The Productivity Rate of Grade 10 Students in Dominican School Manila

Based on Parkinson’s Law

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Elective

Grade 10 St. Catherine

Rivera, Anya Ysabelle G.

Aliga, Marie Chai M.

Maninang, Charlotte Venice C.

Naig, Raina Joice F.

Libunao, Aedrien Joseph A.

Gumabay, Marc Oneil L.

Redosendo, Carlo Roel T.

SY. 2020-2021
 Chapter I
Introduction

In today’s modern world, time is firmly an infinitely usable and separable

commodity for each and everyone. In our daily life situations, we do different

activities or agendas that make our time usable and separable. Unfortunately, there

are countless times where time is what we want most but what we use the worst.

Op ’Parkinson's law was the observation by C. Northcote Parkinson’s law that

states “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”.

Parkinson arrived at this dictum through his extensive experience in the

British Civil Service. Parkinson's law means that work is completed at the same

time as the given deadline, for example if a person was given the deadline of 1

week to tend his garden and his work expands to fill in that 1-week deadline. There

are many researches demonstrating the use of Parkinson’s Law such as goal-setting

phenomenon (Bryan & Locke, 1967), time pressure and performance: field test of

Parkinson’s Law (Peters, L., O'Connor, E., Pooyan, A., & Quick, J. 1984) and for

project management (Gutierrez & Kouvelis, 1991).

In relation to Parkinson's Law, time and productivity is also one of the things that

many people struggle with and those are being productive within the working time

(Collewet M.Sauermann J. (2017) or the pressure of deadlines that causes decrease

in productivity (Waat.blog “Why Deadlines Are Killing Your Productivity).

 Understanding the relation between time and productivity is important to

knowing how to manage time efficiently and the importance of setting reasonable

deadlines that will affect one’s productivity. But rating productivity can be biased

and uncertain since personal factors can influence productivity such as the ability

to learn, willingness to do the task and learning capacity (The Fabricator

“Productivity- The Human Factor).

Time management is immensely important for everyone since it has an

impactful result to what we do every day in our lives. When it comes to time

management, tons of students struggle with it. Through Parkinson’s law, it

broadens people’s mindset that the more time they have, the more they feel relaxed

and at ease because of the expectations that they can still accomplish those given

tasks within those days or time that is allotted for them to complete and that what

makes their attention diverted into something else that will eventually prevent them

from doing it as early as they can. Especially for students who procrastinate a lot,

then rushes on doing tasks which leads them into creating unsatisfiable output. The

study will focus on the variation of productivity with the help of a criteria created

by the researchers and the study aims to know whether Parkinson’s proven to be

true or not based on the results of the survey.

Statement of the problem:

The research aims to know the possible variations in productivity that will occur

in different time lengths to calculate the average of it and, the criteria for tallying

the possible variation of productivity is:

Productivity Criteria:

- Number of responses submitted

- Results of the Test

- Punctuality in passing the test

The study aims to answer these specific questions:

1. What is the average productivity rate during the time limit of 30 minutes?

2. What is the average productivity rate during the time limit of 1 hour?

3. Did Parkinson's Law have an impact on the productivity rate of both groups?

4. Which group had a higher average productivity rate based on the created

criteria?
Scope and Limitation:

The aim of this study is to find and gather the variations that will occur in

the different time lengths, it also aims to evaluate the impact of Parkinson’s Law to

the average productivity rate. Because of the pandemic, the researchers will make

virtual surveys through the platform of google forms, the researchers will then send

the surveys via google mail. The respondents will consist of the 30 grade 10

students and this will be divided into two groups. The two groups will get the same

survey but with different time limits. The estimated time for the gathering and

analyzing the survey is 2-3 days.

Hypothesis:

Alternative Hypothesis:

There is a difference between the productivity rate of group 1 and group 2.

There is an increase of productivity rate within the less time limit

Null Hypothesis:

There is little to no difference between the productivity rate of group 1 and group 2

There is no increase of productivity rate in both groups

Theoretical Framework

The framework provides an overview of the study and it shows the correlation of each

variable presented in the study. The concept of Parkinson’s law is shown by giving different

given time lengths for answering the survey and the given time lengths is to measure the impact

of Parkinson’s Law to the productivity rate of both groups. The survey will be answered by

respondents which will be divided into two groups, group 1 will answer the survey within 30
minutes and group 2 will answer the same survey within 1 hour. The surveys will then result to

the variation of productivity and has criteria for finding the variation in productivity.

