The Everything Paper Timeline for Completion. Each step of the paper is due at 11:59 pm on the date listed below. Key Learning Objectives. Upon completion of this assignment, you should know how to:

PSYC3530

Dr. Langley

Worksheet #1

due Sunday, January 28th

Respond to each of the questions by typing your answer in the corresponding answer box; the box will expand to accommodate answers of any length. Questions are worth 1 point each and are based on the article referenced below, which is available in the ‘Additional Readings’ folder on iCollege. If a question has multiple parts, be sure to address each part in your response. Responses should be in complete sentences unless otherwise stated.

While preparing this assignment, you should not copy/paste full sentences (plagiarism) or long phrases from the article, but instead should paraphrase details in your own words. This assignment must be completed individually and in your own words, without any assistance or collaboration. Use complete sentences for all items except #4 and #6. Upload your completed document to the appropriate iCollege submission folder as a Word document or a PDF (not as a .pages file, for example).

Rind, B. & Strohmetz, D. (1999). Effect on restaurant tipping of a helpful message written on the back of customers’ checks. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 29(1), 139-144.

Introduction:

List the 3 categories of factors that have been found to influence tipping behavior.

The three categories that influence tipping behavior is the characteristics of the dining party, server characteristics, and server diner interactions.

What is/are the specific hypothesis/hypotheses made by the researchers? What explanation/rationale for the hypothesis/hypotheses do the researchers provide?

The specific hypothesis that is made by the researchers is that adding a helpful message about an upcoming dinner special on the back of customer checks help in increasing the tip percentages. The rationale is based on the principle of exchange where people are likely to leave a larger tip if they feel gratitude for being helped.

Methods:

Describe who participated in the study.

81 dining parties which totaled 315 customers.

List the independent variable and its levels:

IV:	The lack or presence of a helpful message on the back of the check.
Levels:	Message/ no message condition

What is/are the dependent variable(s) and how was it (or how were they) measured?

The tip percentage is the dependent variable, and they were measured by dividing the tip size by the bill amount and multiplying it by 100.

Indicate whether the independent and dependent variables are measured or manipulated.

independent variable	Manipulated (message or no message condition)
dependent variable(s)	Measured (tip percentage)

At the end of the Methods section, the authors describe a potential confound and what they did to avoid it. What was the potential confound and how did they avoid it?

The potential confound is the server’s behavior when she is delivering the check. To avoid it the server is instructed to behave the same way and not change her behavior. She delivers the check then immediately leaves to avoid contact.

Results:

In your own words, what were the results of the study? Did the findings support or challenge the researchers’ hypothesis?

The results suggest that adding a helpful message increases tip percentage. The average tip percentage was statistically significantly greater in the message condition than the no message condition. This supports the researcher’s hypothesis.

Discussion:

What impact might this research have in the real world? What are some potential implications of the results?

The potential impact is in the research. The research suggests that servers can help to increase their tip percentages by including helpful messages on the backs of their checks. The implications could include a potential increase in the income for servers and the technique could be implied across the board for servers in the U.S.

The very last paragraph of the article describes how the generalizability of the current findings needs to be examined. What type of validity is this related to? Explain why future research might need to examine different restaurant locations and factors and servers who are male.

The type of validity this is related to is external validity. The researchers discuss the need for future research to examine their findings by varying locations and restaurant factors by using different servers and including males. This all ensures that the results are relevant beyond specify context of the study.