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Brac University Student Honor Code

On this exam, I will not cheat, use unfair means, join intentionally or unintentionally any online or offline
group in which exam answers are posted or discussed, or engage in any behavior that would commonly be
deemed to be academically unethical. I will immediately notify the course teacher of any such activity or
online or offline groups that I become aware of. I acknowledge that I may be suspended or expelled from
Brac University if I am found to have engaged in any academically unethical behavior.

I understand that a certain percentage of students will be randomly selected for a viva after the exam and
asked about their exam answers and related information and that if called for a viva, that I must appear for
the viva within a designated time frame. I understand and accept that the viva may be scheduled at any point
in time after I submit my answers online. I may be contacted at the email address listed below for a viva. I
understand that a failure to appear for the viva after being notified at the email address below will be
considered as evidence of cheating. An inability to explain my exam answers during the viva may also be
considered as evidence of cheating.

I consent to video/audio recording of these viva sessions. I further recognize that non-compliance with the
above may lead to further disciplinary actions that I will be ready to accept without complaint.

 I agree to the abovementioned terms and conditions in the Honor Code. (Check or click the small
box to agree to the terms and conditions).

K. M. Asif Muznabeen Shafat

______________________________________
Digital Signature (Type your full name above this line)

18304148
______________________________________
Student ID

September 28, 2020

______________________________________
Date

k.m.asif.muznabeen.shafat@g.bracu.ac.bd
______________________________________
Contact Email for Viva

01734836908
______________________________________
Contact Phone Number where I can be Reached by SMS
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BUS302 Final Exam

Submitted by
Student Name: K. M. Asif Muznabeen Shafat
Student ID: 18304148

Research Methods in Business and Management (BUS302)

Section 01
Summer 2020

Submitted to
Mr. Jubairul Islam Shaown
Lecturer

BRAC Business School

BRAC University
Date of Submission: September 28, 2020
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BROAD TOPIC: Sales of a Product

1. Write down your modified research topic.

Answer:
A study on the sales of fiction titles across countries: Do higher fiction sales indicate a more overall
empathetic population?

2. Write a literature review of 200-300 words (using at least 1 article as reference)

Answer:
2.1 Reading and Social Skills:
While these exists a social stereotype of the avid reader in the persona of an unfashionable, socially
awkward person who avoids the companionship of people in exchange for that of books, Mar et al.
(2006) suggest that this may only be factually applicable to readers of non-fiction titles. In fact,
when it comes to readers of fiction, the exact opposite may be true in reality. Non-fiction and fiction
works differ greatly in their structure and composition. Non fiction tends to ha an expository nature,
but fiction by contrast is very narrative-driven. Fictional narratives consist of depictions of a world
populated by conscious agents which pursue specific aims and objectives, coming together to form
a cohesive plot, thus providing parallels with our own reality and existence. Expository non-fiction
works on the other hand give us no such real-world parallels, focusing only on the theoretical or
technical subject matter of each such work. As such, the ways in which we process fictional
narratives are at least somewhat similar to they ways in which we process our factual social
environment. As such, it makes sense that those who consumer fictional texts frequently may in fact
be bolstering their socio-cognitive abilities even when they are lost in the pages of a book instead of
being engaged in actual social interactions.

2.2 Fiction and Empathy:

The consumption of fictional narratives may have a very important impact on the regular feelings
and behaviors of those who experience them. According to Bal and Veltkamp (2013), it has been
suggested that the consumption of fictional narratives may be instrumental in helping people gain
personal insight. It has also been suggested that frequent reading of fictional texts leads to people
being more empathetic, as such texts contain simulations of interpersonal social experiences.
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References:
1. Mar, R. A., Oatley, K., Hirsh, J., Dela Paz, J., & Peterson, J. B. (2006). Bookworms versus
nerds: Exposure to fiction versus non-fiction, divergent associations with social ability, and
the simulation of fictional social worlds. Journal of research in personality, 40(5), 694-712. 
2.
Bal, P. M., & Veltkamp, M. (2013). How does fiction reading influence empathy? An
experimental investigation on the role of emotional transportation. PloS one, 8(1), e55341.