Significance of the Study:

The significance of the study expounds on the benefits students, teachers, parents

and future researchers can gain in reading this study:

Students will be enlightened on how Parkinson's law affects their

productivity. It helps students realize the importance of utilizing their time

efficiently and why setting reasonable deadlines are important for accomplishing

tasks on time.

Teachers can use this research for discussing the importance of time

management and advice junior high school students on how to use their time

wisely. This study can be used as a basis for teachers creating reasonable deadlines

appropriate for the given activity without reducing the productivity of the students.

Parents can understand how their children’s productivity is affected by time

based on Parkinson’s law and how they struggle in managing their daily tasks and

time.

Future researchers will attain knowledge about how time affects productivity

and the concept of Parkinson’s Law and can be used as a citation and reference for

future research that involves Parkinson’s Law.

Definition of Terms

To have a clear understanding of this research, the terms are defined by how

it is used in the research:

Criteria – A set of factors that should be taken into consideration when

grading a survey or test. It refers to standards that should be met in answering the

survey or test.

Deadline – The given or assigned time to complete a task. This refers to a

specific time limit available for completing the task.

Efficiency – It refers to how effective a person is in completing a task

without wasting time in doing so.

Productivity- One’s capability and efficiency in answering a test or

completing a task.

Variation -Refers or indicates any change in a variable. It is to define the

change in level or amount of a particular variable.

 CHAPTER 2

Review of Related Studies

Parkinson’s Law

In the article (Tiffanie Wen, 2020), Parkinson’s law originated from the

inefficiency of the bureaucratization of the British Civil Service. The adage

pointed out that although the British Service had hired many employees, it does not

simply mean that the government would be effective. It also explained how lesser

people in a group are more efficient than those who build their groups to be larger

and cannot be supported by the company’s income that results in expulsion or

eradication of the group. The other aim of Parkinson’s Law is correlated to

finishing tasks and time management; according to Eldar Shafir, humans have a

capacity when doing a task, so we tend to make schedules and spread our works in

any way to distribute it according to our capability. It mentioned some effects of

having an unbalanced priority in tasks like focusing on a big project that you forget

special events or occasions. Another is when rushing a task too early may sacrifice

the accuracy and quality of the project itself.

 In the article (Jari Roomer, 2016), Parkinson’s law boosts of one’s

productivity by focusing on what’s more important and cutting the deadlines for

that task. By shortening the deadlines reasonably, the productivity increases since

you allowed yourself to accomplish the task in a shorter amount of time, removing

excess time on unnecessary things. Although it may seem impossible, the article

counters it by stating the difference between setting a deadline reasonably and

setting an unacceptable deadline. Setting an unachievable deadline does not equate

to cutting of deadlines because your goal is to shorten the amount of time you are

working to do more tasks rather than setting a time that is logically impossible.

According to (Aneta Olejniczak, M.Sc, 2013) the concept of Parkinson’s law

can be used to create an effective time management. It elaborates on the concept of

Parkinson’s law which is “work expands so as to fill the time available for its

completion” can be a basis in setting reasonable and earlier deadlines for tasks. In

using the Parkinson’s law, tasks would not be complexed nor longer to complete

since the allotted time for it is proportioned and shortened. Parkinson’s law can

affect productivity in different ways. According to (Javier Lacorte, 2020), the more

time we have will most likely plummet our productivity because we tend to

procrastinate instead of working efficiently in less time. Overcomplicating the task

in hand, it is stated that our task becomes more complex when we use more time

than what is actually needed. This can be counterproductive if all we need is a little
amount of time doing a task. We focus more on trivial activities rather than the

heavier ones. It implies that we do less important tasks than what is the “real” tasks

are. Less important tasks take the most time in planning other than the true task.

Time and Productivity

According to (Moore and Tenney, 2012), time restraint or deadline can

affect the performance of a person because people tend to rely on shortcuts or

heuristic strategies when under pressure thus, results are prone to errors and it

limits the ability to thoroughly analyze the question. They found that time boosts

the speed of completing the task sacrificing the quality of it and decreases the level

of performance the person is able to give. However according to (Bryan and

Locke, 1988), time pressure increases productivity because it increases the

difficulty of the task so as the level of productivity goal thus, making it easier to

answer easier tasks. Other studies stated that time pressure leads people to be more

focused and quicker in finishing the task, even if productivity and performance are

decreased. (Shyamal Parikh, 2018) also stated that near deadlines encourage

people to start working right away and stay committed to their task until it is

finished. It begs the question whether longer time limits give more room for

productivity and quality or is there no correlation between the two. In (Collewet

and Sauermann, 2017), they have tested a group of call center agents to calculate

the effect of longer time to productivity and they found longer working hours tend
to decrease the performance of employees even if they do not work full time.

