Sound Project Statistics - Research Paper Example

 «Sound Project Statistics» Organizations all around the world are constantly trying to increase efficiency and thus gain higher shareholder value. This phenomenon has become even more important in recent times due to increases in global competition. The WTO has open up new avenues of opportunity for organizations in terms of international business. This has however also increase competition from cheaper and more efficient markets. The evolution of Wal-Mart as a retail giant is a classical story of building an advantage through efficient operations and outsourcing. Therefore in this new era of global competition all organizations must become more efficient if they want to remain competitive. Thus the need of efficiency drives studies on finding methods to improve efficiency in operations. Therefore this study would explore the effects of noise on efficiency of employees. Rationale for Noise Study Music, especially rhythmical music from the classical period, has been found to enhance learning and retention (Tomatis, 1991; Gilmore, 1999; Sollier, 2005). Hallam, Price and Katsaru (2002) studied effects of relaxing music on primary school children and found that it helps in better performance in arithmetic and memory retention. Alternatively, Furnham and Strbac (2002) reported there was a significant differential effect of background noise and music on reading comprehension among introverts and extroverts. Lesiuk (2005) found positive relationship between music with work performance at the workplace. This study was done among computer system developers. However, there are conflicting evidences of whether music helps in all working environments. In an old study among employees in a skateboard factory, Newman, Hunt and Rhodes (1966) found that while employees are favorable to music being played, their measured productivity does not improve. There is also evidence in more recent studies that while calming music contributes to productivity, not all types of music may be beneficial. The studies of factors which affect the workplaces have received considerable attention in recent times (Brief & Weiss, 2002). In has been noted that, in general, music is conducive to enhanced productivity. In a very well designed experiment involving 256 employees in a large retail organization, holding 32 different clerical and administrative jobs including data entry, correspondence, and account analysis, it was found that employees in routine jobs can pay more attention to music and can benefit from it. But employees involved in complex jobs do not pay attention to the music being played, and therefore cannot enjoy its beneficial effect, if any (Oldham, Cummings, Mischel, Schmidtke, & Zhou, 1996). Music may actually not be harmful, but under given condition, it is ineffective. For employees working in a hospital, the level of accuracy required is very high. It has been discussed in a review article that nursing and medical accuracy decreases with level of increasing noise (Chaudhury, Mahmood & Valente, 2009). While for the patient access registrants accuracy may not be that critical, hospital management cannot afford a low level of productivity. To determine whether music may enhance productivity among patient registrant stuff in an open office environment in a hospital the human resource manager compared productivity of 24 individuals’ less than three different working conditions and their performance was scored on a 10-point scale. In view of conflicting evidences regarding music and level of complexity of tasks, this experiment is expected to lead to an environment more conducive to better work environment in a hospital. Objective The objective of this research is to study the effect of music on three groups of people working under constant music, unpredictable music, and no music. Research Questions This research will cover the following research questions: • Is there a positive correlation between music and work performance at work place? • Does the quality of work decrease as the noise of music increase? • Does music have a negative effect on people who are required to perform complex tasks? Hypotheses H0: Music has a significant effect on the performance of the group working under constant music. H1: Music has no significant effect on the performance of the group working under constant music. H2: Music has a significant effect on the performance of the group working under unpredictable music. H3: Music has no significant effect on the performance of the group working under unpredictable music. H4: Music has a significant effect on the performance of the group working under no music. H5: Music has no significant effect on the performance of the group working under no music. Methodology Research Design The research was aimed at establishing a cause and effect relationship, therefore a strong research design was integral. The subjects were assigned to groups randomly which is essential to increase research validity. To ensure that there is a definite causal relationship between variables X and Y, the experiment must show that the performance of employees both with and without music. Therefore measurements were taken when employees were exposed to music and when there were working without music. Moreover as the employees were involved in only clerical work which was not directly related to patient therefore no risk was present of human suffering. Study Populations The registrant staff at a hospital was divided into three different groups. The selection was made randomly to ensure that results of the experiment were not affected due to differences in employee performance or capability. The subjects were each given 30 minutes to study a set of patient registration data. The