For this assignment, you are required to write a research report about the effect of
speech and gender cues on hiring decisions (see background below). You will
be provided with a complete data set to analyse and you will answer the research
questions below. You should analyse the data using appropriate statistical
techniques in SPSS and write a 5000-word report using the report writing
conventions of the APA.
Background
When a company has a job opening, the hiring manager aims to select the
candidate best suited to the job. However, there are different cues about the
candidate that can affect the hiring manager’s judgement. One factor is whether the
candidate’s speech while delivering their job pitch can provide additional cues about
characteristics such as their intellect. These cues may be missing if the hiring
manager only has a transcript of their job pitch. A second factor is potential gender
biases in the hiring process. Some evidence suggests that male candidates are
more likely to be selected than female candidates despite having the same
credentials. However, it is unclear how both of these factors could combine to affect
how likely a candidate is to be hired, meaning it is important to explore further. The
following references are provided to you as a starting point: Schroeder and Epley
What do I need to do?
When you conduct your own research in future, you will search for literature and
develop hypotheses before you plan and conduct a study. Therefore, before the
data is released to you, you are encouraged to start exploring this area of research
to develop your own hypotheses. Try and focus on research that has investigated
which cues (e.g., speech) can affect hiring decisions. Furthermore, explore research
that has investigated potential gender biases when evaluating job candidates.
Please try and focus on research relating to psychology. There is room to critically
evaluate gender cues and consider non-binary genders in your discussion of the
results.
You will answer the following research questions: “Are candidates more likely to be
hired if their job pitch is presented as a transcript or audio?” and “Will the
candidate’s gender affect how likely they are to be hired?”.
The aim of this is to develop your hypotheses for the research
based on what you have read. This means when the data is released to you,
you can analyses the data in order to test your hypotheses. The release of the
data is delayed to stop you being tempted to develop hypotheses after you
have already analyzed the data.
. Identify, research, critically summaries and apply key concepts in psychology
to a range of psychological issues
2. Critically evaluate and apply different methodological approaches to the study
of psychological concepts
3. Report a mini research project at a postgraduate level with a reflective
understanding of ethical issues in human participation in research
4. Critically distinguish between different research approaches in psychology
and their application, based on relevant theoretical, philosophical, practical,
statistical, and methodological reasoning
5. Demonstrate an understanding of how to plan and execute research to a
professional and ethical standard, act autonomously, and demonstrate
originality
6. Undertake effective communication and presentation skills to support or
strengthen arguments and analysis
7. Professional Skills: Utilising the skills to perform effectively within the
professional environment such as showing competence in data analysis and
reporting of results.