Writing Assignment Example: Burnout Dependance on Coping Style and Stress

Complete Smart Alexs Task #5 on p.812 of the Field text. Include only Burnout as the dependent variable and Coping Style and Stress from Teaching as the two independent variables. Report the odds ratio ONLY.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Background

One of the most important observations is that there are few studies on the ordeal that teachers go through when teaching their students. They have to endure stress and burnout as they toil to make students understand concepts stipulated in the syllabus. It is therefore, the intention of this study to examine the effect of the coping style and stress endured by teachers during their teaching practice on the burnout levels they suffer. Burnout refers to mental or physical collapse resulting from overwork (Field, 2013). Teaching is sometimes a strenuous activity that is likely to cause burnout especially in the circumstances that the teacher fails to get desired results, becomes overworked or lack moral support (Field, 2013). In some cases, one may become stressed which potentially causes burnout. Coping style is understood as the way to avoid burnout.

Assumptions

Coping style has a positive influence on burnout while stress has a positive influence.

Hypothesis Testing

H1: Stress increases burnout

H2: Coping style reduces burnout

Above are two hypotheses whereby the first one assumes that increased exposure to stress among teachers is likely to increase both mental and physical collapse. This aligns with theoretical assertions which associate stress with burnout (Beck, Bryman & Liao, 2004). The second hypothesis assumes that by adopting a particular coping style against challenges of workplace, teachers are likely to experience reduction in burnout.

Results and Discussion

Odds ratio is used to examine how coping style and stress affect burnout. Variables are; Burnout = 1, not burnout=0 (as dependent variable), coping style that measures the coping ability and stress, that measures stress from teaching.

Figure 1: Burnout and Coping style

The odds ratio result is 0.25 at 95% confidence interval for burnout and coping style as shown in figure 1 above. The value of the odds ratio is significant as it can be used to show whether a positive or negative correlation exists between two or more variables under study. In this case, a negative correlation exists between the coping style and burnout as can be seen by the value of odds ratio which is less than one. From the analysis, it is evident that that a uniti increment in coping style reduces burnout at a add ratio of 0.25 to 1. This implies that a reduction of 25% in burnout is realized with every increase in one unit of coping style.

Figure 2: Burnout and Stress

In Statistics, the value of the odds ratio plays an important role in analyzing statistical data. It therefore, has to be calculated at a given confidence interval to ensure that it is valid. In the case study, the odds ratio was calculated at 95% confidence interval and found to be 4.00 for burnout and coping style. This is well depicted in figure 2 shown above. Odds ratios with a value greater than one indicate a positive relationship between the variables under study. In this case, a unit increment in stress results to a corresponding increase in burnout at an odd ratio of four to one. Statistically, this implies that an increase of burnout by 400% will be experienced with every increase in stress by one unit.

Conclusion

Using the analysis presented above, it is therefore, prudent to note that coping style has a negative influence on the level of burnout. In addition, stress has a positive influence on the burnout as shown from the value of the odds ratio. This further affirms and confirms the hypothesis tests stated in the case study.

References

Beck, M., Bryman, A. & Liao, T. (2004). The Sage encyclopedia of social science research methods. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage.

Field, A. (2013). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics: and sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll. Los Angeles: Sage.