Question

Think about variables that cause one student to perform better in a business class than another student. Propose a hypothesis that captures that relationship. Now, think of a third variable that might mediate that relationship. Propose a hypothesis for that effect. Explain.

Answer 1

There are a number of variables that cause one student to perform differently in a business class. Some of the variables are:

1. Education background
2. Family background
3. Work experience

All these factors directly affect the performance of a student in a business class. The students who apply for business classes come from varied backgrounds. Students who have an engineering background may be interested in manufacturing or operations field of management, whereas students coming from a commerce background, may be inclined towards finance management.

The perfomeance difference is also dependent on their family background. If the student comes from a family that already owns businesses, then the student will have a flair and genuine interest towards business and they perform very well in business class sessions. On the other hand, students who come from normal non-business backgrounds, would not have that much hands-on experience in doing business, but may have to develop that tact and skill. These students may in the beginning lag behind othe students in business class sessions.

The place where the student has previously worked, will have an impact on the student's thought process and way of grasping ideas shared in a business class. The industry in which the student has worked in, will tell where his/her interest lies and it can cause them to perform better than those without prior work experience.

Hypotheses:

H₀ : Previous education background does not affect student's performance in a business class.

H₁ : Previous education background affects student's performance in a business class.

To introduce a mediator variable, 'Genuine Interest' of the student can be taken as a mediator variable between education background and student's performance in class.

Hypotheses:

H₀ : Student's education background does not affect his/her interests and his/her interest does not affect performance in a business class.

H₁ : Student's education background affects his/her interests, which in turn affects performance in a business class.