(Mheng Zu, 2018) also explained that having longer time constraint can lead to

procrastination or unnecessary doings instead of finishing the task in a shortened

period. In the article of (Brian Hamlin, 2016), it proves shorter deadlines does

work without having to sacrifice quality. It depends on what task are you going to

do, if it’s a task that leans on logic or repetitive or easy then the shorter deadline

would work because the task is easy and doesn’t need too much time to complete.

If the task is demanding and leans on designing or creativity, then shorter deadline

would not be applicable because the task is within the field of creativity therefore,

it needs more time than other activities that don’t involve creativity or designing. It

also states that deadlines should be structured and thought out because if not then,

the whole purpose of it would be nonsense or useless. The article mentioned that

having too many short deadlines can cause stress and burn out because as

previously mentioned, people have a capacity in completing tasks. All in all,

deadlines are a way to improve productivity but only if it is planned carefully and

proportionately.

According to (Nolan G. Pope, 2016), the finding that productivity is higher

in the morning than the afternoon allows for efficiency gains to be obtained. There

are two dimensions in which students and schools can move along to create

efficiency gains. The first is by moving tasks and classes that are more affected by
the time of day to the morning and moving other tasks and classes to the afternoon.

The results show that moving some math classes to the morning and other classes,

like English, to the afternoon could increase students’ GPA and test scores. The

second dimension to create efficiency gains is by moving classes believed to be

more important by individuals or schools to the morning. Constraints on the supply

of teachers in a given subject limit how much middle schools and high schools can

move along both of these dimensions. These constraints are less binding for

elementary schools.

Measuring Productivity

Study shows in measuring productivity, there are individual factors that may

intervene in the process of completing the task such as the willingness of the

person, learning capacity, satisfaction, motivation, and etc. However, in our

research, we have created our own criteria in judging productivity because

individual factors may extend the study to a wider range that may be harder to

narrow down since it is complexed unlike our made criteria. There are other factors

that affects productivity like organizational, location, technical and etc. (Gaurav

Arkani, 2013).
 CHAPTER 3
Methodology
Research Design

This study used descriptive and quantitative research, since this study

is not experimental research design. The researchers generated and gathered

data in relation of the survey hence the to keep the quantitative research, the

researchers will only gather numerical data with the use of survey forms

through the platform of google forms and a diagram that contains the results

of data. This study was conducted from 2020 to 2021 in Dominican School

Manila. This research involved a collection of data in order to answer

questions regarding the current standing or status of the topic of the study.

Determination of Sample Size

In the study, the population, which is Grade 10 students, will be

where the researchers get the sample size of 30 students. The 30 students,
without any requirements, will represent the whole population as proven by

the formula of percentage (%/population). The researchers calculated that

30 respondents are 30% of Grade 10 students, which is enough to represent

a population according to (Piroska, 2020). The researchers also used

Slovin's formula N / (1+Ne2), the N is for the population, n for the number

of samples or sample size, and e is for the error of margin, which helps

identify the possibility of error that the sample size may induce. Slovin's

formula calculates the appropriate sample size to represent the population.

The researchers calculated that 30 respondents are the appropriate sample

size for a 144 group with an 8 percent margin of error.

Both formulas justify the researcher's decision to pick 30 respondents.

Sampling Design and Technique

The study utilized the Unrestricted sampling method because the

researchers did not implicate any requirement for choosing the respondents.

Unrestricted sampling gives the population, Grade 10 students, an equal

chance to become the respondents. The stated sampling method allows the
researchers to have a larger sample size to represent the Grade 10 students

with a low chance of margin of error when gathering data.

The Subject

The subject for this study will be the Grade 10 students from

Dominican School Manila that will be coming from the population of the

Grade 10 level, which consists of 144 students. The researchers will

randomly pick 30 respondents from the Grade 10 level and inform them

about the study and the test they will be answering via Messenger group

chat. The study utilized the unrestricted sampling method because there are

no requirements for selecting respondents and the method allows the

researcher to pick respondents with ease.

