Module 6 Quiz

A study reports a 10 percent lower rate of production-line errors in manufacturing companies that use a particular quality management model. The p-value for the difference in error rate (compared with companies that have not implemented the model) is 0.07. The common interpretation of this p-value is that there is a probability of 7 percent that this outcome is due to chance. Now, imagine that every 1 percent error decrease yields a profit increase of $50,000, which equates a total of $500,000. Let's also assume that the cost of implementing the model is quite low. Finally, the study's research design is qualified by peer reviewers as "rigorous." Should you implement the model?

Yes why: You probably should. In fact, even if the p-value were 0.20 or 0.30, the odds of making a profit increase of half a million dollars might be too good to ignore. What we can learn from this is that the scientific thresholds of 0.05 or even 0.01 may sometimes be too stringent from a practical perspective

Qualitative Research

research that uses data that are not expressed in numbers. These data are usually obtained from interviews, focus groups, documentary analysis, narrative analysis, or participant observation

Quantitative Research

research that uses data that are quantified in various ways, that is, measured and expressed using numbers. These data are usually obtained from surveys, tests, financial reports, performance metrics, or statistics. We often use this type of research to generalize results to a larger population, uncover patterns and relationships between variables, or measure the size of an effect of an intervention on an outcome.

Steps to reading a scientific article

Step 1: Read the Abstract Step 2: Skim the Introduction Step 3: Skim the Middle Section Step 4: Read the Method Section Step 5: Skim the Outcome or Results Section

3 Safety Check

1.) The scientific method 2.) Organized Skepticism 3.) Replication

A large Midwestern US manufacturing organization decided to deploy a stress-reduction program that includes on-site chair massage therapy, a technique that has successfully been tried by several companies, including AT&T, Apple, and Google. To determine whether the program is effective, the participants' stress level was measured both before and after its start. The results demonstrated that the program was effective: after several 30-minute massage sessions, participants showed substantially lower stress levels. What is the research design of this study?

-A before-after study

Purpose—The purpose of this research is to examine whether personality and motivational driver differences exist across three generations of working Australians: Baby Boomers, Gen Xs, and Gen Ys. Design/methodology/approach—To test for differences across the three generations, data were collected from a sample of 3,535 managers and [HR professionals] who completed the Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ32) and 294 professionals who completed the Motivational Questionnaire (MQ). All participants were employees of moderate to large Australian organisations. Findings—The results are not supportive of the generational stereotypes that have been pervasive in the management literature and the media. Specifically, few meaningful differences were found between the three generations. Moreover, even when differences have been observed, these have related more to age than generation. What is the research design of this study?

-A cross-sectional study why: The data were collected at only one point/period in time.

Moderators

-A moderator is a variable that affects the direction and/or strength of the relationship between a predictor (e.g., intelligence) and an outcome (e.g., work performance).

This study examined the possibility that the performance appraisal process is affected by a pervasive and inherent effect that has heretofore been unidentified. This effect derives from the results of the performance appraisal most recently performed on the manager who subsequently conducts appraisals of others. In the current study, the ratings received by two area coordinators in a university department affected their subsequent ratings of faculty. In a simulation, 30 managers received hypothetical feedback regarding their own job performance. The managers subsequently evaluated an employee on videotape. Managers who received positive feedback about their performance subsequently rated the employee significantly higher than managers who received negative feedback regarding their own performance. This occurred despite the fact that the managers knew the evaluation of them was bogus. What is the research design of this study?

-A posttest only why: in this case, the researchers collected only data on how the managers rate their employees after they received feedback about their own performance.

The researchers of the effects of chair massage therapy decide to repeat the study, but in order to improve its validity they add a control group: participants will be randomly assigned to a group that receives chair massage therapy and a group that will do something relaxing for 30 minutes (e.g., listen to music, take a stroll) instead. What is the research design of this study?

-A randomized controlled study

In this study, the results of actual performance appraisals conducted by managers who had received their own appraisal a year earlier were examined. The participants were 28 managers employed by a manufacturing company for at least 5 years. The participants were randomly assigned to two groups: one receiving positive feedback and one receiving negative feedback. We received the performance appraisal data of the managers' subordinates one month before (T1) and 12 months after (T2) the managers' own appraisal had been conducted. As in the previous study, no one in the organization was aware of the hypothesis that was being tested. The results of this follow-up study are consistent with the view that one's own performance appraisal is related to the subsequent appraisal of one's subordinates. What is the research design of this study?

