I/O psychology

• I/O Psychology


  A branch of psychology that applies the principles of psychology to the workplace
• I/O psychologists


  • They are able to apply psychological theories to explain and enhance the effectiveness of human behavior in the workplace
  • They "enhance the dignity and performance of human beings, and the organizations they work in, by advancing the science and knowledge of human behavior"
• Fields of I/O Psychology

  • Personnel Psychology
  • Organizational Psychology
  • Human Factors/Ergonomics
  • Occupational Health and Safety
• Employment Settings of I/O Psychologists

  • Education
  • Private sector
  • Public sector
  • Consulting
  • Other
• Walter Dill Scott publishes The Theory of Advertising


  1903
• Hugo Munsterberg publishes Psychology and Industrial Efficiency


  1913
• Journal of Applied Psychology first published

  1917
• First Ph.D. in I/O Psychology awarded to Bruce Moore and Merrill Ream at Carnegie Tech


  1921
• First I/O text book written by Morris Viteles


  1932
• Hawthorne Studies published


  1933
• American Association for Applied Psychology Established

  1937
• Division 14 History


  • 1937: American Association for Applied Psychology formed
  • 1945: Society for Industrial and Business Psychology established as Division 14 of APA
  • 1951: Marion Bills elected first woman president of Division 14
  • 1960: Renamed "Society for Industrial Psychology"
  • 1964: First edition of The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist published
  • 1982: Renamed "Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology"
  • 1986: SIOP conference held separately from APA
  • 1990: 2,500+ members
  • 2000: 3,600+ members
  • 2010: 8,000+ members
• Why should I care about research?
• Ideas


  Well thought-out suggestions or ideas
• Hypotheses


  Well thought-out suggestions or ideas
• Theories


  Systematic sets of assumptions regarding the nature and cause of particular events
• Social Loafing Example


  • Idea: It seems that people don't work as hard in a group as when they are alone
  • Hypothesis: When pulling on a rope, a person working by himself will exert more force than a person working in a group
  • Theory: 1. Sucker effect, 2. Free-rider, 3. Individual effort will not be noticed
• Noise Example


  • Idea: Does all this noise affect my employees' performance?
  • Hypothesis: High levels of noise will increase the number of errors made in assembling electronic components
  • Theory: Noise causes a distraction making it difficult to concentrate
• Recruitment Example


  • Idea: What employee recruitment source is best?
  • Hypothesis: Employee referrals will result in employees who stay with the company longer than will the other recruitment methods
  • Theory: 1. Realistic job preview, 2. Differential source, 3. Personality similarity, 4. Socialization
• Where will I find previous research?

  • Written sources: Journals, Trade Magazines, Bridge publications, Magazines, Books
  • Electronic Resources: PsychINFO, Infotrac, Web of science
  • The Internet
• Where will I conduct research?

  • Locations: Laboratory, Field, Office
  • Issues: External validity (generalizability), Control
• Research Methods


  • Experiment
  • Quasi-experiment
  • Case study
  • Survey
  • Interview
  • Natural observation
• Independent Variable


  Experimental group, Control group
• Independent and Dependent Variables Example 1 A researcher thinks that smaller groups 


  will be more cohesive than larger groups

  • Independent variable = Group size
  • Dependent variable = Level of cohesion
• Independent and Dependent Variables Example 2


  • Independent variable = Setting of goals (yes or no)
  • Dependent variable = # of upsized orders
• Survey Methods


  • Mail
  • Phone
  • Face-to-face
  • Magazine
  • E-mail
  • Internet
  • "Call in"
  • Fax
• Increasing Response Rates for Mail Surveys

  • Pre-contact participants
  • Personalize the survey
  • Ensure survey responses will be anonymous
  • Use a first-class stamp
• Increasing Response Rates for Email Surveys

  • Faster
  • Cheaper
  • Longer, more candid open-ended responses
  • Similar response rates to regular mail
• Increasing Response Rates for Phone Surveys

  • Immediately identify self and affiliation
  • Provide a phone number if participant is suspicious
  • Stress the importance of the information
  • Keep the interview short
  • Limit the number of response options
  • Speak clearly
• Question Considerations


  • Will the participant understand the question?
  • Will the question itself change the way a person thinks?
  • Do the response options cover the construct?
  • What are we going to do with the data?
  • Does the format increase or decrease the probability of responding?
• Question Types


  • Open-ended items
  • Restricted items
• Meta-Analysis


  A statistical method for cumulating studies
• Meta-Analysis Steps


  • Obtain relevant studies
  • Convert test statistics into effect sizes
  • Compute mean effect size
  • Correct effect sizes for sources of error
  • Determine if effect size is significant
  • Determine if effect can be generalized or if there are moderators
• Finding Studies for Meta-Analysis

  • Establish time frame for studies
  • Search Engines: Academic Search Complete, PsycINFO, Lexis-Nexis, Google Scholar, World Cat
  • Internet
  • Bibliographies from studies
  • Phone calls
  • List serve calls for help
• Deciding Which Studies to Use for Meta-Analysis

  • Must be empirical
  • Must have the appropriate statistic to convert to an 'r' or a 'd'
  • Must have complete set of information
  • Must be accurate
• Considerations for Subject Samples
• Sampling Techniques


  • Random sampling: Every member of population have equal chance to participate
  • Convenience sampling: NOT all member of the population have equal chance to participate
• Informed Consent


  Ethically required, can be waived when research involves minimal risk, waiver will not adversely affect rights of participants, or research could not be done without the waiver
• Informed Consent Needed?
• Running the Study


  • Informed consent
  • Instructions
  • Task completion
  • Debrief