Achieving Work–Life Balance

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 Achieving Work–Life Balance
Thanks to the ever-increasing wireless connectivity, the boundary between work and personal life is constantly thinning. A new term “weisure” describes the increasing tendency to continue to work during leisure time (Patterson, 2009). Examples include reading work e-mail while spending time with the family and answering work-related cell phone calls during a leisure outing. This trend, according to Patterson, is partly due to the increasing enjoyment of work but also due to the difficulty faced in establishing clear boundaries between work and leisure time. This difficulty is magnified by the increase in the average number of hours in the workweek for many in the workforce and multiple roles. Many are parents, spouses, partners, employees, and caregivers to elderly parents and also engaged in continued education.

Whether you decide to enter the workforce directly upon graduation or attend graduate school, you will be faced with the challenge of juggling multiple roles and maintaining a balance. You will also be attempting to prove yourself as a new employee or as a new graduate student. The temptation to overwork will be great. However, it can have ethical implications, especially if you work in the psychology field. The stress you face may impair your effectiveness, leading to ethical ramifications (Barnett, Baker, Elman, & Schoener, 2007).

Using the Argosy University online library resources, research work–life balance. You may want to use some or all of the following search terms: work–life balance, job satisfaction, burnout, weisure, overworked, and self-care.

  • Select at least one authoritative article from the library and provide a summary. Focus on the effects of work–life imbalance and the benefits of work–life balance.
  • Discuss any ethical ramifications of failure to take proper care of yourself while working in the field of psychology. Identify at least one ethical standard from the American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics and one standard from the APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct that apply, providing the specific standards’ numbers and titles.
  • Be sure to cite your sources

Explain how the person demonstrates integrity or ethics, giving examples.

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Write a paper on your selected leader, include the following in the paper:

 

Give an overview of the organization and the leader.

 

Explain how the person demonstrates integrity or ethics, giving examples.

 

Provide your own insight into the organization or leader.

 

What makes the person ot organization stand out?

 

If you were in that person’s place or worked for the organization, would you make the same choice?

 

 

Write a three-four page paper in worf format.  Apply APA standards for writing style to your work. Also use APA to cite books, articles and websites used in your research.

 

Providing Faith-Based Services

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Assignment 1: Discussion—Providing Faith-based Services

Faith-based services are those that incorporate elements of spirituality. In the field of counseling, those who provide faith-based services have traditionally been referred to as “pastoral counselors.”

For clients with strong religious convictions or the desire to explore their own spirituality further, particularly as it relates to a mental health issue, faith-based services may be the best choice. If a provider has strong religious convictions, it is important that the provider abide by the ethical guidelines of the profession. This is particularly relevant when the provider’s own convictions are in opposition to the client’s values, beliefs, behaviors, or issues.

As reported in The Chronicle of Higher Education, a graduate student in a counseling psychology program was dismissed from the program after she refused to work with certain client populations based on her religious beliefs. Open the link to read the article:

  • Schmidt, P. (2010, July 27). Federal judge upholds dismissal of counseling student who balked at treating gay clients. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from
    http://jobs.chronicle.com/article/Judge-Upholds-Dismissal-of/123704/

In a minimum of 350 words, respond to the following:

  • Summarize the reasons the judge upheld the student’s dismissal from her academic program.
  • Why did the judge agree with the school’s decision to dismiss her?
  • What are your views on her refusal to work with certain groups?
  • How does her refusal violate the ethics code for counselors? Identify the relevant code(s) or standard(s) from the following associations’ ethics codes:
    • American Counseling Association. (2005). ACA code of ethics. In Ethics. Retrieved from
      http://www.counseling.org/Resources/aca-code-of-ethics.pdf
    • American Psychological Association. (2010). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct: 2010 amendments. Retrieved from
      http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx
    • National Association of Social Workers. (2011). Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. Retrieved from
      http://www.naswdc.org/pubs/code/code.asp

Respond to at least two of your fellow students’ responses. Provide a statement of clarification, a point of view with rationale, challenge a point of discussion, or draw a relationship between one or more points of the discussion. Respond to the following in your review:

  • Do you agree or disagree with the school’s decision to dismiss this student?
  • Discuss how counselors can remain true to their own values, while practicing ethically and professionally.

Apply APA standards to citation of sources.

By Saturday, March 22, 2014, post your response to the appropriate Discussion Area. Through Wednesday, March 26, 2014, review and comment on at least two peers’ responses.

Discussion Grading Criteria and Rubric

Assignment 1 Grading Criteria
Maximum Points
Initial Discussion Response
16
Discussion Participation
16
Writing Craftsmanship and Ethical Scholarship
8
Total:
40
Click here to view the rubric for this assignment.

Evaluate the correlational result and identify the strength of the correlation.

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Essay 1
A group of researchers conducted an experiment to determine which vaccine is more effective for preventing getting the flu. They tested two different types of vaccines: a shot and a nasal spray. To test the effectiveness, 1000 participants were randomly selected with 500 people getting the shot and 500 the nasal spray. Of the 500 people were treated with the shot, 80 developed the flu and 420 did not. Of the people who were treated with the nasal spray, 120 people developed the flu and 380 did not. The level of significance was set at .05. The proportion of people who were treated with the shot who developed the flu = .16, and the proportion of the people who were treated with the nasal spray was .24. The calculated p value = .0008.