group 1 is exposed to constant music volume, whereas group 2 is exposed to varying music sounds. The third group works without any music at all. After the test each group took a multiple choice test on the registration data. Data Collection Measurement Data Group 1: Constant sound Group 2: Random sound Group 3: No sound 7 5 2 4 5 4 6 3 7 8 4 1 6 4 2 6 7 1 2 2 5 9 2 5 In the above scenario, each group of employees has taken a 10-point multiple choice questions set and their answers are recorded above in the table. The type of measurement data generated here is “ratio” data as it has all the four features of Ratio Scale. Firstly, we know that in ratio scale different numbers have different meanings, as 4 are different from 7. Secondly, they can be ranked according to any order. Thirdly, the differences between adjacent levels on the scale are equal. For instance, the difference between 5 & 6 is same as the difference between 7 & 8. Finally, this scale has an absolute or fixed zero point. An employee who scores a zero in test must have answered all the questions incorrectly. Variables There are two different types of variables in the study. The dependent variables are the ones which a researcher cannot control directly. This is because their performance is dependent on the independent variables. The independent variable on the other hand can be controlled by the researcher. Independent Variables: Level of music Dependent Variables: Productivity For the experiment the productivity has been measured in two formats: by scoring the retention amount and by quantifying the speed and error-free data entry and recording. Both these variables will be continuous. For independent variable the comparison is to be made between effect of rhythmic classical music and no music. Statistical Analysis ANOVA The ANOVA is used whenever there are three or more groups to compare. In this case it would be an appropriate tool because there are three groups to compare; Constant Sound, Random Sound and with No Sound. Degrees of Freedom Raw Data Analysis Null Hypothesis: (There is no difference in the mean productivity of those who have background music at constant volume, those who have background music at periodically varying volumes and those who do not have background music at all) Alternative Hypothesis: (There is a difference in the mean productivity of those who have background music at constant volume, those who have background music at periodically varying volumes and those who do not have background music at all.) Assumptions: 1. Independent samples 2. Normal Populations 3. Equal population standard deviations The hypothesis is to be performed at the 5% significance level, so The critical value for the right tailed test with is If the value of the f-test statistic is greater than 3.4668 then reject; otherwise do not reject. ANOVA TABLE Source df SS MS=SS/df F-statistic Treatment 2 30.08 15.04 3.596 Error 21 87.84 4.183 Total 23 117.92 Since the value of f-test statistic falls in the rejection region as 3.596>3.4668 therefore we will reject. The test results are statistically significant at the 5% level; that is, at the 5% significance level, the data do provide sufficient evidence to conclude that there is a difference in the mean productivity of employees who have background music at constant volume, those who have background music at periodically varying volumes and those who do not have background music at all. HSD Analysis Once we have obtained the results from One-Way ANOVA, follow-up tests are required to find out which group’s mean significantly differs from the other group means. The test which we will be conducting is called Tukey HSD test. In a Tukey HSD test we first need to determine the (Q-Critical Value) and then we need to compare it with the Q value of each pair of comparison. Group 1(Constant Sound) vs. Group 2 (Random Sound) Group 1(Constant Sound) vs. Group 3 (No Sound) Group 1(Random Sound) vs. Group 2 (No Sound) Critical Value If the value of the q-test statistic is greater than 3.57 then there is a significant difference in the mean of the groups. Excel Results (i) Since 2.766 < 3.57, therefore there are no significant differences in the mean productivity of the group who have background music at constant volume and those who have background music at periodically varying volumes. (ii) The second part shows that 3.631 > 3.57 therefore there is a significant differences in the mean productivity of the group which have background music at constant volume and the group which who had no background music. (iii) Finally, the results of the last part reveal that as 0.864 < 3.57 therefore there are no significant differences in the mean productivity of the group who have background music at periodically varying volumes and the group which who had no background music. Conclusion Based on the above statistical findings we deduce that there are differences among the means of three different groups especially there is a significant difference in the mean productivity of those employees who have constant background music and those employees which have no sound at all. Therefore it is better to have constant music at the backgrounds of the employees in order to enhance the productivity. Limitations and Recommendations The study being conducted is cross sectional in time horizon. To increase validity of the research data a longitudinal study should be conducted. This is because the better performance in productivity can be due to change in environment. To ensure that employees continuously perform better in a musical environment a longitudinal study must be conducted. References Brief, A. P., & Weiss, H. M. (2002). Organizational behavior: Affect in the workplace. Annual Review of Psychology. 