上海交通大学：《管理心理学（通识）Managerial Psychology》课程教学资源（参考教材）chapter2 Methods and Statistics in I-0 Psychology

MODULE 2.1 Science and Research What Is Science? MODULE 2.2 Data Analysis MODULE 2.3 Interpretation

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MODULE 2.1 Science and Research What Is Science? For many of us,the term "science"evokes mental images of laboratories,test tubes,and computers.We may imagine people wearing white lab coats,walking around making notes on clipboards.Certainly laboratories are the homes for some scientific activity and some scientists do wear white lab coats,but the essence of science is not where it is done or how scientists are dressed.Science is defined by its goals and its procedures. All sciences share common goals:the understanding,prediction,and control of some phenomenon of interest.Physics addresses physical matter,chemistry addresses elements of matter,biology deals with living things,and psychology is concerned with behavior.The 1-O psychologist is particularly interested in understanding.predicting,and influencing behavior related to the workplace.All sciences also share certain common methods by which they study the object of interest,whether that object is a chemical on the periodic table of elements or a human being employed in a corporation.These common methods include the following: 1.Science is marked by a logical approach to investigation,usually based on a theory,a hypothesis,or simply a basic curiosity about an object of interest.In I-O psychology, this might be a theory about what motivates workers,a hypothesis that freedom to choose work methods will lead workers to be more involved with their work,or curiosity about whether people who work from their homes are more satisfied with their jobs than people who work in offices. Science depends on data.These data can be gathered in a laboratory or in the real world (or,as it is sometimes referred to,the field).The data gathered are intended to be relevant to the theory.hypothesis,or curiosity that precipitated the investigation. For example,I-O psychologists gather data about job performance,abilities,job satisfaction,and attitudes toward safety. 3 Science must be communicable,open,and public.Scientific research is published in journals,reports,and books.Methods of data collection are described,data are reported,analyses are displayed for examination,and conclusions are presented.As a result,other scientists or nonscientists can draw their own conclusions about the confidence they have in the findings of the research or even replicate the research themselves.In I-O psychology,there is often debate-sometimes heated argument- about theories and hypotheses.The debate goes on at conferences,in journals,and in books.Anyone can join the debate by simply reading the relevant reports or pub- lications and expressing opinions on them or by conducting and publishing their own research. Scanned by CamScanner

2.1 4 Science does not set out to prove theories or hypotheses.It sets out to disprove them. The goal of the scientist is to design a research project that will eliminate all plausible explanations for a phenomenon except one.The explanation that cannot be dis- proved or eliminated is the ultimate explanation of the phenomenon.For example, in lawsuits involving layoffs brought by older employees who have lost their jobs.the charge will be that the layoffs were caused by age discrimination on the part of the employer.A scientific approach to the question would consider that possibility,as well as the possibility that the layoffs were the result of: Differences in the past performance of the individuals who were laid off Differences in the skills possessed by the individuals Differences in projected work for the individuals Differences in training,education,or credentials of the individuals One other characteristic of science that is frequently mentioned (MacCoun,1998; Merton,1973)is that of disinterestedness-the expectation that scientists will be objective and not influenced by biases or prejudices.Although most researchers are, and should be,passionately interested in their research efforts,they are expected to be dispassionate about the results they expect that research to yield-or,at the very least,to make public any biases or prejudices they may harbor. It will become apparent as we move through the chapters of this book that I-O psychology is a science.I-O psychologists conduct research based on theories and hypotheses.They gather data,publish those data,and design their research in a way that eliminates alternative explanations for the research results.I-O psychologists (and scientists in general)are not very different from nonscientists in their curiosity or the way they form theories,hypotheses, or speculations.What sets them apart as scientists is the method they use. The Role of Science in Society We are often unaware of the impact that science has on our everyday lives.The water we drink,the air we breathe,even the levels of noise we experience have been influenced by decades of scientific research.Consider the challenge faced by a pharmaceutical company that wants to make a new drug available to the public.The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)requires the pharmaceutical company to conduct years of trials(experiments)in the laboratory and in the field.These trials must conform to the standards of acceptable sci- ence:They will be based on a theory:data will be gathered,compiled,and interpreted;and all alternative explanations for the effects of the drug will be considered.In addition.the data will be available for inspection by the FDA.Before the drug can be released to the public,the FDA must agree that the data show that the drug actually makes a contribution to medicine and that it has no dangerous side effects. As you will see in a later section of this chapter that deals with ethics,the burden of trust- worthy science must be shouldered by a trustworthy scientist.An example is provided by a 2008 congressional inquiry involving the pharmaceutical company Pfizer and its choles- terol drug Lipitor.A Lipitor advertising campaign was launched in 2006 featuring Robert Jarvik,the physician who was famous for developing an artificial heart valve.In one ad, Jarvik was engaged in a vigorous rowing exercise on a lake immediately after endorsing the drug.When the public learned that a stunt double actually did the rowing,the drug and larvik were the objects of immediate criticism.Moreover,it was revealed that although Jarvik held a medical degree,he had never completed the certification necessary to practice medicine.Thus,he was not qualified to give medical advice,which he appeared to be doing in the ads.The inauthentic scientist brought the science into question. Scanned by CamScanner