3. Develop 2 hypothesis in such a way so that the first hypothesis can be tested using
correlation analysis, and the second hypothesis can be tested using regression analysis. Write
both alternate and null hypothesis. In the brackets, also mention whether they are
directional/non-directional hypothesis.

Answer:

Hypotheses:

Null:
Null Hypothesis (H0): There exists no relationship whatsoever between the sales of fiction titles per
capita per annum in a country and the average empathy quotient (EQ) score of the population of
that country. (Non-directional.)

Alternate:
Hypothesis 1 (H1): There exists some kind of relationship between the sales of fiction titles per
capita per annum in a country and the average empathy quotient (EQ) score of the population of
that country. (Non-directional.)

Hypothesis 2 (H2): There exists a positive (+ve) relationship between the sales of fiction titles per
capita per annum in a country and the average empathy quotient (EQ) score of the population of
that country. (Directional.)
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4. For the 2 sets of hypotheses, what sampling technique do you think would be the best?
Why? Justify your answer.

Answer:
For the two sets of hypotheses, the sampling technique I believe should be used is stratified
sampling. This scope of this study is across multiple countries and their respective populations. As
such, samples need to be collected from each country. Furthermore, fiction sales and reading habits
may or may not differ across the urban, suburban, and rural areas of each country. As such, the
populations of each country would have to be stratified geographically into three strata – Urban,
Suburban, and Rural. And then, simple random sampling would have to be carried out from within
each stratum.

5. Assume that you have collected data to test the hypotheses. You do not have to run SPSS
software to answer this question. But, in your script, answer the following:

a. Assume that you have run correlation test to test your first hypothesis. Now, you can
hypothetically assume any correlation output here (+1, +.02, 0, -0.5, -1 or any other
feasible figure). Once you have assumed the result, explain your answer, and tell us
whether you accept or reject the null hypothesis and why.

The main issue that I will assess here is whether you know all the points or issues that
you have to consider from the output window of SPSS in order to find out whether to
accept/reject the null hypothesis. A tip: the value indicating the strength of correlation
is not the only number we consider when analyzing our results

Answer:

From our analysis, it is found that r = 0.85 and p = 0.038. This indicates that there is a strong,
positive relationship between the sales of fiction titles per capita per annum in a country and the
average empathy quotient (EQ) score of the population of that country which is significant at 5%.
Therefore, we reject the null hypothesis and conclude that there indeed exists some kind of
relationship between the sales of fiction titles per capita per annum in a country and the average
empathy quotient (EQ) score of the population of that country
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b. Assume that you have run regression analysis to test your second hypothesis. Now, you
can hypothetically assume any regression output here. Once you have assumed the
result, explain your answer, and tell us whether you accept or reject the null
hypothesis and why. Explain all the relevant values that were taught in class with
regards to your regression analysis (More specifically, explain R2, regression equation,
and p-value for your test. You can assume any hypothetical figure here as part of your
explanation).

The main issue that I will assess here is whether you know all the points or issues that
you have to consider from the output window of SPSS in order to find out whether to
accept/reject the null hypothesis.

Answer:

Regression Model:
From analysis, the regression model we have found is,
Y = 0.85(X) + 41.33

Here,

Y is the dependent variable “average EQ score”

X is the independent variable “sales of fiction titles per capita per annum”
0.85 is the slope of the best fit line
41.33 is the Y-intercept i.e. value of Y at X=0

Decision:
The coefficient of determination, R2 is 0.7225, which indicates that the independent variable (sales
of fiction titles per capita per annum) can explain 72.25% of the change in the dependent variable
(average EQ score). We have also found a p-value of 0.038, indicating that the result is significant
at 5%. Therefore, we are rejecting the null hypothesis and concluding that there exists a positive
(+ve) relationship between the sales of fiction titles per capita per annum in a country and the
average empathy quotient (EQ) score of the population of that country.