetoexist.Hence,pinpointingwhere
exactlythegaplies,forwhichasolutionisneeded,iscritical.
9.Whyshouldonegethunguponproblemdefinitionifonealreadyknowsthebroad
problemareatobestudied?
Sinceaproblemstatementisaclear,precise,andconcisestatementoftheissueto
beresearched,itoffersafocusanddirectiontotheresearch.Inotherwords,itsets
outtheexactpurposeoftheresearchandclearlystatesthequestiontowhichweare
tryingtofindananswer.Thebroadproblemarea,however,duetoitsvaguenessand
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widescopeoftheissuesthatcouldbeinvolved,leavesthefocusoftheresearch
undetermined,andhenceoffersnosenseofpurposeordirectiontotheresearch.
Toputitdifferently,abroadproblemareadoesnothighlightthespecificproblem
thatexists.Unlessthepreciseproblemisidentified,asolutiontoitcannotbefound.
Thisisakintoanindividualgoingtoadoctorsayingheislosingweight(broad
problem).Unlessthephysiciancanlocatethereasonforthisweightloss(definethe
problem),thesituationcannotberectified.
10.Offeraclearlyfocusedproblemstatementinthebroadareaofcorporateculture.
Whatconstitutescorporateculture?Or,
Howdoescorporatecultureinfluenceemployeeperformance?
11.Afterstudyingandextractinginformationfromalltherelevantworkdone
previously,howdoestheresearcherknowwhichreferences,articles,and
informationshouldbegivenprominenceintheliteraturesurvey?
Themassofinformationextractedfromthevariouspublishedresearchand
technicalandotherreports,willindicatetotheresearcherthekeyvariablesthatneed
tobeconsideredintheparticularsituationwheretheproblemhasbeenidentified.
Thechoiceofthevariablesforinclusioninthestudywillbeafunctionofthe
frequencywithwhichtheyarerepeatedlyfoundtobesignificantinthevarious
researchstudies,therelevanceofthevariablestothecurrentresearchcontext,and
considerationsofparsimony.Havingdecidedonthekeyvariablesforinclusioninthe
study,theresearchercanthenintegratetheinformationfoundinthestudiesthat
discussthesevariables.Otherstudieswhichhadequallyrelevantvariablesbutwhich
hadtobeexcludedfromthecurrentresearchforcertainvalidreasonsshouldalsobe
brieflydiscussed.Thereasonsfortheirexclusionshouldbeexplicitlystatedinthe
literaturesurveysection.
12.BelowisthegistofanarticlefromBusinessWeek.Afterreadingit,(a)identifythebroad
problemarea,(b)definetheproblem,and(c)explainhowyouwouldproceedfurther.
WhileChryslersminivans,pickups,andsportsutilitiestakeabigshareofthetruck
market,itscarstrailbehindthoseofGM,Ford,Honda,andToyota.Qualityproblems
include,amongotherthings,waterleaksanddefectiveparts.
a. ThebroadproblemisthattheChryslercarsarelaggingbehindinmarketshare.
b. Problemstatement:HowcanthemarketshareofChryslercarsbeimproved?
c. ItisbesttointerviewtheusersofGM,Ford,Honda,andToyotacarusersandobtain
fromthemtheirreactionsbothpositiveandnegativetothecarstheyuseandwhy
theypreferthem.SimilarreactionsfromtheusersofChryslercarsshouldalsobe
gathered.Oneshouldproceedfurtherbasedontheanalysisoftheseresponses.
13.Commentonthefollowing:
From1932to1972,aresearchstudywasconductedinTuskegee,Alabama,tochart
theeffectsofwithholdingtreatmenttoAfricanAmericanmenwithsyphilis.
14

Thisresearchsmacksofatotallyunacceptableandunethicalapproachtothe
investigation.
14.Whatistheproblemstatementinthefollowingsituation?
EmployeeLoyalty
Companiesbenefitthroughemployeeloyalty.Crudedownsizinginorganizations
duringtherecessioncrushedtheloyaltyofmillions.Theeconomicbenefitsofloyalty
embracelowerrecruitmentandtrainingcosts,higherproductivityofworkers,
customersatisfaction,andboostthemoraleoffreshrecruits.Inorderthatthese
benefitsmaynotbelost,somecompanies,whiledownsizing,tryvariousgimmicks.
Flexleave,forinstance,isone.Thishelpsemployeesreceive20%oftheirsalary,plus
employerprovidedbenefitswhiletheytakea612monthsabbatical,withacall
optionontheirservices.Otherstryalternativeslikemorecommunication,hand
holding,andthelike.
Problemstatement.Howcanemployeeloyaltybemaintainedduringperiodsof
downsizing?
15.Howwouldyoudefinetheprobleminthefollowingcase?
AccountingGetsRadical
TheGAAP(GenerallyAcceptedAccountingPrinciples)doanunacceptablejobof
accountingfortheprincipalactivitiesoftheInformationAgecompanies.Today,
investorsareinthedarkbecausetheaccountingisirrelevant.Thebasicpurposeof
accountingistoprovideusefulinformationtohelpinvestorsmakerational
investment,credit,andsimilardecisions,buttodaysmostimportantassetsand
activitiesintellectualcapitalandknowledgeworkaretotallyignored.Professor
RobertA.Howellwantstoreformtheaccountingsystemwiththegoalofmakingclear
themeasurementofhowcompaniesproducecashandcreatevalue.
ProblemDefinition:Whatisthebestwaytoimprovetheaccountingsysteminthe
InformationAgethatwouldfurnishusefuldataandinformationtoinvestorstomake
rationaldecisions?
PracticeProjects
Answerswillvary.
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AdditionalTopicsForBibliography&
LiteratureSurvey
Absenteeism
Alienation
AppraisalSystems
Conflict
ControlSystemsinOrganizations
Communication
Competence
DrugAbuseandAlcoholisminIndustry
ExecutiveStress
FinancialMarkets
InterpersonalCommunication
LeverageBuyout
PriceWars
RoleAmbiguity
RoleConflict
SenseofCompetence
Stress
TaxReforms

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CHAPTER4
THERESEARCHPROCESS:THEORETICAL
FRAMEWORKANDHYPOTHESES
DEVELOPMENT
InstructionalGoals
1. Toclarifythedifferencesinthefourtypesofvariablesdependent,independent,
mediating,andmoderating.Studentsfinditparticularlydifficulttodifferentiate
betweenmediatingandmoderatingvariables.
2. Toelucidatethefivebasiccomponentsofthetheoreticalframeworkemphasizedin
thebookandtoexplainthatpayingattentiontothese,atthisstage,enablesstudents
togeneratewelldeveloped,testablehypothesesatthesubsequentstep.
3. Tostresstheimportanceofformulatingdirectionalalternatehypotheseswheneverit
ispossible.
4. Torequirestudentstoworkonthe14smallexercisesinterspersedinthechapter,at
theappropriatetimes,andtodiscusstheseinclassasthelecturesanddiscussionson
thedifferenttypesofvariablesprogress.
DiscussionQuestions
1.Becauseliteraturesurveyisatimeconsumingexercise,agood,indepthinterview
shouldsufficetodevelopatheoreticalframework.Discussthisstatement.
Literaturesurveyisanimportantthoughtimeconsumingexerciseandhastobe
doneforseveralreasons.Evenanindepthinterviewmaynotsurfacesomeimportant
factorsthatmayberelevantforfindinganswerstotheproblems.Inotherwords,
certaincriticalfactorsmaybeoverlookedbothbytheintervieweeandtheresearcher,
inwhichcasenosolutiontotheproblemwillemergeevenaftertheresearchfindings
areimplemented.Aliteraturereviewwillsensitizeandmaketheresearcherawareof
alltheimportantfactorsthathavebeenfoundtoberelatedtotheprobleminpast
studies.Itwillalsohelptheresearchereliminatetrivialfactorsorvariablesfromthe
17
investigation,thusensuringparsimonyandincreasingeffectiveness.Secondly,agood
documentationofthepreviousworkdoneintheareanotonlylendscredibilitytothe
resultsfound,butalsoaddstothescientificqualityoftheresearchbyincreasing
replicability,generalizability,andparsimony.Finally,goodliteraturesurveys,anda
theoreticalframeworkformulatedonthebasisofpaststudies,contributetothe
growthofscientificknowledge,ratherthanresearchbecomingafutileexercisein
reinventingthewheel.
2.Goodmodelsarecomplex.Whatsmore,agoodmodel
shouldincludebothmoderatingandmediatingvariables.Discussthisstatement.
Thereisnorelationshipbetweenthequalityofamodelandthecomplexityofa
model.Recallthatparsimonyisoneofthehallmarksofscientificresearch:Simplicity
inexplainingthephenomenaorproblemsthatoccur,andingeneratingsolutionsfor
theproblems,isalwayspreferredtocomplexresearchframeworksthatconsideran
unmanageablenumberoffactors.
Agoodtheoreticalframeworkidentifiesanddefinestheimportantvariablesinthe
situationthatarerelevanttotheproblem.Moderatingandmediatingvariablesmayor
maynotbeimportanttotheproblem.Agoodmodeldoesnotnecessarilyinclude
moderatingandmediatingvariables.
3.Academicresearchersusuallydevelopmorecomplexandelaboratemodelsthan
appliedresearchers.Discussthisstatement.
No.Thecomplexityofamodelisnotrelatedtotypeofresearchintermsofbasic
versusappliedresearch.Again,parsimonyisoneofthehallmarksofscientific
research.Thetermscientificresearchappliestobothbasicandappliedresearch.
4.Inanappliedresearchcontextyoudonotneedtoexplaintherelationships
betweenthevariablesinyourconceptualmodel.Discussthisstatement.
Atheoreticalframeworkisthefoundationofhypotheticodeductiveresearchasitis
thebasisofthehypothesesthatyouwilldevelop.Atheoreticalframeworkrepresents
yourbeliefsonhowcertainphenomena(orvariablesorconcepts)arerelatedtoeach
other (a model) and an explanation on why you believe that these variables are
associatedtoeachother(atheory).Boththemodelandthetheoryflowlogicallyfrom
thedocumentationofpreviousresearchintheproblemarea.Integratingyourlogical
beliefs with published research, taking into consideration the boundaries and
constraints governing the situation, is pivotal in developing a scientific basis for
investigatingtheresearchproblem.

18
Agoodtheoreticalbasethusaddsrigortoapurposivestudy.Rigorconnotes
carefulness,scrupulousness,andthedegreeofexactitudeinresearchinvestigations.
Rigorisoneofthehallmarksofscientificresearchwhichpertainstobothbasicand
appliedresearch.
5.Thereisanadvantagetostatingthehypothesisbothinthenullandthealternate;
itaddsclaritytoourthinkingaboutwhatwearetesting.Explain.
Thenullhypothesisissetsothatthealternatehypothesisbecomestestable.When
theobservedZvalueisgreaterthanorequaltothecriticalZvalueforagiven
confidencelevel(usually95percent),thenweknowthatweoughttoacceptthe
alternatehypothesis.If,however,thecriticalZvalueismorethantheobservedZ
valueforagivenlevelofconfidence,wewouldbeinclinednottorejectthenullbutto
rejectthealternate.Settingupthenullthushelpsustounderstandthatthoughthe
nullhypothesisitselfisnottestable,ithelpstodecidewhetherweshouldacceptor
rejectthealternate.
6.Itisadvantageoustodevelopadirectionalhypothesiswheneverwearesureofthe
predicteddirection.Howwillyoujustifythisstatement?
Inadirectionalhypothesiswemightconjecture,onsomesoundandlogicalbasis,that
variableXisgreaterthanvariableY.Inthenondirectionalhypothesiswemerely
conjecturethatXandYwillnotbeequal,meaningthateithercanbegreaterthanthe
other.Thedirectionalhypothesisinvolvesaonetailedsignificancetest,andthenon
directionalinvolvesatwotailedtest.Toreachalevelofsignificancep=.05,thecritical
valueoftheobservedZshouldbe1.64foraonetailedtest,and1.96foratwotailed
test.SupposingthetrueobservedZvalueinaparticularcaseis1.72,thenwewould
acceptthehypothesisifitwasstateddirectionally,andrejectitifitwasstatednon
directionally.Inasense,thetwotailedtestismoreconservativebutahypothesisthat
islogicallyderivedasaonetailedtestwouldberejectedifitisnondirectionally
stated,andwewouldbeincorrectlyrejectingahypothesisthatistrue,thus
committingaTypeIIerror.Itisforthisreasonthatweshouldstateadirectional
hypothesiswhenwearesureofthepredicteddirectionbasedongoodtheoryand
logic.
7.Inrecentdecades,manyservicemarketshavebeenliberalized.Forthis
reason,incumbentservicefirmsarefacingnewcompetitorsandmustaddress
customerswitching.Youarediscussingthedeterminantsofcustomerswitchingwith
aservicefirmmanager.Shebelievesthatproductquality,relationshipquality,and
switchingcostsareimportantdeterminantsofcustomerswitching.
Youagreewiththecontentionthatproductqualityandrelationshipqualityare
importantdeterminantsofswitching.However,youbelievethatswitchingcosts
moderatestherelationshipsbetweenproductquality,relationshipqualityand
19
customerswitching.
Provideargumentsforthiscontention.
Switchingcostsincludethetime,moneyandeffortthecustomerperceiveswhen
changingfromoneprovidertoanother.Weexpectthatswitchingcostsdonotdirectly
affectcustomerswitching.Thatis,wepositthatacustomerwillnotswitchservice
providersbecausetheswitchingcostsareloworhigh.Instead,weproposethatthe
negativerelationshipbetweenproductandrelationshipqualityandcustomer
switchingisstrongerinsituationswithlowswitchingcosts.Whenswitchingcostsare
lowcustomersswitchserviceproviderswhentherelationshipqualityandproduct
qualityislow.However,whenswitchingcostsaresubstantial,customersarelikelyto
maintainbusinessrelationshipswithexistingserviceprovidersevenwhenthe
relationshipandproductqualityislow.
8.ForthefollowingcasetitledSleeplessNightsatHolidayInn(publishedinBusiness
Weekandadaptedhere):
a.
Identifytheproblem
b.
Developatheoreticalframework
c.
Developatleastfourhypotheses.
SleeplessNightsatHolidayInn
Justafewyearsago,TomOliver,theChiefExecutiveofHolidayHospitalityCorp.,
wasstrugglingtodifferentiateamongthevarietyoffacilitiesofferedtoclientsunder
theHolidayflagshiptheHolidayInnSelectdesignedforbusinesstravelers,the
HolidayInnExpressusedbypennypinchers,andtheCrownePlazaHotels,the
luxurioushotelsmeantforthebigspenders.Oliverfeltthatrevenuescouldbe
quadrupledifonlyclientscoulddifferentiateamongthese.
KeenondevelopingaviablestrategyforHolidayHospitalitywhichsufferedfrom
brandconfusion,TomOliverconductedacustomersurveyofthosewhohadused
eachtypeoffacility,andfoundthefollowing.Theconsumersdidnthaveaclueasto
thedifferencesamongthethreedifferenttypes.Manycomplainedthatthebuildings
wereoldandnotproperlymaintained,andthequalityratingsofserviceandother
factorswerealsopoor.Furthermore,whenwordspreadthatoneofthecontemplated
strategiesofOliverwasanamechangetodifferentiatethethreefacilities,irate
franchisesbalked.Theirmixedmessagesdidnothelpconsumerstounderstandthe
differenceseither.
Oliverthoughtthathefirstneededtounderstandhowthedifferentclassifications
wouldbeimportanttotheseveralclassesofclients,andthenhecouldmarketthe
20
heckoutofthemandgreatlyenhancetherevenues.Simultaneously,herecognized
thatunlessthefranchiseownersfullycooperatedwithhiminallhisplans,mereface
liftingandimprovementofcustomerservicewouldnotbringaddedrevenues.
ProblemStatement:
Howcanbrandawarenessbebroughtabouttoincreasetherevenuesof
HolidayInn?
TheoreticalFramework
OnlyafterOliverhasunderstoodhowthedifferentclassificationswouldbe
importanttothethreeclassesofintendedclientsthroughsurveydata,cana
meaningfultheoreticalframeworkbedeveloped.But,basedonwhatinformationis
currentlyavailable,thefollowingframeworkcanbeattempted.
Thenatureofthebuildingfacilities,howthebuildingsaremaintained,andthe
qualityofserviceprovidedthethreeindependentvariableswoulddifferentiatethe
threedistincttypesofHolidayInnfacilitiesandincreasebrandawarenessamongthe
users.Thebetterthebuildings,thebettertheirmaintenance,andthemore
differentiatedtheservicesprovided,thegreaterwillbetheperceiveddifferencesin
thethreetypesofHolidayInnfacilitiesbyclients.However,iftheFranchiseownersdo
notcooperateinhighlightingthesedifferencestoclients,noamountofthe
improvementsmadeintheindependentvariableswillhelptoincreasethebrand
awareness.ItisonlywhentheFranchiseownersactivelypromotetheideaof
differentiatedfacilitiesthemoderatingvariablecanthebrandawarenessbe
increased,andasaconsequence,therevenues.
Hypotheses
1.Themoredifferentiatedthebuildingfacilities,themorethebrandawareness.
2.Themoredifferentiatedthemaintenanceofthefacilities,themorethebrand
awareness.
3.Themoredifferentiatedtheservicestotheclients,themorethebrandawareness.
4.Differentiatedbuildingfacilities,maintenance,andservicewillinfluencebrand
awarenessonlyiftheFranchiseownerscooperateandactivelypromotetheideaof
differentiation.Iftheydont,noamountofdifferentiationofthethreeindependent
variableswillhelpclientstounderstandthedifferentiation(increasebrand
awareness).

21
9.Developaconceptualmodelforthescenariobelow.
Incidenceofsmokinginmovieshasstartedtoincreaseagain,afterhavingdeclined
forseveraldecades.AccordingtotheNationalCancerInstitutesmokingisseeninat
leastthreeoutoffourcontemporaryboxofficehits.Whatsmore,identifiable
cigarettebrandsappearedinaboutonethirdofallmoviesin2008.Exposureto
smokinginmoviesisanimportantpredictorofadolescentsmokinginitiation:
smokinginmovieshasbeenshowntoaffectadolescentsintentionstostart
smoking.Inturn,theintentionstostartsmokingaredeterminedbyamorepositive
attitudetowardsmokingafterseeingafilmcharactersmoke.Recentresearchhas
revealedthattherelationshipbetweenseeingafilmcharactersmokeandthe
attitudetowardsmokingisstrongerwhenapersonsidentificationwithafilm
characterincreases.Thesefindingsareconsistentwithsociallearningtheory,which
predictsthatattitudesandbehaviorsaremodeledbyobservingthebehaviorsof
others.
Exposuretosmokinginmovies
Attitudetowardsmoking
Smokingintentions
Identificationwithafilmcharacter
10.
Developatheoreticalframeworkforthefollowingcase.
Oncegiven,perksareextraordinarilyhardtotakeawaywithoutsappingemployee
morale.Theadverseeffectsofthesecutsfaroutweightheanticipatedsavingsin
dollars.Researchhasshownthatwhenthereasonbehindthecutsisexplainedto
employees,moraledoesnotdrop.
Perks(IV)boostthemoraleofemployees(DV)while,understandably,
withdrawingthesamesapsit.However,ifthereasonsforthecutsinperks(MV)are
explainedtotheemployees,theyseethelogicbehindthecutsandtheirmoraleisnot
affected.Thus,onlywhenthereasonforthecutinperksisexplainedtoemployees,
doestheirmoralenotsag.
11.Productplacementisaformofadvertisinginwhichacompanysproductsand
nameareintentionallypositionedinmotionpictures,televisionprograms,radio
broadcasts,andthelike.Productplacementcantakemanyforms:verbalmentions
indialogue,actualusebyacharacter,orvisualdisplays(forinstanceacompanylogo
onavehicleorbillboard).
Developatheoreticalframeworkonthisissue,basedonareviewofthecurrent
literature.Thisframeworkshouldinclude:
22
aspecificationanddefinitionofanappropriatedependentvariable;
aconceptualmodelthatdescribestherelationshipsbetweenthedependent
variable,atleastoneindependentvariable,andeitheramoderatingoramediating
variable;
atheoryonwhyyouwouldexpecttheserelationshipstoexist;
anappropriatenumberoftestablehypotheses.
Answerswillvary.
AnswerstoExercises4.1To4.14inthe
TextBook
Exercise4.1
Thedependentvariableisorganizationalperformancebecauseitistheprimary
variableofinteresttotheappliedresearcher,whowantstoincreasethecommitment
ofthemembersinthebank.
Exercise4.2
Thedependentvariableisproductdesirability.
Exercise4.3
VARIABLE
Production
Supervision
Training
LABEL
Dependentvariable
Independentvariable
Independentvariable
REASON
Mainvariableofinterest
Helptoexplainthevarianceinproduction
Explanation
Productionisthedependentvariablebecausethemanagerseemstobe
interestedinraisingthelevelofproductionofworkers.Themanagerwantstoexplain
thevarianceinproductionlevelsthroughthetwoindependentvariablessupervision
andtraining.
23
Exercise4.4
VARIABLE
Gains
Buyingatrighttime
Sellingatrighttime
LABEL
Dependentvariable
Independentvariable
Independentvariable
REASON
Variableofprimaryinterest
Explainthevarianceingains
(i.e.benefit)
Explanation
Gainsorbenefitfromstocktradingisthedependentvariable.Buyingstocksat
theopportunetimeandsellingthemlikewise,arethetwoindependentvariables
becausethesetwoareexpectedtoinfluencethegains(benefits)derivedfromstock
trading.Thatis,whenstocksareboughtandsoldattherighttimes,therewillbegains
orbenefitsderived.
Exercise4.5
VARIABLE
Productivity
Offthejobclassroomtraining
Age
LABEL
Dependentvariable
Independentvariable
Moderatingvariable
Explanation
Themainvariableofinteresttothemanagerisproductivitythedependent
variablethevarianceinwhichisexpectedtobeexplainedbytheindependent
variable,offthejobclassroomtraining.Themoreoffthejobtraininggiventothe
workers,thegreatertheirproductivity.However,onlythosewhoareunderfiftyyears
ofagewouldincreasetheirproductivitywithincreasedoffthejobtraining.Thiswill
notbetrueforthosewhoareoverfiftyyearsofagesincetheirinterestinclassroom
trainingandthelikewillnotbehigh.Thusageisthemoderatingvariable.
Exercise4.6
VARIABLE
Salesperformance
IntensityofEBusinessadoption
LABEL
Dependentvariable
Independentvariable

24
Marketuncertainty
Moderatingvariable
Exercise4.7
Situation1
MotivationtoWorkasanIndependentVariable
Theperformanceofemployeesisinfluencedbytheirmotivationtowork.
Situation2
MotivationtoWorkasanInterveningVariable
Employeesperformbetterwhentheyaregivenchallengingjobs,becausesuchjobs
tendtomotivatethemtowork.
Situation3
MotivationtoWorkasaModeratingVariable
Theperformanceofemployeeswithlowlevelsofmotivationtoworkwillnotimprove
despiteincreasesinjobchallenge.
Exercise4.8
VARIABLE
Problems
FollowingAccountingPrinciples
Confusion
ExperienceinBookKeeping
LABEL
Dependentvariable
Independentvariable
Interveningvariable
Moderatingvariable
Explanation
Theextenttowhichaccountingprinciplesarefollowedtheindependent
variableexplainsthevarianceinthedependentvariableproblemsforthe
organization.Ifindividualsdonotfollowtheaccountingprinciples,confusionensues
(interveningvariablethatresultsasaconsequenceoftheindependentvariableat
timeT2).Butthefailuretofollowtheprincipleswillresultinconfusionandproblems
onlyforthoseindividualswhohavenoexperienceinbookkeeping.Thosewhohave

25
knowledgeofbookkeepingwillfigureoutwaystodealwiththesituation.Hence,
experienceisthemoderatingvariable.
Exercise4.9
VARIABLE
Morale
Workingconditions
Payscale
Vacationbenefits
Sideincome
Happiness
LABEL
Dependentvariable
Independentvariable
Independentvariable
Independentvariable
Moderatingvariable
Interveningvariable
Explanation
Theindependentvariablesofimprovedworkingconditions,betterpay,and
vacationbenefitsinfluencethedependentvariable,morale.Whenthesethree
independentvariablesarehighinaworksituation,thenmoraleisalsohigh.However,
increasedpaywillnotincreasethemoraleofallworkers.Onlythosewhodonothave
goodsideincomeswillexperiencegreaterhappiness(theinterveningvariable)when
theirpayisincreased,andtheirmoralealsoincreases.Forothers,therelationships
betweenpayandmoralewillnotholdgood.Theinterveningvariable,happiness,isa
functionofhighpay(forthosewithoutsideincomes).Itclarifiestherelationship
betweenpayandmorale.
Exercise4.10
ProblemStatement
WhatarethebenefitsofusingavatarsascompanyrepresentativesoncommercialWebsites?
ConceptualModel