For this essay, describe the statistical approaches (e.g., identify the hypotheses and research methods) used in this excerpt from a research study.  Interpret the statistical results and examine the limitations of the statistical methods.  Finally, evaluate the research study as a whole and apply what you have learned about hypothesis testing and inferential statistics by discussing how you might conduct a follow-up study.

Your essay must address the following points:

  • Describe the research question for this experiment.
    • What were the null and alternative hypotheses?
    • Were the results of this test statistically significant?
    • If so, why were they significant?
  • Would the researchers reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis?
  • Do the results provide sufficient evidence to support the alternative hypothesis?
  • Was the sample appropriate for this study?  Explain your answer.
  • What are some possible limitations to this study?
  • Discuss how you would conduct a follow up study to this one. Explain your answer.
  • Describe the difference between practical and statistical significance.

Essay 2
A researcher has investigated the relationship between IQ and grade point average (GPA) and found the correlation to be .75.

For this essay, critique the results and interpretation of a correlational study.

  • Evaluate the correlational result and identify the strength of the correlation.
  • Examine the assumptions and limitations of the possible connection between the researcher’s chosen variables.
  •  Identify and describe other statistical tests that could be used to study this relationship.

Your essay response must address the following questions:

  • How strong is this correlation?
    • Is this a positive or negative correlation?
    • What does this correlation mean?
  • Does this correlation imply that individuals with high Intelligence Quotients (IQ) have high Grade Point Averages (GPA)?
  •  Does this correlation provide evidence that high IQ causes GPA to go higher?
    • What other variables might be influencing this relationship?
  • What is the connection between correlation and causation?
  • What are some of the factors that affect the size of this correlation?
  • Is correlation a good test for predicting GPA?
    •  If not, what statistical tests should a researcher use, and why?

Essay 3
A researcher has recorded the reaction times of 20 individuals on a memory assessment. The following table indicates the individual times:

 2.2  4.7  7.3  4.1
 9.5  15.2  4.3  9.5
 2.7  3.1  9.2  2.9
 8.2  7.6  3.5  2.5
 9.3  4.8  8.5  8.1

 

In this essay, demonstrate your ability to organize data into meaningful sets, calculate basic descriptive statistics, interpret the results, and evaluate the effects of outliers and changes in the variables.  You may use Excel, one of the many free online descriptive statistics calculators, or calculate the values by hand and/or with a calculator.

Next, separate the data into two groups of 10; one group will be the lower reaction times, and the second group will be the higher reaction times.  Then, address the following points in your essay response:

  • Calculate the sum, mean, mode, median, standard deviation, range, skew, and kurtosis for each group.
  • How do the two groups differ?
  •  Are there any outliers in either data group?
  • What effect does an outlier have on a sample?

Lastly, double each sample by repeating the same 10 data points in each group.  You will have a total of 20 data points for each group. After completing this, address the following in your essay response:

  • Calculate the following for the new data groups: sum, mean, mode, median, standard deviation, range, skew, and kurtosis.
  • Did any of the values change?
  • How does sample size affect those values?

Part B: Research Study Critique
In this second portion of the Final Exam, you will identify and critically evaluate a quantitative research article based on a social science topic.  Your selected article must include a research question(s) and/or hypothesis(es) and utilize statistical analyses covered in the course. The article must be peer-reviewed and published within the last 10 years.

In the body of your critique, describe the statistical approaches used, the variables included, the hypothesis(es) proposed, and the interpretation of the results.   In your conclusion, suggest other statistical approaches that could have been used and, if appropriate, suggest alternative interpretations of the results.  This process will allow you to apply the concepts learned throughout the course in the interpretation of actual scientific research. Your critique must include the following sections:

  1. Introduction: This section will include a general introduction of the quantitative study from a peer-reviewed source published within the last 10 years.  The research questions and/or hypothesis(es) as well as the purpose of the study should be clearly defined.
  2. Methods: Describe and evaluate the procedures and methods of data collection, measures/instruments used, the participants and how they were selected, and the statistical techniques used.
  3. Results: In this section describe and critique the results presented in the study.
  4. Discussion: Discuss and evaluate the efficacy of the results presented in the study.  Address, the strengths, weaknesses, and limitations of the study, and suggest future research directions.  Include additional forms of statistical analyses as part of the suggestions for future research.

The Research Study Critique:

  1. Must be three to four double-spaced pages in length (excluding title and reference pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.  Use 12-point font, with 1-inch margins.
  2. Must use the sections and headings described above.
  3.  Must address the article with critical thought by examining, reflecting, and evaluating the article from an objective viewpoint and by using facts to support your argument. Refer to the Critical Thinking Community website for further assistance.
  4. Must end with a conclusion that summarizes your critical evaluation.
  5. Must use one quantitative research study from a peer-reviewed source that was published within the last 10 years.
  6. Must properly cite the source article in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
  7. Must include a separate reference page, formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.