Stress levels on the job are often related to the reasons employees report low satisfaction or intend to leave the organization. This is a study where we ask new employees at an organization how long they feel they will remain with the company. Employees are assigned to groups based on how stressful they rated the workplace:
10 employees rated the workplace has high stress
10 employees rated the workplace as moderate stress
10 employees rated the workplace as low stress
In the table below, the time in years that they would stay with the company is reported for each group. What statistical test would you use to measure differences between the groups and why?
|
LOW STRESS
|
MODERATE STRESS
|
HIGH STRESS
|
|
3.4
|
3.5
|
2.9
|
|
3.2
|
3.6
|
3.0
|
|
3.0
|
2.7
|
2.6
|
|
3.0
|
3.5
|
3.3
|
|
3.5
|
3.8
|
3.7
|
|
3.8
|
2.9
|
2.7
|
|
3.6
|
3.4
|
2.4
|
|
4.0
|
3.2
|
2.5
|
|
3.9
|
3.3
|
3.3
|
|
2.9
|
3.1
|
3.4
|
You have to use credible references to support your work. Remember, for any statistical test you use, you have to cite and reference the assumptions of that test to show you have met them.
Completion of the data analysis project will require access to Microsoft Excel and will require you to download a free software package called PSPP, or to use Excel and/or SPSS for statistical analysis. You will be provided with test data and asked to perform a variety of statistical analyses on the data. You will be asked a set of questions regarding the data and the concepts the data are based upon. Scoring will be based on the accuracy of your responses to those questions, as well as the inclusion of your analysis process and results in your project report.
QUESTIONS to answer:
- What statistical test would you use to measure differences between the groups and why?
- What is the research question, null hypothesis, and alternative hypothesis?
- After using SPSS or Excel to conduct your test, would you accept or reject the null hypothesis and why?
- What post hoc tests would you run and why?