Peer mentoring occurs when a more experienced employee provides one-on-one support and knowledge sharing with a less experienced employee. The Journal of Managerial Issues (Spring 2008) published a study of the impact of peer mentor training at a large software company. Participants were 222 employees who volunteered to attend a 1-day peer mentor training session. One variable of interest was the employee's level of competence in peer mentoring (measured on a 7-point scale). The competence level of each trainee was measured at three different times in the study: 1 week before training, 2 days after training, and 2 months after training. One goal of the experiment was to compare the mean competence levels of the three time periods.
a. Explain why these data should be analyzed using a randomized block design. As part of your answer, identify the blocks and the treatments.
b. A partial ANOVA table for the experiment is shown below. Explain why there is enough information in the table to make conclusions.

c. State the null hypothesis of interest to the researcher.
d. Make the appropriate conclusion.
e. A multiple comparisons of means for the three time periods (using an experiment-wise error rate of .10) is summarized below. Fully interpret the results.

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Source df SS MS F-Value p-Value 0.001 0.001 Time Period 2 221 442 665 Blocks Error Total Sample mean: Time period: 3.65 before 4.14 2 months after 4.17 2 days after