Involvement
26
AvatarPresence
InformativeSite
Satisfactionwith
theCompany
EntertainingSite
PurchaseIntentions
Exercise4.11
ProblemStatement
Cancancerpatientssuccessfulrecoverybeimprovedthroughquickandcorrect
diagnosis,carefullyfollowingthedoctorsinstructions,andkeepingthepatientsin
peacefulandquietsurroundings?
TheoreticalFrameworkforExercise4.11
Cancerpatientssuccessfulrecoveryisofmaininteresttothestudy,and
successfulrecoveryisexpectedtobepredictedbythreeindependentvariables.Thus,
recoveryisthedependentvariableinthestudyandthethreeindependentvariables
are:(1)quickandcorrectdiagnosisbythedoctor;(2)carefulfollowingofinstructions
bythenurses;and,(3)peaceandquietinthevicinity.Aninterveningvariableinthe
situationisrest,andamoderatingvariableisthestageofcancer.
Whenthediseaseisquicklyandcorrectlydiagnosedbythedoctorassoonas
thepatientcomesinfortheinitialcheckup,thechancesofthepatientbeing
successfullycuredofcanceraregreater,sincethecancerousgrowthwouldthenbe
arrestedintime.Also,whenthenursescarefullyfollowtheinstructionsofthedoctor
andadministertothepatientthepropermedicinesattherighttime,givethemthe
dietasprescribedbythedoctor,etc.,thepatientswillrecoverwithoutrelapses.The
humansystemneedscertainmedical,dietaryandotheraidstorecover,whichneedto
beadministeredattherighttimeandintherightquantities,andwhenthisisdone,
thepatientsrecoveryisalmostassured.Peaceandquietinthevicinityofthepatients
willallowthepatienttorestproperly,withoutanydisturbances,whichinturn,would
helpthesuccessfulrecoveryofthecancerpatientsincethebodywouldnowhavea
chancetobuildnewhealthycellsthroughtherestcreatedbythepeaceful
surroundings.Thus,restisaninterveningvariable,whichisfacilitatedbythepeaceful
andquietsurroundings.
Whilethethreeindependentvariablesofdiagnosis,followinginstructions,and
peaceandquietwouldhelpthepatientstosuccessfullyrecoverfromcancer,these
threewillnotinfluencetherecoveryforthosepatientswhocomefortreatmentat
27
advancedstages.Inotherwords,onlythosecancervictimswhocomefortreatmentat
theearlystagesofthediseasewouldbehelpedtorecoversuccessfullywhenthe
doctordiagnosesthediseasecorrectlyandquickly,thenursesfollowthedoctors
instructionscarefully,andthepatientsarekeptinquietandpeacefulsurroundings.
Thosecomingfortreatmentwhileintheadvancedstageswillnotbehelped.
Exercise4.12
1. Ho:Thereisnorelationshipbetweenworkingconditionsandthemoraleofemployees.
HA:Ifworkingconditionsareimproved,thenthemoraleoftheemployeeswillalso
improve.
2. Ho:Thereisnorelationshipbetweenvacationbenefitsandemployeesmorale.
HA:Bettervacationbenefitswillimproveemployeesmorale.
3. Ho:Thereisnodifferenceintherelationshipbetweenpayandhappinessamongthose
whohavesideincomesandthosewhodonot.
HA:Onlythosewhodonothavesideincomeswillbecomehappieriftheirpayis
increased.
4. Ho:Thereisnorelationshipbetweenhappinessandmorale.
HA:Happinessandmoralearepositivelycorrelated.
5. Ho:Workingconditions,vacationbenefits,andpayhavenoinfluenceonthemoraleof
employees.
HA:Workingconditions,vacationbenefits,andpayallhaveapositiveinfluenceon
morale.

28
Exercise4.13
ProblemStatement
Howcanthejobperformance(output)oftheemployeesbeincreasedthrough
enrichedjobsandrewards?
Jobperformanceisthemainvariableofinterestsincetheproductionmanager
isinterestedinincreasingtheoutputlevelsofemployees.Jobperformanceis,thus,
thedependentvariable.Jobenrichmentandrewardsarethetwoindependent
variableswhichdirectlyinfluenceperformancethroughtheinterveningvariablesof
motivationandsatisfaction.However,thevalenceofrewardstotherecipient
moderatestherelationshipamongrewards,motivation,satisfactionandperformance.
Whenthejobsdonebytheworkersaresuchthattheyaremorechallenging
andutilizealltheskillsthattheworkershave,thentheworkerswillbebothsatisfied
thattheyareabletousetheskillstheypossess,andbemotivatedtoengageinwork
behavior.Whenemployeesarethusmotivatedandsatisfied,theirperformancelevels
willbehigh.Also,motivationandsatisfactionwillmutuallyinfluenceeachother.That
is,whensatisfactionishigh,motivationwillbehigh,andthehigherlevelofmotivation
will,inturn,increasesatisfaction.Thus,thetwowillmutuallyinfluenceeachother,
andbothtogetherwillinfluenceperformance.If,ontheotherhand,thejobisdulland
repetitive,employeeswillnotderiveanysatisfactionattheworkplacesincetheywill
bebored,andtheirinclinationtoengageinworkbehaviors(motivation)willbelow.
Whenemployeesatisfactionandmotivationarelow,theirlevelsofoutput
(performance)willalsobelow.
Increasedrewardswillalsoofferemployeesbothsatisfactionandmotivation,
becauseemployeeswillknowthattheeffortputinbythemisrecognizedand
rewarded.Thisincreasedsatisfactionandmotivationwillspurthemontoperform
evenbettersincetheywillnowhavemorezealandenthusiasm.However,the
relationshipbetweenincreasedrewardsandtheinterveningvariablesofmotivation
andsatisfactionwillholdgoodonlyforthosewhodesireandvaluetherewards
dispensedbytheorganization.Thoserecipientswhodonotfindtherewardsvaluable
ordesirouswillnotbeturnedonbytherewards,andtheirlevelsofsatisfaction,
motivation,andperformancewillnotbeenhanced.Thevalenceofrewardsthus
moderatestherelationshipbetweenrewardsandtheinterveninganddependent
variables.

29
Hypotheses
HA1:Ifthejobisenrichedandutilizesalltheskillspossessedbytheemployee,then
employeesatisfactionwillbehigh.
HA2:Ifthejobisenrichedandutilizesalltheskillspossessedbytheemployee,then
employeemotivationwillalsobehigh.
HA3:Therewillbeapositivecorrelationbetweensatisfactionandmotivation.
HA4:Greaterrewardswillinfluencemotivationandsatisfactiononlyforthose
employeeswhofindtherewardsvalent;notfortheothers.
HA5:Satisfactionandmotivationwillpositivelyinfluenceperformance.
HA6:Themoreenrichedthejobandthegreatertheskillsutilizedbythejob,thehigher
thelevelofemployeeperformance.
Exercise4.14
ProblemStatement
Howcanminoritywomenberetainedinorganizations?
Retentionofminoritywomenisthemainvariableofinteresttothestudy,and
hence,isthedependentvariable.Theindependentvariablesthatarelikelytoexplain
30
thevarianceintheretentionofminoritywomenare:(a)influentialmentorswillingto
help,(b)informalnetworkingwithinfluentialcolleagues,(c)rolemodels,and(d)high
visibilityprojects.Theinterveningvariableissatisfaction.
Wheninfluentialofficialsinthesystemarewillingtoserveasformalorinformal
mentorsminoritywomencanlearntheropesforprogressingintheorganization.
Whenwomencannetworkwithinfluentialcolleagues,theywilllearnalotaboutthe
politicalsystemoftheorganizationandknowwhereandwhenthereareopportunities
toadvance.Rolemodelshelpwomentoemulatethecharacteristicsnecessaryto
climbtheladderofsuccessinthesystem.Whenwomenworkonhighvisibility
projects,theyattracttheattentionofthoseinpowerandarelikelytobepromotedto
higherlevelpositions.
Whentheabovefourfactorsareabsentintheworkenvironment,
dissatisfactionresultsduetothefrustrationofnothavingavenuesforadvancement.
Dissatisfaction,whichsurfacesasafunctionoftheabsenceofthefourindependent
variables,isthentheinterveningvariablewhichenablesustoseewhywomenquitthe
organization.Itshould,however,benotedthatnotalldissatisfiedminoritywomen
leavetheorganization.Onlythosewhohavetheresourcesandconfidencetostart
theirownbusinessleavetheinstitution.Theothersremaintrappedinthesystem.
Thus,wherewithaltostartownbusinessbecomesthemoderatingvariable.
MoreExercisesonTheoreticalFramework
(withAnswers)
Note:Thesecanalsobeusedasexamquestions.
I.Developatheoreticalframeworkforthefollowingsituationandstateone
testablehypothesisinthenullandthealternate.
Aschooladministratorisinterestedinfindinghowthethreatenedteachers
strikecanbeaverted.Heknowsthatpaydemandsandtheclassroomsphysical
environmentarethetwomainissuesinthesituation.He,however,feelsthatthese
twoarenotmajorconcernsfortheteacherswhoareextremelydedicatedtoteaching.

31
Answer
Sincetheadministratorsmainconcernisaboutthestrike,teachersstrikeis
thedependentvariable,andaninterestisevincedinavertingit.Payandthephysical
environmentoftheclassroomarethetwoindependentvariables,whichinfluencethe
strikesituation.Thegreaterthepaydemandsmadebytheteachers,thegreaterthe
possibilityofastrike,sincetheschooladministrationwillnoteasilygiveintoahigh
payhikewhichwouldbringanycurrentnegotiationsbetweenthetwopartiestoan
impasseandwouldprecipitateastrike.Themoreuncongenialtheclassroomphysical
environment,themoredifficultitwillbeforteacherstodoaneffectivejobinthe
classroom,andhencethegreaterthepossibilityofteachersgoingonstriketohave
thesituationrectified.Thus,bothpaydemandandclassroomphysicalenvironment
wouldexplainthevarianceintheprobabilityofteachersgoingonstrike.However,this
relationshipbetweentheindependentvariablesandthedependentvariablewillbe
trueonlyforthoseteacherswhoarenotdedicatedtoteachingforitsownsake.The
trulydedicatedteacherswouldbemoreconcernedaboutdoingagoodjobdespitethe
hardshipsfacedbythem,andhenceforthem,thepaydemandsandtheclassroom
environmentwillnotbefactorsinfluencingtheirdecisiontojointhestrike.
Hypothesis:
H01:Dedicationtoteachingwillnotaltertherelationshipbetweentheindependent
variablesofpayandclassroomenvironmentandthedependentvariableofteachers
decisiontogoonstrike.
32
HA1:Onlyforthoseteacherswhoarenottrulydedicatedtoteaching,willpay
considerationsandclassroomenvironmentbefactorsthatwouldinfluencetheir
decisiontogoonstrike.
2. Afactoryforemanisconcernedaboutthehighrateofabsenteeismofhisworkers
everyMondaymorning.Hishunchisthattheworkersdrinktoomuchduringthe
weekend,haveahangoveronMondaymorningsandcannotattendwork.Healso
feelsthatthehighrateofpaytheyreceiveallowsthemtobecomelethargic.Froman
informaltalkwithhisemployees,theforemanfindsthatalmosteverysingleworker
drinksduringtheweekend.However,somesaidthattheycouldhandledrinksvery
wellandneverhadhangovers.Ha!NowIknow,musedtheforeman,onlythose
whodonothaveanadequatetolerancelevelforalcoholicbeveragessuffertheeffects
ofhangoverandremainabsentonMondaymornings.Ofcourse,highpaymayalsobe
areason.
Giventheabovesituation,answerthefollowing:
a. Whatwouldbetheproblemstatement?
b. EvolveaTheoreticalFramework.
c. Developthreehypothesesfortesting.
ANSWER:
a. ProblemStatement
Wouldpayanddrinkinginfluenceabsenteeism?
b. TheoreticalFramework
Absenteeismisthedependentvariable,thevarianceinwhichistobeexplained
bythetwoindependentvariables,payandweekenddrinking.Themorethepay
receivedbyworkers,themoretheytendtobelethargic(interveningvariable),
spendingtheirtimelazingaroundinthehouse,sincetheyhaveenoughmoneytotake
careoftheirimmediateneedswithoutworking.Theythustendtoremainabsent.
ExcessivedrinkingduringtheweekendalsocontributestoabsenteeismonMonday
mornings,sincethehangoverfromtheweekenddrinking(theinterveningvariable)
wouldpersistuntillateonMonday,whichwouldpreventthemfromgoingtowork.
However,forthosewhohaveahightoleranceforliquor,hangoverwillnotbea
problem.Inotherwords,tolerancefordrinksisthemoderatingvariablewhichhasa
contingenteffectontherelationshipbetweentheextentofdrinkingandtheextentof
hangoverpeoplehave.Whenpeoplehavehangovers,theywilltendtoremainabsent
33
sincetheywillnotbefittoperformtheirnormalduties.Insum,payandweekend
drinkingwillhaveaneffectontheabsenteeismofworkers.However,onlyforthose
whohavealowtoleranceforliquor,willmoredrinkingduringtheweekendsresultin
theirexperiencinghangoversonMondays,whichwouldpreventthemfromattending
work.Thosewhohavehightolerancelevelswillnotexperiencehangoverandwillnot
remainabsentfromwork.
c.Hypotheses:
HA1:Thehigherthepayoftheworker,thehigherwillbetherateofhisabsenteeism
fromwork.
HA2:Onlyforthosewhohavealowtoleranceforliquor,willheavydrinkingleadto
hangover,notforothers.
HA3:Hangoverduetoheavyweekenddrinkingandabsenteeismwillbepositively
correlated.
3.a.Withthefollowingvariables,developatheoreticalframework,usingoneofthe
variables(appropriately)asaninterveningvariable,andoneasamoderatingvariable.
1) Joblevel(i.e.,managerialversusnonmanageriallevels);
2) Loyalty(extentofloyaltyfeltfortheorganizationinwhichtheemployeeworks);
3) Age(ofemployee);
4) Lengthofservice(ofemployees);
5) Prideinworkingfortheorganization;
6) Organizationalcommitment(involvementwiththesystem);
7) Lustforjobhopping.
b. Developthreehypothesesbasedonthetheoreticalframework,oneofwhichshould
includetheinterveningvariable,andanotherthemoderatingvariable.
34
c. Whatistheproblemstatementforwhichyouhavedevelopedyourtheoretical
framework?
Answer:
a.TheoreticalFramework
Thefourindependentvariablesjoblevel,age,lengthofservice,andpridein
workingfortheorganizationinfluencetheorganizationalcommitmentofthe
membersinworksystems.Personsholdinghighlyresponsiblepositionstendtoget
committedtotheorganizationsincetheyhelpshapetheorganizationthroughtheir
policiesanddecisionmaking.Generally,olderpersonstendtobemoreloyaltothe
placewheretheyworksinceopportunitiestomoveontootherorganizationsbecome
limited.Thosewhohaveservedforalongtimeintheorganizationwouldalsobemore
loyaltotheorganization(IV)andhencegetcommittedtoit.Ifoneisproudofbeinga
memberoftheorganization,naturallytheindividualsloyaltytothesystem(ofwhich
heisapart)wouldincrease.Wecanalsoexpecttofindacorrelationbetweenlength
ofserviceandemployeesprideinworkingfortheorganization.Thelongeremployees
workfortheorganization,themoretheywouldtendtofeelthattheyareanintegral
partoftheorganizationalsystemandfeeltheybelongtoit.Thesefeelings,inturn,will
developasenseofloyaltyandattachmenttothesystem.Onceloyaltyisdeveloped,
commitmenttostayintheorganizationanddoingonesbestfortheorganization
wouldincrease.However,highposition,prideinworkingfortheorganization,age,
andlengthofservice,wouldnotbeinstrumentalindevelopingtheorganizational
loyaltyofsuchmembersashaveagreatadventurousspiritandagreatdesiretomove
fromonejobtoanotherindifferentorganizations.Thus,lustforjobhoppingwouldbe
themoderatingvariablewhichinfluencestherelationshipbetweentheindependent
variablesandtheinterveningvariable,andthus,therelationshipbetweenthe
independentandthedependentvariables.

35
b.Hypotheses:
HA1:Onlyforthoseemployeeswhodonothavealustforjobhopping,wouldjoblevel,
age,lengthofservice,orprideinworkingfortheorganizationbecorrelatedtotheir
feelingsofloyaltyfortheorganization.
HA2:Themoretheemployeesareloyaltotheorganizationthestrongerwillbetheir
senseofcommitmenttotheorganization.
HA3:Thelongerpeopleworkfortheorganization,themoretheirfeelingsofpridein
workingfortheorganizationarelikelytobe.
c.ProblemStatement:
Whatfactorswouldaccountforemployeescommitmenttotheorganization?
4. Developatheoreticalframeworkandthreehypothesesforthefollowingstatement.
PeoplehighintheirNeedforAchievement(N.Ach)andwhohavehigh
ProtestantWorkEthicvalues,willbehighlymotivatedtowork.Whentheyget
motivated,theyalsoslowlybecomeinvolvedintheirjobs.

36
Answer:
N.Achievementandworkethicvaluesarethetwoindependentvariablesthat
wouldaccountforthevarianceinthedependentvariableofinterestjobinvolvement.
Thisrelationshipcouldbebetterunderstoodthroughtheinterveningvariable
motivation.Thatis,thosewhohaveahighneedtoachieveandaccomplishthingsin
theirjobs,wouldbemotivatedtoengageinworkbehavior,whichinduecourseof
timewillgetthemsoabsorbedindoingtheirjobsthattheiregoswillbetiedtothe
job.Likewise,thosewhohavehighworkethicvalues,wouldfeelthatunlessthey
work,theyarenogood,andhencewouldkeepengaginginworkbehavior.Thisagain
isboundtoincreasetheirlevelofmotivationtowork.Thesefrequentinteractions
withworkwillagaingetthemegoinvolvedintheirwork.Thus,N.Achandworkethic
valueswillmotivatepeopletowork,whichinturnwouldgetthemegoinvolvedin
work.
Hypotheses
HA1:ThehighertheNeedforAchievement,thegreaterwillbethelevelofmotivation.
HA2:ThegreatertheProtestantworkethicvaluespeoplehold,thegreaterwillbetheir
levelofmotivationtowork.
HA3:Thegreaterthemotivationinindividuals,thegreatertheirlevelofjob
involvement.
5.Hereareeightvariables:
1) UnderstandingStudentNeeds(byteacher);
2) Developingappropriateteachingstrategies(byteacher);
3) Inclassexamplesandexercises;
4) Studententrylevelskills;
5) Studentunderstanding;
6) Studentexamperformance;
37
7) Difficultyofexam;
8) Stress.
a.
Withtheseeightvariables,developaTheoretical
Framework,treatingvariable#4asamoderator,andvariable#5asanintervening
variable.
b.
Developfourhypotheses.
Answer:
a.Thevarianceintheperformanceofstudentsintheexamcanbeaccounted
forbythefourindependentvariablesteachersunderstandingoftheneedsofthe
students,thedifferentteachingstrategiesdevelopedbytheteacher,thenumberof
inclassexamplesandexercisesthattheteachergives,andhowdifficulttheexam
itselfhappenstobe.Whentheteacherunderstandsstudentsdifficultiesandneedsin
termsofcoachingandevolvesappropriateteachingstrategiesinordertomeetthe
needsofthestudentstounderstandwhatisbeingtaught,studentunderstandingwill
increase.Inaddition,iftheteacherusesseveralexamplestoputacrossthepointsand
givesexercisesinclasstotesttheextenttowhichstudentshaveunderstood,thenthe
studentslevelofunderstandingofwhatisbeingtaughtwillincrease.However,the
entrylevelskillsofthestudentsshouldbesufficientlyadequatetoenablethemto
understandwhatisbeingtaught.Ifthestudentsentrylevelskillsandcomprehension
areverylow,thennoamountoftheteachermakingeffortstounderstandstudent
needs,evolvingstrategies,andgivingnewexamplesandexercises,willhelpthe
studenttounderstandbetter,sincetheydonothavethebasicprerequisiteknowledge
forunderstandingwhatisgoingonintheclass.If,however,theentrylevelskillsare
adequate,thentheteachertakingalltheabovestepswouldhelpenhancestudent
learning.Whenstudentslevelofunderstandingincreases,theirlevelofperformance
intheexamwillalsobebetter.Thelevelofdifficultyoftheexamsisalsoanother
factorthatwouldaccountforthevarianceinstudentperformance.Themoredifficult
theexam,themorestressedthestudentswillfeelwhileansweringtheexam,andthe
lowerwillbetheirperformancelevelintheexam.Thus,stressistheintervening
variablehere.

38
Insum,thethreevariablesofunderstandingstudentneeds,teachingstrategies,
andinclassexercisesandexampleswillhelpincreasethelevelofstudent
understanding,which,inturn,willenhancetheleveloftheirexamperformance.
However,themoredifficulttheexam,themorethestressexperiencedbythe
students,andthelowertheirlevelofperformanceintheexam.
b.Hypotheses
HA1:Onlyforthosewhohavetherequisiteentrylevelskills,willmoreinclassexercises
andexampleshelpincreasethestudentslevelofunderstandingofthesubjecttaught.
HA2:Themoredifficulttheexams,thegreaterthestressexperiencedbythestudents.
HA3:Thehigherthelevelofstressexperiencedbythestudents,thelowertheirlevelof
performanceintheexam.
HA4:Whenstudentsunderstandthesubjectbetter,theywillperformbetterinthe
exam.
Marketing
1.FactorsInfluencingDecisiontoPurchase
Thefourindependentvariablesquality,price,feltneedfortheproduct,and
brandnameinfluencecustomersdecisiontopurchaseproducts.Whenaproductis
ofgoodquality,consumerconfidenceintheproductgrows(theinterveningvariable),
andthestrongerbecomesthedecisionoftheconsumertopurchasetheproduct.A
reasonablepriceandagoodbrandnamealsoinducestheconsumertopurchasethe
product.Ofcourse,themoretheconsumerneedstheproduct(suchasbasicneedsor
39
essentials),andthebettertheprice,thequality,andthebrandname,thegreaterthe
prospectfortheconsumermakingthedecisiontobuytheproduct.Usually,thebetter
knownthebrandname,thegreaterthedesiretopurchasethatproduct.Howeverifa
prospectiveconsumerhappenstohaveastrongbrandloyaltyforabrandotherthan
theonemarketed,then,thebrandnameoftheproductwillnotinfluencethe
purchasedecision.Thus,onlyforthosewhodonothaveastrongbrandloyaltytoa
differentproduct,willtherelationshipbetweenbrandname(IV)andpurchasingthe
product(DV)holdtrue.
2.FactorsAffectingCouponRedemptionRates
Couponredemption,astrategyforspurringsales,isthevariableofinteresttothis
study.Needlesstosay,thissalesstrategywillbeeffectivewhenthedistribution
channelsfortheproductinquestionarewellplanned,whenthereissufficient
advertisingtolettheconsumersknowaboutthepromotion,whenthepackageclearly
indicatesthecouponredemptionschemewiththeexpirationdate,ifany,andthe
packagingoftheproductisoftherightsize(neithertoobignortoosmalltoservethe
needsoftheconsumer).Ofcourse,allthesefactorswillnothelp,unlessthereisan
establishedfrequentneedfortheproductforconsumers(Moderatingvariable).

40
Accounting
3.FactorsInfluencingtheSelectionofAuditorsbyCompanies.
Theinfluenceofthereputationoftheauditingfirm,thefeescharged,andthe
qualityofservicerendered,ontheselectionoftheauditorforafirmisquitesimple.
Thegreaterthereputationoftheauditingfirm,themorethelikelihoodofitsbeing
selected,thebetterthequalityofservicerendered,andthemorereasonablethefee
thatischarged,themorelikelyisaparticularauditingfirmgoingtobechosen.
Interactionistheinterveningvariablethathelpsustoseehowtheproximityofthe
auditingfirmtothebusinessplaysapartinauditorselection.Iftheauditingfirmis
proximaltothebusiness,theclosenessencouragesfrequentinteractionsbetweenthe
twopartiestohavemattersclarifiedatlowcost.This,inturn,influencesthebusiness
tochooseanauditingfirmthatisproximal.However,theverybigbusinesscompanies
willnotchooseanybutthebigeightAccountingfirms.Hence,forthem,thechoiceof
auditorsfromanybutthebigeightwillnotbeinfluencedbytheindependent
variablesinthemodel.Thus,thesizeofthebusinessfirmbecomesthemoderating
variable.

