Empathy Score Data
Description
This data represents scored empathy questionnaires from 68 7th and 8th-grade students during a visit to a retirement center. All students were given a baseline empathy questionnaire the day prior to the visit, at the same time that the visit would take place. During the visit, students were broken up into two equal groups. Half of the students conducted reciprocal interviews with one another (peer interviews), and half conducted reciprocal interviews with an elderly person. Following this first session, all students were given an empathy questionnaire. Then students in the peer and elder groups switched. Empathy scores were gathered following the second session as well. Three, five-question forms measured baseline, post-peer interview, and post-student-elder interview empathy levels. This questionnaire was created by Gaumer and colleagues (2016). Questions were distributed at random throughout the baseline, peer-interview, and student-elder interviews in case certain questions encouraged higher or lower empathy responses. All returned responses were anonymous. Students were directed to take as long as they need to answer the questions, with no less than three minutes for each five-question form.