and Statistics in -0 Psychology The importance of the scientific method for the impact of human resource and I-O practices can also be seen in society,particularly in the courts.As we will see in several of the chapters that follow (most notably,Chapter 6),individuals often bring lawsuits against employers for particular practices,such as hiring,firing,pay increases,and harassment.In these lawsuits,1-0 psychologists often testify as expert witnesses.An expert witness,unlike a fact witness,is permitted to voice opinions about practices. An I-O psychologist might be prepared to offer the opinion that an employer was justified in using a test,such as a test of mental ability,for hiring purposes.This opinion may be challenged by opposing lawyers as "junk science"that lacks foundation in legitimate scientific research.You will recall that we described "junk science"in Chapter I as a fascinating topic (un)supported by shoddy research.The scientific method is one of the most commonly accepted methods for protecting individuals from the consequences of uninformed speculation. Why Do I-0 Psychologists Engage in Research? An old truism admonishes that those who do not study history are condemned to repeat it.In Chapter 1,we cautioned that researchers studying emotional intelligence but ignoring earlier research on social intelligence might have been condemned in just that way.A less elegant representation of the same thought was the movie Groundhog Day, in which Bill Murray gets to repeat the events of a particular day over and over again. learning from his mistakes only after a very long time.Without access to scientific research,the individuals who make human resource(HR)decisions in organizations would be in Murray's position,unable to learn from mistakes (and successes)that are already documented.Each HR director would reinvent the wheel,sometimes with good and sometimes with poor results.By conducting research,we are able to develop a model of a system-a theory-and predict the consequences of introducing that system or of modifying a system already in place.Remember that in Chapter I we described the importance of research in the scientist-practitioner model.Even though you may not actually engage in scientific research,you will certainly consume the results of that research. Consider the example of hiring.Imagine that an organization has always used a first- come,first-served model for hiring.When a job opening occurs,the organization advertises,reviews an application blank,does a short unstructured interview,and hires the first applicant who has the minimum credentials.Research in 1-O psychology has demonstrated that this method does not give the employer the best chance of hiring successful employees.An employer that conducts a structured job-related interview, and that also includes explicit assessments of general mental ability and personality,will tend to make better hiring decisions.We can predict this because of decades of published research that form the foundation for our theory of successful hiring.When organizational decision makers decide on a course of action,they are predicting (or anticipating)the outcome of that course of action.The better the research base that employers depend on for that prediction,the more confident they can be in the likely outcome.Both science and business strategy are based on the same principle: predictability.Business leaders prefer to avoid unpleasant surprises;theory and research help them to do so. In most of your course texts,you will be exposed to "theory."Think of theories as either helpful or not helpful,rather than"right"or"wrong."Klein and Zedeck (2004)remind us that theories provide meaning and specify which variables are important and for what Scanned by CamScanner

