Читать книгу Interpreting and Using Statistics in Psychological Research - Andrew N. Christopher - Страница 56

In her research, Wendt (2013) had 46 college first-years and 62 college seniors complete a packet of surveys. In this packet were measures of demographic variables, including participant sex, age, and year in college. In addition, the packet contained three additional measures. First, there was a 15-item measure of academic burnout (Schaufeli, Martinez, Marques Pinto, Salanova, & Bakker, 2002). By “burnout,” we mean prolonged stress that causes people to feel exhausted, cynical, and as if they cannot accomplish their responsibilities effectively. Burnout tends to result not from working too hard per se but from feeling that one does not reap the benefits associated with one’s efforts. For example, if you study a lot and make good grades, you’re not likely to burn out because despite working hard, you’re reaping the rewards of your hard work. The burnout questionnaire contained items such as “I have become less enthusiastic about my studies” and “Studying is really a strain for me.”

Second, there was a 13-item measure of role overload (Reilly, 1982). By “role overload,” we mean the extent to which a person feels he or she can manage the demands with the different roles that must be played. For instance, in your role as a student, certain types of behaviors (e.g., attending class, studying, and making presentations) are expected. Likewise, in your role as a friend to other people, different types of behavior are expected (e.g., returning texts, talking, and providing advice as needed). Role overload occurs when people believe they are having a difficult time meeting all of these demands. This questionnaire contained items such as “There are times when I cannot meet everyone’s expectations” and “I can’t ever seem to get caught up.”

Finally, there was an 11-item measure of dysfunctional perfectionism (Khawaja & Armstrong, 2005). Being a perfectionist can of course be a good thing as it often drives people to do well at work and in school. However, perfectionism becomes dysfunctional when it creates an obsession with avoiding failure and mistakes, setting unattainable goals, and being unable to learn from feedback. For instance, it is good to proofread a paper, but if you spend so much time proofreading that you don’t study for a test the next day, that’s dysfunctional perfectionism. This measure contained items such as “Even when I do something very carefully, I often feel that it is not quite right” and “I set higher standards than most people.”

Students responded to the burnout, role overload, and perfectionism items using a 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) response range. Thus, burnout scores could range from 15 to 75; role overload scores could range from 13 to 65; and dysfunctional perfectionism scores could range from 11 to 55.

Before we begin using Wendt’s (2013) research to illustrate basic ideas in this chapter, let’s make sure we’re thinking the same way about why we are discussing these ideas. In this chapter and the two chapters that immediately follow it, we are going to discuss ideas about how to use descriptive statistics. Recall from Chapter 1 the notion of descriptive statistics. Specifically, we want to make sense of (i.e., describe) large amounts of data so that people can understand them easily. The purpose of frequency distributions, visual depictions, and SPSS is to help us make sense of large amounts of data. I think of the tools we are about to discuss as being to a psychologist what clay and a kiln are to a ceramicist. Without clay and a kiln, there can be no pottery. Without understanding descriptive statistics, there can be no quantitative psychological research.