MLOS 500a 2a

MLOS 500a Research in Organizations:

1 MLOS 500a Research in Organizations Lecture #2 Ruth Anna Abigail, Ph.D. Professor, Center for Adult and Professional Studies Azusa Pacific University © 2011 Azusa Pacific University. All rights reserved.

Three Basic Questions—Descriptive:

2 Three Basic Questions—Descriptive Answers the question of “what is going on” or “what exists” What percentage of the population would vote for a Democratic or a Republican presidential candidate? What is the distribution of Democratic versus Republican votes?

Some interesting descriptive answers:

3 Some interesting descriptive answers Voting results by state in 2004

Some interesting descriptive answers:

4 Some interesting descriptive answers Voting results by state population density in 2004

Some interesting descriptive answers:

5 Some interesting descriptive answers Voting results by county in 2004

Some interesting descriptive answers:

6 Some interesting descriptive answers Actual distribution between Republican (red) and Democrat (blue) expressed by scale in 2004

Some interesting descriptive answers:

7 Some interesting descriptive answers States where the margin of difference was less than 5%

Some interesting descriptive answers:

8 Some interesting descriptive answers

The important point is. . . .:

9 The important point is. . . . What can you INFER from the distributions portrayed by the maps? NOTHING

Three Basic Questions—Relational:

10 Three Basic Questions—Relational Looks at the associations between two or more variables How do males and females say they would vote for a Democratic or a Republican presidential candidate? What is the relationship between study time and grades? What is the relationship between overtime and productivity in an organization?

Three Basic Questions—Causal :

11 Three Basic Questions—Causal Determines whether one or more variables (e.g., a program or treatment variable) causes one or more outcomes Did a recent political advertising campaign change voter preferences? Does a change in work schedule result in higher productivity or satisfaction?

Three Basic Questions:

12 Three Basic Questions The three types = cumulative Relational assumes you can first describe (by measuring or observing) each variable you are trying to relate A causal study assumes you can describe the cause and effect variables and you can show they’re related Causal studies are the most demanding