2.1 reasons.Theories also describe and explain relationships that link the variables.Klein and Zedeck suggest that good theories display the following characteristics: ·Offer novel insights Are interesting Are focused Are relevant to important topics Provide explanations 。Are practical As you read the material that will follow in the subsequent chapters and.more importantly. if you dig further and read the original statements of the theories,keep these characteristics of good theory in mind in order to decide which ones are helpful and which ones are not. Research Design In the introductory module,we considered the scientific method and the role of research in 1-O psychology.Now we will consider the operations that define research in greater detail. In carrying out research,a series of decisions need to be made before the research actually begins.These decisions include the following: Will the research be conducted in a laboratory under controlled conditions or in the field? Who will the participants be? If there are different conditions in the research(e.g.,some participants exposed to a condition and other participants not exposed to the condition),how will partici- pants be assigned to the various conditions? What will the variables of interest be? *How will measurements on these variables be collected? Collectively,the answers to these questions will determine the research design,the archi- tecture for the research. Spector(2001)has reviewed research designs in I-O psychology and devised a system of classification for distinguishing among the typical designs.He breaks designs down into three basic types:experimental,quasi-experimental,and nonexperimental.Experimental designs,whether the experiment is conducted in a laboratory or in the field,involve the assignment of participants to conditions.As an example,some participants may receive a piece-rate payment for their work,whereas others receive an hourly rate.These two different rates of pay would be two separate conditions,and participants might be assigned randomly to one condition or the other.The random assignment of participants is one of the charac- teristics that distinguishes an experiment from a quasi-experiment or nonexperiment.If participants are randomly assigned to conditions,then any differences that appear after the experimental treatment are more likely to conform to cause-effect relationships.Random assignment to conditions allows researchers to be more confident that there were not preex- isting systematic differences between the groups that were assigned to different conditions. It is not always possible to assign participants randomly to a condition.For example,an organization might institute a new pay plan at one plant location but not at another.Or the researcher would assess employee satisfaction with an existing pay plan,then the organiza- tion would change the pay plan,and the researcher would assess satisfaction again with the new plan.This would be called a quasi-experimental design. Scanned by CamScanner

Statistics in-0Psychology to make experimental conditions as similar as possible to actual work situations.(a)Actual radar being used by an lated radar screen designed for an experiment In the experimental and quasi-experimental designs described above,the pay plan was a "treatment"or condition.Nonexperimental designs do not include any"treatment"or condi- tions.In a nonexperimental design,the researcher would simply gather information about the effects of a pay plan without introducing any condition or treatment.Researchers often use the term"independent variable"to describe the treatment or antecedent condition and the term "dependent variable"to describe the subsequent behavior of the research partici- pant.Spector(2001)identifies two common nonexperimental designs as the observational design and the survey design.In the observational design,the researcher watches an employee's behavior and makes a record about what is observed.An observer might,for example,study communication patterns and worker efficiency by recording the number of times a worker communicates with a supervisor in a given time period.Alternatively,in the survey design,the worker is asked to complete a questionnaire describing typical interaction frequency with his or her supervisor. Because of the increasing use of the Internet for survey research,one might question whether online surveys and paper-and-pencil surveys produce equivalent results.Although differences in administration mode are not dramatic,it does appear that younger respondents prefer an online to a paper-and-pencil survey (Church,2001).We will discuss the strengths and weak- nesses of various research designs in greater detail in Chapter 7 when we consider the evaluation of training programs. The various research designs we have described in this chapter are not used with equal frequency.Schaubroeck and Kuehn(1992)found that 67 percent of published studies con- ducted by 1-O psychologists were done in the field and 33 percent in a laboratory.Laboratory- based studies were usually experimental in design and used students as participants.Most field studies were not experimental and typically used employees as participants.In a fol- low-up study,Spector(2001)found very similar results. There are several reasons for the prevalence of nonexperimental field research in I-O psychology.The first is the limited extent to which a laboratory experiment can reasonably simulate "work"as it is experienced by a worker.The essence of laboratory research is control over conditions.This means that the work environment tends to be artificial and sterile,and the research deals with narrow aspects of behavior.Another,related reason is that experiments are difficult to do in the field because workers can seldom be randomly assigned to conditions or treatments.The goal of a real-life business organization is an Scanned by CamScanner

