Effect of Gender, Work Status and Age on Hours Worked per Week - Assignment Example

?Running head: HOURS WORKED PER WEEK Effect of Gender, Work Status and Age on Hours Worked per Week July This study analysed the effect of gender, work status and age on number of hours worked per week in job along with relationship between individuals work status and their gender. The analysis was performed using the 2006 Northern Ireland Life & Time Survey data. The statistical methods used for the analysis were Independent-Samples t-Test, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Chi-Square Test of Independence and Correlation. The results suggested significant effect of gender and individual work status on number of hours worked per week in job, however, age have no significant effect on number of hours worked per week in job. Further, the study revealed that there is a strong effect of gender on individual work status. Effect of Gender, Work Status and Age on Hours Worked per Week Individual’s ability to perform different type of work depends on many factors such as age, gender, environments conditions, etc. Furthermore, certain type of work is performed specifically by specific gender. This report will analyze effect of gender, age and work status on number of hours worked per week in job. In addition, this report will analyse whether work status differ by gender. The research questions identified are 1) Is there a difference in numbers of hours a week work in job between male and female respondents? 2) Is there a difference in numbers of hours a week work in job based on work status of respondents? 3) Is there a relationship between gender and work status of respondents? 4) Is there a relationship between numbers of hours a week work in job and age of respondents? To analyse above research questions, the 2006 Northern Ireland Life & Time Survey data will be used (ARK). Method Participants Participants were 1,230 respondents (40.6% male, 59.4% female) who had taken part in the 2006 Northern Ireland Life & Time Survey (NILT). Procedure All participants were asked questions mainly related to the ‘Community Relations’ and ‘Political Attitudes’, along with general sociological information. Measures The variables considered for this study are respondent’s gender, nationality, age, marital status, work status and number of hours worked per week in job. All the data were collected via a self-completion questionnaire given to each respondent. Results Descriptive Statistics Majority (59.4%) of the respondents were female (figure 1). More than half (56.8%) of the respondents were with British nationality (figure 2). About 31.7% of the respondents were with Irish nationality. The respondents with marital status single (never married) and married were about 28.9% and 44.6%, respectively (figure 3). About one-fourth (26.5%) of the respondents were with marital status living as married, separated, divorced and widowed. About three-fourth (70.1%) of the respondents were with employee work status (figure 4). The respondents with work status supervisor or foreperson, self-employed and manager were 6.9%, 10.2% and 12.9%, respectively. Figure 1: Distribution of respondent’s gender Figure 2: Distribution of respondent’s nationality Figure 3: Distribution of respondent’s marital status Figure 4: Distribution of respondent’s work status Table 1 shows the summary statistics for age and hours worked per week of respondents. Table 1: Summary statistics for age and hours worked per week Age Hours worked per week N 1230 551 Mean 48.75 35.32 Median 47.00 37.00 Mode 40 40 Std. Deviation 18.14 13.64 Range 76 99 Quartile 1 35.00 26.00 Quartile 3 63.00 40.00 Inter-Quartile Range 28.00 14.00 The average age of the respondents was about 48.75 years (SD = 18.14). About half of the respondent’s age was greater than 47 years. Most of the respondent’s age was 40 years. About middle-half of respondent’s age was in the range 28 years (Q1 = 35, Q3 = 63). The range of the respondent’s age was 76 years. The distribution of respondent’s age was approximately normally distributed (figure 5). The average number of hours worked per week in job of the respondents was about 35.32 hours (SD = 13.64). About half of the respondent’s number of hours worked per week in job was greater than 37 hours. Most of the respondent’s number of hours worked per week in job was 40 hours. About middle-half of respondent’s number of hours worked per week in job was in the range 14 hours (Q1 = 26, Q3 = 40). The range of the respondent’s number of hours worked per week in job was 99 years. The distribution of respondent’s number of hours worked per week in job was approximately normally distributed (figure 6). Figure 5: Distribution (histogram) of respondent’s age Figure 6: Distribution (histogram) of hours worked per week in job Results for t Test The research question examined was: “Is there a difference in numbers of hours a week work in job between male and female respondents?” The hypotheses tested were: The selected level of significance, ? is .05. The selected test is Independent-Samples t-Test, as there are two groups and the dependent variable Hours worked per week in job is a continuous variable. The statistical assumptions for the Independent-Samples t-Test include the following: (a) each data point in the sample is independent, (b) the data in each of the two populations are normally distributed, and (c) the two populations have equal variances. The results of the test were statistically significant, t(549) = 11.12, p < .001. Thus, the null hypothesis is rejected; there is a difference in the numbers of hours a week work in job between male and female respondents. Male respondents (M = 41.78, SD = 12.99) reported higher number of hours worked per week than female respondents (M = 30.04, SD = 11.76). The measure of effect size, as indexed by Cohen’s d was .948, indicating a moderate effect. The 95% confidence interval for the difference in means was 9.67 to 13.82. Thus, the results of the test found that male and female respondents differed significantly on number of hours worked per week in job and that difference between the male and female respondents was large, with male respondents reporting higher number of hours worked per week in job than female respondents. Results for Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) The research question examined was: “Is there a difference in numbers of hours a week work in job based on work status of respondents?” The hypotheses tested were: The means are not equal. (At least one mean is different from other) The selected level of significance, ? is .05. The selected test is Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), as there are more than two groups (four groups) and the dependent variable Hours worked per week in job is a continuous variable. The assumptions for an ANOVA are: a) observations for the sample must be independent, b) homogeneity of variance (equal variances across the four groups). The results of the test were statistically significant, F(3, 547) = 18.27, p < .001. Thus, the null hypothesis is rejected; there are differences in numbers of hours a week work in job based on work status of respondents. The strength of the relationship between work status and numbers of hours a week work in job of respondents, as indexed by ?2 was weak, with work status accounting for 9.1% of the variance in numbers of hours a week work in job. A follow up Scheffe test was performed to examine pair-wise differences. Employee respondents (M = 32.24, SD = 11.23) reported lower number of hours a week work in job than self-employed (M = 41.54, SD = 21.08) and manager (M = 41.02, SD = 11.28) respondents. Thus, the results of the test found that employee, supervisor or foreperson, self-employed and manager respondents differed significantly on number of hours a week work in job. The difference between the employee, supervisor or foreperson, self-employed and manager respondents was large, with employee respondents reporting lower number of hours a week work in job than self-employed and manager respondents. Table 2: Analysis of Variance Table Source SS df MS F ?2 p Between 9310.08 3 3103.36 18.266 .091 Read More