Study Notes on Introduction to Industrial Psychology

Introduction to Industrial Psychology

  • Instructor: Dr. Nadia Morton
  • Department: Industrial Psychology & People Management
  • University: University of Johannesburg, College of Business and Economics

Learning Outcomes

The course intends for students to achieve the following:

  1. Elements of Psychological Theory
    • Describe the main elements of psychological theory and explain the link between those elements.
  2. Philosophical Distinctions
    • Distinguish between two opposing philosophies in the conduct of psychological research.
  3. Data Collection Methods
    • Describe the various methods of data collection used in research by work psychologists.
  4. Research Designs
    • Describe the key features, advantages, and disadvantages of different research designs used by work psychologists.
  5. Hypotheses
    • Define the null and alternative hypothesis in psychological research.
  6. Statistical Significance
    • Explain the concept of statistical significance.
  7. Power and Effect Size
    • Explain the concepts of power and effect size in statistical testing.
  8. Statistical Techniques
    • Define in words the circumstances in which the following statistical techniques would be used:
      • t-test
      • Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
      • Chi-square
      • Correlation
      • Multiple Regression
      • Meta-analysis
      • Structural Equation Modeling
  9. Qualitative Data
    • Describe how qualitative data can be collected and analysed.
  10. Evaluation of Interventions
    • Describe how interventions can be evaluated.
  11. The Research-Practice Divide
    • Describe the divide that can occur between researchers and practitioners.

Psychological Theory

  • Definition of Theory:
    • An organised collection of ideas that serves to describe, explain, or predict behaviors, thoughts, or feelings.
  • Elements of Psychological Theory:
    1. Specify behaviors, thoughts, or emotions (BTE’s) to be studied and their significance for human affairs.
    2. Outline the degree of difference in BTE’s exhibited by people.
    3. Assess the influence of the environment on BTE’s.
    4. Analyze consequences of the interactions between multiple BTE’s.
    5. Examine how specific BTE occurrences might feedback to produce changes in multiple BTE’s.

Philosophies in Psychological Research

  • Positivism:

    • Social world exists objectively.
    • Emphasizes objective measurement.
    • Research aims to make and test hypotheses about laws and causes of human behavior.
    • Data is harder to obtain and summarize but is richer in meaning and detail.

  • Social-Constructivism (Phenomenological):

    • Believes thoughts and social interactions give meaning to events, concepts, and objectives.
    • Research seeks to understand and explain why people have different experiences.
    • The researcher does not influence the research process.

Research Design

  • Survey Design:

    • Does not intervene in naturally occurring events or control them.
    • Individuals are asked about their attitudes and perceptions.
    • Aims to gather quantitative information about human behavior at a specific time and place or over longer periods.
    • Utilizes random sampling to select participants; quick and easy to conduct but difficult to establish cause-and-effect relationships.

  • Experimental Design:

    • Allows for control over happenings, facilitating inference about cause-and-effect relationships.
    • Typically conducted in controlled environments (labs).
    • Distinguishes between experimental and control groups, utilizing random sampling.
    • Manipulates independent variables, affecting the dependent variables.
    • Field vs. natural experiments might be employed, balancing realism and control.

  • Qualitative Design:

    • Focuses on non-numerical data collection.
    • Includes written language, spoken language, visual expressions, experiences, and perceptions of individuals.
    • Emphasizes understanding from participants' perspectives, aiming to create a holistic picture rather than measuring constructs directly.

  • Types of Qualitative Design:

    1. Naturalism: Observes what happens in real-life settings.
    2. Ethnomethodology: Analyzes interactions between people, maintaining and reflecting social order.
    3. Emotionalism: Establishes close rapport with participants to explore their experiences and feelings.
    4. Postmodernism: Examines how individuals portray themselves and their context to affirm their identity during interactions.

  • Action Research:

    • Joint involvement of the researcher and participants.
    • Solving immediate problems collaboratively while contributing to a general knowledge base about the research topic.
    • Involves interviews and participant observations, less survey or experimental design.

Research Methods

  • Procedures for information (data) collection:
    • Questionnaires and Psychometric Tests: Usually structured for assessing psychological attributes, yielding large quantities of data for statistical analysis while potentially missing critical individual experiences.
    • Interviews: Can provide in-depth data; may vary as individual/group, structured/unstructured formats and analyzed through content/discourse analysis.
  • Psychophysiological and Psychophysical measures: Assess neurological, biological, and psychological performance states.
  • Observation:
    • Structured Observation: Collects data on the frequency, source, and timing of behavior in real-life situations.
    • Participant Observation: Researcher engages in events to observe consequences of behaviors, influenced by their theoretical orientation.
  • Diaries: Track key events/behaviors, often requiring structure to maintain relevance; however, completion rates can be poor.
  • Archival Sources: Use pre-existing data (e.g., company records) to offer context for research or evaluate impacts of events on organizational functioning.

Research Terminology

  • Hypothesis: Provisional, assumed statement about the relationship between independent and dependent variables.

    • Based on existing theory or prior research, formulated for verification by the current research effort.
    • Examples:
    • H1: Athletes lift heavier weights when listening to techno music.
    • Null Hypothesis (H0): Athletes do not lift heavier weights when listening to techno music.

  • Statistical Significance:

    • Related to the likelihood of obtaining results that reflect the null hypothesis.
    • Type I error = rejecting the null hypothesis; Type II error = accepting the null hypothesis.

Statistical Tests

  • t-test: Assesses significance/difference between 2 group mean scores; significant t-score = >2 or <-2.
  • Analysis of Variance (ANOVA): Compares scores of more than 2 groups; functions similarly to t-test.
  • Chi-square (ꭓ2): Examines categorical data to identify differences across groups; higher scores indicate greater differences.
  • Correlations:
    • Utilize Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) to understand relationships, ranging between -1 and 1.
    • Spearman rank correlation (rho, p) employed for rank order data without absolute scores.
  • Multiple Regression: Extends correlation design for >2 variables specifying weight distribution across predictors.
  • Meta-analysis: Summaries outcomes from multiple studies, measuring association strength and assessing effect size and statistical power.

Analysing Qualitative Data

  • Depends on research questions, theoretical frameworks, and philosophical assumptions of the researcher.

  • Thematic Analysis:

    • Codes interview data, crafting categories from initial evaluations, captures meaning effectively, though may overlook subtleties.

  • Content Analysis: Quantifies interview data systematically; inter-subjective agreement establishes objective truths.

  • Discourse Analysis: Studies how interviewees present their realities; reliant on interpretation of voice intonation and pauses, viewed through a social-constructivist lens.