41
4.FactorsthatAccountfortheVarianceinBadDebt.
Baddebtisthevariableofinteresttothisstudy,thevarianceinwhichistheorized
tobeexplainedbythethreefactorsofcreditpolicy,monitoringofreceivables,and
payoutperiodoninstallmentloans.Asensiblecreditpolicy,nodoubt,willreducebad
debt.Afollowuponaccountsreceivablewillfurtherreducebaddebtsbyrecovering
asmuchaspossiblebeforethingsgetoutofcontrol.Thepayoutperiodwillalsohave
aneffectontheamountofbaddebt.Ifthepayoutperiodistoolong(stretchingover,
say,severalyears),thereislikelytobeatendencytoslackoffontheinstallment
payments(theinterveningvariable),especiallyifthevalueoftheproductdepreciates
substantially.However,customerswhoconsidertheirreputationforcreditworthiness
asparamount,willstillhonortheircommitmentsdespitethelongdrawnoutpayment
periods.Thus,classofcustomerwillmoderatetherelationshipbetweenthe
independentvariable,payoutperiod,andtheinterveningvariable,slackingoffon
payments
.
42
Finance
5.Whatarethemostimportantfactorsthatinfluencetheprofitsofafirm?
6.CriticalFactorsthatInfluencetheValueofaCompanysStock.
Thevalueofthecompanyssharesisofinteresttothestudy.Ifacompanysustains
itshighearningsyearafteryear,itscredibilityasasuccessfulcompanywouldbe
enhancedandthepublicwillbelieveithasfurtherprospectsforgrowth(intervening
variable).Thiswillhelptoexplainhowsustainedearningswillincreasethestockvalue
ofthecompany.Faithinthemanagerialcompetenceofthekeypeopleinthe
companywillholdthestockvaluehigh,evenintimesofmildrecession.Thusthe
perceivedmanagerialcompetenceoftheindividualsinthecompanywouldinfluence
thestockvalue.
Usually,thehigherthedividends,thehigherthestockvalue;however,ifthehigher
dividenddeclaredisperceivedasastunttohoodwinkthepublic,thestockvaluewill
notgoup.Onlywhenthepublicexpectsthatthedividendpolicywillbemaintainedby
managementinthefuture(moderatingvariable),willthestockvalueofthecompany
beinfluencedbythehigherdividendsthataredeclared.

43

44
CHAPTER5
THERESEARCHPROCESS:ELEMENTSOF
RESEARCHDESIGN
InstructionalGoals
1. ToclarifythevariouscomponentsofresearchdesignasindicatedinFigure5.1ofthe
book.
2. Tohighlightobviouscombinationsinresearchdesignchoices;forexample,alabor
fieldexperimentisinvariablyconductedtoestablishcauseandeffectrelationships;a
labexperimentisalwaysdoneinacontrivedsettingwithmaximalresearcher
interferenceandinalongitudinalfashion.
3. Tostresstheimportanceofmakingoptimalresearchdesignchoicesaimedat
balancingscientificrigorandresearchcosts(andfeasibility).
DiscussionQuestions
1.Whatarethebasicresearchdesignissues?Describetheminsomedetail.
Basicresearchdesignissuesareprimarilyafunctionofthepurposeofthestudy
(whetheritisexploratory,descriptive,orhypothesistesting),andrelatetosuch
aspectsasthetypeofstudytobedone(causalorcorrelational),thesettingin
whichitwillbedone(naturalorcontrived),howmuchresearchercontrolwillhave
tobeexercised(verylittleinthecaseoffieldstudies,toverymuchinthecaseof
experimentaldesigns),howmanytimesdatawillhavetobecollected(oneshot
versuslongitudinal),andtheunitofanalysisi.e.thelevelatwhichdatawillbe
aggregated.Formostcorrelationalstudies,thefieldsettingwithminimal
researcherinfluencewillbethechoice.Mostfieldstudiesaregenerallycross
sectional,thoughsomecouldbelongitudinal.Longitudinalstudies,thoughbetter
forunderstandingthedynamicsofthesituationfully,alsoconsumemoretimeand
resources.Thus,thecostsofastudyalsodeterminesomeofthedesignchoices.
Theunitofanalysisdependsonwhethertheresearchquestionfocuseson
individuals,dyads,groups,orentiresystems.
2.Whyisitimportanttoconsiderbasicresearchdesignissuesbeforeconductingthe
45
studyandevenasearlyasatthetimeofformulatingtheresearchquestion?
Theresearchdesignensuresthatthepurposeforwhichastudyisconductedis
effectivelyaddressed.Somestudiesarefocusedonfindingresultswhichwillbehighly
reliable,whereasothersmightbeinterestedingettingsomeideaofwhatisgoing
on,ratherthanwantingtoknowtheabsolutetruth.Iftherigorneededcanbe
achievedatonlyhighcost(e.g.moremanipulationandcontrol,conductingthestudy
overanextendedperiodoftimewithabigsample,etc),andifthiscostisconsidered
toomuch,thenthegoalsofresearchmighthavetoberevisedorevencompletely
changed.Thus,thinkingthroughtheresearchdesignissuesattheearlystageshelpsin
avertingseveralproblematicissueslater.
3.Isafieldstudytotallyoutofthequestionifoneistryingtoestablishcauseandeffect
relationships?
Generallylabandfieldexperiments,ratherthanfieldstudies,areusefulfor
establishinggreaterinternalvalidity,orfaithincauseandeffectrelationships.
However,whenlongitudinaldataarecollectedfromfieldstudies,orwhenparticular
typesofstatisticalanalysesaredoneoncrosssectionaldatagatheredfromfield
studies,itissometimespossibletoestablishtheexistenceofcausalrelationships.
Morespecifically,crosslaggedcorrelationanalysis(notdiscussedinthebook)using
datacollectedatmorethanonepointintime,canindicatecausalrelationships.
Evenusingcrosssectionaldata(i.e.withdatacollectedatonetimeonly)statistical
techniques,suchaspathanalysis,canidentifycauseandeffectrelationships.
However,insuchcases,thedataandthetheorywillhavetolendthemselvesto
certainassumptionswhicharenotalwayseasilymet.
4.Anexploratorystudyisjustasusefulasapredictivestudy.Discussthisstatement.
Withoutexploratorystudies,newareasofknowledgecannotbedeveloped.Every
theorywenowhavemustatonetimehavestartedasanexploratoryresearchstudy.
Exploratoryresearchlaysthegroundworkforunderstandingnewphenomena,and
developingnewmeasurestotestthese.Theexploratorystudiesoftodayblossominto
thepredictivestudiesoftomorrow,andinthatsensebothtypesofstudyareuseful
andessentialtogenerateknowledge,understanding,andpredictionofbusiness
phenomena.
5.Whyistheunitofanalysisanintegralpartoftheresearchdesign?
Theunitofanalysisisanimportantissuetobeconsideredtofindtherightanswers
totheresearchquestionsposed.Theunitofanalysisalsodeterminesthesamplesize.
Forexample,ifoneisinterestedinresearchingthefactorsthatinfluencethestock
marketinthreedifferentEuropeancountries,itisthebehaviorofstockmarketsin
thosethreecountriesthatareofcentralinteresttothestudy,andnottheindividual
stockmarketwithineachcountry.Atthetimeofdataanalysis,thedatagatheredfrom
eachofthestockmarketswithineachcountrywillsomehowhavetobemeaningfully
aggregated,andonlythosethreedatapoints,whichwillformthethreesamples,have
46
tobetakenintoconsideration.Thus,theunitofanalysisisafunctionoftheresearch
questionposed,andisanintegralpartoftheresearchdesign.Aswillbeseenlater,
researchdesigndecisionsrelatingtosamplingalsodependontheunitofanalysis.Let
ussayaresearcherdecidestohaveasamplesizeof30forastudy.Sampling30
individualsinanorganizationwhentheunitofanalysisisindividuals,isnotas
problematicassampling30organizationswhentheunitofanalysisisorganizations,or
sampling30countrieswhentheunitofanalysisiscountries.Thus,theunitofanalysis
influencesotherdecisionssuchasthesamplingdesign,thesamplesize,data
collectionmethods,etc.
6.Discusstheinterrelationshipsamong:noncontrivedsetting,purposeofthestudy,
typeofinvestigation,researcherinterference,andtimehorizonofthestudy.
Anoncontrivedsettingsimplyindicatesthattheresearchisconductedwherethe
flowofeventsnormallytakesplacei.e.inthenaturalsystem.Suchresearchcouldbe
eitherfieldstudiesorfieldexperiments.Thepurposeofthefieldstudycouldbefor
explorationandunderstandingofphenomena,fordescribingphenomena,orfor
hypothesistesting.Thefieldstudyisacorrelationalstudy,andnotusuallyinitiatedto
explorecauseandeffectrelationships.Researcherinterferenceinfieldstudiesis
minimal.Fieldstudiescouldbeeithercrosssectionalorlongitudinal.Field
experiments,ontheotherhand,areundertakentoestablishcauseandeffect
relationships,arelongitudinalinnature,andresearcherinterferenceinfield
experimentsismuchmorethaninfieldstudies,sincetheindependentvariablewill
havetobemanipulated.Thesearemostlyhypothesistestingstudies,thoughthey
couldbeexploratoryinnature,aswell.
7.Belowarethreescenarios.Foreach,indicatehowtheresearchershouldproceedwith
thefollowing,givingreasons:
a. Thepurposeofthestudy
b. Thetypeofinvestigation
c. Theextentofresearcherinterference
d. Thestudysetting
e. Thetimehorizonforthestudy
f. Theunitofanalysis.
ScenarioA
Ms.JoyceLynn,theownerofasmallbusiness(awomansdressboutique),has
invitedaconsultanttotellherhowsheisdifferentfromsimilarsmallbusinesseswithin
a60mileradius,inregardtoherusageofthemostmoderncomputertechnology,
salesvolume,profitmargin,andstafftraining.

47
Answer
Thiswillbeadescriptivestudy(describinghowshecompareswiththeothers).
Datawillbecollectedfromsmallbusinessesontheuseofcomputers,salesvolume,
profitmargin,andtrainingprogramsandcomparisonsmade.Someofthese
descriptionsmightbequalitative,asforexample,indescribingtrainingmethods.This
willbeafieldstudy(usingmanysimilarsmallbusinesses),andresearcherinterference
willbeminimal.Itwillbeaoneshotstudy,andtheunitofanalysiswillbesmall
businesssystems.
ScenarioB
Mr.PaulHodge,theownerofseveralrestaurantsisconcernedaboutthewide
differencesintheprofitmarginsofthevariousrestaurants.Hewouldliketotrysome
incentiveplansforincreasingtheefficiencylevelsofthoserestaurantsthatarelagging
behind.But,beforeheintroducesthis,hewouldliketobesurethattheideawillwork.
Heasksaresearchertohelphimonthisissue.
Answer
Thiswouldbeacausal,hypothesistestingstudy.Itwillbeafieldexperiment,
usingoneortworestaurantstomanipulateincentiveplansandseeifthiscausesan
increaseinprofitmarginsinthoserestaurants.Becauseofthemanipulation,therewill
besomeresearcherinterferencewiththenaturalflowofevents.Thetimehorizonfor
thestudywouldbelongitudinalsincedatawillbeobtainedonsales,profits,etc.,both
beforeandafterthemanipulation.Theunitofanalysiswouldbetherestaurant.
ScenarioC
Amanagerisintriguedwhysomepeopleseemtoderivejoyfromworkandget
energizedbyit,whileothersfindittroublesomeandfrustrating.
Thiswouldbeacorrelational,hypothesistesting,fieldstudywithminimal
researcherinterference.Itwillbeaoneshotstudyandtheunitofanalysiswillbe
individuals.
Exercises
Doingtheexercisesinthechapterwillhelpthestudenttoapplythebasic
elementsofresearchdesigntodifferentscenarios.Moreinclassexercisesareoffered
attheendofthischapter(withanswers),thatcanbeusedeitherintheclassroomor
asexamquestions.
48
AnswerstoExercisesintheBook
Exercise5.1
Aforemanthinksthatthelowefficiencyofthemachinetooloperatorsis
directlylinkedtothehighleveloffumesemittedintheworkshop.Hewouldliketo
provethistohissupervisorthrougharesearchstudy.
1. Wouldthisbeacausaloracorrelationalstudy?Why?
2. Isthisanexploratory,descriptive,orhypothesistesting(analyticalorpredictive)
study?Why?
3. Whatkindofastudywouldthisbe:fieldstudy,labexperiment,orfieldexperiment?
Why?
4. Whatwouldbetheunitofanalysis?Why?
5. Wouldthisbeacrosssectionaloralongitudinalstudy?Why?
1. Thiswouldbeacausalstudybecausetheoperatorwantstoprovetothesupervisor
thatthefumesarecausingoperatorstobelowintheirefficiency.Inotherwords,the
machinetooloperatoristryingtoestablishthefactthatfumescauselowefficiencyin
workers.
2. Thisisananalyticalstudybecausethemachinetooloperatorwantstoestablishthat
fumescauselowefficiencyandconvincehisworkshopsupervisorthroughsuch
analysis(i.e.establishcauseandeffectrelationship).
3. Thiswouldbeafieldexperiment.Thoughthestudywouldbesetupinthenatural
environmentoftheworkerswheretheworkisnormallydone,theamountoffumes
willhavetobemanipulatedwhileotherfactors,suchasatmosphericpressure,may
havetobecontrolled.Becauseofthelocationofthestudy,itwillbeafield
experiment.
4. Theunitofanalysiswouldbetheindividualoperators.Thedatawillbecollectedwith
respecttoeachoperatorandthentheconclusionwillbemadeastowhetherthe
operatorsarelessefficientbecauseofthefumesemittedintheworkshop.
5. Thiswouldbealongitudinalstudybecausedatawillbegatheredatmorethanone
pointintime.First,theefficiencyoftheoperatorswouldbeassessedatagivenrateof
fumeemission.Thenthefumesemittedwouldbemanipulatedtovaryingdegrees,
andateachmanipulationtheefficiencyoftheworkerswouldagainbeassessedto
confirmthatthehighrateoffumeemissioncausesadropinoperatorsefficiency.

49
Exercise5.2
ManywereconcernedabouttheoperationsoftheinfamousBCCI,the
internationalbankinginstitution.IftheGovernmenthaddesiredtoprobeintothe
details,wouldthisinvestigationhavecalledfor:
1. Acausalorcorrelationalstudy?Why?
2. Anexploratory,descriptive,orhypothesistestingstudyorcaseanalysis?Why?
3. Afieldstudy,labexperiment,orfieldexperiment?Why?
4. Acrosssectionalorlongitudinalstudy?Why?
1. Thiswouldhavebeenacorrelationalstudysincethedetailsdesiredaretobeprobed
intowithouttryingtoestablishcauseandeffectrelationships.
2. ItwouldbeadescriptivestudydescribingtheoperationsofBCCI.
3. Thiswouldbeafieldstudysincedatawillbecollectedinthenaturalenvironment.
4. Thiswillbeacrosssectionalstudysincethedatawillbecollectedatonlyonepointin
time.
Exercise5.3
Youwanttoexaminehowexposuretothinorheavymodelsinadvertisementsinfluencesa
personsselfesteem.Youbelievethattheeffectofexposuretomodelsinadvertisements
dependsontheextremityofthemodel'sthinnessorheaviness.
Discuss the design decisions that you as a researcher will make to investigate this issue,
givingreasonsforyourchoices.
Anexperimentalstudy(causalstudy)willbeneededsincethegoalofthestudyisto
testacauseandeffectrelationship.
Apretestwillhelpyoutoselectadvertisementscontainingfemalemodelsforthe
followingfourconditions:moderatelythin,extremelythin,moderatelyheavy,and
extremelyheavy;
participantsviewanadvertisementbookletcontainingadswithfemalemodels.
participantsrateeachmodelintermsofsize(5=extremelyoverweight,+5=
extremelythin)andattractiveness(5=extremelyunattractive,+5=extremely
attractive).
50

Basedonthesescores,youwillbeabletoselectadvertisingmodelsineachcondition.
Notethatmodelsshoulddifferfromeachotherintermsofsizebutnotintermsof
attractiveness(youhavetoperformposthoccomparisonstotestforthis).
Intheactualexperiment,participantsmustberandomlyassignedtooneofthefour
conditionsofthe2(modelsize:thinvs.heavy)and(extremityofmodelsize:moderate
vs.extreme)betweensubjectsdesign.Participantsarethenprovidedwithabooklet
containingads:adswithmodels,pertainingtotheircondition,andfilleradswithno
models(randomizetheorderoftheads).Eventually(afteroneormorefillertasks)
participantscompleteaselfesteemscalesuchasforinstancetheAppearanceSelf
EsteemScale(HeathertonandPolivy1991).
Exercise5.4
Youwanttoinvestigatethespecificeffectsofspecificemotionsoncustomers'
behavioralresponsestofailedserviceencountersacrossindustries.
Discussthedesigndecisionsthatyouasaresearcherwillmaketoinvestigatethis
issue,givingreasonsforyourchoices.
Becauseitisdifficult(andprobablyunethical)toinducespecificemotionsinan
experimentafieldstudyseemstobethemorelogicalchoice.Notehowever,that
whenyouuseafieldstudy,itisveryimportanttocontrolforvariablesthatmight
potentiallybiasyourresultssuchascomplaintsuccesslikelihoodandswitchingcosts.
Thecriticalincidenttechniqueisamethodthatmayhelpyoutocollectawidevariety
ofnegativeexperienceswithserviceorganizations.
Exercise5.5
WaronCancer
Dr.LarryNortonofMemorialSloanKetteringCancerCenterpredictsthatcancer
treatmentwillundergomajorchanges.Severaldrugsarebeingdevelopedtobattle
cancerwithoutharminghealthytissues.Itisaquestionofdiscoveringwhichofthese
drugsdoesthejobbest.
Designastudythatwouldhelpfindwhichdrugwoulddothetrick.
Anexperimentalstudy(causalstudy)oftheSolomonFourGroupdesignwillbe
needed.Acountofthehealthytissuesincancerpatientsatmoreorlessthesame
stageofcancerprogresswillfirstbetaken,withabout20patientsineachgroup.Each
group,butthecontrolgroup,willbetreatedwiththedifferentnewdrugs.Thecancer
cellcountwillbetakenbothbeforeandaftertreatmentforaperiodoftime(say,3to
51
6months)toseewhichhasthemostbeneficialeffect.Thusitwouldbealongitudinal
studywithsomemanipulation(drugvariation)andcontrol(matchedorrandomized
groups).Theunitofanalysiswillbegroups.
MoreinClassExercisesonResearch
Design(withAnswers)
Severalsituationsaregivenbelow.Foreachsituation,respondtothefollowing
researchdesignquestions.
a. WhatwouldbethenatureofthestudythatwouldbedesignedExploratory,
descriptive,orhypothesistesting?
b. Givereasonsforyouranswerto(a)above.
c. WoulditbeaFieldstudy,Comparativestudy,LabexperimentorFieldexperiment?
d. Woulditbeacausalorcorrelationalstudy?
e. Justifythereasonsforyouranswerto(d).
f. Woulditbealongitudinalorcrosssectionalstudy?
g. Howwouldyouexplainyouranswerto(f)above?
h.Whatwouldbetheunitofanalysis?
i. Defendyouranswerto(h)above.
1. Aresearcherwantstotestthetheorythatlowlevelsofoxygenintheminesisthe
singlemostimportantfactorthattiresminerseasily.
ANSWER:
a&b:Hypothesistesting,becausetheresearcherwantstoanalyzeandtestiflow
levelsofoxygenwould,infact,causetirednessinminers.
c:AFieldExperiment,becausetherewouldbemanipulationofthelevelsofoxygen
inthenaturalenvironmentoftheworkers.
d&e:Causalstudy,becausetheresearcherwantstoseeiflowlevelsofoxygen
causetirednessinminers.Hewantstoestablishacauseandeffectrelationship
betweentheindependentandthedependentvariables.
f&g:ItwouldbeaLongitudinalstudybecausedataontirednesswillbecollected
fromthesamebatchofworkersbeforeandaftereachmanipulationoftheextentof
oxygeninjectedintotheenvironment.
h&i:Theunitofanalysiswillbeindividualminersbecausethedatawillnotbe
52
aggregatedacrossgroups,buteachindividualminersleveloftirednesswillbe
recordedandusedindataanalysis.
2. AnAuditorisinterestedinknowingtherelationshipamongthethreevariables
depreciation,assetsaccounting,andtaxespaid.
ANSWER:
a&b:Hypothesistesting,becausethemanagerwantstoanalyzethecorrelations
amongthethreevariables.
c:ComparativeFieldstudysincethedatawillbegatheredfromseveralfirms.
d&e:Itwillbecorrelationalsincetherelationship(andnotcauseandeffect
relationships)amongthevariablesisbeingstudied.
f&g:Crosssectionalsincethedatawillbegatheredonlyonce.
h&i:Unitofanalysiswillbethefirms.
3.Theheadnurseinahospitalwouldliketohaveaprofileofthepatientsthatcometo
herward.
ANSWER:
a&b:Descriptivesincetheheadnurseonlywantsaprofileameredescriptionof
thetypeofpatientswhocometoherward.
c:Fieldstudy,sincethepeoplecomingtoherward(naturalsetting)willbestudied.
d&e:Itisadescriptivestudy,usingmerelyfrequencydistributionsandmeansand
standarddeviations.Itisthusneitheracausalnoracorrelationalstudy.
f&g:Crosssectional,sincedatawillbegatheredfromeachpersonjustonceto
gettheprofile.
h&i:Unitofanalysiswillbeindividualpatientssinceindividualprofileswillbe
studied.
4. Abasicresearcherwantstoengageinaresearchprojectwhichwillenableherto
establishtherelationshipbetweencertainpersonalitycharacteristicsandtherisk
takingtendenciesofstockbrokers.
ANSWER:
a&b:Hypothesistesting,sincetheresearcherwouldhaveformulateda
conceptualframeworkofthetypeofpersonalitycharacteristicsthatwouldinduce
stockbrokerstotakemorerisks,andwouldwanttotestherhypotheses.
c:Fieldstudysincesubjectswillbestudiedinthenaturalenvironmentinwhich
theyusuallyoperate.
d&e:Correlationalstudysincetherelationshipsamongthepersonality
characteristicsandrisktakingarestudied.
f&g:Crosssectionalsincedatawillbegatheredatonlyonepointintime.
53
h&i:Unitofanalysiswillbeindividuals(stockbrokers)sincethedataanalysiswill
bedoneoneachindividualsresponseswithoutanyaggregationacrossgroups.
Note:ThiscanalsobesetupasaLabexperimentinwhichFinancemajorsareput
inacontrivedsettingandofferedsomeinvestmentassignmentsthatcallforrisk
taking.Theirpersonalitycharacteristicscanbeobtainedthroughaquestionnaire
survey,andtheirrisktakingbehavioraltendenciesassessedbymanipulatingthelevel
offinancialriskinvolvedintheinvestments.
5. BobsNissanandToyotadealershipissufferingfromaseveredeclineinthenumber
ofcarsales.Bobdecidestotesttwoapproachestosales.Herandomlyassignshis12
salesmentotwogroups.Hethentrainsonegrouptousethehardsellapproach
andtheothertousethesoftsellapproachsothathecandeterminewhich
methodismoreeffective.
ANSWER:
a&b:Predictive,hypothesistestingstudysinceBobwantstobeabletotestwhich
oneofthetwosalesapproacheswillhelpsellmorecars(i.e.predictwhichsales
approachiseffective).
c:Fieldexperimentsincetheindependentvariablesalesapproachis
manipulatedtobeeitherhardorsoftsellandtriedinthenaturalenvironmentin
whichsalesusuallytakeplaceandnotinanartificiallabsetting.
d&e:Causalstudy,sinceBobwantstoknowwhichapproachwouldcausesalesto
increase.
f&g:Longitudinal,becausethesaleslevels,bothbeforethemanipulationand
after,willbemeasured.
h&i:Unitofanalysiswillbegroupssincethesalesofeachofthetwogroups
softsellandhardsellsalesmenwillbeaggregatedandcompared.
6.Aproductionmanagerwantstoseeif,byprovidingenhancedautomation
technology,theproductivityoftheworkersintheplantscanberaised.However,
beforetryingthiswithallthefiveplants,shewouldliketotrythiswithagroupof
apprenticeswhoworkinoneplant.
ANSWER:
a&b:Hypothesistesting,analyticalstudy,sincethemanagerwantstobeableto
analyzethecauseandeffectrelationshipbetweenenhancedautomationandworker
productivity.
c:Fieldexperiment,sincethestudywillbeconductedinthenaturalenvironment
whereeventsusuallytakeplace.
d&e:Causalstudy,sincecausalrelationshipsaretryingtobeestablished.
f&g:Longitudinal,sinceproductivitymeasureswillbetakenfromthesame
54
workersbeforeandaftertheintroductionoftheenhancedautomation.
h&i:Individualswillbetheunitofanalysissincetherewillbenoaggregationof
dataacrossgroupmembers.