-A randomized controlled study why: In this case, the managers were randomly assigned to an intervention group (negative feedback) and control/comparison group (positive feedback), and the outcome (rating of subordinates) was measured both before and after the intervention.

Five years after the publication of their study on the effects of chair massage therapy, the researchers notice that several studies on the same topic have been published. They therefore decide to identify as thoroughly as possible all (published and unpublished) studies on this topic and to assess the validity and quality of each study. If similar outcome measures are used, they will also try to statistically combine the results of the studies to calculate an overall effect. What is the research design of this study?

-A systematic review

A large Midwestern US manufacturing organization decided to deploy a stress-reduction program that includes on-site chair massage therapy, a technique that has successfully been tried by several companies, including AT&T, Apple, and Google. To determine whether the program is effective, the participants' stress level was measured both before and after its start. The results demonstrated that the program was effective: after several 30-minute massage sessions, participants showed substantially lower stress levels. The results demonstrated that chair massage therapy results in lower stress levels. But what would be a good method (= 'fair' comparison) to determine whether the reduction of participants' stress level was due to the chair massage rather than the placebo effect? Select the BEST answer.

-Comparing the stress level of employees who had the chair massage with the stress level of a random sample of employees who continued their daily work why: To determine whether the outcome of the study is affected due to the placebo effect you need a 'fair' comparison. Employees who continued their daily work is not a fair comparison, as it is not likely that continue working reduces stress.

A scientist wants to know the predictors of successful leadership in the technology industry. She therefore examines the characteristics of eight successful leaders: Steve Jobs (Apple), Michael Dell (Dell), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Larry Ellison (Oracle), Jan Koum (WhatsApp), Travis Kalanick (Uber), and Evan Williams (Twitter). After examining a large number of variables, such as age, personality traits, and leadership style, she finds a characteristic that all eight leaders have in common: they all dropped out of college or university. Based on this finding, she concludes that higher education does not contribute to successful leadership and publishes her findings in a popular management magazine.

-No, because the scientist did not try to replicate her findings. -No, because the scientist did not submit her research for peer review. -No, because the scientist did not follow the scientific method: she formulated a hypothesis after the collection and analysis of the data. why: First, the scientist hypothesized after the results were known (also referred to as HARKing). Second, she did not try to replicate her findings, for example, by randomly selecting a sample of successful technology corporations and then determining how many of their leaders are college/university dropouts. Finally, by publishing her findings in a popular magazine rather than a scholarly research journal, she did not submit her research for peer review

Read the following scenario. Joanna is interested in the benefits of flexible working. After a search in several research databases, she finds a 32-page research article called "Flexible Working and Performance: A Systematic Review of the Evidence." When she starts reading, she notices the article's introduction and middle section are very lengthy and are dedicated primarily to theory. In addition, the Results section is full of statistical jargon that she finds hard to understand. After about 40 minutes, when she is almost at the end of the article, she has lost track of what the authors are saying and gives up. What is the most disadvantageous mistake Joanna has made?

-She read the article from the beginning to the end instead of focusing only on the research question, study design, and most relevant outcomes.

A large international epidemiological study among a random sample of 10,000 students shows that people who wear leather shoes in bed at night often suffer from a headache the morning after. What is the most plausible explanation for this finding?

-There is probably a confounder. why: It is not likely that wearing leather shoes at night causes headaches, so there must be a confounder. For example, heavy drinking is associated with forgetting to take off your shoes before going to bed, and as we all know, heavy drinking causes headaches in the morning.

Now the researchers have convincingly demonstrated that chair massage therapy has a positive effect on occupational stress. The question remains, though, how employees feel about this intervention and why it has a positive effect. For this reason, the researchers decide to thoroughly examine—for a period of 6 months—a corporation that uses chair massage therapy. During this period, a large number of aspects will be investigated by applying a variety of quantitative (surveys, data analyses) and qualitative (interviews, focus groups) methods. What is the research design of this study?

-a case study

Forty percent of diagnosed breast cancers are detected by women who feel a lump. For this reason, adult women of all ages are encouraged to perform a breast self-exam (BSE) at least once a month. Several medical studies, however, have shown that there is a relation between a woman's socioeconomic status (SES) and the frequency of BSE: the lower a woman's SES, the lower the frequency of BSE. Follow-up studies show a more nuanced picture: the relation between SES and BSE seems to be stronger for older women and less strong or nonexistent for younger women. In addition, it was found that education may have an effect on the relation between SES and BSE. When you remove the effect of education, the relation between SES and BSE disappears! In this scenario . . .

