2 a Large Cooperation Develops a Long-Term Project to Test

question 6

Essay

2. A large cooperation develops a long-term project to test a series of leadership training courses it is designing. The training courses are to be offered after work for low-level employees. They will be run on a volunteer basis, and the workers will not be paid for staying late to attend. To evaluate the effectiveness of the course after ten years, the corporation decides that the measure of effectiveness will be how many of the individuals who take the course assume positions of leadership in comparison with those who did not take the course.
a. What is the measure of the dependent variable in this study?
b. In words or appropriate notation, identify the design of the study.
c. Assume that after ten years it is found that those who took the leadership course are more likely to be in positions of leadership within the corporation than those who did not. Identify two threats to internal validity and carefully explain how each could account for this effect.

Distinguish between different methods of causal reasoning and their applications.

Understand how to construct and evaluate generalizations in the context of empirical evidence.

Apply the method of difference to identify causal relationships.

Analyze the role of disconfirming evidence in strengthening generalizations.

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Definitions:

Jnd

The minimum difference in stimulation that a person can detect 50% of the time, also known as the just noticeable difference.

Absolute Threshold

The minimum intensity level of a stimulus required for a person to detect its presence at least half the time.

Proportional Differences

Variations that are relative to the size or significance of the items being compared.

Proportional Differences

Refers to the comparison of ratios or fractions, highlighting the relative difference in size or magnitude between two or more quantities.