55
CHAPTER 6
MEASUREMENTOFVARIABLES:
OPERATIONALDEFINITION
InstructionalGoals
1. Topinpointtheneedtooperationallydefinevariables.
2. Tohighlighttheimportanceofidentifyingthedimensions,andlaterduringdiscussions
ofcontentvalidity,toreconnectthedimensionsofaconcepttotheestablishmentof
itscontentvalidity.
DiscussionQuestions
1.
Whatismeantbyoperationaldefinition,whenisitnecessary,andwhyisit
necessary?
Operationaldefinitionreferstotheprocessofdefininganabstractconceptinsucha
mannerthatitcanbemeasured.Itisnecessarybecauseitallowsustomeasure
subjectivecharacteristicsandphenomenawhichdonotlendthemselvestoobjective
measurement.
2.
Whyisitwrongtousecorrelatesofaconcepttomeasurethatconcept?
Becauseifweusethecorrelatesofaconcepttomeasureit,wedonotmeasurethe
rightthing.Insteadofmeasuringtheconceptthatwewanttomeasurewewill
measurevariableswedonotintendtomeasurenorwereweinterestedin.
3. Operationallydefinethefollowing:
a. Customerloyalty
Airlineexample(AgustinandSingh2005)
Iwouldcontinueflyingwiththisairline.
56
ThenexttimeIneedtoairtravel,Iwouldflywiththisairline.
Iwouldconsiderthisairlinemyfirstchoicetoairtravel.
Iwouldusetheservicesofthisairlineinthenextyears.
b.Priceconsciousness
Lichtenstein,Ridgway,andNetemeyer(1993)
Itendtobuythelowestpricedbrandof(category)thatwillfitmyneeds.
Whenbuyingabrandof(category),Ilookforthecheapestbrandavailable.
Whenitcomestobuying(category),Irelyheavilyonprice.
PriceisthemostimportantfactorwhenIamchoosingabrandof(category).
c.Careersuccess
CareerSuccesscouldbeeitherobjective(asjudgedbytheprofession),orsubjective
(asjudgedbyoneself).
Objectivecareersuccessisusuallydefinedintermsoftheprestigeofthepositionand
statusoneholds,andbyonessalary.Subjectivecareersuccessisdefinedintermsof
howonefeelsaboutwhereoneaspiredtobeatthatparticularpointinonescareer
andwhereoneactuallyis.
Someitemstomeasuresubjectivecareersuccessare:
Towhatextentdoyoufeelyouhave:
i.
Achievedwhateveryouhadhopedtoachieveatthisstageinyourcareer
ii.
Accomplishedthekindsofgoalsyouhadsetforyourself
iii.
Comparedtoothersofsimilarbackground,madeprogressinyourcareer
4.Isitusefultodrawonexistingmeasurestomeasureabstractandsubjective
constructssuchasforinstancecustomerloyalty?Why(not)?
Theuseofexistingmeasurementscaleshasseveraladvantages.First,itwillsaveyoua
lotoftimeandenergy.Second,itallowsyoutoverifythefindingsofothersandto
buildontheworkofothers(thisisveryimportantinscientificresearchbutimpossible
ifyouwouldusemeasuresthatdifferfromthemeasuresthatourpredecessorshave
used!).Hence,ifyouwanttomeasuresomething,seeifithasbeenmeasuredbefore
andthenusethismeasure(adaptittoyourspecificneedswheneverthisisneeded).

57
Exercises
Exercise6.1
a.ReadthepaperofCacioppoandPetty(1982)anddescribehowtheauthors
generatedthepoolof45scaleitemsthatappearedrelevanttoneedforcognition.
YoucanfindthepaperonJohnCaciopposwebsite:
http://psychology.uchicago.edu/people/faculty/cacioppo/jtcreprints/cp82c.pdf
Studentsshouldprovideadetailedaccountofthefourstudiesthatwereundertaken
todeveloptheneedforcognitionscale.Specificgoalsofthesestudieshavetobe
discussedandadetailedaccountofthemethodandprocedureshouldbeprovided
perstudy.Youcanorganizeadiscussiononwhy(theseorall)fourstudiesareneeded.
b.Whydoweneed34itemstomeasureneedforcognition?Whydothreeorfour
itemsnotsuffice?
Becausethisensuresthatthemeasureincludesanadequateandrepresentativesetof
itemsthattaptheconceptneedforcognition(=contentvalidity).
Exercise6.2
Trytocomeupwithtwounidimensionalandtwomultidimensionalabstract
concepts.Explainwhytheseconceptshaveeitheroneormorethanonedimension.
Answerswillvary:
Examplesofmultidimensionalscales:
-
servicequality(dimensions:responsiveness,reliability,assurance,empathy,
andtangibles)
storeloyalty(dimensions:cognitive,affective,andconnotiveloyalty)
powerbases(dimensions:rewardpower,coercivepower,legitimatepower,
referentpower,andexpertpower)
Examplesofunidimensionalscales:
anger
priceperception
endorserattractiveness
buyingintention
58

Exercise6.3
Provideanoperationaldefinitionoftheconceptofservicequalityanddevelop
questionsthatwouldmeasureservicequality.
Answerswillvary.
Exercise6.4
CompareyourservicequalitymeasuretothemeasureofZeithaml,Parasuraman,
andBerry(1988)presentedinJournalofRetailing.
a.Howdoesyourmeasuredifferfromthismeasureintermsofdimensionsand
elements?
Servicequality:theconsumersoverallimpressionoftherelativeinferiority/
superiorityoftheorganizationanditsservices(BitnerandHubert,1994).
Zeithaml,Parasuraman,andBerry(1988)haveoperationalizedservicequalityby
assessingserviceandperformanceon22itemsbelievedtorepresentfivekey
dimensions(reliability,responsiveness,assurance,empathy,andtangibles)ofservice
quality(youcanfindthepaperonValerieZeithamlswebpage:
http://areas.kenanflagler.unc.edu/Marketing/FacultyStaff/zeithaml/Selected%20Publications/Forms/AllItems.aspx.
Reliabilityitems:
1.WhenXYZCompanypromisestodosomethingbyacertaintime,itdoesso.2.Whenyouhavea
problem,XYZCompanyshowsasincereinterestinsolvingit.3.XYZCompanyperformstheserviceright
thefirsttime.4.XYZCompanyprovidesitsservicesatthetimeitpromisestodo
so..5.XYZCompanykeepscustomersinformedaboutwhenserviceswillbeperformed.
Responsivenessitems:
1.EmployeesinXYZCompanygiveyoupromptservice.
2.EmployeesinXYZCompanyarealwayswillingtohelpyou.
3.EmployeesinXYZCompanyarenevertoobusytorespondtoyourrequest.
Assuranceitems:
1.ThebehaviorofemployeesinXYZCompanyinstillsconfidenceinyou.
2.YoufeelsafeinyourtransactionswithXYZCompany.
3.EmployeesinXYZCompanyareconsistentlycourteouswithyou.
4.EmployeesinXYZCompanyhavetheknowledgetoansweryourquestions.
Empathyitems:
1.XYZCompanygivesyouindividualattention.
2.XYZCompanyhasemployeeswhogiveyouindividualattention.

59
3.XYZCompanyhasyourbestinterestsatheart.
4.EmployeesofXYZCompanyunderstandyourspecificneeds.
Tangiblesitems:
1.XYZCompanyhasmodernlookingequipment.
2.XYZCompany'sphysicalfacilitiesarevisuallyappealing.
3.XYZCompany'semployeesappearneat.
4.Materialsassociatedwiththeservice(suchaspamphletsorstatements)arevisuallyappealingatXYZ
Company.
5.XYZCompanyhasconvenientbusinesshours.
b.WouldyoupreferusingyourownmeasureorthemeasureofZeithaml,
Parasuraman,andBerry?Why?
Theuseofexistingmeasurementscales(inthiscasetheZeithaml,Berry,and
Parasuramanscale)hasseveraladvantages.First,itwillsaveyoualotoftimeand
energy.Second,itallowsyoutoverifythefindingsofothersandtobuildonthework
ofothers(thisisveryimportantinscientificresearchbutimpossibleifyouuse
measuresthatdifferfromthemeasuresthatourpredecessorshaveused!).Hence,if
youwanttomeasuresomething,seeifithasbeenmeasuredbeforeandthenusethis
measure(adaptittoyourspecificneedswheneverthisisneeded).
InClassExercises
OperationalDefinition
Beyondtheexercisesinthebook,youmightwantstudentstooperationallydefine
someotherconceptstoseeiftheyhaveunderstoodhowtomeasurevariables.Alist
offurtherconceptsforuseasinclassexercisesisprovided.
Whilediscussingtheseexercises,manyopportunitieswillpresentthemselves,where,
asearliermentioned,studentswoulddefinethecorrelatesofaconceptasits
dimension.Themoretheinclassexercises,thegreaterwillbetheclarityprovidedto
students.
Advertisingeffectiveness
BrandLoyalty
Compensationscheme
Competence
Groupsupport
IntentiontoTurnover
Jobskills
Lifesatisfaction
MediaTrust
Mentalhealth

60
Organizationalclimate
Policyexcesses
Roleambiguity
Roleconflict
Roleoverload
Rolestress
Workethic
Workenvironmentpolicies

61
CHAPTER7
MEASUREMENT:SCALING,RELIABILITY,
VALIDITY
InstructionalGoals
1.
Tostartpreparingstudentstothinkintermsofthepowerofthe
scalesforincreasinglevelsofsophisticationindataanalysis(elaboratedinthenext
section).
2.
3.
Toexplainthedifferentratingandrankingscales.
Tohelpstudentsunderstandhowscalingtechniquesareapplied,
andhowsomeoftheratingscalesaretreatedasLikerttypeintervalscales.
4.
Tostresstheimportanceofestablishingthegoodnessof
measures.
5.
Toexplainthedifferenttypesofvalidityandreliability.
DiscussionQuestions
1.Describethefourtypesofscales.
Thefourscalesarenominal,ordinal,interval,andratio.
Thenominalscaleseparatesindividualsoritemsintocategoriese.g.seniorsand
juniors.Theordinalscalehelpstorankordertheseparateditems.Theintervalscale
helpstodeterminetheextenttowhichtheitemsaredifferentfromeachother.In
otherwords,isthedifferencebetweenitem1and2thesameasthedifference
between4and5?Theratioscalehelpstodeterminetheproportionofdifferences
amongitemssinceithasanabsolutezeroorigin,andisthemostpowerfulofthefour
scales.
2.Howistheintervalscalemoresophisticatedthanthenominalandordinalscales?
Whereasthenominalandordinalscalesgroupandrankthesubjects,respectively,the
intervalscale,inaddition,alsoindicatesthemagnitudeofthedifferences.The
distancebetweenanytwopointsontheintervalscaleisthesame.Ifanindividual
prefersAtoB,andanotherprefersCtoD,weknowthatthedifferenceinthe
62
magnitudeofthepreferencesforbothindividualsisthesame(ifthisiscapturedonan
interval,ratherthanonanordinalscale).
Becauseoftheabovereason,anintervalscalelendsitselftomoresophisticated
statisticalanalysis.Themeanandstandarddeviationcanbecalculatedforthe
variablestappedonanintervalscale,whichcannotbedoneforthoseonanordinal
scale.
3.Whyistheratioscalethemostpowerfulofthefourscales?
Theratioscaleisthemostpowerfulofthefourscalesbecauseitnotonlyindicatesthe
magnitude,butalsotheproportionofthedifferences.Whereasanintervalscaleonly
indicatesthatthedistancebetweenanytwopointsonthescaleisthesame,andany
identicaladditionsorsubtractionswillmaintainthedifferences,theratioscale,
becauseofitstruezeroorigin,alsoindicatestheproportionofthedifferences.A
personwithIQ150isexpectedtobetwotimesasintelligentastheonewhohas
scored75ontheIQtest.Anydivisionormultiplicationofthedatabythesame
numberwillstillmaintainthisproportion.Becauseofthis,thegeometricmeanand
thecoefficientofvariationcanbecalculated.
4.Brieflydescribethedifferencebetweenattituderatingscalesandrankingscales
andindicatewhenthetwoareused.
Astheirnamesindicate,rankingscalesranktheorderofpreferences,whereasrating
scalesratesubjectsonacontinuum.Rankingscalesareusedwithordinaldata,and
ratingscaleswithintervalorratioscaleddata.Whilethelatterlendthemselvesto
sophisticatedanalyses,suchascalculatingthemeanandstandarddeviation,the
formerlendsitselfonlytolesssophisticated,nonparametricstatisticalanalyses.
Attitudinalscalesareusedformeasuringnebuloussubjectiveconcepts(suchas
attractionandweariness)wherestatesofmind,feelings,andimpressionsaretapped.
Rankingscalesareusedtotappreferencesamongobjects,suchaspreferencesfor
typesofnursinghomes,schools,etc.
5.Whyisitimportanttoestablishthegoodnessofmeasuresandhowisthis
done?
Thegoodnessofmeasuresindicateswhetherthescalesweusearereliableandvalid.
Inotherwords,theyindicatetowhatextentweareaccuratelymeasuringtheconcept
(reliability),andwhetherweareindeedmeasuringwhateverwearesupposedto
measure(validity).Ifwearenotmeasuringtheintendedconceptaccurately,thenour
studywillnotyieldthecorrectresults.

63
Reliabilityisestablishedbyassessingthestabilityofthemeasurethroughtestretest
reliabilityandparallelformreliability,andinternalconsistencyofthemeasurethrough
Cronbachsalpha.
Validityisestablishedthroughconstructvalidity,criterionrelatedvalidity(concurrent
andpredictive),andcongruentvalidity(convergentanddiscriminatory).
6.Describethedifferencebetweenformativeandreflectivescales.
Inareflectivescale,theitems(allofthem)areexpectedtocorrelate.Unliketheitemsusedin
aformativescale,discussednext,eachiteminareflectivescaleisassumedtosharea
commonbasis(theunderlyingconstructofinterest).Hence,anincreaseinthevalueofthe
constructwouldtranslateintoanincreaseinthevalueforalltheitemsrepresentingthe
construct.
Aformativescaleisusedwhenaconstruct(suchasforinstancejobsatisfaction)isviewedas
anexplanatorycombinationofitsindicators(promotions,pay,satisfactionwithsupervision,
coworkers,andwork);thatis,whenachangeinanyoneoftheindicators(dimensions)is
expectedtochangethescoreoftheoverallconstruct,regardlessofthevalueoftheother
indicators(dimensions).
7.Explainwhyitdoesnotmakesensetoassesstheinternalconsistencyofaformative
scale.
Whileitmakessensetotesttheinteritemconsistencyofreflectivescales,itdoesnotmake
sensetotesttheinteritemconsistencyofformativescales.Thereasonisthatwedonot
expecttheitemsinaformativescaletobehomogeneous;inotherwordswedonotexpectall
theitemstocorrelate.Forthisreason,testsoftheconsistencyofrespondentsanswersto
theitemsofaformativemeasuredonottellusanythingaboutthequalityofourmeasuring
instrument.Notethatthereareothermethodstoassessthegoodnessofformativescales
(seeforinstance,Jarvis,MacKenzie,andPodsakoff,2003).
8.Thejobinvolvementmeasuredescribedintheappendixisreflectiveinnature.
Commentonthisstatement.
Yes,eachiteminthisscalesharesacommonbasis(theunderlyingconstructofinterest,in
thiscasejobinvolvement).Hence,anincreaseinthevalueoftheconstructwouldtranslate
intoanincreaseinthevalueforalltheitemsrepresentingtheconstruct.
9.Constructasemanticdifferentialscaletoassessthepropertiesofaparticularbrandof
teaorcoffee.
SemanticDifferentialScaleforUptonTeaBags
FineFlavor

NoFlavor
64
8
7
SmoothBrew
8
7
GoodTaste
8
7
Liftsthespirit
8
7
GivesEnergy
8
7
2
ThickBrew
2
Distasteful
2
Depresses
2
Debilitates
2
1
1
1
1
1
10.Wheneverpossible,itisadvisabletouseinstrumentsthathavealreadybeen
developedandrepeatedlyusedinpublishedstudiesratherthandevelopourown
instrumentsforourstudies.Doyouagree?Discussthereasonsforyouranswer.
Itisalwaysadvisabletousewellvalidatedinstrumentsthathavebeenrepeatedly
usedinpublishedstudies,ratherthangoingthroughthecumbersomeprocessof
developingonesowninstrumentsandlaboriouslyestablishingtheirvalidityand
reliability.However,simplybecauseaninstrumentisusedinsomepublishedstudies
doesnotnecessarilymakeitagoodinstrument.Itisalwayswisetoexaminethe
psychometricpropertiesestablishedfortheinstrumentbeforeusingit.Incasethisis
noteasilyavailable,apilotstudycanbeconductedtoseeifthemeasureshaveatleast
acceptablereliability.
11.Avalidinstrumentisalwaysreliable,butareliableinstrumentisnotalways
valid.Commentonthisstatement.
Ifaninstrumentisvalid,especiallyintermsofcontentvalidity,wewouldexpectto
haveareliableinstrument.However,aninstrumentcanhavebothconsistencyand
stability,butmaynotbemeasuringwhatitisintendedtomeasurei.e.havelow
validity.However,ifaninstrumentdoesmeasuretheconceptthatitissupposedto
measure,itwillbereliable.Thus,avalidinstrumentwillbereliable,butareliable
instrumentneednotnecessarilybevalid.
Exercises
Exercise7.1
Twovariablesthatlendthemselvestonominalscaling,alongwithmutually
exclusiveandcollectivelyexhaustivecategories,areasfollows:
TypesofEmployeesinaComputerFirm
Accountsclerk
Systemsanalyst

65
Supervisor
Machineoperator
Mechanic
Manager
Other(specify)
TypesofDepartmentinaResearchLaboratory
Mathematicsdepartment
Physicsdepartment
ChemistrydepartmentDStatisticsdepartment
Computersciencesdepartment
Operationsresearchdepartment
Other(specify)
Exercise7.2
Thefollowingisanordinalscaleforconsumerpreferencesfordifferentbrands
ofbeer.
Rankthefollowingbrandsofbeerintheorderofyourpreference.Intheboxes
providednexttoeachbrandname,writethenumberthatdenotesyourranking.That
is,write1nexttoyourfavoritebrand,2nexttothenextfavoriteone,andsoon,until
eachbrandnamehasanumber.Ifyoudonotdrinkbeeratall,putacheckmark()in
thelastbox.
Budweiser
Coors
Michelob
Miller
Olympia
Pabst
Strohs
Donotdrinkbeeratall
Exercise7.3
OneofthemcouldbeSatisfactionwithOrganizationalFacilitiesprovided.
Towhatextentareyousatisfiedwiththefollowingfacilitiesprovidedbyyour
organization?Pleasecircletheappropriateresponseforeachitem,usingthescale
indicatedbelow.
VerySatisfied1
Somewhat

Neither
Satisfied4 Very
66
1.Withthevacation
2.Timeoffforemergencies
3.Flexibleworkhours
4.Careercounseling
5.Trainingforcareermobility
6.Transferpolicies
Satisfied2
SatisfiedNor
Dissatisfied3
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
Satisfied5
3
3
3
3
3
3
4
4
4
4
4
4
5
5
5
5
5
5
Exercise7.4
SCALE
Nominal
Ordinal
Interval
Ratio
VARIABLEANDEXPLANATION
Buyersofaproductcanbenominallygroupedunderthreecategories:thosewho
liketheproductandbuy,thosewhoareindifferenttotheproductandbuy,and
thosewhodonotliketheproduct,yetbuyitanyway.
Customerrankorderingofpreferencesforvariousnamebrandsofjeans.
Extentofappealofaparticularadvertisementtocustomersonafivepointscale
rangingfromverylittletoverymuch.Herecustomersaresplitintofivegroups;
theyarerankedfromthosewholikeverylittletothosewholikeverymuch;
thereisalsoanassessmentoftheextentoftheappeal;andweknowthatthe
differencebetweentwoadjacentpointsinthescalehavethesamemagnitudeof
difference.
Percentageofsalesincreaseofaproduct.Thereisanabsolutezeroorigin(when
thereisnoadditionalsalemadeatallduringaparticularyear,thesalesincrease
iszero),anda10percentincreaseinsalesistwiceasmuchasa5percent
increase.Thusthisscalehasbothazerooriginandameasureofproportion.
Hence,itisaratioscale.
Exercise7.5
Developandnamethetypeofmeasuringinstrumentyouwouldusetotapthe
following:
a.Whichbrandsofbeerareconsumedbyhowmanyindividuals;
Nominalscalewillbeused.
Thequestionnairemightsimplyaskthenameofthebrandconsumedbyeach
individualand,whentheresponsesarereceived,categorizethemunderthedifferent
brands,or
ThepopularbrandscanbecategorizedwithafinalitemOtherandrespondents
askedtomarktheonetheyconsume.
67
b.Amongthethreetypesofexamsmultiplechoice,essaytype,andamixofboth
,whichistheonepreferredmostbystudents;
Anordinalscalewillbeusedforthis.
Rankyourpreferencesforthetypesofexamsbelow.Forthemostpreferredone,
place1besidetheitem,forthenextpreferred,2,andtheleastpreferred,3.
MultipleChoiceExams
EssaytypeExams
MixofmultiplechoiceandEssayquestions
_______
_______
_______
c.Towhatextentdoindividualsagreewithyourdefinitionofaccountingprinciples.
ThiswillbetappedonaLikertscale(intervalscale).
Usethefollowingscaletorespondtotheitembelow:
StronglyDisagree
Disagree
Towhatextentdoyouagreewith 1
mydefinitionofAccounting
Principlesasdescribedbelow?
NeitherAgreenor
Disagree
3
Agree
StronglyAgree
d.Howmuchpeoplelikeanexistingorganizationalpolicy.
Intervalscaleditemasbelow.
Fortheitembelow,circletheappropriatenumber,usingthescalebelow
VeryMuch
1
Howmuchdoyoulikethe
existingorganizational
policy?
Tosome
Extent
2
1
NeitherLikenor
Dislike
3
2
Somewhat
Dislike
4
3
Dislike
Intensely
5
4
e.
Theageofemployeesinanorganization.
Ratioscaleaskingfortheactualageofemployees.
f.
Thenumberofemployeesineachofthe20departmentsofacompany.
Ratioscalecountingtheexactnumberofemployeesineachofthedepartments.
Exercise7.6
TheIndexofConsumerSentimentTowardsMarketingdescribedintheappendixis
formativeinnature.Commentonthisstatement.Explainwhyitdoesnotmakesenseto
assesstheinteritemconsistencyofthisscale.
68
Aformativescaleisusedwhenaconstructisviewedasanexplanatorycombinationofits
indicators.TheIndexofConsumerSentimentTowardsMarketingcontainsfivedimensions
(e.g.,productquality,priceofproducts).Itdoesnotmakesensetotesttheinteritem
consistencyofthisscalebecausewedonotexpecttheitemsinaformativescaletobe
homogeneous;inotherwordswedonotexpectalltheitemstocorrelate.