2.1 economic one,not a scientific one.Further,it is difficult for researchers to carry out field experiments when investigating sensitive topics (King.Hebl,Morgan,Ahmad,2013). Finally,laboratory experiments often involve "samples of convenience"(i.e..students),and there is considerable doubt that the behavior of student participants engaging in simulated work reasonably represents the behavior of actual workers.Laboratory studies provide excellent methods of control and are more likely to lead to causal explanations.Field studies permit researchers to study behaviors difficult to simulate in a laboratory,but cause-effect relationships are more difficult to examine in such field studies. Methods of Data Collection Qualitative and Quantitative Research Historically,I-O psychology,particularly the"I"part of I-O,has used quantitative methods for measuring important variables or behavior.Quantitative methods rely heavily on tests, rating scales,questionnaires,and physiological measures(Stone-Romero,2002).They yield results in terms of numbers.They can be contrasted with more qualitative methods of investigation,which generally produce flow diagrams and narrative descriptions of events or processes,rather than "numbers"as measures.Qualitative methods include procedures like observations,interviews,case studies,and analysis of diaries or written documents. The preference for quantitative over qualitative research can be attributed,at least in part, to the apparent preference of journal editors for quantitative research(Hemingway,2001), possibly because numbers and statistical analyses conform to a traditional view of science (Symon,Cassell,Dickson,2000).As an example,fewer than.3 percent of the articles published in the Journal of Applied Psychology since 1990 would be classified as qualitative (Marchel Owens,2007).You may be surprised to know that in the early days of psychology. the "experimental method"was introspection,in which the participant was also the experimenter,recording his or her experiences in completing an experimental task.This method would be considered hopelessly subjective by today's standards.Some(e.g.,Marchel Owens,2007)have speculated that the founding fathers of psychology would be unable to find academic employment today! You will notice that we described the issue as qualitative and quantitative research.as opposed to qualitative versus quantitative research.The two are not mutually exclusive (Rogelberg.2002).As an example of qualitative research,consider an extended observation of a worker,which might include videotaped episodes of performance.That qualitative video record could easily be used to develop a quantitative frequency count of a particular behavior. Much of the resistance to qualitative research is the result of viewing it as excessively subjective.This concern is misplaced.All methods of research ultimately require inter- pretation,regardless of whether they are quantitative or qualitative.The researcher is an explorer,trying to develop an understanding of the phenomenon he or she has chosen to investigate,and,in so doing,should use all of the information available,regardless of its form.The key is in combining information from multiple sources to develop that theory. Rogelberg and Brooks-Laber(2002)refer to this as triangulation-looking for converging information from different sources.Detailed descriptions of qualitative research methods have been presented by Locke and Golden-Biddle(2002)and Bachiochi and Weiner(2002). Stone-Romero(2002)presents an excellent review of the variations of research designs in I-O psychology,as well as their strengths and weaknesses. Scanned by CamScanner

