Question

a. Explain and provide reasons for how you would assign participants to groups for an experiment that wants to study Masters of Professional Accounting students and the effects of participation in group work training on satisfaction with a group work project.

b. What are some factors that might impact the results of your experiment in (a).?

Answer 1

A.

I would assign participants to groups by bringing in participants from different backgrounds, locations and an even mix of genders.

The reason for putting different types of people together is to generate a unique thought process among students which not have arisen otherwise.

If similar students are grouped, for example students from one city comprising majorly of a single ethnic group, then they will not be exposed to knowledge from outside their area or known circles as opposed to students from all over the country, or even from other countries so that people will get an idea of what is happening in the accounting sphere in various areas.

Students will experience higher satisfaction if they can jump ideas into a group and get a new perspective on their thoughts. Group satisfaction increases when there is a common goal and a fluid exchange of unique ideas. This can be made possible by creating a diverse group.

B. Factors that could impact this experiment are:

Language barriers- If there are students from other countries, there could be barriers in communication.

Group conflict- In case there are two or more dominating personalities in the group, there could be friction over the decisions to be made.

Lack of communication- If there is little commonality between group members, there is a chance that communication may not be as fluid as expected.