69
CHAPTER8
DATACOLLECTIONMETHODS
InstructionalGoals
1.
Todevelopinterviewingskillsinstudents;
2.
Tohelpstudentsbecomeproficientindesigningquestionnaires;
3.
Tointroducestudentstodifferentmethodsofdatacollection
includingobservationalsurveys,electronicsurveys,andcollectinginformationfrom
unobtrusivesources;
4.
Toemphasizetheadvantagesofobtainingdatafrommultiple
sources,andmultiplemethodsofdatacollection;
5.
Toofferanideaofwhichdatacollectionmethodwouldbe
appropriateduringdifferentstagesofresearch.
DiscussionQuestions
1.Describedifferentdatasources,explainingtheirusefulnessanddisadvantages.
Secondarysourcesofdataconstituteallavailablesourcesfromwhichexisting
informationcanbeextracted.Thiscouldbepublishedorunpublishedinformationin
theLibrary,inGovernmentorCompanyrecords,indatatapes,ontheinternet,etc.
Primarysourcesofdatacanbeanysourcewhichprovidesinformationeliciteddirectly
forthefirsttime.Thiscouldbeorganizations,individuals,trashcans,orwhatever
sourcefromwhichthedesiredinformationcanbeobtained.
Secondarydatasourcesareusefulbecausetheyofferabaseonwhichtobuild
furtherresearchwithouthavingtoreinventthewheel.Pastfindingscanspurnew
research;pastdatacanalsoofferopportunitiestoanalyzethemfromadifferent
perspectiveorangle.Undercertaincircumstances,however,secondarydatamightbe
misleadingifonedoesnottakethechangedcircumstancesintoconsideration.For
example,ifoldarchivesofnationaldataareutilizedtoexamineanddrawconclusions
aboutgenderdifferencesattheworkplace,thismightbecomeanexerciseinfutility.
Theworkplacehaschangedmuchnowcomparedto20yearsagotherearemore
educatedcareerwomen,theiraspirationsaredifferent,theircurrentexpectationsof
lifeareincontrasttowhattheyweretwodecadesago,etc.Assuch,onehastobe
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cautiouswhileusingsecondarydatasources.
Primarydatawilloffermorecorrectanduptodateinformationwhenphenomena
areinvestigated.However,itcostsmoretocollectfreshdata,accesstoorganizations
isnotalwaysreadilyobtained,andpeopleknowledgeableinresearchhavetobeco
opted.Generally,datacollectedthroughunobtrusivemethodsaremorereliablethan
datagatheredthroughsurveys.
2.Asamanager,youhaveinvitedaresearchteamtocomein,study,andoffer
suggestionsonhowtoimprovetheperformanceofyourstaff.Whatstepswould
youtaketoallaytheirapprehensionsevenbeforetheresearchteamsetsfootin
yourdepartment?
Asthemanager,IwouldinformtheemployeesoftheDepartment,inameeting
calledforthepurpose,thatunlesswecanturnaroundandmakesomeprofits,the
organizationmayhavetolayoffpeople.Sincemanagementdoesnotseelayingoff
personnelasanacceptablesolution,atleastatthisstage,weareinvitingoutside
expertstoexamineouroperationsandgiveussomeideasonhowwemaybeableto
increaseourprofits.Ifweallcooperatewiththeresearchteamthatwillbecomingin
shortly,andprovidethemwithwhateverinformationtheymightneed,itwouldhelp
thecompanytoimplementthestepsandprocessesnecessarytoincreaseoutput,
makeaprofit,andretainthecurrentemployees.
3.Whatisbiasandhowcanitbereducedwhileinterviewing?
Biasisanyerrorthatcreepsintotheinformationgathered.Biasesoccurwhenever
incorrectinformationisprovidedtotheresearcherbywhoeverofferstheinformation.
Sometimes,genuinemistakesmightbemadeandhenceincorrectinformationcould
beprovided.However,biasesfrequentlyoccurbecausetheresearcherphrasesthe
questioninaparticularway,inflectsthevoiceinaparticularmanner,orsimply
becausetherespondent,zealousofpleasingtheresearcher,providesananswerthat
theindividualbelievesiswhattheresearcherwouldliketohear,eventhoughitisnot
factual.
Biascanbereducedininterviewingbychoosingtheappropriateenvironmentin
whichtheinterviewisconducted,byestablishingtrustwiththerespondent,by
phrasingquestionssothattheydonotleadtheintervieweetorespondinaparticular
manner,byclarifyingissueswhentherespondentseemsconfused,bynotcoming
acrossasevaluativeorjudgmental,andbynotplacingspecialemphasisonspecific
words.
4.Explaintheprinciplesofwording,statinghowtheseareimportantinquestionnaire
design,citingexamplesnotinthebook.
a. Thewordingofthequestionandthelevelofsophisticationofthelanguageusedare
important.Theseareimportantbecause,iftherespondentdoesnotunderstandthe
words,obviously,heorsheisnotgoingtobeabletorespondtothequestions.An
undergroundcoalminerandatopbusinessexecutivemayneedtobeaskedsomeof
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thesameissuesdifferently.Thus,usingwordsthatfitthelevelofsophisticationof
understandingoftherespondentisnecessary.Totakeanextremeexample,toassess
theexperiencedqualityoffamilylife,apoorlyeducatedfarmhandmaybefirstasked
tolisttheactivitieshenormallyengagesinwhenhegetshomefromwork,andthen
askedtoratetheextentofsatisfactiongainedfromeachoftheseactivities.Anindex
ofqualityoffamilylifemightthenbecalculatedbyexaminingthefamilyrelated
activitieslistedbytherespondent.Withabusinessexecutive,ontheotherhand,the
sameconceptcanbetappedbyaskingtheindividualtoratehisorhersatisfactionto
questionssuchas:Balancebetweenworkandfamilylife;theimpactoftravellingon
experiencingqualitytimewiththefamily,andthelike.
b. Bothpositivelyandnegativelywordedquestionsneedtobeaskedinthe
questionnairesothattherespondentdoesnotmechanicallyanswertheitemswithout
muchmentalengagement.Forexample,ifonequestionasksforthelevelof
excitementthataparticularadvertisementevoked,anothercouldasktheextentto
whichthatsameadvertisementseemedirrelevant.Obviously,whenbotharetapped
onthesamescale,theresponsetobothcannotbethesame.Thisbreakinthewaythe
questionsareworded,bothpositivelyandnegatively,helpstoenhancetheattention
spanoftherespondentswhomightotherwiserespondmechanically.
c. Doublebarreledquestionsshouldbeavoided.Ifoneasksthequestion,Doyouvalue
andmanageadiverseworkforcewell?theremaybenoclearresponsegiventothe
questionbecauseonemayvalueadiverseworkforce,buthardlyknowhowtomanage
it!Insuchcases,itwouldbebettertoasktwoseparatequestionsratherthanone.
d. Ambiguousquestionsshouldalsobeavoided.QuestionssuchasDoyoudiscussyour
workwiththepresidentregularly?orDoyougotothemoviesfrequently?are
ambiguous,becausethetermsregularlyandfrequentlyareleftopentothe
interpretationofeachrespondent.Oneindividualmightdiscussworkwiththe
presidentonadailybasis,andanothereverysixmonths.Bothareregularly(orat
regularintervals)discussingwork!Butisthiswhattheresearcherislookingfor?
Similarly,frequentlygoingtothemoviesmightmeanonemovieeveryweektoone
person,onemovieeverymonthtoanother,andthreetimesaweektoathirdperson!
Sincethesetermsarenotdefined,biaseddatawillbeprocuredfromtherespondents.
e. Recalldependentquestionswillalsointroducebiases.Forexample,notmanypeople
rememberwhenexactlytheystartedsmoking,orwhytheyquitaparticularschool
andjoinedanotherwhentheywere10yearsold.
f. Leadingquestionsalsoresultinbiasedresponsesbecausetheintervieweemightbe
ledtobelievethataparticulartypeofanswerissoughtandmighttrytoobligethe
interviewer,eveniftheresponseisnotwhattheindividualbelievestobetrue.An
exampleofaleadingquestionis:Dontyouthinkthatmorewomenshouldbe
promotedtodecisionmakinglinepositionsinorganizations?Suchaquestionislikely
toelicittheobviousresponse,Surely,Yes!
g. Loadedquestionsshouldalsobeavoidedbecauseoftheemotionalityitinvokes,thus
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elicitingbiasedresponses.Asanexample:DontyouthinkthattheL.A.P.D.isbiased
againstblacks?isaquestionwithracialovertoneswhichwillbringforthemotional,
ratherthanobjectiveresponsestothequestion.
h. Questionsinvokingsocialdesirabilitywillalsoproducebiasedresponses.Anexample
wouldbetoaskifanyonefeltthatworkforcediversityisbadforthesystem.Inthe
contextofthechangingdemographicsoftheworkforce,evenifsomefeltthat
diversityattheworkplaceisdisastrous,theywouldtendnottodisagreebecauseitis
notasociallyacceptableresponse.
i. Itisalsoimportanttoavoidlengthyquestionswhichmightconfusetherespondent
andintroduceseveraltypesofbias.Anexampleofalongquestionis:Towhatextent
wouldaskingforresponsesfromdifferentgroupsofemployees,suchasforinstance,
production,marketing,R&D,advertising,andsales,onsuchissuesasthepolicy
governingtheorganization,theorganizationalculture,staffdisciplineandother
relatedmatters,providevaliddatatothepresident,toenablehimtomakesome
criticaldecisionsonhowtorunthecompanyeffectivelyandefficiently?
5.Whatareprojectivetechniquesandhowcantheybeprofitablyused?
Projectivetechniqueshelptherespondenttoofferanswerstoquestionswhich
mightotherwiseberatherdifficultorcumbersometorespondto.Projectivemethods
whichincludesuchtechniquesaswordassociation,sentencecompletion,thematic
apperception,andinkblottests,usuallytapthedeepseatedmotivationsofthe
respondentandproviderelevantanswerstodifficultquestions.However,the
responseshavetobeanalyzedbyindividualswelltrainedininterpretingtheanswersif
theyaretobemeaningfullyutilizedforresearchpurposes.Marketingresearchcan
benefitsubstantiallybyusingprojectivetechniques,asforexample,indeveloping
products,designingads,andselectingappropriatemedia.
6.Howaremultiplemethodsofdatacollectionfrommultiplesourcesrelatedto
reliabilityandvalidityofthemeasures?
Ifthereisconvergenceorstrongcorrelationamongthedataobtainedfrom
differentdatacollectionmethodsonthesamevariable,thenonecanestablish
convergentvaliditybecausethedataconvergeevenwhencollectedbydifferent
methods.Thesameholdstruewhenthereisastrongandsignificantcorrelation
betweenthedataobtainedonthesamevariablefromdifferentsources.Though
reliabilitycannotbedirectlyassessedfrommultimethodsormultisourcesofdata
collection,usually,sinceavalidinstrumentisreliable(thoughtheconversemaynot
necessarilybetrue),onecanpresumereliabilityifvalidityisestablishedthroughthe
multitrait,multimatrixmethod.
7.Everydatacollectionmethodhasitsownbuiltinbiases.Therefore,resortingto
multimethodsofdatacollectionisonlygoingtocompoundthebiases.Critiquethis
statement.
Itistruethatmostdatacollectionmethodsinthesocialscienceshavetheirown
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builtinbiases.Forinstance,interviewsaresusceptibletointerviewerandrespondent
biases,observationaldatawillhaveobserverandactorbiases,andsoon.Butwhen
dataarecollectedthroughmultiplemethodsandcompared,ifthecorrelationsamong
theseveraltypesofresponsesreceivedthroughthedifferentdatacollectionmethods
arehigh,wecanbefairlyconfidentthatthedatahavegoodvalidityandreliability
i.e.theyaregood.Ifthecorrelationsarelow,however,wewouldstartwondering
aboutthegoodnessofourdata.Wewouldthenpaycloserattentiontothemethods
used.Forinstance,ifrespondentssaythattheyexperienceahighlevelof
meaningfulnessintheirjobswhentheyareinterviewed,andwhentheconceptis
measuredthroughseveralitemsinthequestionnaire,wewouldbeinclinedtotreat
theseasacceptabledataeventhoughbothmayhavealowcorrelationtodata
obtainedfromasentencecompletionmotivationalresearch.If,however,thereisno
correlationatallamonganyofthemethods,thegoodnessofthedatacollectedwillbe
highlysuspect.
Thus,multimethodsofdatacollectionhelpustomakecertainjudgmentsabout
thegoodnessofourdataandservestomakedecisionsonwhichsetsofdatamay
perhapsbemoreacceptablethanothers.
8.Onewaytodealwithdiscrepanciesfoundinthedataobtainedfrommultiplesources
istoaveragethefiguresandtakethemeanasthevalueonthevariable.Whatis
yourreactiontothis?
Whereverpossibleobjectivedata,throughunobtrusivemethods,needtobe
obtained.Forinstance,ifanemployeesperformanceistobemeasured,itisbetterto
gothroughthepersonsrecordsandevaluationformsofthesuperiors(incasemore
objectivemeasuresofoutputarenotavailable).However,suchrecordsareusually
confidentialinnatureandarenotlikelytobemadeaccessibletotheresearcher.
Hencedatawillbesoughtfrommultiplesourcesforexample,fromthesubject,the
coworkers,theimmediatesupervisor,othersuperiors,andperhapseventhe
subordinates.Ifthereisnotmuchconsistencyinthedataobtainedthroughthese
varioussources,thereisnooptionleftbuttoaveragethese.However,theresearcher
shouldpointoutthebiasesinherentinthisandacknowledgethislimitationinthe
report.
9.Howhastheadvancementoftechnologyhelpeddatagathering?
Handheldcomputersusedinfieldinterviewsareveryusefulforcollectingand
recordinginformationfrommanyindividuals.Therecordedinformationcanbe
checkedforaccuracythesameday.
Electronicsurveysbywayofinterviewsorquestionnaires,havetheadvantageof
selfcorrectionindata,inthesensethatoutofrangeresponsesetc.,areautomatically
correctedonthespot,andskippatternscanbeconvenientlyapplied(e.g.ifansweris
Notoquestion#5,proceedtoquestion#19).
Theonlydrawbackisthatpeoplemightignoreandnotrespondtoelectronic
surveys,andsomemaynothavetherequisitefacilities.
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10.Howwillyouusethedatafromobservationalstudytoreachscientificconclusions?
Observationalstudieshavebeenprofitablyusedforprovidingdescriptive
information.However,bycategorizingtheresponsesinameaningfulway,andalso
developingordinalorLikerttypescalestherefrom,(e.g.HighFrequencytoLow
Frequency,etc.),scientificconclusionscanbereachedapplyingparametricornon
parametricstatistics,asappropriate.
11.Thefewerthebiasesinmeasurementandinthedatacollectionprocedures,the
morescientifictheresearch.Commentonthisstatement.
Thisobservationiscorrect.Whenreliableandvalidmeasuresareusedtotap
concepts,andwhenthedatacollectionmethodshavelessbuiltinbiases,wewould
havegooddata,providedthat,ofcourse,thesampleisrepresentative.Thus,
replicability,accuracyandprecision,andgeneralizability,becomepossible.The
researchthenbecomesmorescientific.
Exercises
Exercise8.1
Aproductionmanagerwantstoassessthereactionsofthebluecollar
workersinhisdepartment(includingforemen)totheintroductionofcomputer
integratedmanufacturing(CIM)systems.Heisparticularlyinterestedtoknowhow
theywouldperceivetheeffectsofCIMon:
a. theirfuturejobs
b. additionaltrainingthattheywillhavetoreceive
c. futurejobadvancement.
Designaquestionnairefortheproductionmanager.
Questionnaire
CriaSoftwareEnterprises
4571SouthwoodAve
Cupertino,California94024
Date
DearEmployee,
Aswehaddiscussedinourmeetings,ComputerIntegratedManufacturing
(CIM)willformapartofouroperationsinthefuture.Wewouldliketoknowhowyou
visualizecertainaspectsofthefutureenvironmentasweintroducethechanges.
Pleasetakeafewminutestocompletethisshortquestionnaireandreturnittothe
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lockedboxwiththeslitonthetop,inthefrontoffice.Thankyouforrespondingwithin
thenextfivedays.
sd
GeorgeCoelho
ProductionManager
1.PersonalInformation(placeamarkontheappropriatebox)
JOBSTATUS
Machinist
Fitter
Loader
Inspector
Foreman
Surveyor
Other
NUMBEROFYEARSWORKEDINTHE
DEPARTMENT
Lessthan1
13
35
510
Over10years
SHIFTCURRENTLY
WORKINGIN
Day
Evening
Night
2.YourOpinionsregardingthefollowing.
Pleasecircletheappropriatenumberforeachofthefollowingitemsusingthe
scalebelow.
STRONGLYAGREE1
AGREE2
1.Iwillneedadditionaltrainingto
workinthechangedenvironment.
2.Thenewsystemwillofferme
betteropportunitiesfor
advancement.
3.Theopportunitiesfortrainingwill
havetobeenhancedwithCIM.
4.IamnotsureifCIMwillneedall
thepeoplewenowhaveinthis
department.
5.Ifeelthatmostofusmaynothave
betteropportunitiesforfuture
promotionsinthenewmanufacturing
environment.
6.Mostofuswillneedspecial
trainingtoworkwithCIM.
7.Iamsurethefuturelooksbrightfor
mostofushere.
NEITHER
DISAGREE4 STRONGLY
AGREENOR
DISAGREE5
DISAGREE3
2
3
4
5

76
Items4and7measureopinionabouttheirfuturejobs
1,3,and6measureperceivedtrainingneeds
2and5measurejobadvancement
Exercise8.2
Answersmayvary.
Exercise8.3
Answersmayvary.
Exercise8.4
Answersmayvary.Thequestionnaireshouldincludevalidandreliablescalesmeasuringservicequality,
customersatisfaction,andcustomerloyalty.
Exercise8.5
DesignaninterviewscheduletoassesstheIntellectualcapital,asperceived
byemployees,inanorganizationafteridentifyingthedimensionsandelements.
Thedimensionsofintellectualcapitalwouldprimarilycomprise,amongother
things,thefollowing:
Theknowledgebaseoftheemployees;
Theirknowhow
Thepatentsownedbytheorganization;
Thesecretformulasutilizedbythecompany(specialformulas/manufacturing
process,andthelike).
Theextenttowhichthecompanyhasanedgeoverothers,intermsofspecialized
knowledgeandskills.
TheUnstructuredInterviewSchedulewouldbasicallyaskfortheemployees
ideasastowhatthetermmeansandwhattheyconsideraretheessentialsof
intellectualcapital.
TheStructuredInterviewSchedulewillbeonthefollowinglines:
1. Department:
2. Natureofjob:
3. Age:
77
4. Designation:
5. Towhatextentdoyouthinkyourorganizationdependsontheknowledgeof
operationsofworkersforitssuccess?
6. Towhatextentdoyouthinkthesuccessofthisorganizationisduetothespecialized
knowledgeandskillspossessedbyemployees?
7. Shouldsomeoftheemployeesleavethisorganization,howdifficultwillitbetorecruit
otherswiththesameorsimilarknowledge?
8. Towhatextentistheknowhowrelatingtocertainoperationsconfinedtoparticular
individualswhoaloneknowhowtodotheirjob?
9. Howmanypatentshavebeenownedbyyourcompanyinthelast5years?
10.Towhatextentwouldyousayyourcompanyhasfarmorevaluablepatentsthanyour
competitorsintheindustry?
AdditionalExercisesinQuestionnaireDesign
TwosimpleexercisesonQuestionnaireDesignfollow,andthesecanbeused
forclassdiscussionafterthestudentshaveindividuallyworkedonthemashomework
assignments.Differentstudentscanthenbeaskedtowriteonthechalkboard
differentpartsofthequestionnaireforexample,theintroduction,instructionsto
respondents,measuresfordifferentconceptswithscaling,andtheendpartofthe
questionnaire.Theclassasawholecanthencritiquetheexerciseontheboard.See
alsoExercises10.1to10.5intheBook.Thesecanalsobeusedforclassdiscussions
includingdiscussionsonpossiblewaysofestablishingreliabilityandvalidityforthe
measures.
1.TheMarketingDirectorofapharmaceuticalcompanywantstoexaminethe
effectsofnumberofsalespersonnel,populationdensity,theaveragesalescallsmade
tothedoctorsintheregion,andtheaveragemonthlysalescallsmadeonthechemists
intheregion,onthesalesofthepharmaceuticalproductsofthecompany.Shehassix
particularregionsinmind.Designaquestionnairetodothestudy.Alsodiscusswhat
sourcesofdatayouwillgatherinformationfrom.
PopulationdensitycanbeobtaineddirectlyfromtheCensusBureaus
Directory.AlltheotherinformationshouldbereadilyavailablefromtheRegionalSales
HeadquarterRecords,orfromthelocaloffices.Ifnecessary,asimplequestionnaire
askingdirectquestionsoftheRegionalDirectortotapthevariablescouldbeused.
2.AnR&DProjectManagerwantstoelicitthereactionsofthemachine
operatorsintheProductionDepartmenttothreedifferenttypesofmachinescurrently
inuseTypeA,TypeB,andTypeC.Ifheknowshowthemachinistsexperiencethese
threetypesintermsofeaseofhandling,sturdiness,flexibilityfordifferentadaptations,

78
andmaintenance,hewouldbeabletodecidewhetherornottodevelopanew
prototypehehasinmind.Designaquestionnaireforthepurpose.
Thisisalsoarelativelysimplequestionnairethatwillbeadministeredtothe
machinists,askingfortheirviewsonthethreetypesofmachines,aimingthe
questionstoparticularaspectsofeaseofhandling,sturdiness,flexibilityfordifferent
adaptations,andmaintenance.
NexttoChapter3,thisChapterisperhapstheonewhichwoulddemandmore
inclassexercisesanddiscussionstoensurethatstudentshaveunderstoodandcan
incorporatethelearningsintotheirresearchprojectwork.Whenthegroupputs
togetheradraftofthequestionnaireforadministeringittotheorganizationwhen
theydotheirclassproject,theinstructorcanplayakeyroleinofferingconstructive
criticismsandsuggestions,andallinall,helpstudentstounderstandhowtodesign
reasonablygoodquestionnaires.

