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Determining Correlation between Motive Needs and Job Satisfaction

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The purpose of this study is to determine if motive needs, based on McClelland’s Theory of Needs, is correlated to job satisfaction, and, if so, to find the extent to which the opportunity to fulfill those needs affected overall job satisfaction, thus, the correlational method is the most suitable type of research design for the study. This method is advantageous to the study because of its conceptual ability to measure variables and assess the relationship between those variables (Jackson, 2010), according to Stanovich (2007) “some scientific hypotheses are stated in terms of correlation or lack of correlation, so that such studies are directly relevant to these hypotheses”. Correlational studies are very economical –with the use of a questionnaire, large amounts of data are quickly inexpensive to compare and they are very easy to replicate in order to check for reliability. This method also becomes readily important because some variables are naturally correlational and cannot be manipulated due to ethical reasons, hence “the scientific knowledge concerning them must be based on correlation evidence” (Stanovich, 2007).
Conversely, a correlational research design does have limitations. The misinterpretation of correlations leads to assumptions of causality and directionality. A correlation does not imply causation, that is, a correlation between two variables does not necessarily mean one causes the other. A correlation coefficient can define a relationship between two

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