USING MODELS + TOOLSGROUP C: DESTINEE CORDERIO, SETARAH MOTAMEDI, FRANK RIVERA, DANIELLE VELASQUEZ, AND SIMONA YOUNG

CHAPTER 2 “Professor Socialman once tried

having problem-set groups with 17 members instead of the traditional

4. The results were dreadful because, as Professor Socialman

is now fond of saying:

“People in large groups can’t get anything done.”

PROFESSOR SOCIALMAN

EXPLANATIONSAsk yourself why the observation might be true

and write down your explanations.

Students in large groups can’t get anything done because they never

all agree on how to do work.

Students in large groups tend to have conflicting schedules.

People in large groups tend to have more distractions due to the level of social interaction in the group.

A group of 4 or more students will lead to select members completing group assignments while the remainder of the group slacks off.

People in larger groups increase the chances of people having things in common, thus socializing and conversing more about non-group work.

More opinions within the group, therefore taking more time to have everyone weigh in and produce a final body of work

High level of general conflict - hurt feelings and otherwise undermines relationships

Increased chances of negatively charged competition between members within a larger group

Generalize the explanatory model- that is, induce the most general, abstract model you can produce that still has the original observation as a consequence.

GENERALIZED MODEL 1: People come from all walks of life, have different values, and different ideas. A group of 17 people will result in 17 different opinions about the assignment. People in large groups can’t get anything done because they never all agree on how to do work.

Induce an alternative model that also has the original observation as a consequence.

GENERALIZED MODEL 2: Most people have a lot of other work, activities, and social lives. Therefore, no person’s schedule is exactly the same. People in large groups can’t get anything done because they can never all find an available time meet up in order to get work done.

GENERALIZED MODEL 1: People come from all walks of life, have different values, and different ideas. A group of 17 people will result in 17 different opinions about the assignment. People in large groups can’t get anything done because they never all agree on how to do work.

PREDICTION 1: People from similar backgrounds may not have as difficult of a time completing work in a large group setting.

PREDICTION 2: People with different knowledge sets and level of expertise tend to take opposition to general consensus

For each of the two general models- one from (b) and one from

(c) - derive two interesting predictions (that is, a total of four

predictions).

EXPLANATIONS

PREDICTION 1: People are likely to discover common characteristics and similar interests when they communicate/work with each other, making it easier to produce final output. If you were to group people with the same background, they may be more likely to efficiently get their work completed.

PREDICTION 2: People with different knowledge sets and level of expertise tend to take opposition to general consensus. If you separate people within the group and give them tasks that they are knowledgeable about, they may be more inclined to produce a body of work quicker.

GENERALIZED MODEL 2: Most people have a lot of other work, activities, and social lives. Therefore, no person’s schedule is exactly the same. People in large groups can’t get anything done because they can never all find an available time meet up in order to get work done.

PREDICTION 1: People with children will have the most difficult time scheduling a time for work.

PREDICTION 2: People without a car/transportation will have the most difficult time scheduling a time for work.

PREDICTION 1: People with children have a balancing act of serving the needs of their children and their own personal needs - in this case producing quality work within a team - and at times the needs of their children will take precedent over other needs, producing conflicts in scheduling.

PREDICTION 2: Getting a group together is already difficult as people have a lot of other work, activities, and social lives. When you add a lack of transportation into the mix, it may be even more difficult for members to participate. Depending on where a group is scheduled to carry out

EXPLANATIONS

Chapter 3

STARTING OBSERVATION Children always choose high sugar

gram level cereals at the grocery store, while adults generally choose cereal with more fiber.

(Based on the marketing placement idea that sugary cereals are set at eye-level of children and healthy cereals are higher)

Model 2 - Children love cartoons. The marketer/distributors of the cereal make a strong effort to know and understand what cartoons would be appropriate to incorporate into their branding. Because marketers include these cartoons on their branding of sugary cereal they are more inclined to pressure their parents to purchase it..

Model 1 - Children are not aware of the benefits of eating a healthier. At eye level the cereals that are more appealing to children are placed for easy access and generally a lower price because of all the artificial sweeteners in the cereal brand.

Make up two abstract models that would account for the observation.

Make up two abstract models that would account for the observation.

[Model 1]

Prediction 1 - Most consumers now are more conscientious when purchasing food and are not interested in the unhealthy cereals.

[Model 2]

Prediction 1 - If high sugar cereal did not have cartoons on the boxes, children would not be inclined to buy it.

APPLICABLE TO BOTH MODELS

Prediction 1- Eye level is the prime shelf presentation because consumers immediately select what looks appealing to them.

Generate a total of three interesting predictions from the two models and identify which model each prediction is derived from.

SITUATION/PREDICTION DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN THE TWO MODELS

In model 1, we have made a prediction based upon where the cereal is located on the shelf versus model 2, we predict that children pick cereal based upon what the box looks like.

NATURAL EXPERIMENT

To observe whether cereal at eye level is selected versus whether it is selected based on visual appeal we will conduct the following:

>> Place visually appealing cereal boxes on the top shelf and place healthy cereal boxes at the bottom shelf.

>> Put cartoons on healthy cereals and eliminate visual appeal on sugary cereals, then place both boxes at lower eye level for children and observe which cereal is selected.

These experiments will simultaneously confirm one model while contradicting the other because we are testing the visual appeal of the cereal boxes and the shelf

placement at the exact same times during our natural experiment.

References

Lave, C. A., & March, J. G. (1975). An introduction to models in the social sciences. New York: Harper & Row. Chapters 1-3 & Introductions of Chapters 4-7. Skim remainder of each chapter.

Duhigg, C. (2012). How companies learn your secrets. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html?_r=1.