Stress at the workplace is one of the most significant problems observed in management. It is necessary to focus on a variety of strategies, such as the promotion of teamwork to address the problem. To discuss differences in stress levels and effects of teamwork on performance, it is necessary to formulate the answer to the following research question: Does stress at the workplace impact the productivity of employees who prefer working in teams?
The two-way factorial ANOVA is chosen to be used in the research because it can demonstrate the effect of two independent variables on one dependent variable (Huck, 2012, p. 320). Thus, the effect of both stress and teamwork on productivity is statistically measured. The interaction of two factors is also addressed. The study aims to test the following hypotheses, which are different for two independent factors and interaction:
IV Work in Teams: H0: μ1 = μ2 = μ3 = μ4, H0: There are no differences in the productivity of employees working or not in teams.
H1: μ1 ≠ μ2 ≠ μ3 ≠ μ4, H1: There are differences in the productivity of employees working in teams and employees avoiding teamwork.
IV Stress: H0: μ1 = μ2 = μ3, H0: There are no differences in the productivity of employees with different levels of stress.
H1: μ1 ≠ μ2 ≠ μ3, H1: There are differences in the productivity of employees with different levels of stress.
Interaction: H0: There is no interaction; H1: There is interaction.
Referring to the types of errors, it is important to note that Type II errors are more typical for this research conducted with the help of the two-way factorial ANOVA.
Methods
For this study 40 participants are selected. The participants are males and females aged 21-50. The participants are assigned to four groups according to their attitude to the teamwork identified with the help of a questionnaire. 10 participants represent each group. To address the criteria of the two-way factorial ANOVA, the participants are not related, and they are not matched to each other. The participants are from different ethnic backgrounds. The participants were selected randomly for the study from the community members according to the convenience sampling method. People working in different industries were invited to participate in the study with the help of e-mail. The sample is representative to study participants of different ages, ethnicities, and experiences.
It is important to discuss the procedure for the study. The proposed study is 4 X 3 factorial design, where the first factor is to work in teams having four levels, and the second factor is stress having three levels. Thus, work in teams as the first independent variable is associated with the employees’ attitude to teamwork researched with the help of the questionnaire, and it is measured according to the nominal scale in such four levels as the Active Involvement in Teamwork, Often Work in Teams, Rare Work in Teams, and Ignorance of Work in Teams.
The variable is categorical and discrete. The second independent variable is stress. The variable is also categorical and discrete. Stress as the psychological state is measured according to the ordinal scale in such three levels as the Low, Moderate, and High levels, representing the categories related to the volume of stress. These levels are measured with the help of the Stress Level Test.
The dependent variable measured with the help of the statistical test is the productivity demonstrated by employees during their working hours. Thus, the variable is discrete and quantitative, and it is measured in hours spent on performing a concrete task according to the ratio scale. The participants and their supervisors are provided with the questionnaire to state the number of hours spent on performing assigned tasks effectively. The numerical data are analyzed, and the average number is provided to the state productivity of the employees in relation to two factors.
Results
The two-way factorial ANOVA should be used to conduct the research based on independent samples. The two-way factorial ANOVA is effective to discuss the differences in factors in relation to the dependent variable if there are two independent variables in the study. Furthermore, the two-way factorial ANOVA is appropriate for the study because it demonstrates the presence or absence of interaction of two factors.
This statistical test is chosen because it can clearly determine whether there are differences in the productivity of persons with different stress levels and persons with different attitudes to teamwork. The information should be represented in the ANOVA table to demonstrate the connections. To interpret the results of the two-way factorial ANOVA effectively, it is necessary to use posthoc tests because of the necessity to state which means are actually different. Post-hoc tests should be done for Work in Teams because there are four groups, and for Stress, because there are three groups.
The information obtained from the ANOVA and posthoc tests are the numerical data representing differences or absence of differences in productivity of employees having different attitudes to work in teams and employees having different levels of stress. It is important to focus on differences in means and other measures of central tendency and variability.
Furthermore, much attention should be paid to the shape of the distribution in order to study differences related to demographics. In order to draw conclusions on the hypotheses, it is necessary to focus on comparing the average scores or means related to the productivity of different groups of employees. In addition, much attention should be paid to F statistic in order to determine statistically significant measures where p < 0.05 in relation to two factors. The decisions regarding the hypotheses will be made while measuring significance and noting that if p < 0.05, the null hypothesis is rejected, and differences are present (American Psychological Association, 2010, p. 22).
Discussion
The faults and biases associated with the research are connected with the data collection and interpretation of the results. Referring to the collection of data, it is important to note that supervisors and employees can determine their productivity inaccurately, and the average score cannot reflect the real situation. The weakness of the study design is the impossibility of referring to the data about the regular productivity of participants who can work effectively both under pressure and individually. The study is limited because it is impossible to involve employees from many working environments different in the balance of teamwork and individual work as well as in stress levels.
Using the two-way factorial ANOVA, it is possible to conclude that there are differences in the productivity of employees who have different attitudes toward teamwork. It is also possible to conclude that high-stress levels and low productivity are interconnected as well as the low-stress level and high productivity. Nevertheless, it is impossible to conclude whether teamwork contributes to increasing productivity results and whether high-stress levels contribute to decreasing typical performance results. The practical significance of the results is in opportunities for human resource managers to promote teamwork to affect productivity and decrease stress levels.
Conclusion
The study is focused on determining differences in people’s productivity, affecting my stress levels and attitudes toward working in teams. The two-way factorial ANOVA is effective to be applied to the research and provide accurate results on the presence of differences in means in order to make conclusions.
References
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Huck, S. W. (2012). Reading statistics and research (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.