-age is a moderator and education is a mediator. why: Age affects the strength of the relationship between SES and BSE, so age is a moderator. In addition, if you remove the effect of education, the relationship between the SES and BSE no longer exists, so education is a mediator.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a management concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and interactions with their stakeholders. Particularly in the hospitality industry, CSR is a hot topic, in part because a recent study demonstrated a positive relationship between CSR and a hotels' financial performance (HFP): the more a hotel invests in CSR, the higher its HFP. Follow-up studies, however, have suggested that several variables influence this relationship. For example, it was found that a hotel's sales orientation is an important factor: when a hotel focuses only on selling rooms (rather than caring about customers' needs), the relationship between CSR and HFP no longer exists. Thus, when the researchers took this variable out of their model, the relationship disappeared. In addition, it was found that "size of the hotel" also affects the relationship, because small hotels are much more exposed to risks than are large hotels. As a result, larger hotels benefit more from their investment in CSR than do smaller hotels. In this scenario . . .

-hotel size is a moderator and sales orientation is a mediator why: Hotel size affects the strength of the relationship between CSR and HFP, so hotel size is a moderator. In addition, if you remove the effect of sales orientation, the relationship between the CSR and HFP no longer exists, so sales orientation is a mediator.

A large epidemiological study among more than 20,000 factory workers shows that, on average, they have a three times higher risk of lung cancer than the general population. Labor unions and interest groups point out that this is probably caused by the use of workplace chemicals. Do you agree that chemicals in the workplace is the most plausible cause?

-no, the findings are inconclusive why: A difficulty in investigating occupational hazards is the problem of disentangling the effects of workplace chemicals from the effects of lifestyle choices, such as smoking habits. You are correct that chemicals in the workplace are a suspected cause of lung cancer. However, smoking also causes lung cancer. So, factory workers are both more likely to smoke and more likely to have jobs that expose them to chemicals. This means that the outcome of this study is inconclusive unless it could rule out smoking as a possible confounder.

Read the following abstract of an empirical study, "Flexible Work Hours and Other Job Factors in Parental Time with Children." Flexible working hours are typically seen to be advantageous to working parents, as the flexible hours more easily allow responsibilities of care and employment be balanced. But do flexible work hours actually mean that parents can spend more time with their children? This article explores this for parents of young children in Australia. The analyses use the time use diaries of children in the two cohorts of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), from the first wave of the study in 2004. The study children in each cohort were aged about one year old and 4-5 years old. For each child, a weekday and weekend diary were completed, giving 5,579 weekday diaries and 4,478 weekend diaries. The diaries captured details of the children's activities and of who they were with in each 15 min period of a day, and so allowed calculation of the total amount of time the child was with their mother and with their father. Multivariate analyses were used to determine whether amounts of mother-child and father-child time varied according to flexibility of work hours, taking account also of other job characteristics, family and child characteristics. The analyses showed that flexible work hours had only weak independent relationships with mothers' and fathers' time with children. Inasmuch as flexible hours are beneficial for parents, it appears that this is related to their ability to distribute their time between work and family time, rather than giving them more time with children. This is an example of a . . .

-quantitative research. why: Although the data are obtained from diaries of children, the outcome measure is the total amount of time the child was with their mother and with their father, which is expressed in a number.

Read the following abstract of an empirical study, "The Effect of Learning vs. Outcome Goals on Self-Efficacy, Satisfaction and Performance in an MBA Program." The present field experiment examined the application of goal setting theory on student self-efficacy, satisfaction with the MBA program, as well as performance (i.e., GPA). Immediately after setting specific high goals, the self-efficacy of MBA students who set year end (distal) outcome goals was lower than participants in either the "do your best" or the learning goal conditions. Participants who set specific difficult learning goals had higher satisfaction with the MBA program than those in other experimental conditions. GPA was significantly higher in the learning goal condition relative to the distal performance goal condition. Participants who set proximal goals, in addition to a distal outcome goal, had a higher GPA than those who only set a distal goal or those who were urged to do their best. Key measures in this study were satisfaction, self-efficacy, and GPA. GPA was assessed on a 4-point scale, at the end of the academic year. Self-efficacy was measured in terms of obtaining 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, all, or even exceeding one's goals of the MBA program (yes/no) as well as one's confidence in one's ability to do so (10-point scale). At the end of both the first semester and the academic year, a person's satisfaction with the MBA program was assessed using a 12-item scale. This is an example of a . . .