79
CHAPTER9
EXPERIMENTALDESIGNS
InstructionalGoals
1. Toofferstudentsknowledgeaboutwhatexperimentaldesignsare,andwhy,how,and
whentheyareused.
2. Topinpointthedifferencesamongcausation,covariation,andmutualcausation,with
examples,astheonebelow.
CausationreferstoonevariableA,causinganothervariableB,tooccurorto
change.Asanexample,thepollutionoftheburningoilwellsinKuwaitcausedalotof
breathingdifficultiesfortheKuwaitichildren.
CovariationreferstoonevariableAchanging,asanothervariableB,alsochanges.
Forexample,whenthewindsblowlightlytowardthecity,theKuwaitichildrens
breathingdifficultiesareverylow,butasthevelocityofthewindincreases(carrying
withitincreasedspreadofpollution),thebreathingdifficultiesalsoincrease.Inother
words,thevelocityofwindandbreathingdifficultiesvarytogetherorcovary.
MutualcausationoccurswhenvariableAcausesvariableBtochange,andvariable
B,inturn,alsocausesvariableAtochange.Forexample,ahighlevelofconfidenceis
instrumentalinachievingsuccess,andsuccess(experiences),inturn,isinstrumentalin
enhancingindividualsconfidencelevel.Thetwomutuallyreinforceeachotherand
theincreaseinoneisinstrumentalinincreasingtheother.
3. Toexplainthetermsmanipulation,control,matching,andrandomizationwithseveral
examples.
4. Toclarifytheconceptsofinternalandexternalvalidity,thethreatstoeach,andthe
tradeoffbetweeninternalandexternalvalidity.Studentsshouldknowthatitis
possibletoensurebothtypesofvaliditybydoingalabexperimentfirstandafield
experimentnext,shouldcircumstanceswarrantthis.
5. Tofamiliarizestudentswithsomeofthemorecommonlyusedexperimentaldesigns
totracecauseandeffectrelationships,andthetypesoffactorsthatwouldundermine
orenhanceinternalvalidityineachofthesedesigns.
6. Tosensitizestudentstotheethicaldilemmas,particularlyastheyrelateto
experimentaldesigns.
7. Tointroducetothemoreadvancedstudents,otherexperimentaldesignsasdiscussed
80
intheAppendixtothebookchapter.
DiscussionQuestions
1.Whatarethedifferencesbetweencausalandcorrelationalstudies?
Correlationalstudiesarealwaysconductedintheenvironmentinwhichtheevents
studiednaturallyoccur,andthereisverylittleresearcherinterferencewiththe
setting.Incausalstudies,however,thereismuchgreaterresearcherinfluence,andlab
experimentsarealwaysconductedinartificiallycreatedsettings.Allcausalstudiesare
longitudinalinnature,whereasmostcorrelationalstudiesareoneshotstudies.
2.InwhatwaysdoLabexperimentsdifferfromFieldexperiments?
Labexperimentsarealwaysconductedincontrivedsettings,whereas,field
experimentsarealwaysconductedinthenaturalenvironmentwheretheflowof
eventsnormallyoccur.Labexperimentsaretightlycontrolledbyeithermatchingor
randomlyassigningmemberstothevariousgroups.Infieldexperiments,however,
tightcontrolsarenotpossiblebecausepeopleoreventspreexistandcannotbe
altered.Labexperimentsoffergreaterinternalvaliditybutlowerexternalvalidity,
whereasfieldexperimentsoffermoreexternalvalidityandlesserinternalvalidity.
3.Definethetermscontrolandmanipulation.DescribeapossibleLabexperiment
whereyouwouldneedtocontrolavariable.Further,includeapossiblevariable,
overwhichyouwouldhavenocontrol,thatcouldaffectyourexperiment.
Manipulationreferstodeliberatevariationsintheindependentvariabletotestits
effectonthedependentvariable.Controlreferstotheeffortsmadetomitigatethe
contaminatingeffectsofnuisancefactorsthatmightaffecttheinternalvalidityofthe
experiment.
APossibleLabExperimentwithcontrollableanduncontrollablefactors.
ApharmaceuticalcompanywantstotesttheeffectsofincrementaldosesofAZT
administeredtoAIDSpatients,isolatingtheminaspecialhospitaltypeenvironment.
Apossiblefactortocontrol,mightbetheageofthepatient,sinceolderpeople
mightreactslowertocertainchemicals.Thisnuisancefactorcanbecontrolledeither
bymatchingallthreegroupsforageorbyrandomlyassigningthememberstothe
threegroups.Apossibleuncontrollablefactorcouldbeasuddenfluepidemicwhich
mightkillmanyofthesepatientsandmakethetestingoftheeffectsofincremental
dosesofAZTimpossible.
4.Explainthepossiblewaysinwhichyoucancontrolnuisancevariables.
Nuisancevariables,ifknown,canbecontrolledbymatchingthemembersinallthe
groupsforthecontaminating(ornuisance)factors.Forexample,ifsubjectslevelof
experiencewouldbeacontaminatingfactorforaparticularexperiment,membersof
81
allgroupscouldbesomatchedthat,overall,allgroupshavememberswiththesame
experiencelevel.Anevenbetterwayofcontrollingforallpossiblenuisancefactorsis
toassignthemembersrandomlytothevariousgroups.Bydoingthis,allknownand
unknowncontaminatingfactorswillhaveahighprobabilityofbeingequally
distributedamongallthegroups.Thus,randomizationisaneffectivewaytocontrol
forknownandunknownnuisancefactors.
5.Whatisinternalvalidityandwhatarethethreatstointernalvalidity?
Internalvalidityreferstotheconfidencethatonecanplaceinthecauseandeffect
relationship.Internalvalidityismaximalinawelldesignedlabexperimentwherethe
possiblecontaminatingfactorsaretightlycontrolled.
Thethreatstointernalvalidityarethefollowingpossiblecontaminatingfactors:
theeffectsofhistory,maturation,testing,instrumentation,selection,statistical
regression,andmortality(explainedindetailinthebook).
6.Explaintheconceptoftradeoffbetweeninternalandexternalvalidity.
Inlabexperimentswherethenuisancefactorsthatarelikelytocontaminatethe
causeandeffectrelationshipsaretightlycontrolled,onecanconfidentlysay,ifthe
resultswarrantthestatement,thatvariableAcausesvariableB.However,because
thecontaminatingfactorsaretightlycontrolled,onecannotbesurethatthiscause
andeffectrelationshipwillbegeneralizableto(i.e.holdtruein)therealworld
businesssettingwhereseveralcontaminatingfactorsdoexist.Thus,the
generalizabilityofthecauseandeffectrelationshipfoundinthelabexperimentis
limited.
Inthefieldexperiment,ontheotherhand,wherethereisamanipulationofthe
independentvariablebutnotightcontrols,oneisnotsurethatvariableAanditalone
causesB(sincesomeotherfactorsmightalsohaveaneffectonB).However,any
relationshipfoundislikelytobegeneralizabletoothersimilarbusinesssettings
because,manyofthepossiblecontaminatingfactorshavenotbeendeliberatelyand
artificiallycontrolled.
Thus,labexperimentshavehighinternalvaliditybutlowexternalvalidityor
generalizability,butfieldexperimentshavehighexternalvaliditybutlowinternal
validity.Thisisthetradeoffbetweeninternalandexternalvalidityinthelabandfield
experiments.
7.Explainhowtheselectionofparticipantsmayaffectboththeinternaland
externalvalidityofyourexperiments.
Every data collection method has its own built-in biases. Therefore, resorting to
multimethods of data collection is only going to compound the biases.
Anotherthreattoboththeinternalandexternalvalidityofourfindingsisthe
selectionofparticipants.First,wewilldiscusshowselectionmayaffecttheexternal
validityofourfindings.Then,wewilldiscusshowselectionmayaffecttheinternal
82
validity.
Inalabsetting,thetypesofparticipantsselectedfortheexperimentcouldbevery
differentfromthetypesofemployeesrecruitedbyorganizations.Forexample,
studentsinauniversitymightbeallottedataskthatcouldbemanipulatedtostudy
theeffectsontheirperformance.Thefindingsfromthisexperimentcannotbe
generalized,however,totherealworldofwork,wheretheemployeesandthenature
ofthejobswouldbothbequitedifferent.Thus,subjectselectionwouldposeathreat
toexternalvalidity.
Thethreattointernalvaliditycouldcomefromimproperorunmatchedselectionof
subjectsfortheexperimentalandcontrolgroups.Forexample,ifalabexperimentis
setuptoassesstheimpactofworkingenvironmentonemployeesattitudestoward
work,andifoneoftheexperimentalconditionsistohaveagroupofsubjectsworkfor
about2hoursinaroomwithsomemildstench,anethicalresearchermightdisclose
thisconditiontoprospectivesubjects,whomaydeclineparticipationinthestudy.
However,somevolunteersmightbeluredthroughincentives(sayapaymentof$70
forthe2hoursofparticipationinthestudy).Thevolunteerssoselectedmaybequite
differentfromtheothers(inasmuchastheymaycomefromanenvironmentof
deprivation)andtheirresponsestothetreatmentmightbequitedifferent.Suchbias
intheselectionofthe
subjectsmightcontaminatethecauseandeffect
relationshipsandposeathreattointernalvalidityaswell.Hence,newcomers,
volunteers,andotherswhocannotbematchedwiththecontrolgroupswouldposea
threattointernalvalidityincertaintypesofexperiments.Forthisreason,
randomizationormatchinggroupsishighlyrecommended.
8.Explainthedifferencebetweenmainandinteractivetestingeffects.Whyisthis
differenceimportant?
Frequently,totesttheeffectsofatreatment,subjectsaregivenwhatiscalledapre
test.Thatis,firstameasureofthedependentvariableistaken(thepretest),thenthe
treatmentisgiven,andafterthatasecondmeasureofthedependentvariableistaken
(theposttest).Thedifferencebetweentheposttestandthepretestscoresisthen
attributedtothetreatment.However,exposureofparticipantstothepretestmay
affectboththe
internalandexternalvalidityofthefindings.Indeed,theafore
mentionedprocessmayleadtotwotypesoftestingeffects.
Amaintestingeffectoccurswhenthepriorobservation(thepretest)affectsthe
laterobservation(theposttest).Maintestingeffectstypicallyoccurbecause
participantswanttobeconsistent.Letusassumethatwehavetestedtheeffectofa
televisioncommercial(thetreatment)onattitudestowardsthebrandusingapretest
andaposttest.Supposethatnosignificantdifferenceinattitudetowardsthebrand
wasfound.Thisfindingcouldleadtotheconclusionthatthecommercialwas
ineffective.However,analternativeexplanationisthatourparticipantstriedtobe
consistentandansweredthelaterquestionssothattheiranswersweresimilartothe
answerstheygavethefirsttime.Thepretestmaythushaveaffectedtheresultsof
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theexperiment.Alongtheselines,maintestingeffectsareanotherthreattointernal
validity.
Interactivetestingeffectsoccurwhenthepretestaffectstheparticipantsreaction
tothetreatment(theindependentvariable).Again,letsassumethatwearetesting
theeffectofatelevisioncommercialonattitudetowardsthebrandusingapretest
andaposttest.Itispossiblethatbecauseofthepretesttheparticipantswatchthe
televisioncommercialmorecloselythanconsumersthatdonottakepartinthe
experiment.Forthisreason,anyeffectsthatarefoundmaynotnecessarilybe
generalizabletothepopulation.Hence,interactivetreatmenteffectsareathreatto
theexternalvalidityofanexperiment.
Insum,testingeffectsmayaffectboththeinternalandexternalvalidityofour
findings.Thedifferencebetweenmainandinteractivetestingeffectsisimportant
becausemaintestingeffectsthreatentheinternalvalidity,whereasinteractivetesting
effectsthreatentheexternalvalidityofanexperiment.
9. History is a key problem in a time series design. Other problems are main and
interactivetestingeffects,mortality,andmaturation.Explain.
Amaintestingeffectoccurswhenthepriorobservationaffectsthelaterobservation.
Maintestingeffectstypicallyoccurbecauseparticipantswanttobeconsistent.
Interactivetestingeffectsoccurwhenthepriorobservationsaffecttheparticipants
reactiontothetreatment(theindependentvariable).
Maturation:Causeandeffectinferencescanalsobecontaminatedbytheeffectsof
thepassageoftimeanotheruncontrollablevariable.Suchcontaminationiscalled
maturationeffects.Thematurationeffectsareafunctionoftheprocessesboth
biologicalandpsychologicaloperatingwithintherespondentsasaresultofthe
passageoftime.Examplesofmaturationprocessescouldincludegrowingolder,
gettingtired,feelinghungry,andgettingbored.
Mortality(thedropoutofindividualsfromgroups)isaproblemforallexperimental
designs,includingthisone.
10.ExplainwhymortalityremainsaproblemevenwhenaSolomonfourgroup
designisused.
SolomonFourGroupDesign:Oneexperimentalgroupandonecontrolgroupcanbe
givenboththepretestandtheposttest.Theothertwogroupswillbegivenonlythe
posttest.Heretheeffectsofthetreatmentcanbecalculatedinseveraldifferent
ways.Totheextentthatwecomeupwithalmostthesameresultsineachofthe
differentcalculations,wecanattributetheeffectstothetreatment.Thisincreasesthe
internalvalidityoftheresultsoftheexperimentaldesign.Thisdesign,knownasthe
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Solomonfourgroupdesign,isperhapsthemostcomprehensiveandtheonewiththe
leastnumberofproblemswithinternalvalidity.
However,mortality(thelossofparticipantsduringthecourseoftheexperiment),is
possibleinthepretest/posttestconditions.
11.Explainfullyhowyouwoulddemonstratetomachineoperators,andconvincethem
throughresearch,thatthoroughknowledgeoftheoperatingpoliciesandprocedures
(byreadingtheManual)willvirtuallyeliminateallonthejobaccidents.
Letussaywehave20machineoperatorsintheshop.Iwillassignthemrandomly
totwogroups,usingoneasanexperimentalgroupandtheotherasthecontrolgroup.
Foreachmemberinboththegroups,Iwillcountthenumberofonthejobaccidents
thattheyhavehadinthepastsixmonths.Iwillthenexposetheexperimentalgroup
totheManualaskingthemtolearnthematerialsinitthoroughlyandtestthemto
ensurethattheyhaveperfectknowledgeofthecontents.Sixmonthsafterthe
experimentalgroupmembershavemasteredtheManualIwillagaincountthe
numberofonthejobaccidentsforeachmemberoftheexperimentalandcontrol
groups.Ifthemeannumberofaccidentsisclosetozeroforthefirstgroup,but
remainsunchangedforthecontrolgroup,itcanbeestablishedthatathorough
knowledgeoftheoperatingpoliciesandprocedurescausesonthejobaccidentstobe
virtuallyeliminated.
12.Ifacontrolgroupisapartofanexperimentaldesign,oneneednotworryabout
controllingforotherexogenousvariables.Discussthisstatement.
Allgroups,includingthecontrolgrouphavetobematchedforalltheexogenous
factorsthatcouldcontaminatethecauseandeffectrelationships.Inotherwords,the
contaminatingfactorsneedtobespreadequallyamongallthegroupsboth
experimentalandcontrolgroupssothattheeffectsofmanipulatingthe
independentvariableonthedependentvariablecanbeassessedwithoutanydoubtas
towhetherothercovaryingfactorswereresponsiblefortheresultsfound.The
controlledexogenousvariablescanbedistributedamongallthegroupsthrougheither
deliberatelymatchingthegroupswithrespecttothesefactors,orsimplybyrandomly
assigningmemberstothegroups.Thus,controllingforexogenousvariablesthrougha
processofmatching,orbyrandomlyassigningmembers,isamustingood
experimentaldesigns,evenwhencontrolgroupsarepartofthedesign.
13.AresearcherwantstosetupaLabexperimenttotesttheeffectsofdifferentkinds
ofleadershipstylesonfollowersattitudes.Thethreetypesofleadershipstylesheis
interestedinareautocratic,democratic,andparticipative.Youareaskedtoenlist
somestudentstoplaythepartoffollowers.Whatcoverstorywouldyougivethe
participants?
Thecoverstorycouldbethatparticipantsarebeingtrainedtoobservethe
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dynamicsinthesituation.
14.Commentonthefollowingstatement.Becausetheexternalvalidityoflab
experimentsisnotusuallyhigh,theyareuselessforinvestigatingcauseandeffect
relationshipsinorganizations.
Becauseofthetightcontrolsinlabexperiments,eventhoughtheinternalvalidity
ishigh,theexternalvalidity,orthegeneralizabilityofthecauseandeffect
relationshipsbecomeslimited.However,internalvaliditycannotbeestablishedfullyin
fieldexperimentsduetolackofcontrolofnuisancevariablesinsuchexperiments
(sincetheyareconductedinthenaturalenvironmentofthesubjectswhopreexistin
thesituation).Thus,ifknowledgeofcauseandeffectrelationshipsisimportantfora
managerinabusinesssetting,itisbetterthatthetheorizedcausalconnectionsare
firsttestedthroughalabexperiment.Ifacauseandeffectrelationshipisestablished,
thenafieldexperimentcanbeconductedintheworksetting.Thus,bothinternaland
externalvaliditycanbeestablished.
Theusefulnessofthelabexperimentisthatifitdoesnotindicateacausal
relationship,thenthereisnoneedtotryoutafieldexperiment.Themanagerwould
bebetteroffavoidingunnecessarydislocationanddisturbanceattheworkplacetrying
toestablishcauseandeffectrelationshipwherenoneexists.
Theprobabilityofemployeesgettinganxious,distrustful,andsuspiciouswhenever
anexperimentisinprogress,cannotbeunderestimated.Forthesereasons,lab
experimentsareextremelyusefulfororganizationalresearcherstotracecausal
relationshipsinworksettings.
15.Covariancethatis,twovariablesvaryingtogethereitherpositivelyor
negativelyandcontrolareintegralaspectsofexperimentaldesigns.Discuss.
ToestablishacauseandeffectrelationbetweentwovariablesXandY,other
factorsthatcovarywithY,thedependentvariable,needtobecontrolled,sothatthe
truecausalinfluenceofXonYcanbeassessed(i.e.,theinternalvalidityis
established).Controllingthecovaryingfactorscanbedonethrougheithermatching
orrandomization.Thus,inexperimentaldesigns,covarianceandcontrolaredifferent
aspectsofthesameissuecovarianceconfoundsinternalvalidity,whichistaken
careofbycontrollingthenuisancevariables.
16.TheSolomonFourGroupDesignistheanswertoallourresearchquestions
pertainingtocauseandeffectrelationshipsbecauseitguardsagainstallthethreats
tointernalvalidity.Comment.
TheSolomonFourGroupDesignisprobablythebestexperimentaldesignthat
wouldreducemanyofthethreatstointernalvalidity.Thoughthehistory,maturation,
andtestingeffectsareavoidedinthisdesign,andtheselectionandstatistical
regressioneffectscanalsobeminimizedthroughtheprocessofrandomization,
instrumentationeffectsmightstillposeathreattointernalvalidityunlessitiscarefully
86
guardedagainst(especiallyincaseswhereposttestevaluationsaredonebydifferent
people,etc.).Mortalityeffectsarealsoaproblem,iftheexperimentiscarriedovera
longperiodoftime.Thus,theSolomonFourGroupDesignalsofacessomethreatsto
internalvalidity.
17.BelowisanadaptednotefromBusinessWeekpublishedsometimeago.After
readingit,applywhatyouhavelearnedinthischapter,anddesignastudyafter
sketchingthetheoreticalframework.
TheVitalRoleofSelfEsteem
Whydosomepeopleearnmorethanothers?Economistsfocusedontheimportance
ofeducation,basicskills,andworkexperiencewhattheycalledhumancapitalon
increasedproductivity,andsaidthesewerereflectedingreaterearningpower.
Researchersalsofoundthatselfesteemwasinstrumentalinacquiringhumancapital.
Itwouldseemthatselfesteemcausesthethreecomponentsofhumancapital
toemergeanddevelop.Oncedeveloped,humancapitalwouldbecorrelatedto
productivity,forwhichearningswouldbeasurrogatemeasure.
Thetheoreticalframeworkforthiscanbedepictedasperthefollowing
diagram:
Thisstudycanbedoneintwoways.One,asacorrelationalfieldstudy,
obtainingdataoneachofthefivevariablesabove,anddoingapathanalysis.Thiswill
tracethecauseandeffectrelationshipbetweenselfesteemandhumancapital,and
betweenhumancapitalandearnings(productivity).Thisistheeasiestwaytotracethe
causalconnectionbetweenselfesteemandhumancapital.Asecondwaytoconduct
thestudyistofirstseeifthethreecomponentsofhumancapitalareindeed
correlatedtoearningsfromwhichanindexofhumancapitalcanthenbedeveloped
basedonthepredictivepowerofeachofthethreevariables.
ALabstudycanthenbeconductedrecruitingCollegestudentstoperforma
task.Anindexofhumancapital(HC)wouldbefirstdevelopedbygivingappropriate
weightingtothethreefactorsofeducation,skills,andworkexperience.
Thecausaleffectsofselfesteemonhumancapitalcanbetestedbyrandomly
assigningindividualstofourgroupsandmanipulatingtheselfesteemofindividuals.
Thiscanbedonebypraisingtheintelligenceofonegroupandtellingthemthatthe
taskathandwouldbechildsplayforthem;tellingthesecondgroup,thattheymay
havesome,butnotallthenecessarytalenttodothetaskathandwell;tellingthe

87
thirdgroupthattheymaynothavewhatittakestoaccomplishthetaskathand;and
sayingnothingtothefourthgroup.
Apretest(beforemanipulatingselfesteem)ofthecomponentsofHCcanbe
obtainedfromallgroups.Thetasktobedonecanthenbeexplainedtoallfourgroups,
andjustbeforethetaskisgiven,allthesubjectscanbeaskedtorespondtoashort
questionnaireelicitinghowpreparedtheyfeelforthetaskintermsoftheir
backgroundeducation,skills,andpreviousworkexperiencetoaccomplishthetask.If
thedifferencesarefoundinHCamongthegroups,thenacausalrelationshipcanbe
established.Inotherwords,iftheHCisfelttobethegreatestinGroup1,alittlelessin
group2,worsethanbeforeingroup3,withnochangeingroup4,thenthecausal
connectioncanbedetermined.
Asamatterofinterest,asimilarquestionnairecanbeadministeredathirdtime
afterthetaskiscompleted,toseeiftherearechangesinthereportedHC.
Intheplantwheretheefficacyoftheprocessesisdesiredtobetested,thetwo
typesofmachinescanbeleasedforaboutsixmonths.Thenthreecomparable
productiongroupscanbeformed,thefirsttwototesttheefficacyofthetwodifferent
machines,andthethirdasacontrolgroup.
Theproductivityofallthreegroupscanbemeasuredbeforetheintroductionof
thenewmachinesandsixmonthsafterthemachinesareinstalled.Itisexpectedthat
theproductivityofthetwoexperimentalgroupswouldbemorethanthatofthe
controlgroup.Ifso,thegroupwithmoreproductivitycanbeattributedtothe
machineusedbyit.
Toensurethatthisiscorrect,asimilarfieldexperimentcanalsobesetupat
anotherplanttoseeifsimilarresultsemerge.
18.Designastudytoexaminethefollowingsituation.
Anorganizationwouldliketointroduceoneoftwotypesofnewmanufacturingprocessesto
increasetheproductivityofworkers,andbothinvolveheavyinvestmentinexpensivetechnology.The
companywantstotesttheefficacyofeachprocessinoneofitssmallplants.
Answerswillvary.

88
CHAPTER10
SAMPLING
InstructionalGoals
1. Toimpressuponthestudentsthatthehallmarksofsciencediscussedatthebeginning
ofthecourse,i.e.generalizability,replicability,andprecisionandconfidenceare
mainlyensuredbythesamplingdesignchosen,includingthesamplesize.
2. Toexplainhowtheprobabilitysamplingdesignsarerepresentativeofthepopulation.
3. Tohighlighttheadvantagesandthedrawbacksofdifferenttypesofprobability
samplingdesigns.
4. Tomakestudentsrealizethatprobabilitysamplingdesignsarenotalwaysfeasible,and
sometimesnonprobabilitysamplingdesignsaretheonlyviablealternativeavailable.
5. Toelucidatethateithertoolargeortoosmallasamplesizecouldbedetrimentalfor
drawingmeaningfulandvalidconclusions.
6. Toexplainthenotionsofefficiencyinsamplingandthetradeoffbetweenprecision
andconfidence.
7. ToclarifythechoicepointsinsamplingdesignshowninFigure11.3inthetextbook
andprovidedinPowerpoint.
8. Tointroducetheneedforidentifyingandarticulatingthesamplecharacteristicsin
termsofgender,age,joblevel,tenure,etc.,forpurposesofreplicability,andfor
comparingtheresultsofdifferentresearchstudies.
Note:Theaboveaspectinitem8isbroughtoutlaterinthebook,butisworthstating
now.
However,sensitizingstudentsaboutsamplecharacteristicsatthisstagewillhelpthem
tounderstandwhyagooddescriptionofsamplecharacteristicsisimportantandwhy
theyshouldpayattentiontoitintheirfinalreport.
InClassExercisesonSamplingDesigns
Whatkindsofsamplingdesignswouldbeusedforthefollowing?:
a.Astudytogetaquickideaofthemedicalacceptabilityofanewaspirinsubstitute
89
whichcannotbedispensedoverthecounterwithoutprescription.
b.Astudyinvolvingasampleof325studentsinauniversitywhere2,000studentsare
enrolled.
c.Aninvestigationofthecareersalienceofprofessionalsinthefieldsofmedicine,
engineering,business,andlaw.
d.Thegeneralizabilityoftheattitudesofbluecollarworkersfromasampleof184,tothe
totalpopulationof350bluecollarworkersintheentirefactoryofaparticular
company.
Answers
a. PurposiveJudgmentSampling.
b. ASystematicsamplingdesign(usinguniversitylistingofstudents).
c. AStratifiedRandomsamplingwithstratificationalongprofession,gender,age,etc.
d. Simplerandomsamplingbecauseoftheimportanceattachedtohighgeneralizability.
EstimationofPopulationCharacteristicsfromSampleCharacteristics
Thebookworksoutaproblemontheestimationsofthepopulation
characteristicsfromthesamplecharacteristicsfordifferentlevelsofprecisionand
confidence.Anotherexamplethatcanbeusedinclassisprovidedbelow.
Problem
1(a).Youwanttoestimatetheproductiondaysthatwouldbelostduringthe
nextthreemonthsbysamplingthevacationintentionsofafewemployees.You
randomlyselect36employeesintheorganizationandfindthattheaveragenumberof
daystheyintendtakingoffis16duringthecomingthreeSummermonths,witha
standarddeviationofseven(7)days.Basedonthesesamplestatistics,youwantto
estimateata99percentconfidencelevel,thedaysthatwillbelostduetotheentire
populationofworkerstakingvacationtimeduringthenextthreemonths,sothatthe
plantmanagerknowshowmuchtemporaryhelpheshouldplanonhiringduringthe
summermonthsinorderforworktoproceedsmoothly.
Calculation
90
X zSx
S x S / n 7 / 6 1.167
16 2.576 1.167
16 3.01
12.99 to19.01
Ifthereare100employeesintheorganizationexpectedtotakevacationduring
Summer,thenthemostoptimisticestimationofthedayslostthroughvacationtime
duringthesummerwouldbe(13100=)1,300daysandthemostpessimisticwould
be(19100=)1,900days.Thiswouldmeanthattemporaryhelpwouldbeneeded
anywherebetween1,300and1,900daysworthoflabor,forproductiontoproceed
smoothly.
1(b).Nowyoumightwanttonarrowthegapintheestimationsince1,300and
1,900daysisawiderange,andyouwouldlikemoreprecisionusingthesame
informationthatisavailabletoyou.Well,itcanbedoneonlyatthecostoftaking
morechancesthatyourestimation,thoughmoreprecise,maynotbestatedas
confidentlyasbefore.Youmay,however,decidetoloweryourconfidencelevelto
gainmoreprecisioninyourestimation.Atthe95percentconfidencelevel,themost
pessimisticandthemostoptimisticestimationswouldrangefrom1372to1828,a
narrowerrangewearenowgainingmoreprecision,i.e.,narrowingconfidence
intervalbutonlyattheriskofbeingwrongfivepercent(asopposedtoonepercent)
ofthetime.Wecouldseekafurthernarrowerintervalrangeatthe90percent
confidencelevel(1408to1792),iftakingahigherriskinbeingwrongintheestimation
isnotgoingtobedisastrous.Youasamanagerwillhavetodecideontheamountof
riskyouwanttotakebyincreasingordecreasingtheconfidencelevel.
EstimatingSampleSize
Estimatingthesamplesizeforgivenlevelsofrequiredaccuracyandprecisionis
discussedinthebookwithexamples.Furtherproblemscanbegiventostudentsin
class.Asampleproblemgiventothemcouldbeasfollows.
Problem
Howlargeasampledoyouneedifyouwanttoestimatethemeanageofa
populationof100residentsandbewithin3yearsofthetruemeanwitha95percent
levelofconfidence,whenyouknowthatthesamplemeanis28yearsandthe
standarddeviationis17years?

