Hypotheses. The level of agreement in single-gender groups will be higher than that in mixed-gender groups in FtF setting. Hypothesis 1B: Female-only groups will have a higher level of agreement than male- only groups and mixed-gender groups in CMC setting. DV Group setting IV (Gender composition) IV (Gender composition) IV (Gender composition) H 1A Level of agreement Face-to-Face Male-only groups Female-only groups Mixed- gender groups H 1B Level of agreement Computer- Mediated Communication Male-only groups Female-only groups Mixed- gender groups Hypothesis 2A: CMC setting will accentuate the level of agreement in male-only groups compared to that in FtF setting. Hypothesis 2B: CMC setting will accentuate the level of agreement in female-only groups compared to that in FtF setting. Hypothesis 2C: CMC setting will accentuate the level of agreement in mixed-gender groups compared to that in FtF setting. DV Gender composition IV (Group setting) IV ( Group setting) H 2A Level of agreement Male-only groups Face-to-Face Computer- Mediated H 2B Level of agreement Female-only groups Face-to-Face Computer- Mediated H 2C Level of agreement Mixed-gender groups Face-to-Face Computer- Mediated Hypothesis 3A: The level of group attraction in single-gender groups will be higher than that in mixed-gender groups in FtF setting. Hypothesis 3B: Female-only groups will have a higher level of group attraction than male-only groups and mixed-gender groups in CMC setting. DV Group setting IV (Gender composition) IV (Gender composition) IV (Gender composition) H 3A Level of group attraction Face-to-Face Male-only groups Female-only groups Mixed- gender groups H 3B Level of group attraction Computer- Mediated Male-only groups Female-only groups Mixed- gender groups Hypothesis 4A: CMC setting will attenuate the level of group attraction in male-only groups compared to that in FtF. Hypothesis 4B: CMC setting will attenuate the level of group attraction in female-only groups compared to that in FtF. Hypothesis 4C: CMC setting will attenuate the level of group attraction in mixed-gender groups compared to that in FtF. DV Gender composition IV (Setting) IV (Setting) H 4A Level of group attraction Male-only groups Face-to-Face Computer- Mediated H 4B Level of group attraction Female-only groups Face-to-Face Computer- Mediated H 4C Level of group attraction Mixed-gender groups Face-to-Face Computer- Mediated Participants The initial population of this study was everyone who has access to communicate through CMC or any other assisted technology devices that allow anonymous communication. However, due to the logistical limitations, the population shifted to students who were enrolled in classes at Western Kentucky University. Participants were college students recruited from classes through agreements with their teachers. Students of four Communication instructors, one English instructor, and one Sociology instructor served as subjects. All participating students were given extra credit as a compensation to participate in this study. Due to the limitations of time, space, and facility, the experiments took place in 10 different sessions that spanned over a month period. Subjects were assigned to groups prior to the experiment. This was to avoid students who were related as friends or acquaintances forming their own groups. Participants were divided into groups of 3 or 4 students each. Meanwhile, mixed-gender groups were always balanced at 2 males and 2 females. Participants were presented with a case study individually prior to having the group discussion, in both FtF and CMC conditions. The FtF group discussions lasted between 10 to 15 minutes, while the CMC group discussions lasted between 40 minutes to 1 hour. Longer time interval for the CMC experiment compensated for the fact that typing is roughly four times slower than speaking (▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ & ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, 1999). In the end, there were 145 participants consisting of 72 male students and 73 female students, in which 74 students participated in FtF discussions and 71 in CMC discussions. The participants made up 12 male-only groups (6 in FtF and 6 in CMC), 15 female-only groups (6 in FtF and 9 in CMC), and 13 mixed-gender groups (8 in FtF and 5 in CMC).
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