-quantitative study. why: This study uses data that are expressed in numbers. The data are obtained from measurement tools that use a 4-point scale, a 10-point scale, a 12-item scale, and proportions of goal achievement.

We identified eight companies that had a sustained period of five years over which the cumulative total stock return dramatically outperformed the general market and its competitors. We then identified eight companies that had a sustained period of five years over which the cumulative total stock return dramatically underperformed the general market and its competitors. A group of 5 reviewers independently evaluated the companies' annual reports, company records and annotated interviews with senior managers to assess the companies' Talent Management (TM) practices. It was found that the eight outperformers all deployed a wide range of TM practices, whereas six underperformers did not deploy any TM practices. This result clearly indicates that companies that deploy TM practices perform better financially. Could there be methodological bias that may have affected the results? And how could the researchers have minimized bias?

-the halo affect has affected the results why: The halo effect is a methodological bias in which researchers make generalized inferences based on a few pieces of information. In this case, the reviewers' judgment of whether a company deployed TM practices may be affected by the information about a company's financial performance. -the bias could have been minimized by By blinding (or hiding) the companies' name and financial performance

y team manager is very conscious of risk and shows strong leadership in ensuring we manage risk in the right way. He/she is an excellent role model for me. Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree The questionnaire was distributed among a random sample of 10,000 nurses from 120 hospitals in the United Kingdom. Most of the nurses filled out the questionnaire during a team meeting in which their manager was present. Could there be methodological bias that may have affected the research? And how could the researchers have minimized bias?

-the social desirability bias has affected the results why: Due to the presence of their team manager, the nurses may have been inclined to provide socially desirable answers. -the bias could have been minimized by assuring the nursed anonymity

Steps of the Scientific Method

1.) Ask a question about something they observe (how? what? when? how many? who? why? or where? 2.) Formulate a hypothesis (an assumption about how things work or a prediction about what will happen 3.) Test the hypothesis by doing an experiment or making systematic observations 4.) Collect Data 5.) Analyze Data 6.)Draw a conclusion as to whether and the extent to which the hypothesis is likely to be right.

Mediators

A mediator is a variable that specifies how or why a particular effect or relationship occurs. Thus, if you remove the effect of the mediator, the relationship between the predictor and the outcome will no longer exist.

A study reports a 0.12 percent lower absenteeism rate in companies that use a new prevention model. The p-value for the difference in absenteeism rate (compared with companies that do not use the prevention model) is 0.0001, suggesting that there is only a very small probability (0.01 percent) that this finding is due to chance. Now, let's assume that the cost of implementing the model is quite substantial. Should you implement the model?

No why: You probably should not. A p-value of 0.0001 sounds impressive. However, a 0.12 percent lower absenteeism rate is practically irrelevant. Even if a company had a large number of employees, a decrease of 0.12 would not be worth the effort, especially when the cost of implementing the model would be substantial.

Read the following abstract of an empirical study, "Understanding the Breast Cancer Experience of Women: A Study of African American, Asian American, Latina and Caucasian Cancer Survivors." Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in American women across most ethnic groups. Although the psychosocial impact of breast cancer is being studied, there is little information on women from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. We conducted a study with breast cancer survivors (BCS) of various ethnicities. A total of 102 BCS participated in focus group interviews (24 African Americans, 34 Asians, 26 Latinas and 18 Caucasians); 20 health professionals participated in key informant interviews. The prevailing concerns among all women included overall health, moderate physical concerns, cancer recurrence or metastases, psychosocial concerns related to worry about children and burdening the family, and body image and sexual health concerns. Additional challenges included: lack of knowledge about breast cancer; medical care issues such as insurance, cost and amount of time spent with physician; cultural sensitivity of providers; language barriers; cultural factors related to beliefs about illness, gender role and family obligations (e.g., self‐sacrifice). These BCS, particularly the women of color, voiced that their spiritual beliefs and practices are central to their coping. This study accomplishes two goals: it adds to the sparse literature concerning the psychosocial sequelae of breast cancer among women of color, and it increases our knowledge of specific cultural influences (e.g., dietary practices, coping) and socio‐ecological factors on quality of life (QOL). More importantly, the study addresses areas that have not been studied before, specifically, an in‐depth study on BCS QOL comparing multiple ethnic groups in the US. The results of this investigation will provide preliminary information to survivors and health‐care providers about the impact of culture and socio‐ecological contexts on survivorship. This is an example of a . . .

qualitative study