Each Year the Personnel Department in a Large Corporation Assesses

question 12

Essay

Each year the personnel department in a large corporation assesses the performance of all of its employees. Each employee is rated for various aspects of his or her job on a 7-point scale where
1 = very unsatisfactory and 7 = satisfactory. The president of the company believes that the assessment scores this year are lower than last year's. To examine the validity of this belief, she draws a random sample of six employees' scores from last year and another six employees' scores this year. Do the data listed below allow the president to conclude at the 5% significance level that her belief is correct? $\begin{array} { | c | c | } \hline { \text { Employees Ratings Scores } } \\\hline \text { This Year } & \text { Last Year } \\\hline 5 & 5 \\\hline 6 & 5 \\\hline 4 & 3 \\\hline 5 & 3 \\\hline 5 & 4 \\\hline 4 & 3 \\\hline\end{array}$

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Definitions:

Cognitive Dissonance

The uncomfortable feeling people experience when they have two thoughts or cognitions conflict with one another.

Attitude Polarization

The phenomenon by which an individual's stance on an issue becomes more extreme after considering evidence or arguments.

Show Attitude

The demonstration of one's feelings, beliefs, or disposition through verbal and non-verbal forms of expression.

Biased Manner

A way of acting or making decisions that is influenced by prejudices or partiality, rather than being fair or impartial.