91
Solution
Sx 3/1.96 1.53
Sx s / n
1.53 17 / n
1.53 n 17
n 17 /1.53
n 123
DiscussionQuestions
1. Identify the relevant population for the following research foci, and suggest the
appropriate sampling design to investigate the issues, explaining why they are
appropriate.Wherevernecessary,identifythepopulationframeaswell.
a).Acompanywantstoinvestigatetheinitialreactionsof
drinkuserstoanewallnaturalsoft
drink.
heavysoft
Initialreactionsnonprobabilitysampling.
Heavysoftdrinkusers:purposivesampling.
b).Agunmanufacturingfirmwouldliketoknowthetypesofgunspossessedbyvarious
agegroupsinWashington,D.C.
Whengunsaresold,thedealersareexpectedtomaintainrecordsofthenames
andagesofthebuyers,andthetypesofgunssold.Thus,thepopulationframeforgun
ownerscanbehadfromtherecordsofgundealersintheWashington,D.C.area.Once
acompletelistiscompiled,astratifiedrandomsamplingofappropriateagegroups
canbedone,andtherelevantinformationobtained.
c).Ahospitaladministratorwantstoexamineifsingleparentsworkinginthehospital
haveahigherrateofabsenteeismthanparentswhoarenotsingle.
Themaritalstatusandparentalstatusoftheemployeesmaybeavailablefromthe
recordsofthehospital.Ifso,thepopulationframewouldbethehospitalrecordsfrom
whichtheinformationcanbedirectlyextracted.Astratifiedrandomsamplingdesign
canbeusedandattestdonetoexamineiftherearedifferencesinabsenteeisminthe
twogroups.Ifthemaritalorparentalstatusoftheemployeesisnotavailable,thena
conveniencesampleofthosewhoareknowntobesingleparentsandthosewhoare
knowntobenotsingleparentscanbeusedtochecktheirrecordsforabsenteeism.
d).Aresearcherwouldliketoassesstheextentofpilferageinmaterialsfromstorage
warehousesofmanufacturingfirmsintheEastcoast.
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First,theresearcherwillhavetorandomlyselectsomebig,mediumsize,andsmall
citiesintheEastcoastsay,twoofeach.Thereafter,threewarehousesfromeachof
thelarge,medium,andsmallsizecitieswillberandomlyselected.Thisthenwillform
thesampleforstudy.Thepilferageratescanthenbeassessedbycheckingtherecords
oforiginalsuppliestothewarehouses,theamountofstocksold,andthebalanceat
hand.
e).TheDirectorofHumanResourceswantstoinvestigatetherelationshipbetweendrug
abuseanddysfunctionalbehaviorsofbluecollarworkersinaparticularplant.
Identifyingdrugabusersisverydifficult,unlessthereisamandatorydrugtest
administered.Also,whatismeantbydysfunctionalbehaviorshastobeclearly
defined.Ifalistofdrugabusersisavailablethroughdrugteststhen,dependingonthe
numbers,eitherallofthem(ifthenumberissmall),orarandomsampleamongthem
(ifthenumberislarge)canbeobservedforanydysfunctionalbehaviorsand
comparedwiththebehaviorsofarandomsampleofthosewhoarenotdrugabusers.
f).Amarketerwantstogeneratesomeideasonhow
womendifferfrommeninacquiringproductknowledge
aboutcars.
Someideas=nonprobabilitysampling
Womenversusmen=quotasampling.
2a).Explainwhyclustersamplingisaprobabilitysamplingdesign.
b).Whataretheadvantagesanddisadvantagesofclustersampling?
c).Describeasituationwhereyouwouldconsidertheuseofclustersampling.
a. Clustersamplingisaprobabilitysamplingdesignsinceeachclusterhasaknown
chanceofbeingselectedasthesample.
b. Clustersamplesoffereaseofdatacollectionwithinarelativelyshorttimeframe.
However,beinghomogenous,theydonotoffertheadvantageofefficiencyin
sampling.
c. Clustersamplingcouldbeusedtoassessthetypesoffilms(comedies,fighting,
violence,socialdramas,adventure,etc.,)thataremostpopularlyrentedbytheater
owners.Differenttheatercomplexes,eachofwhichmighthaveanywherefromfour
toeightdifferentfilmsbeingshownatanygiventime,couldbetreatedasclusters.
Morehomogeneitywithinclusters,andheterogeneitybetweenclusterscanalsobe
expectedsincedifferentcomplexesmightbecateringtodifferenttypesofclientele.As
such,clustersamplingwouldbeideallysuitedforthispurpose.
3a).Explainwhatprecisionandconfidenceareandhowtheywouldinfluencesample
size.
Precisionindicateshowclosethesamplestatisticsaretothepopulation
93
parameters.Usually,abiggersamplesizeoffersgreaterprecisionthanasmallerone,
especiallywhenthepopulationisheterogeneousinthecharacteristicsofinterestto
thestudy.Confidenceindicatesthepercentageoftimeswhenourprojectedstatistics
willbetrulyreflectingthepopulationparameters.This,again,isafunctionofthe
samplesizeabiggersamplesizewillallowforaprojectiontobemadeatahigher
levelofconfidence.But,foranygivensamplesize,wecannotincreasebothprecision
andconfidencesimultaneously.
3b).Discusswhatismeantbythestatement:Thereisatradeoffbetweenprecision
andconfidenceundercertainconditions.
Thereisatradeoffbetweenprecisionandconfidenceasafunctionofsamplesize.
Foranygivensamplesize,iftheprecisionhastobeincreased,thenthelevelof
confidencewillgodown.Ontheotherhand,ifoneneedsmoreconfidence,thenthe
precisionwillhavetogodown.Inotherwords,foranygivensamplesize,eitherthe
precisionortheconfidence,butnotboth,canbeincreased.Asamatteroffact,either
canbeincreasedonlyattheexpenseoftheother.
4.Theuseofaconveniencesampleinorganizationalresearchiscorrectbecauseall
memberssharethesameorganizationalstimuliandgothroughalmostthesame
kindsofexperiencesintheirorganizationallife.Comment.
Itisnotcorrecttosaythatallorganizationalmemberssharethesamekindsof
experiencesbecausedifferentsupervisors,differentdepartments,anddifferentwork
environmentsofferdifferentkindsofstimulitoorganizationalmembers.Hence,
selectingafewmembersbasedonconveniencesamplingandgeneralizingtheresults
tothetotalpopulationwouldnotbeadvisable.Evenamongthesamegroupofpeople
exposedtothesamekindsofstimuli,perceptionswillvaryduetoindividual
differencesinselectiveperceptionandinterpretation.Hence,aprobabilitysampling
design,ratherthanaconveniencesamplewouldbemoreappropriatetoprojectthe
propertiesofthesampleontothepopulation.
5.Useofasampleof5,000isnotnecessarilybetterthanhavingasampleof500.How
wouldyoureacttothisstatement?
Notonlyisasampleof5,000notnecessarilybetter,butitcouldalsobe
detrimental,sincetheprobabilityofrejectingthenullhypothesisbecomestoolarge
i.e.,everytrivialdifferencebecomessignificant.Wecouldcomparethistousingan
electronmicroscopetoexaminethedifferencesbetweentwoatoms.Thedifferences
willbeenormouslymagnifiedifweusethepoweroftheelectronmicroscopewhen,
actually,thedifferencebetweentwoatomsisnegligible.Infact,statisticaltablesare
availablewhichspecifytheappropriatesamplesizefordesiredlevelsofconfidence.
Toobigasamplesizeislikelytoleadtoerroneousconclusions,sincewithlarger
samplesizes,evensmallcorrelationsreachstatisticalsignificance,andthus,the
probabilityofourcommittingType1errorishigh.
6.Nonprobabilitysamplingdesignsoughttobepreferredtoprobabilitysampling
designsinsomecases.Explainwithanexample.
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Theabovestatementistrueincaseswheretheinformationneededforresearch
canbeobtainedonlyfromaselectcategoryofpeoplewhoarenotplentifulin
numbersandforwhomapopulationframedoesnotexist.Insuchcases,thenon
probabilitypurposivejudgementsamplingdesignisthemostusefulone.Here,the
mostconvenientlyavailablemembersofthelimitedpopulationofindividualswho
havethenecessaryinformationarecontactedtoobtaininformation.Thisistheonly
meaningfulwaytogetinformationsinceasimplerandomsamplingoranyother
probabilitysamplingdesignisimpossiblewithouttheavailabilityofarelevant
populationframe.Asanexample,informationontheeffectivenessofAZT(evenafter
takingintoconsiderationitssideeffects),forcancerpatients,canbebestobtained
onlyfromthosewhoaresufferingfromcancerandusingAZT.
7.Becausethereseemstobeatradeoffbetweenaccuracyandconfidenceforany
givensamplesize,accuracyshouldalwaysbeconsideredmoreimportantthan
precision.Explainwithreasons,whyyouwouldorwouldnotagreewiththis
statement.
Whetherconfidenceorprecisionismoreimportantisadecisionthateach
researcherhastomake,basedonthegoalsoftheresearch.Insomecases,confidence
maybemoreimportanttotheresearch,andinothers,precision.Forinstance,a
salespersonmightwanttoplacegreateremphasisontheconfidenceintheprojected
numberofsalesheislikelytomake,thanwantingtoknowtheexactnumberofsales
hewillmakei.e.hedesiresgreaterconfidenceintheprojectionthanprecision.In
otherwords,hemaybewillingtoacceptanerrormarginofsevenpercent(rather
thanathreepercent)solongasheissurethatthechanceofbeingoffthemeanisno
morethan.01percent!Ontheotherhand,amarksmanmightinsistonmoreprecision
(howclosehewillhittothebullseye,thustestinghispotentialabilitiestoshootthe
target)andnotsoconcernedaboutthepercentageoftimesheislikelytohitthebulls
eye(theconfidencelevel).Hemightpreferprecision,becauseifheknowshehasthe
abilities,hecanpracticemoreandimprovetheprobabilityofhischancesforsuccess.
Theseexamplesillustratethetradeoffbetweenaccuracyandprecision.Thedecision
whetheraccuracyorconfidenceismoreimportanthastobemadebytheresearcher
forgoodreasons,andonemaynotalwaysnecessarilybepreferredovertheother.
8.Overgeneralizationsgiverisetoalotofconfusionandotherproblemsfor
researcherswhotrytoreplicatethefindings.Explainwhatismeantbythis.
Acarefuldescriptionofthesamplecharacteristicsisnecessarytoenablethe
readertojudgetheextenttowhichtheconclusionsdrawnfromtheresearchfindings
aregeneralizable.Ifthesampleisnotadequatelydescribedandsweeping
generalizationsaremade,thentheresearcherswhotrytoreplicatethefindingswill
runintodifficulties,sincethefindingsofthepreviousstudymaynotbereplicated,
simplybecausewhatisrelevanttoonepopulationmaynotbesoforanother.The
conflictingfindingswouldcauseconfusionandresearcherswillnotknowwhetherthe
discrepanciesareduetofaultytheoriesormethodologicalproblems.Itisforthis
reasonthatresearchreportsshouldcarefullydescribethepopulationandthesample
95
characteristics.
9.Doublesamplingisprobablytheleastusedofallsamplingdesignsinorganizational
research.Doyouagree?Providereasonsforyouranswer.
Doublesamplingisprobablyusedmoreintheexploratorystagesofresearch
wheredataarecollectedseveraltimesfromsubsetsofasamplee.g.,asubsetof
thosewhowereinterviewedwithunstructuredquestionsareagaininterviewedwith
structuredquestionsinordertoobtainmorespecificandfocusedinformationon
phenomenathatmaynotbewellunderstood.Forinstance,doublesamplingisnot
uncommonincrossculturalresearch,inresearchondualcareerfamilies,andthelike.
Whilequantitativedatathroughquestionnairesareessential,formoreindepth
probingofcertainphenomena,structuredinterviewsaresometimesconductedwitha
subsetofthesamplefromwhichquestionnaireresponseshavebeenobtained.
10.Whydoyouthinkthesamplingdesignshouldfeatureinaresearchproposal?
Detailsofthesamplingdesign,givingdetailsofhowmanyandwhatcadresof
personnelwillbeincludedinthesurvey,helpsthesponsortoseeifsuchpeoplewould
beavailableandcouldrespondtothesurvey.Italsohelpsdeterminetheextentto
whichthefindingswillbegeneralizabletotheentireorganization.
Inpublishedstudies,italsohelpsthereaderbecomeawareofthesettingsto
whichthefindingscanbegeneralized.
Exercises
Forthesituationsbelow,whatwouldbetherelevantpopulationandthe
mostappropriatesamplingdesign?Makesureyoudiscussthereasonsforyour
answers.
Exercise10.1
Themedicalinspectordesirestoestimatetheoverallaveragemonthly
occupancyratesofthecancerwardsin80differenthospitalswhichareevenly
locatedintheNorthwestern,Southeastern,Central,andSouthernsuburbsofNew
YorkCity.
Allthe80hospitalsinthefourpartsofNewYorkCityformthepopulationfrom
whichtheoveralloccupancyratesaretobeestablished.Asimplerandomsampling
designwouldbebestsuitedbecausehospitalsofdifferentsizes,andthoseserving
clientelefromdifferentsocioeconomicstatus,wouldthenbeincludedinthesurvey,
andbemostrepresentativeofthepopulation.
96
Exercise10.2
AmagazinearticlesuggestedthatConsumersaged35to44willsoonbethe
nationsbiggestspenders,soadvertisersmustlearnhowtoappealtothisoverthe
thrillcrowd.Ifthissuggestionappealstoanapparelmanufacturerwhatshouldbe
thesamplingdesigntoassessthetastesofthisgroup?
Thepopulationwould,ofcourse,beallthosebetweentheagesof35and44.
However,targetingthispopulationwouldbedifficultsinceapopulationframewould
notbeavailable(exceptingwiththeBureauofCensus).Agoodwaytoobtainaccessto
aportionofthispopulationcouldbethroughretailstoreoutletslikeJ.C.Penney,Ross,
orMervyns.Iftheircooperationcanbeobtainedtogeneratealistofthisagegroup
throughtheircreditcardinformation(whichmighthavecustomersdateofbirthon
them),thenarandomsampleorasystematicsampleofthispopulationcanbeusedto
administeramailsurvey.Theresponsesobtainedfromconsumersfromavarietyof
citiescanthenbeusedtoformulateanideaofwhatthetastesofthetargetgroupare.
Exercise10.3
TheMcArthurCo.producesspecialvacuumcleanersforconvenientlycleaning
theinsideofcars.Aboutathousandoftheseareproducedeverymonthwith
stampedserialnumbersandstoredseriallyinastockroom.Onceamonth,an
inspectordoesaqualitycontrolcheckonfiftyofthese.Whenhecertifiesthemasto
quality,theunitsarereleasedfromthestockroomforsale.Theproductionand
salesmanagers,however,arenotsatisfiedwiththequalitycontrolcheck,sincequite
often,manyoftheunitssoldarereturnedbycustomersbecauseofvarioustypesof
defects.Whatwouldbethemostusefulsamplingplantotestthefiftyunits?
Asystematicsamplingdesignwouldbemostusefulsinceaprobabilitysampling
designiscalledfor,andalsobecauseitwouldbeeasytolocatethepiecestobe
sampledsincetheyhaveserialnumbersandarestoredaccordingtotheserial
numbers.
Exercise10.4
Aconsultanthadadministeredaquestionnairetosome285employeesusing
asimplerandomsamplingprocedure.Asshelookedattheresponses,shesuspected
thattwoquestionsmightnothavebeencleartotherespondents.Shewouldliketo
knowifhersuspicioniswellfounded.
Adoublesamplingdesignwillbeusedinthiscase.Thatis,asubsampleofthe
originalsamplecanbeapproachedtoseewhetherornotthetwoquestionswere
cleartothem.

97
Exercise10.5
TheExecutiveboardofarelativelysmalluniversitylocatedinEuropewantsto
determinetheattitudeoftheirstudentstoward
variousaspectsofthe
university.Theuniversity,foundedin1928,isafullyaccreditedgovernment
financeduniversitywith11,000 students.Theuniversityspecializesinthesocial
sciencesandhumanitiesandhas5faculties,6servicedepartments,8research
centers,and2graduateschools.TheExecutiveboardhasaskedyoutocomeupwith
asamplingplan.Developasamplingplanandpayattentiontothefollowingaspects:
targetpopulation,thesamplingframe,thesampletechniqueandthesamplesize.
ThepopulationwillcompriseallthestudentsoftheUniversity.Asampling
frameisavailable;henceprobabilitysamplingisaviableoption.Thereareidentifiable
subgroups(studentsofthefivedifferentfacultiesandgraduateschools)whichmaybe
expectedtohavedifferentparameterstothevariableofprimaryinterest(attitude).
Forthatreasonyoumaywanttouseastratifiedsamplingdesign.Aminimumsample
sizeof30foreachstratumisnecessary.
Exercise10.6
TMobileisamobilenetworkoperatorheadquarteredinBonn,Germany.The
companyhasenlistedyourhelpasaconsultanttodevelopandtestamodelonthe
determinantsofsubscriberchurnintheGermanmobiletelephonemarket.Develop
asamplingplanandpayspecificattentiontothefollowingaspects.
Definethetargetpopulation.Discuss,inasmuchdetailaspossible,thesampling
frameandthesamplingdesignthatyouwoulduse.Givereasonsforyourchoice.
Targetpopulation:German,Tmobile,mobilephonesubscribers.
SamplingFrame:Adatabaseofsubscribersonarecentdate(forinstance6months
ago).ThisdatabasewillincludebothcustomerswhohaveremainedloyaltoTmobile
andcustomerswhohaveswitchedmobilephoneproviders.
Samplingdesign:proportionatestratifiedsamplingwithloyalcustomersand
customerswhohaveswitchedmobilephoneprovidersinproportiontotheiroriginal
numbersinthepopulation.

98
CHAPTER11
QuantitativeDataAnalysis
InstructionalGoals
1. Tomakestatisticscomealiveandbecomemeaningfultostudentsthroughexamples
thattheycanrelateto.
2. TogetstudentstoanalyzedatausinganyoftheavailablePCsoftwareprograms.
3. Toimpressonstudentsthatthedatacollectedshouldfirstbeedited,theblank
responsesgivenanappropriatevalue,andthenenteredforanalysis.
4. Tostresstheimportanceofgettingafeelforthegoodnessofdataafterrecoding.
5. Toexplainhowthefrequencydistributionbecomesatoolforexplainingsample
characteristics.
6. Toconnecttheapplicationofdescriptivestatisticssuchasthemeans,standard
deviations,andvariancetothedependentandindependentvariablesofinterestto
anystudyinordertogetanideaofthecentraltendenciesandtoobtainafeelforthe
data.
7. TomakesenseoutofPearsonCorrelations,byinterpretingsignificantcorrelations,
andtosensitizestudentstoextremelyhighcorrelations(over.8)whichmightcause
concernsregardingthediscriminantvalidityofthemeasures.
8. Tohelptheminterprettheresultstheyobtainfromdataanalyses.
ExercisesonDataInterpretation
Practiceintheinterpretationoftheresultsofdataanalysescanbe
encouragedthroughtheexercisesbelow.Thesecanbedoneeitherasinclass
exercisesorgivenastakehomeassignments.

99
Exercise#1OnFrequencyDistributions
BelowisatabulationofthedemographicdatafromtheFrequencydistribution
ofasurveydonebyMs.SandraJones.Hersampleconsistedof148ofatotalof3,700
clericalemployeesinthreeserviceorganizations.Basedonthetabulationprovided
below,describethesamplecharacteristics.
Table1:FrequencyDistributionsofSample(n=148)
RACE
Nonwhites=48(32%)
Whites=100(68%)
EDUCATION
HighSchool=38(26%)
CollegeDegree=74(50%)
MastersDegree=36(24%)
GENDER
Males=11(75%)
Females=37(25%)
AGE
<20=10(7%)
2030=20(14%)
3140=30(20%)
>40=88(59%)
#OFYEARSINORG.
<1year=5(3%)
13=25(17%)
410=98(66%)
>10=20(14%)
MARITALSTATUS
Single20(14%)
Married108(73%)
Divorced13(9%)
Alternative7(4%)
Lifestyle
Answer
Thetabulationindicatesthepercentagesonallthedemographicdata(as
showninparenthesesabove).Aprofileoftherespondentswillbeasfollows.
PopulationandSample
Thepopulationconsistedof3,700clericalemployeesinthreeservice
organizations.Oftheseasampleof148clericalemployeeswasdrawn.Basedonthe
demographiccharacteristicsprovidedinthetable,wecansaythatthemajorityofthe
respondentsarewhite(67.6percentofthesample),haveatleastacollegedegree(50
percentwithcollegedegreesand24percentwithMastersdegrees),aremarried(73
percent),areabove40yearsofage(59percent),andhaveservedintheir
organizationsforfourtotenyears(66percent).
Furtherbreakdownsofeducationallevelscanbegiven,dependingonthe
natureofthestudy,andthenecessityfordetaileddescriptions.

100
Exercise#2onMeans,StandardDeviations,andOther
Statistics
HereisanothertabulationoftheMeans,StandardDeviations,etc.,forMs.
Jonesdata.Howwouldyouinterpretthesedata?
Table2:Means,StandardDeviationsandOtherStatistics
VARIABLE
Age
#ofYearsMarried
Stress
JobInvolvement
Performance
MEAN
37.5
12.1
3.7
3.9
3.6
STD.DEV
18
24
1.79
1.63
0.86
MODE
38
15
3
4
3
MIN
20
0
1
2
3
MAX
64
32
5
5
5
Answer
Themeanageoftherespondentsis37.5andsincethemodeisalso38,itcan
bepresumedthatmanyoftherespondentsareabout38yearsold.Theaverage
numberofyearstherespondentshavebeenmarriedisabout12,withsomenot
marriedatall(minimum=0).
Theamountofstressexperiencedbythesubjectsinthissampleseemstobea
littleovertheaverage,butnothigh(3.7ona5pointscale);thesamecanbesaidfor
theirperformancelevel(3.6ona5pointscale).Theextentoftheirjobinvolvementis
closetoa4(four)ona5pointscaleandcanbeconsideredtobemoderatelyhigh.
Whilethereismorevarianceinstressandjobinvolvement(1.79and1.63),the
varianceinperformanceisratherlow(.86).Thiswouldindicatethatthereisgreater
dispersionintheexperiencedstressandextentofjobinvolvement,butmostofthe
peoplehavebeenperformingatthesamejustabovetheaveragelevel.
Wewouldthusdescribetheprofileoftheaverageworkerinthesethree
organizations,assumingthatthesampleisrepresentativeofthepopulation,asbeing
about38yearsold,marriedforabout12years,performingatjustabovetheaverage
level,fairlyinvolvedinthejobandexperiencingamoderateamountofstress.
Exercise#3onCorrelations
FromthesameresearchdonebyMs.Jones,thefollowingintercorrelation
matrixisshown.Interprettheseresults.