d Statistics in I-O Psychology The lmportance of Context in Interpreting Research The added value of qualitative research is that it helps to identify the context for the behavior in question (Johns,2001a).Most experiments control variables that might "complicate"the research and,in the process,eliminate "context."In doing so,this control can actually make the behavior in question less,not more,comprehensible.Consider the following examples: 1.A study of patient care teams directed by a nurse-manager found that there was a strong association among coaching,goal setting,team satisfaction,medical errors by the team,and the performance of the team as perceived by team members. Unfortunately,however,the association was positive:The higher the ratings of each of the first three elements,the greater the number of medical errors by that team!By collecting qualitative data through interviews and observations,the researchers were able to unravel this seeming mystery.It turned out that the most positive teams(more coaching.goal setting.satisfaction)were also those most willing to acknowledge errors and use them to learn,while the least positive teams(less coaching,fewer goals, and lower satisfaction)covered up errors and did not learn from them (Hackman,2003). 2 A study of convenience stores found that those stores with less friendly salespersons had higher sales than the stores with more friendly sales staff(Sutton Rafaeli, 1988).Further investigation revealed that,because the less friendly stores were bus- ier to start with,the staff had less time to be friendly.It was not that a nasty demea- nor in a salesperson spurred sales. 3 You have already been introduced to the Hawthorne studies.They were largely completed by 1935.Nevertheless,controversy continues to surround their interpre- tation (Olson,Verley,Santos,Salas,2004).At the simplest level,it appeared that simply paying attention to workers improved productivity.But things are not that simple.The studies were carried out during the Great Depression,when simply having a job-any job-was considered lifesaving.Additionally,the psychologist who described these studies to the popular press was an avowed anti-unionist (Griffin,Landy,Mayocchi,2002)and inclined to highlight any practice that con- tradicted the position of the union movement.If there were consistent productivity increases-and it is not clear that there were-these changes could not be under- stood without a broader appreciation for the context in which they occurred and were reported. In each of these examples,the critical variable was context.It was the situation in which the behavior was embedded that provided the explanation.Had the researchers not investigated the context,each of these studies might have resulted in exactly the wrong policy change (i.e.,don't coach or set goals for medical teams,don't hire friendly sales clerks).Context enhances the comprehensibility and,ultimately,the value of research findings. Generalizability and Control in Research Generalizability One of the most important issues in conducting research is how widely the results can be generalized.There is a relatively simple answer to that question.An investigator can general- ize results to areas that have been sampled in the research study.Consider Figure 2.1,which is made up of concentric circles representing various factors or variables that might be Scanned by CamScanner

2.1 Sdence and Research sampled in a study.The first area for sampling might be participants or employees.If our research sample is representative ofa larger popu- lation (eg.all individuals who work for the organization and have a given job title),then we can feel more confident in generalizing to this larger population of participants who might have been in our study. The next circle represents job titles.If the job titles of the participants in our study are a representative sample of the population of job titles that exist in a particular company.then we can be more confident about generalizing to this larger population of jobs.The next circle represents time.If we have collected data at several different points in time,we can feel more confident in generalizing across time periods than we would if all the data came from one point in time.The final circle represents organizations.If we have collected our data from many different organizations,we can be more confident in extending our findings beyond a single organization. FIGURE 2.1 Sampling Domains for 1-0 Research CASE STUDY 2.1 TRIANGULATION:THE FINANCIAL CONSULTANT In Chapter 4.we will consider the topic of job might tour the country interviewing and observing a analysis.Job analysis is a process used by I-O sample of financial consultants as they do their work. psychologists to gain understanding of a job.It in the office and outside the office.You might also ask includes an investigation of them to show you their daily appointment calendars Job analysis Process that the tasks and duties that and answer questions about the entries in these calen- determinesthe important define the job,the human dars.As part of this experience,you might spend sev- tasks of a job and the human attributes necescary to attributes necessary to per- eral days with a single financial consultant and observe successtalhy perform these form the job,and the con- the variety of tasks he or she performs.Next you might a text in which that job is interview the immediate managers of financial con- performed.Job analysis sultants and explore their views of what strategies lead typically involves the combination of data from to success or failure for consultants. many different sources in coming to a complete You might also interview retired financial consult- understanding,or theory,of the job in question. ants,as well as financial consultants who left their Consider the job ofa financial consultant or stock- consulting positions with the company to become broker who advises individual private investors on managers.Finally,you might ask a sample of financial how to invest their money.Large financial invest- consultants and managers to complete a question- ment firms employ thousands of these financial con- naire in which they rate the relative importance and sultants to provide service to their high-end clients. frequency of the tasks that consultants perform.as Suppose you were hired as an I-O psychologist to well as the abilities and personal characteristics nec- study and "understand"the job of a financial consult- essary to perform those tasks successfully.By gather- ant with an eye toward developing a recruiting.selec- ing and interpreting this wealth of information.you tion,and training program for such individuals. will gain an excellent understanding of the job.Each How might you achieve this understanding?First. of the methods of investigation gave you additional you might examine what the organization has to say information.No one method was more important about the job on its website and in its recruiting mate. than any other method,and no method alone would rials Then you might talk with senior executives of have been sufficient to achieve an understanding of the organization about the role the financial consult- the position.This is the type of triangulation that ant plays in the success of the organization.Next you Rogelberg and Brooks-Laber (2002)advocate. Scanned by CamScanner

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