Question

Guilt in decision making. The effect of guilt emotion on how a decision maker focuses on the problem was investigated in the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making (January 2007). A total of 171 volunteer students participated in the experiment, where each was randomly assigned to one of three emotional states (guilt, anger, or neutral) through a reading/writing task. Immediately after the task, the students were presented with a decision problem (e.g., whether or not to spend money on repairing a very old car). The researchers found that a higher proportion of students in the guilty-state group chose to repair the car than those in the neutral-state and anger-state groups.

a. Identify the population, sample, and variables measured for this study.

b. Identify the data-collection method used.

c. What inference was made by the researcher?

d. In later chapters you will learn that the reliability of an inference is related to the size of the sample used. In addition to sample size, what factors might affect the reliability of the inference drawn in this study?

Short answer

a. Population is the students, the sample size is 171, and the variables are guilt, anger, and neutral.

b. Reading and writing tasks

c. Compared to the other two groups, maximum students belonging to the guilty-state group chose for repairing the car.

d. Sample size and the presence of sampling errors.

Step-by-step solution

Identifying of population, sample, and variables

The total number of students is the total population, out of which171have been selected by the researchers. This is the sample. The variables are the emotional states:guilt, anger, and neutral.

Determining the data-collection method

After randomly selecting 171 students from the group of students, for collecting the data, the researchers have made the studentsread and write certain specified things. The tasks were then meticulously examined by the researchers to find out which students would repair a car based on their emotions.

Indicating the inference

After meticulously conducting the research by the researchers, it has been deduced thatmaximum students of the guilt-state group will repair the cars. In the other groups, the number of students who chose to repair the cars is comparatively low.

Specifying the reliability of inference

Theinference is reliable because the sample size is very large than 30, and the sample size with more than 30 elements is often considered reliable. The researchers must note whether any errors have occurred while forming the sample or not. This relates to the concept that if the errors are more, the inference will not be considered reliable.