53, 279-307, Chaudhury, H., Mahmood, A., & Valente, M. (2009). The effect of environmental design on reducing nursing errors and increasing efficiency in acute care settings: A review and analysis of the literature. Environment and Behavior. 41, 6755-6786, Furnham, A. & Strbac, L. (2002). Music is as distracting as noise: The differential distraction of background music and noise on the cognitive test performance of introverts and extraverts. Ergonomics. 45, 203-217. Gilmore, T. (1999). The efficacy of the Tomatis Method for children with learning and communication disorders: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Listening, 13, 12-23. Hallam S, Price J,. & Katsaru, G. (2002). The effects of background music on primary school pupils’ task performance. Educational Studies. 28, 111-122. Lesiuk, T. (2005). The effect of music listening on work performance. Psychology of Music. 33, 173-191, Newman, R. I., Jr, Hunt, D. L., & Rhodes, F. (1966). Effects of music on employee attitude and productivity in a skateboard factory. Journal of Applied Psychology. 50. 493-496, Sollier, P. (2005). Listening for Wellness, an introduction to the Tomatis method. U.S.A.: The Mozart Center Press. Annotated Bibliography we would not number these in APA format :) Brief, A. P. & Weiss, H. M. (2002). Organizational behavior: affect in the workplace. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 279-307. Arthur P. Brief and Howard M. Weiss are both Professors at reputable universities. The research conducted by Brief and Weiss studies the organizational behavior and effects in the workplace. This study is relevant to the current research because the current research tries to find out whether music has any effect in the workplace. 2. Chaudhury, H., Mahmood, A., & Valente, M. (2009). The effect of environmental design on reducing nursing errors and increasing efficiency in acute care settings: A review and analysis of the literature. Environment and Behavior, 41, 6755-6786. Habib Chaudhury, Atiya Mahmood, and Maria Valente are all Professors at reputed Universities. This research studies the effect of environmental design on reducing nursing errors and increasing efficiency in acute care settings. They concluded in their study that variables such as, noise levels, ergonomics, lighting, and design can increase errors at work place. This study is relevant to the current research as the current research also focuses on the efficiency of employees at a hospital and the effect of variable i.e. music, on their productivity. 3. Furnham, A. & Strbac, L. (2002). Music is as distracting as noise: The differential distraction of background music and noise on the cognitive test performance of introverts and extraverts. Ergonomics. 45, 203-217. Furnham and Strbac are Professors at the Department of Psychology, University College London. They conducted the research to study the effects of background noise on the performance of individuals who were both introverts and extraverts and found that the noise has a negative impact on their performance and concluded that music has different impact on people with different personalities. This study is similar to the current research as it also studies the impact of music on the performance of employees at a hospital. 4. Gilmore, T. (1999). The efficacy of the Tomatis Method for children with learning and communication disorders: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Listening, 13, 12-23. Dr. Tim Gilmor is an organizational psychologist who specializes in assessment and development of management teams. He conducted the meta-analysis of data, which was conducted from five different research studies evaluating the efficacy of Tomatis Method. He concluded that affect sizes that favored the children being studied were in compliance with the clinician’s report. This study is relevant to the present research because of its evaluation of effect of auditory sensation on learning of children with learning and communication disorders. 5. Hallam S, Price J. & Katsaru, G. (2002). The effects of background music on primary school pupils’ task performance. Educational Studies. 28, 111-122. Hallam, Price, and Katsaru conducted this research to study the effects of background music on the task performance of Primary School children and concluded that relaxing music had a positive effect on the performance of these children on both arithmetic and memory tasks. They also found that music did not affect the cognition directly but through arousal and mood of children. This study is relevant to the present research because both the research study the effect of music on performance. 6. Lesiuk, T. (2005). The effect of music listening on work performance. Psychology of Music. 33, 173-191. Teresa Lesiuk of University of Windsor conducted a research in which he studied the effect of music on quality and time of work of software designers. She concluded that music can be used to positively change the mood of workers and to increase workplace interactions. This study can be used to prove the hypotheses of the present research right or wrong. 7. Newman, R. I., Jr, Hunt, D. L. & Rhodes, F. (1966). Effects of music on employee attitude and productivity in a skateboard factory. Journal of Applied Psychology, 50. 493-496. This research was conducted to study the effects of four different types of music, dance, show, folk, and popular, on quantitative and qualitative performance of workers involved in performing routine tasks. They found that while the workers appreciated music being played at workplace and thought that it improved their productivity, no change was measured in their productivity. This study is similar to the present research as it also focuses on the effects of music on the productivity of workers. Read More