Research Instrument and Validation of Research Instrument

In the study, the researchers will create a test including three subjects

which are, Math, Science, and English, and will focus on lessons discussed

in the Third Quarter of the Grade 10 students. The test consists of 15

questions, 5 for each subject; 5 questions for Math, 5 questions for Science,

and 5 questions for English. Specifically, the lessons in Math will be

ungrouped and grouped data and the measurement of position. In Science,

the lesson will be chemical reaction. Lastly, the lessons in English will be

euphemisms. The researchers concluded that the three subjects are

important because according to this, those are the subjects commonly used

in tests to determine the student's academic knowledge and those subjects

are primarily used in jobs like architecture, engineer, doctor, and more. The

test will consist of multiple choice, identification, and essay that will vary

in each subject. The researchers will manually check the tests to prevent

errors in results.

Research Instrument and Validate Research Instrument:

Data Gathering Method and Procedure

The study aims to find the variation of productivity in different time

lengths and if Parkinson's Law is true or not. The researchers will first
create a test in google forms and, create questions adhering to three

subjects that are English, Math, and Science, and will focus on the lessons

in the 4yth Quarter of the Grade 10 students. The researchers will validate

the test from one of the teachers at Dominican School Manila.

After the validation, the researchers will proceed to conduct the

study amongst the Grade 10 Students. The researchers will divide the

respondents into two groups; both groups will answer the same test but

within different time lengths. The first group will answer the test in under

30 minutes and the second group will answer the test in under 1 hour. The

researchers will distribute the test via Google Mail of the respondents.

The researchers will then compile and analyze the test results using

the stated statistical treatment and finalize the variations. It will take 2-3

days to analyze the results and conclude which hypothesis in chapter 1 is correct.

Statistical Treatment

In the study, the researchers used mean and variance to analyze the

data because both formulas contribute in averaging the variation of

productivity. By averaging the productivity based on the overall score from

the given test, it will determine the effect of Parkinson’s Law to students’

productivity. To analyze the data and interpret the results, the following

statistical methods were used:

In determining the variation of productivity based on the criteria given to measure

productivity in general.

Mean: x ̅=(Σx)/n Variance and Standard Deviation: S^2= (Σ(x-x ̅ )^2)/(N-1)

x ̅= Mean x ̅= Mean

Σx= Sum of x n= Sample Size

n= Population S^2= Variance

Σ = Summation
 Chapter 4

Results and Discussion

This chapter will concentrate on the analysis of data garnered from the

respondents with appropriate representations for clarity and accuracy purposes.

These representations are significant in answering the said statement of the

problem in the research.

TABLES
Table 1 Overall Score

Group 1 (30 minutes) Group 2 (1 hour)

25 10
29 28
30 25
28 16
25 27
28 28
26 30
27 22
22 21
24 29
25 24
29 25
26 26
30 25
30 19
Mean: 26.93333 Mean: 23.66667
Standard Deviation: Standard Deviation:
2.46306 5.380742

T-Test= 0.041389 P-Value= 0.05

Table 1.1

Chart Title
35

30
Overall Score of the Test

25

20

15

10

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
group 1 (30 mins) 25 29 30 28 25 28 26 27 22 24 25 29 26 30 30
group 2 (1 hour) 10 28 25 16 27 28 30 22 21 29 24 25 26 25 19
Axis Title

group 1 (30 mins) group 2 (1 hour)

Interpretation:

The data represented in table 1 showed both scores of the two groups and

their average overall scores calculated through the mean formula. As presented, the

data from group 1 had a higher average of 26.93333 than group 2, with an average

score of 23.66667. There is also a significant difference in standard deviation

between both groups. Group 1 has a concentrated standard deviation than group 2,

meaning the overall scores from group 1 are not far from the mean.
Table 1.1 visualizes the representation of table 1 and the indicated data. The graph

shows the difference in scores between the two groups, group 1 and group 2,

labeled by a corresponding legend (blue for group 1 and orange for group 2). The

Standard Error bars (I) in the graph represent how far the mean is from the true

mean of the data. In the graph, Group 1 had a high overall score whilst Group 2

had a fair overall score.

TABLES

Table 2 Time completed the given test

Group 1 (30 minutes) Group 2 (1 hour)

10 seconds 35 minutes 22 seconds

20 minutes 01 seconds 35 minutes 30 seconds

23 minutes 30 seconds 30 minutes 16 seconds

18 minutes 59 seconds 49 minutes 39 seconds

20 minutes 14 seconds 36 minutes 30 seconds

19 minutes 20 seconds 37 minutes

11 minutes 40 seconds 31 minutes

32 seconds 3 minutes 46 seconds

 17 minutes 15 seconds 9 minutes 21 seconds

25 minutes 30 seconds 25 minutes

14 minutes 50 seconds 22 minutes 59 seconds

12 minutes 15 seconds 44 minutes 30 seconds

21 minutes 31 seconds 3 minutes 15 seconds

20 minutes 19 seconds 3 minutes 46 seconds

15 minutes 01 seconds 6 minutes 20 seconds

Mean: 0:15:01 Mean: 0:24:57

Standard Deviation: 0.005882 Standard Deviation: 0.01100793

T-Test= 0.02943369
P-Value= 0.05

Interpretation:

Table 2 represented the minutes the respondents completed the given test.