101
Table3:PearsonCorrelations
VARIABLE
Age
#ofyrs.married
Stress
JobInvolvement
Performance
AGE
1.0
.86
#OFYRS.MARRIED
1.0
.43
.53
.09
.61
.32
.06
STRESS
1.0
JOBINVOLVEMENT
PERFORMANCE
.58
.49
1.0
.36
1.0
a.Allcorrelationsabove.30aresignificant,atleastatthe.05level.
b.Allcorrelationsabove.50aresignificant,atleastatthe.01level.
Answer
Eightcorrelationsintheabovematrixaresignificantatleastatthe.05level,of
whichfouraresignificantatleastatthe.01level.Onlytwoofthetencorrelationsin
thematrixarenotsignificant.
Ageandthenumberofyearsmarriedarehighlycorrelated(r=.86)andthisis
notsurprisingbecauseolderpeoplearelikelytohavebeenmarriedforalonger
periodoftimethanyoungerpersons.
Olderpersonsalsoexperiencelessstress(r=.43)possiblybecausetheyhave
eitherlearnedtheropeswellandthingsdonotstressthem,ortheyarebetterableto
handlestressandhencehardlyexperiencethemasstress,ortheyaregiveneasyjobs.
Olderpeoplearealsomorejobinvolved(r=.53),butageisnotrelatedto
performance.Thatis,thoughtheolderemployeesmaybemoreinvolvedintheirjobs
thantheyoungerones,theydonotnecessarilyperformbetterthanthelatter.
Thoseexperiencingmorestressaremoreinvolvedintheirjobs(r=.58)and
alsoperformbetter(r=.49).Themorethejobinvolvement,thebetterthe
performance(r=.36).Theaboverelationshipsdonotindicatecausality,merely
correlations.
Thosemarriedforalongerperiodexperiencelessstress,possiblybecausethe
familydemandsarelessonthemsincetheywouldhavesettleddowntoaroutine
familylifewhichdoesnotinducestress.Thepersonswhoaremarriedforlonger
periodsoftimearealsomoreinvolvedintheirjobs.Butthelengthofmarriageisnot
relatedtoperformance(r=.06).
Ifperformanceisthemainvariableofinteresttothisstudywewouldsaythat
neitheragenorthelengthofmarriagehasanyrelationshiptoperformance,butthat
theamountofstressandthelevelofjobinvolvementdohavesignificantbivariate
relationshipswiththeperformanceofemployees.Themorejobinvolvedpeopleare,
thebettertheyperform;themorestresstheyexperience,thebettertheyperform.
102
Note:Basedonthecorrelationsamongstress,jobinvolvement,and
performance,itwouldbeinappropriatetoconcludethatthehighperformergetsjob
involvedandhenceexperiencesstress.Causalinferencescannotbedrawnfrom
correlationalanalyses.
DiscussionQuestions
1.Whatactivitiesareinvolvedingettingthedatareadyforanalysis?
Afterdataareobtainedthroughquestionnaires,theyneedtobecoded,keyedin,and
edited.Thatis,acategorizationschemehastobesetupbeforethedatacanbetyped
in.Then,outliers,inconsistencies,andblankresponses,ifany,havetobehandledin
someway.
2.Whatdoescodingthedatainvolve?
Datacodinginvolvesassigninganumbertotheparticipantsresponsessotheycanbe
enteredintoadatabase.
3.Dataeditingdealswithdetectingandcorrectingillogical,inconsistent,orillegal
dataintheinformationreturnedbytheparticipantsofthestudy.Explainthe
differencebetweenillogical,inconsistent,andillegaldata.
Anexampleofanillogicalresponseisanoutlierresponse.Anoutlierisanobservation
thatissubstantiallydifferentfromtheotherobservations.Anoutlierisnotalwaysan
erroreventhoughdataerrors(entryerrors)arealikelysourceofoutliers.Because
outliershavealargeimpactontheresearchresultstheyshouldbeinvestigated
carefullytomakesurethattheyarecorrect.
Inconsistentresponsesareresponsesthatarenotinharmonywithotherinformation.
Illegalcodesarevaluesthatarenotspecifiedinthecodinginstructions.
4.Howwouldyoudealwithmissingdata?
One way to handle a blank response is to ignore it when the analyses are done. An
alternativesolutionwouldbetolookattheparticipantspatternofresponsestoother
questions and from these answers deduce a logical answer to the question for the
missing response. A second alternative solution would be to assign to the item the
meanvalueoftheresponsesofallthosewhohaverespondedtothatparticularitem.
103
Infact,therearemanywaysofhandlingblankresponses,eachofthemhavingitsown
particularadvantagesanddisadvantages.
5.Whatisreversescoringandwhenisreversescoringnecessary?
Take for instance the perceived inequity measure of the Excelsior Enterprises case.
Perceivedinequityismeasuredbyfivesurveyitems:(1)Iinvestmoreinmyworkthan
Igetoutofit;(2)IexertmyselftoomuchconsideringwhatIgetbackinreturn;(3)
FortheeffortsIputintotheorganization,Igetmuchinreturn(reversed);(4)IfItake
into account my dedication, the organization ought to give me a better practical
training;and(5)Ingeneral,thebenefitsIreceivefromtheorganizationoutweighthe
effort I put in it (reversed). For the first, second and fourth item, a score indicating
high agreement would be negative, but for the third and fifth question a score
indicatinghighagreementwouldbepositive.Tomaintainconsistencyinthemeaning
ofaresponse,thefirst,second,andfourthitemhavetobereversescored(notethat
wearemeasuringequityandnotinequity).Inthiscasea5(Icompletelyagree)would
betransformedtoa1(Icompletelydisagree),a4toa2,andsoforth.
6.Therearethreemeasuresofcentraltendencies:themean,themedian, andthe
mode. Measures of dispersion include the range, the standard deviation, the
variance(wherethemeasureofcentraltendencyisthemean),andtheinterquartile
range (where the measure of central tendency is the median). Describe these
measures and explain which of these measures you would use to provide an
overviewofa)nominal,b)ordinalandc)intervaldata?
Scale
VisualSummary MeasureofRelation VisualSummaryof

for betweenVariables Relation
aSingleVariable
betweenVariables
Nominal
MeasuresofCentral Measuresof
Tendencyfora
Dispersion
SingleVariable
foraSingle
Variable
Mode
Ordinal
Median
Barchart,piechart
Interval
Arithmeticmean
Ratio
Arithmeticor
geometricmean
Semiinterquartile
range
Minimum,maximum,
standarddeviation,
variance,coefficient
ofvariation
Minimum,maximum,
standarddeviation,
variance,coefficient
ofvariation
Barchart,piechart
Histogram,scatter
plots,boxand
whiskerplot
Histogram,scatter
plots,boxand
whiskerplot
ContingencyTable
(CrossTab)
ContingencyTable
(CrossTab)
Correlations
Stackedbars,
Clusteredbars
Stackedbars,
Clusteredbars
Scatterplots
Correlations
Scatterplots
MeasuresofCentralTendency
The Mean. The mean or the average is a measure of central tendency that offers a
general picture of the data without unnecessarily inundating one with each of the
observationsinadataset.Themeanoraverageofasetofsay,10observations,isthe
104
sum of the 10 individual observations divided by 10 (the total number of

observations).
TheMedian.Themedianisthecentraliteminagroupofobservationswhentheyare
arrayedineitheranascendingoradescendingorder.
TheMode.Insomecases,asetofobservationswouldnotlenditselftoameaningful
representation through either the mean or the median, but can be signified by the
mostfrequentlyoccurringphenomenon.
MeasuresofDispersion
Range.Rangereferstotheextremevaluesinasetofobservations.
Variance. The variance is calculated by subtracting the mean from each of the
observationsinthedataset,takingthesquareofthisdifference,anddividingthetotal
ofthesebythenumberofobservations.
StandardDeviation.Thestandarddeviation,whichisanothermeasureofdispersion
forintervalandratioscaleddata,offersanindexofthespreadofadistributionorthe
variabilityinthedata.
OtherMeasuresofDispersion.Whenthemedianisthemeasureofcentraltendency,
percentiles,deciles,andquartilesbecomemeaningful.Justasthemediandividesthe
total realm of observations into two equal halves, the quartile divides it into four
equalparts,thedecileinto10,andthepercentileto100equalparts.Thepercentileis
useful when huge masses of data, such as the GRE or GMAT scores, are handled.
Whentheareaofobservationsisdividedinto100equalparts,thereare99percentile
points. Any given score has a probability of .01 that it will fall in any one of those
points.IfJohnsscoreisinthe16thpercentile,itindicatesthat84%ofthosewhotook
theexamscoredbetterthanhedid,while15%didworse.
Oftentimesweareinterestedinknowingwherewestandincomparisontoothers
areweinthemiddle,intheupper10or25%,orinthelower20or25%,orwhere?For
instance,ifinacompanyadministeredtest,Mr.Chouscores78outofatotalof100
points,hewouldbeunhappyifhewereinthebottom10%amonghiscolleagues(the
testtakers),butwouldbereasonablypleasedifhewereinthetop10%,despitethe
fact that his score remains the same. His standing in relation to the others can be
determinedbythecentraltendencymedianandthepercentilehefallsin.
The measure of dispersion for the median, the interquartile range, consists of the
middle50%oftheobservations(i.e.,observationsexcludingthebottomandtop25%
quartiles). The interquartile range could be very useful when comparisons are to be
105
made among several groups. For instance, telephone companies can compare long
distance charges of customers in several areas by taking samples of customer bills
fromeachofthecitiestobecompared.
7.Aresearcherwantstoprovideanoverviewofthegenderoftherespondentsinhis
sample.Thegenderismeasuredlikethis:
Whatisyourgender?
0Male
0Female
Whatisthebestwaytoprovideanoverviewofthegenderoftherespondents?
Provideafrequencytable.
8.Considerthefollowingreliabilityanalysisforthevariablecustomer
differentiation.Whatcouldyouconcludefromit?
RELIABILITYANALYSISSCALE(ALPHA)
ItemtotalStatistics

Scale

Mean

ifItem

Deleted
CUSDIF1
10.0405
CUSDIF2
9.7432
CUSDIF3
9.6486
ReliabilityCoefficients
NofCases=111.0NofItems=3
Alpha=.5878
Scale
Variance
ifItem
Deleted
5.4733
5.0176
5.3754
Corrected
Item
Alpha
Total
ifItem
Correlation Deleted
.2437
.7454
.5047
.3293
.4849
.3722
Thescaleisnotreliable.Wecandeleteitem1toincreasetheCronbachsalpha,which
willincreaseto.7454.

106
CHAPTER12
QuantitativeDataAnalysisPart2:
HypothesisTesting
InstructionalGoals
1. Tomakestudentsunderstandandapplythedifferenttypesofanalysesandteststo
getattheinferentialinformationtheyneed.
2. Tohelptheminterprettheresultstheyobtainfromdataanalyses.
DiscussionQuestions
1.Whenwecollectdataontheeffectsoftreatmentinexperimentaldesigns,which
statisticaltestwouldbemostappropriatetotestthetreatmenteffects?
Wewoulduseattestwithpairedsamplestodeterminethetreatmenteffects.
2.Ataxconsultantwonderswhetherheshouldbemoreselectiveabouttheclassof
clientsheservessoastomaximizehisincome.Heusuallydealswithfourcategories
ofclients:theveryrich,rich,uppermiddleclass,andmiddleclass.Hehas
informationoneachandeveryclientserved,thetaxespaidbythem,andhowmuch
hehaschargedthem.Sincemanyfactorsrelatingtotheclientsvary(numberof
dependents,businessdeductibles,etc.),irrespectiveofthecategorytheybelongto,
hewouldlikeanappropriateanalysistobedonetoseewhichamongthefour
categoriesofclienteleheshouldchoosetoserveinthefuture.
Whatkindofanalysisshouldbedoneintheabovecaseandwhy?
UndergraduateStudentscanbeexposedtoasimpleANOVAdesign.
AnANOVAwillhelpthetaxconsultanttomakethedecision,sincethedifferences
amongthefourgroupsonthedependentvariable,income,canbeobtainedthrough
thisanalysis.AfurthertestsuchastheDuncanMultipleRangetest,willdetermine
whichamongthefourgroupsprovidesthemostincome.
106
Moreadvancedstudentscantakethisapproach.
Sincetherearefourcategoriesofclientsveryrich,rich,uppermiddleclass,and
middleclassandthetaxconsultantwantstoseehowtheclientscanbe
differentiatedonvariousindependentvariableswhichareonacontinuousscale,in
ordertoincreasehisincome,hecoulduseaMANOVA.MANOVAdealswithmultiple
independentvariablessimultaneouslyanddifferentiatesthegroupsonthecritical
factors.
Adiscriminantanalysiswillindicatewhichoftheentiresetofvariablesare
maximallydiscriminatedforthefourgroups.Actioncanthenbetakenbasedonthe
results.

107
CHAPTER13
QUALITATIVEDATAANALYSIS
InstructionalGoals
1. Tomakequalitativedataanalysiscomealiveandbecomemeaningfultostudents
throughexamplesthattheycanrelateto.
2. Toexplainthatqualitativedatacanbeveryrichandtostresstheimportanceof
reducingqualitativedatatokeyideasandconcepts.
3. Togetstudentstoanalyzedatausingastructuredapproach.
4. Tostresstheimportanceofreliabilityandvalidityinqualitativedataanalysis.
DiscussionQuestions
1.Whatisqualitativedata?Howdoqualitativedatadifferfromquantitativedata?
Qualitativedataisdataintheformofwords.Quantitativedataisdataintheformof
numbers.
2.Whatarethemainstepsinqualitativedataanalysis?
AccordingtoMilesandHuberman,therearegenerallythreestepsinqualitativedata
analysis:datareduction,datadisplay,andthedrawingofconclusions.
3.Definereliabilityandvalidityinthecontextofqualitativeresearch.
Reliability and validity have a slightly different meaning in qualitative research in

comparison to quantitative research. Reliability in qualitative data analysis includes
category and interjudge reliability. Category reliability depends on the analysts
ability to formulate categories and present to competent judges definitions of the
categories so they will agree on which items of a certain population belong in a
category and which do not. (Kassarjian, 1977, p. 14). Interjudge reliability can be
defined as the degree of consistency between coders processing the same data
109
(Kassarjian1977).
Validityreferstotheextenttowhichtheresearchresults1)accuratelyrepresentthe
collected data (internal validity) and 2) can be generalized or transferred to other
contextsorsettings(externalvalidity).
4.Howcanyouassessthereliabilityandvalidityofqualitativeresearch?
A commonly used measure of interjudge reliability is the percentage of coding

agreements out of the total number of coding decisions. As a general guideline,
agreementratesatorabove80%areconsideredtobesatisfactory.
Twomethodsthathavebeendevelopedtoachievevalidityinqualitativeresearchare
discussednext.
Supportinggeneralizationsbycountsofevents.Thiscanaddresscommonconcerns
about the reporting of qualitative data; that anecdotes supporting the researchers
theory have been selected, or that too much attention has been paid to a small
numberofevents,attheexpenseofmorecommonones.
Ensuring representativeness of cases and the inclusion of deviant cases (cases that
maycontradictyourtheory).Theselectionofdeviantcasesprovidesastrongtestof
yourtheory.
5.Whatisgroundedtheory?
Categorizationistheprocessoforganizing,arranging,andclassifyingcodingunits.
Codesandcategoriescanbedevelopedbothinductivelyanddeductively.Insituations
wherethereisnotheoryavailable,youmustgeneratecodesandcategories
inductivelyfromthedata.Initsextremeform,thisiswhathasbeencalledgrounded
theory.
6.Howdoesnarrativeanalysisdifferfromcontentanalysis?
Narrativeanalysisisanapproachthataimstoelicitandscrutinizethestorieswetell
aboutourselvesandtheirimplicationsforourlives.Narrativedataareoftencollected
viainterviews.Theseinterviewsaredesignedtoencouragetheparticipanttodescribe
acertainincidentinthecontextofhisorherlifehistory.Likethis,narrativeanalysis
differsfromothercontentanalysis;itisfocusedonaprocessortemporalorder,for
instancebyelicitinginformationabouttheantecedentsandconsequencesofacertain
incidentinordertorelatethisincidenttootherincidents.

110
CHAPTER14
THERESEARCHREPORT
InstructionalGoals
1. Tointegrateallthathasprecededinthiscoursesothatthepurposeofeachofthe
stepsintheresearchprocessanddesignnowbecomesclearandmeaningfulto
students.
2. Tohelpstudentstopulltogethertheresultsoftheirstudyanddiscussthe
interpretationoftheresultsinawaythathelpstoaddresstheoriginalresearch
questionthattheyhadposed.
3. Toenablestudentstolookatalternativesolutionstosolvetheproblemthathasbeen
investigatedandmakerecommendationsonthebestcourseofaction,weighingthe
prosandcons.
4. Toencouragestudentstodepictpictorialrepresentationsoftheresultsoftheirdata
analyses.
5. Tohelpstudentsaddressthelimitationsoftheirstudy,andenablethemtosuggest
whatelsemightbedoneinthefuturebywayofresearchingsuchproblemsituations.
6. Tofacilitatestudentstowritedifferentkindsofresearchreports,dependingonthe
goalsandpurposeofthestudy.
7. Tosharpentheoralpresentationskillsofstudentsaftertheresearchreportiswritten,
enablingthemtohighlighttheimportantaspectsoftheirstudyinasuccinctmanner
totherelevantaudiences,withinalimitedtime.
DiscussionQuestions
1. DiscussthepurposeandcontentsoftheExecutiveSummary.
TheExecutiveSummaryoffersacondensedversionoftheproblem,themethods
ofinvestigation,theresultsofthestudy,theinterpretationoftheresults,andthe
recommendationsmade.Thishelpstheexecutivetogothroughjusttwoorthree
pagesandgrasptheessenceofwhatiscontainedinthereport.
2. Whatarethesimilaritiesanddifferencesofbasicandappliedresearchreports?

111
Bothappliedandbasicresearchreportsstressthescientificaspectsofthestudy.
Whereasreportsofbasicstudiesfocusonageneralproblemforresearch,theapplied
researchreportwillfocusonaspecificproblemrelatedtoaspecificsettingata
specifictime.Thelatterwillalsodiscusstheprosandconsofvariousalternative
solutionsofferedandusuallyprovideacostbenefitanalysis.
3. Howhavetechnologicaladvancementshelpedinwritingandpresentingresearch
reports?
Technologicaladvanceshavenotonlyhelpedintheanalysisofdatawithoutthe
helpofamainframe,butmakegraphicpresentationsmoresophisticated.The
presentationismademorepowerfulthroughPowerPoint,CDRomand
Videographics.Videopresentationscanbeseeninanypartoftheworldwherethe
companywouldwanttobeamthem.
4. Whyisitnecessarytospecifythelimitationsofthestudyintheresearchreport?
Ifthelimitationsofthestudyareacknowledgedandexplicitlystatedbythe
researcher,thenthereaderwillhaveanideaofthepossiblereasonswhythese
limitationscouldnotbeovercome,andhencewillbeabletomakeajudgmentabout
thescientificqualityofthestudy.Forexample,inastudyofdualcareerfamilies,itis
practicallyimpossibletocomeupwithapopulationframebecauseorganizationsjust
donothavealistingofemployeeswhoaremembersofdualcareerfamilies.Insuch
cases,theutmostonecanexpectisfortheresearchertohavealargeenoughsample
fromavarietyofsettings,sothatsomeunderstandingofthedynamicsofdualcareer
familiescanbehad.Byacknowledgingthelimitation,butstillarguingthattheresults
ofthestudyarenotinvalidforvariousreasons(empiricalvalidityisestablished,the
resultshavebeenreplicatedwithdifferentsamples,etc.),thereaderwouldbe
convincedthattheresearcherdidtrytomakethestudyasscientificaspossible.
Whenthelimitationsarenotexplicitlystated,thereaderisleftwonderingwhythe
limitationsarenotevenacknowledged,andhencemightbeinclinedtodowngrade
theusefulnessofthestudy.
5.Whataspectsofaclassresearchprojectwouldbestressedbyyouinthewritten
reportandintheoralpresentation?
Inthewrittenreport,sincethereisnolimitationonthenumberofpages,all
aspectsofthestudywillbediscussedinasmuchdetailasisnecessary,including
literaturesurvey.Butinthepresentation,theproblemstatement,thesampling
design,dataanalysisandinterpretation,therecommendations,andthecostbenefit
willbeemphasizedmuchmorethansomeotheraspects,duetothelimitationsof
time.Itisalsoappropriatetostateduringthepresentationthatonlysomeofthe
importantaspectsofthestudyarepresented,andwhateverisomitted,but
consideredimportantbytheaudience,couldbetakenupduringquestiontime.

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Exercises
Exercise14.1
1.CritiqueReport4intheAppendix.Discussitintermsofgoodandbad
research,suggestinghowthestudycouldhavebeenimproved,whataspectsofit
aregood,andhowscientificitis.
i. Thegoodaspectsoftheresearchreportare:
a. Thereportiswellorganizedunderappropriateheadsandsubheads,andhasa
professionallookaboutit.
b. Theliteraturesurveyseemstobecurrentandrelevant,ascanbegleanedfromthis
abridgedreport.
c. Thetheoreticalframework,hypotheses,andtherestofthereportflowlogically.The
MethodSectionisquiteinformative.Thedataanalysisandthediscussion,
conclusions,andrecommendationssectionsarewelldone.
d. Thereportsummarizedthemainpointsaddressedinthesubsectionswhichhelpthe
readertokeeptrackofwhatisgoingon.
ii. Thenotsogoodaspectsofthereport:
a.Therecommendationsseemtobebroadwithnospecificideasasto
implementation.Forexample,whatcouldbesomeofthewaysofdeterminingthe
worthofemployeecontributions,ratherthanmerelycountingthehoursworked?
Thoughadetailedstudyofthiscouldbedonelater,some
wouldhelpatthisstage.
suggestions
b. Thereisalsonomentionofthecostsofimplementingtheideas.Forinstance,what
resourceswouldbenecessaryinassigningmentors,andgivingsensitivitytraining
seminarsetc.Also,willtheexecutivesbewillingandhavethetimetoattenda
sensitivitytrainingseminar?Thesecouldbedealtwithmorespecifically.
c. Thelimitationstothestudyarenotstated.Everystudyhassomelimitationandthis
wasconspicuousbyitsabsenceinthereport.
Exercise14.2
WriteaResearchProposalforconductingastudyontheefficiencyof
manufacturingteamsinacompany.
From:
To:

113
Date:
ABCCompanyhasrequestedustostudytheefficiencyofthemanufacturing
teamsinthesixfactoriesinthisarea,eachhaving25to30employees.
WewillbeginthestudyonSeptember15thandhavethefinalreportreadyby
December23rd.
Tenemployeesfromeachfactorysitewillbeselectedthroughasimple
randomsamplingprocedure(whereeveryindividualwillhaveanequalchanceof
beingselected),withatotalof60employeesformingthesample.
Severalemployeeswhoareconvenientlyavailableateachofthefactorieswill
firstbeinterviewedtogetafeelforhowtheyperceivetheirworkenvironmentand
theirownefficiency,whatfactorscontributetotheirsuccessesandwhatothersstand
inthewayoftheirefficiency.Basedontheresultsoftheseunstructuredinterviews,
wewillthendeterminetheimportantvariablesandadministeraquestionnairetothe
sampleof60employees.Ananalysisoftheresponseswillbedoneandareport
writtenup.
Ifyouhaveanyspecificquestions,theresearchteamwillbehappytorespond.
UniversityResearchTeam
(Sd)

114

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CHAPTER1

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VisualSummary MeasureofRelation VisualSummaryof

sum of the 10 individual observations divided by 10 (the total number of

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Reliability and validity have a slightly different meaning in qualitative research in

A commonly used measure of interjudge reliability is the percentage of coding

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