Lecture 3 Variables, Relationships and Hypotheses Research Methods and Statistics

Relationships in Quantitative Research Hypothesized Model

Relationships in Quantitative Research

Descriptive Research Descriptive research may not inform relationships Examples - At-Will Employment in Government - Pay for Performance in GA State Government: Employee Perspectives on GAGain After 5years - Diversity and Representation in Federal Agencies: Analysis of the trends of Federal Employment.

Descriptive or Relationship? How has the level of federal employee overall job satisfaction changed over the last two years? What percentage of male and female employees are dissatisfied with pay-for-performance systems overall? Are public employees who are motivated by intrinsic reasons more likely to be satisfied overall than those who are motivated by extrinsic reasons? Does employee job satisfaction level have an effect on overall performance of public organizations?

Variables Types of Variables - Quantitative: variable for which the values for that variable vary in degree or amount (ex. degree of job satisfaction, organizational size, age) - Categorical: variables for which the values for that variable vary in type or kind (ex. gender, type of occupation, race/ethnicity, supervisory status) Quantitative or Categorical Variable? - College major - Tests score earned - Turnover rate - Annual income

Measurement and Measurement Scales Nominal - People with the same value are the same on an attribute. - Values are classified into 2 or more categories; cannot rank or quantify - ex. gender, race, marital status, school type Ordinal - All attributes of nominal scale plus magnitude characteristic. - Can rank order data but cannot quantify magnitude of difference - ex. educational attainment, job satisfaction scores

Measurement and Measurement Scales Ratio - All attributes of interval scale plus a true absolute zero point. - ex. income, age, weight, distance Interval - All attributes of ordinal scale plus equal interval characteristic - Can rank and quantify differences, but there is no absolute zero point - ex. temperature, most test, and IQ scores

Class exercise 1: Identify Research Qs, Variables, and Types of the Variables Unequal Pay: The Role of Gender, Alkadry and Tower Process and Outcome: Gender Differences in the Assessment of Justice, Sweeney and Mcfarlin Factors Affecting State Government Information technology Employee Turnover Intentions, Kim Explaining Turnover Intention in State Government, Moynihan and Landuyt Employee Turnover and Organizational Performance: Testing a Hypothesis from Classical Public Administration, Meier and Hicklin

Roles of Variables in a Relationship Independent variable (IV) (explanatory, predictor, or “X” ) - The presumed cause of another variable Dependent variable (DV) (response, outcome, or “Y”) - The presumed effect or outcome Independent Variable (IV) (presumed or possible cause) Dependent Variable (DV) (presumed effect or outcome)

Relationships: Roles of Variables Intervening variable: variable that occurs between two other variables (also called mediator or mediating variable) Moderator variable: variable that changes the relationship between other variables Extraneous variable: variable that may compete with IV in explaining an outcome. (also called control variable) Confounding variable: extraneous variable that is not controlled for and therefore could be the real reason for an outcome

Hypotheses A hypothesis is a researcher’s prediction about the possible outcomes of a study. Research Q: Does demographic heterogeneity in work groups decrease job satisfaction and organizational commitment of employees? Hypotheses - H1 Racial/ethnic, sex, and age diversity will increase turnover intention of employees. - H2 Racial/ethnic, sex, and age diversity will decrease job satisfaction of employees.

Criteria for a “Good” Hypothesis It is based on sound reasoning that is consistent with theory, previous research or observation. It provides a reasonable explanation for the predicted outcome. It clearly states a expected relationship between defined variables

Stating Hypotheses: Advantages and Disadvantages - Forces researcher to think more deeply about the possible outcome of a study - The outcome of study may provide valuable contribution to body of literature Disadvantages - May lead to either a conscious or unconscious bias on the part of the researcher - May prevent the researcher from noticing other phenomena that might be important to a study

Class Exercise 2 Determine whether the research question seeks to investigate a relationship between variables. If so, write the research question in the form of a hypothesis. If not, modify the question so that it proposes such a relationship. Identify the independent and dependent variables for the hypothesis. 1) Is the U.S. public more willing to support the use of U.S. military forces when U.S. interests are affected than when they are not? 2) How important is political experience of presidential candidates to voters in the 2008 presidential primaries? 3) Is the number of bills passed by a state legislature related to whether both cambers of the legislature are controlled by the same party? 4) Do states with public funding for candidates have more competitive elections than states without public funding? 5) Does a country’s turnout rate in elections have an impact on how much a country’s welfare policies change in response to changes to market-based inequalities?