Several Studies Have Shown That Feelings of Empathy Motivate Altruistic

question 21

Essay

Several studies have shown that feelings of empathy motivate altruistic behavior. The 2002 GSS showed a correlation of .19 between the Davis Empathy Scale and a composite measure of altruistic behavior based on whether respondents had engaged in 15 different activities during the past year. Among these activities were giving directions, giving money to charity, helping carry a stranger's belongings, and donating blood. This modest association may reflect difficulties in measuring altruistic behavior. Identify two possible sources of error in the GSS measure of altruistic behavior and carefully explain how each could introduce random or systematic measurement error.

---

Definitions:

Days Sales Outstanding

Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) measures the average number of days that it takes a company to collect payment after a sale has been made.

Inventory Turnover Ratio

A measure of how many times a company's inventory is sold and replaced over a period. It indicates the efficiency of inventory management.

ROE

Return on Equity, a measure of a company's profitability that reveals how much profit a company generates with the money shareholders have invested.

Inventories

Assets held for sale in the ordinary course of business, or in the process of production for such sale, or in the form of materials to be consumed in the production process.