With the computed average of both data, group 1 consumed less time of the 30 min

time limit than group 2 that averaged 24 minutes and 57 seconds consumed of the

1-hour time limit. There is also a difference in standard deviation between the data.

Group 1 has a concentrated data whilst group 2 resulted in much more variability.
 TABLES

Table 3 Number of responses submitted

Group 1 (30 minutes) Group 2 (1 hour)

English Part: 14 out of 15 responses English Part: 11 out of 15 responses

submitted in the English part
Math Part: 12 out of 15 responses
submitted in the Math part
Science Part: 15 out of 15 responses
submitted in the Science part
Total: 41/45 responses were
submitted by the respondents
submitted in English part
Math Part: 13 out of 15 responses
submitted in the Math part
Science Part: 15 out of 15 responses
submitted in the Science part
Total: 39/45 responses were
submitted by the respondents

Interpretation:

Table 3 showed the total number of respondents who completed the

questions of each subject. As presented, group 1 had 41 out of 45 responses

submitted whilst group 2 had 39 out of 45 responses submitted. The table also

showed the division of subjects and the numbers of submitted answers by the

respondents. In group 1, they have submitted 14 out of 15 responses in English, 12

out of 15 responses in Math, and 15 out of 15 responses in Science. On the other

hand, group 2 submitted 11 out of 15 responses in English, 13 out of 15 responses

in Math, and 15 out of 15 responses in Science.

 Chapter 5

Summary, Conclusions, Recommendations

Summary of Findings

The essential questions proposed in the previous chapters have been answered in

great detail within the summary of findings.

This study aims to know if time affects the productivity rate of grade 10 students.

Following the aim of this study, the data gathered showed an increase in

productivity rate in group 1 that had a significantly high average overall score of

26.93333 while group 2 had a fair average of 23.66667. The analyzed data also

presented the standard deviation for both groups. Group 1 had a concentrated

standard deviation of 2.46306 while group 2 had a dispersed 5.380742 in standard

deviation. In terms of the number of questions answered and submitted, group 1

had submitted 41 out of 45 responses while group 2 had submitted 39 out of 45

responses.

This study also aims to know if there is a significant difference in productivity rate

between both groups based on the presented criteria in chapter 1. In the data
gathered, group 1 had a higher average score of 26.93333 than group 2 with an

average score of 23.66667. The standard deviation of group 1 is 2.46306,

interpreting the data as concentrated while group 2 had a 5.380742 standard

deviation which means the data is more dispersed. In terms of punctuality in

passing the test, both groups were able to pass the test within the specified time

limit. Lastly, the data gathered in the number of questions passed and answered

showed that group 1 had 41 out of 45 submitted responses while group 2 had 39

out of 45 submitted responses.

Conclusions

Based on the summary of findings and the tables presented in Chapter 4 of the

research, the researchers conclude there's a significant difference between the two

groups based on the created criteria. The researchers conclude group 1 had a higher

average overall score than group 2. Meaning, group 1 surpassed the first criteria

stated in the statement of the problem. The researchers observed the time

consumed by both groups and conclude that both groups are punctual in passing

the test. Lastly, the researchers conclude that group 1 had more responses submitte

in total than group 2 that had fewer. Therefore, the researchers conclude that with a

less time limit, the productivity rate increased amongst the respondents rather than

a longer time limit. Therefore, the researchers reject the null hypothesis and accept

the alternative hypothesis.

Recommendations

Although the researchers were able to reject the null hypothesis in the study,

the study did not further explore other variables that play a vital role in the

study, such as personal factors (intelligence and capacity to learn). The

researchers suggest researching more about other variables other than

productivity rate amongst the respondents. The study also lacked in the

aspect of sample size and chosen respondents. The researchers recommend

getting a larger sample size to avoid margin errors and broaden the chosen

respondents, meaning to get respondents on other grade levels to result in

more variety. The study did not have enough time to conduct the said test. In

regards to the lack of time, the researchers suggest allocating more time to

produce accurate results. Lastly, the researchers recommend searching for

appropriate statistical treatment to elucidate the data further.