Ninth Edition CoverGraziano & Raulin
Research Methods (9th edition)

Practice Exercises Using Data Set #1

Datafile: pract1.sav 

Data Set #1 Description

This data set is from a hypothetical study of negotiation style and the success of negotiation. 

There are 40 participants in this data set. The data include demographic variables (age, sex, education level, and social class), trait variables measured at two points in time prior to the independent variable manipulation (anger, anxiety, and suspiciousness), and four measures of outcome (whether an agreement was reached, level of satisfaction with the agreement, the time required to reach agreement, and how much the participant liked his or her negotiation partner). 

The manipulation involved using a confederate (i.e., someone who worked for the researcher but looked like they were just another participant in the study). Each participant negotiated with the confederate, who was either supportive or challenging during the negotiation process depending on the condition that the participant had been randomly assigned to. 

Listed below is a detailed description of each variable. The variable name is in parentheses.

  • Participant number ranging from 1 to 40 (subject)
  • The age of the participant as of their last birthday (age)
  • The sex of the participant coded as M or F (sex)
  • The education level of the participant in years (educat)
  • The social class of the participant (range from 11 to 77) (class)
  • A trait anger measure (20-point scale) presented two weeks before the study (anger1)
  • A trait anxiety measure (22-point scale) presented two weeks before the study (anxiety1)
  • A trait suspiciousness measure (14-point scale) presented two weeks before the study (suspic1)
  • The same trait anger measure presented on the day of the study before the experimental manipulation (anger2)
  • The same trait anxiety measure presented on the day of the study before the experimental manipulation (anxiety2)
  • The same trait suspiciousness measure presented on the day of the study before the experimental manipulation (suspic2)
  • The experimental group to which the participant was assigned; coded as 1 for supportive and 2 for challenging (group)
  • Whether the negotiation led to an agreement coded as Y or N (agree)
  • The level of satisfaction with the agreement expressed by the participant on a 10-point scale, where 10 was the most satisfied (satisfac)
  • The time in minutes required to reach an agreement or agree that an agreement is impossible (time)
  • How likeable each participant found his or her negotiation partner (the experimental confederate) on a 10-point scale, where 10 is the most likeable (like)

Questions

  1. Compute descriptive statistics on the demographic variables of age, sex, education, and social class.
  2. Look at the cross-tabulation of the variables of sex and group to see if sex is balanced across conditions.
  3. Compute the descriptive statistics for the trait measures of anger, anxiety, and suspiciousness at time #1.
  4. Compute the descriptive statistics for the trait measures of anger, anxiety, and suspiciousness at time #2.
  5. Compute the test-retest reliability for the trait measures of anger, anxiety, and suspiciousness.
  6. Test the hypothesis that the style of the confederate in the negotiation task affected the likelihood of an agreement. Use the statistical flowchart in Chapter 14 if you are unsure of what statistical procedure to perform.
  7. Was there an age difference between those who came to an agreement and those who did not?
  8. Was there a sex difference between those who came to an agreement and those who did not?
  9. Was there an education level difference between those who came to an agreement and those who did not?
  10. Was there a social class difference between those who came to an agreement and those who did not?
  11. Did the condition affect the level of satisfaction with the negotiation process or the amount that the participant liked the negotiation partner?
  12. Were there differences in the time that the parties negotiated in the two conditions?
  13. Did the negotiation process continue longer if there was no agreement reached?
  14. Did the level of trait anger at time #1 (two weeks before the negotiation) predict the level of satisfaction?
  15. Did the level of trait anxiety at time #1 (two weeks before the negotiation) predict the level of satisfaction?
  16. Did the level of trait suspiciousness at time #1 (two weeks before the negotiation) predict the level of satisfaction?
  17. Did the level of trait anger at time #2 (moments before the negotiation) predict the level of satisfaction?
  18. Did the level of trait anxiety at time #2 (moments before the negotiation) predict the level of satisfaction?
  19. Did the level of trait suspiciousness at time #2 (moments before the negotiation) predict the level of satisfaction?
  20. Did the level of trait anger, anxiety, or suspiciousness at time #2 predict whether an agreement was reached in the group where the confederate was supportive?
  21. Did the level of trait anger, anxiety, or suspiciousness at time #2 predict whether an agreement was reached in the group where the confederate was challenging?
  22. What were the intercorrelations between the trait measures at both time #1 and time #2?
  23. Was there a relationship between the level of satisfaction with the negotiation process and how much the participant liked his or her negotiation partner?
  24. Were the trait measures correlated with any of the demographic measures?
  25. Were the two groups comparable on the demographic measures?

 

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