Behavioral Research in Accounting (January 2008) published a study of Machiavellian traits in accountants. Machiavellian describes negative character traits that include manipulation, cunning, duplicity, deception, and bad faith. A questionnaire was administered to a random sample of 700 accounting alumni of a large southwestern university; however, due to non response and incomplete answers, only 198 questionnaires could be analyzed. Several variables were measured, including age, gender, level of education, income, job satisfaction score, and Machiavellian ("Mach") rating score. The research findings suggest that Machiavellian behavior is not required to achieve success in the accounting profession.
a. What is the population of interest to the researcher?
b. What type of data (quantitative or qualitative) is produced by each of the variables measured?
c. Identify the sample.
d. Identify the data-collection method used.
e. What inference was made by the researcher?
f. How might the non responses impact the inference?