A Company Runs a Three-Day Workshop on Strategies for Working

Multiple Choice

A company runs a three-day workshop on strategies for working effectively in teams. On each day, a different strategy is presented. Forty-eight employees of the company attend the workshop. At the outset, all 48 are divided into 12 teams of four. The teams remain the same for the entire workshop. Strategies are presented in the morning. In the afternoon, the teams are presented with a series of small tasks. The number of these tasks completed successfully, using the strategy taught that morning, is recorded for each team. The mean number of tasks completed successfully by all teams each day and the standard deviation are computed. The results follow. The researchers did an ANOVA F test of the data and obtained the following results. Which of the following conclusions is most reasonable?

A) There is moderate evidence that the strategies taught are effective in increasing the number of tasks completed successfully for the first two days, but the effect appears to wear off.
B) An ANOVA F test is not appropriate for these data. Instead, the company should have done several tests to see if the number of tasks completed successfully differed for the three days. This analysis would have shown that the treatment was effective.
C) The data provide strong evidence that the mean number of tasks completed successfully differs for the three strategies taught.
D) The data appear to provide little or no evidence that the strategies taught differ in their effectiveness in helping teams complete tasks successfully.