I.

MODULE TITLE: Introduction to Industrial Psychology (PRELIM – Chapter 1)

II. DESIRED LEARNING OUTCOMES:

a. Student will be able to explore and explain the following:
i. Be able to describe I/O psychology and what I/O psychologists do
ii. Learn about the history of I/O psychology
iii. Understand the importance of conducting research
iv. Understand how to conduct research
v. Be able to differentiate various research methods

III. DISCUSSION:
i. Definition of Industrial Psychology
 Industrial Psychology is a branch of psychology that applies the principles of
psychology in the workplace (Kedenburg, 2016; Beder, 2000). These psychological
principles which should be applied to effect change in any organization are related to
the well-being of employees and their productivity. (Cherry, 2016).
 According to the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) (2016),
industrial psychology is the study of human behavior and the application of
psychological principles, facts, and methods to individuals and groups in organizational
and work settings.
 The work of industrial psychologists is multifaceted because it combines both the
scientific and practical concepts of human behavior in the workplace. Industrial
psychologists work within the bounds of the interaction and interdependence of
individuals, organizations, and society. They work as scientists who conduct extensive
research to derive principles on organizational behavior. They act as consultants and
staff psychologists who apply psychological principles to solve organizational problems
and conflicts. They are also teachers who train students in the practice of industrial
psychology in organization (SIOP, 2016).
 Purpose: “to enhance the dignity and performance of human beings, and the
organizations they work in, by advancing the science and knowledge of human
behavior” (Rucci, 2008).
 Goal: to increase the productivity and well-being of employees.
 Industrial psychologists work in a variety of settings including industry, government,
education, and consulting firms.

ii. Major Fields of Industrial Psychology

 The industrial approach (the “I” in I/O psychology) focuses on determining the
competencies needed to perform job, staffing the organization with employees who
have competencies, and increasing those competencies through training.
 The organizational approach (the “O” in I/O psychology) creates an organizational
structure and culture that will motivate employees to perform well, give them the
necessary information to do their jobs, and provide working conditions that are safe and
result in an enjoyable and satisfying work/life environment.
 Major fields of Industrial Psychology:
1. Personnel Psychology is the field of study that concentrates on the selection
and evaluation of employees. (analyzing jobs, recruiting applicants, selecting
employees, determining salary levels, training employees, and evaluating
employee performance.)
2. Organizational Psychology is the field of study that investigates the behavior
of employees within the context of an organization. (issues of leadership, job
satisfaction, employee motivation, organizational communication, conflict
 management, organizational change, and group processes within an
organization.)
3. Human Factors/Ergonomics is a field of study concentrating on the
interaction between humans and machines. (workplace design, human machine
interaction, ergonomics, and physical fatigue and stress.)

iii. Brief History of Industrial Psychology

 The field of I/O psychology began in early 1900’s
 1903 - Walter Dill Scott wrote The Theory of Advertising in which psychology
was first applied to business
 1910 - Hugo Münsterberg wrote Psychology and Industrial Efficiency.
Considered as the “Father of Industrial Psychology”. Münsterberg was
primarily interested in personnel selection and psychological testing.
 1911 - Walter Dill Scott wrote the book Increasing Human Efficiency in
Business which pioneered in applying the principles of psychology in the
workplace (Kazi, 2012).
 The term “industrial psychology” was seldom used prior to World War I.
Instead, the common terms for the field were “economic psychology,”
“business psychology,” and “employment psychology” (Koppes & Pickren,
2007).
 I/O psychology made its first impact during World War I. Because of the large
number of soldiers who had to be assigned to various units within the armed
forces, I/O psychologists were employed to test recruits and then place them in
appropriate positions.
 Army Alpha is an intelligence test developed during World War I and used by
the army for soldiers who can read.
 Army Beta is an intelligence test developed during World War I and used by
the army for soldiers who cannot read.
 The more intelligent recruits were assigned to officer training, and the less
intelligent to the infantry.
 James McKeen Cattell. Edited several psychological journals and founded The
Psychological Corporation in 1921 (Landy, 1997). The Psychological
Corporation has been instrumental in maintaining the integrity and credibility
of psychologists who serve in companies. It is also one of the largest publishers
of psychological tests (McCarthy, 2002).
 Walter Bingham. Is also a prominent figure in the field of industrial
psychology. Bingham started the Division of Applied Psychology, the first
academic program in industrial psychology (Krumm, 2001). He also
spearheaded the Personal Research Federation and served as director of The
Psychological Corporation. Bingham made an important and lasting
contribution to the field as he acted as spokesperson for psychology to be
recognized and to achieve the respect it rightly deserved.
 1920s - doctoral degrees in industrial psychology were offered in American
universities.
 During the 1920s and 1930s, Rensis Likert and Louis Leon Thurstone became
well-known in the measurement of attitudes.
 Frank and Lilian Gilbreth. The husband-and-wife tandem were among the
first scientists to improve productivity and reduce fatigue by studying the
motions used by workers. They improved productivity in the workplace by
studying the motions of the workers. They reduced the time needed in
bricklaying from 18 to 4 ½ motions per brick.
  1933 - Elton Mayo published his Hawthorne studies.
 The Hawthorne studies, conducted at the Western Electric Company in
Hawthorne, Illinois, demonstrated that employee behavior was complex and
that the interpersonal interactions between managers and employees played a
tremendous role in employee behavior.
 Hawthorne effect, when employees change their behavior due solely to the fact
that they are receiving attention or are being observed. Hawthorne studies
inspired psychologists to increase their focus of human relations in the
workplace and to explore the effects of employee attitudes (Olson, Verley,
Santos, & Salas, 2004).
 1939 - Kurt Lewin was the first to come up with a study on the effects of
leadership styles and his work led to the use of participative management
techniques.
 1945 - Society for Industrial and Business Psychology established as Division
14 of the American Psychological Association (APA) with 130 members
 The 1960s saw the need for human resource professionals to develop selection
techniques based on the passage of several civil rights governing equal
employment opportunities.
 In 1970s, theories on employee satisfaction and motivation were developed.
Theories on human behavior in organizations were also recognized.
 1982 - Division 14 was renamed Society for Industrial and Organizational
Psychology (SIOP). Currently SIOP has more than 8,000 members.
 In the 1980s and 1990s industrial psychology went through four major
changes. (1) the use of a more sophisticated statistical techniques and analysis
increased. Highly complex statistical tools like MANOVA or multivariate
analysis of variance and structural equation modeling were introduced. (2)
There was an increased interest in the application of cognitive psychology to
the industry. (3) The clamor to determine the effects of work in family life and
leisure activities surfaces, highlighting how work stress affects the personal life
of individuals (McMarthy, 1998). (4) The efforts in improving employee
selection significantly increases (Aamodt, 2013).
 In the new millennium, industrial psychology further developed through
technological innovations. Psychological tests can now be administered and
checked on the Internet. Recruitment of employees can also be done online.
Trainings can likewise be conducted online through computer-mediated tools
or social media such as Facebook and Twitter as more and more people take
advantage of distance education to study and learn through the Internet.
Managers can hold meetings through video conferencing (Kaazi, 2012).

iv. Employment of I/O Psychologists

 I/P psychologists typically work in four settings:
1. Colleges and Universities (teach, conduct research; some work as
administrators)
2. Consulting Firms (selecting hiring workforce, designing systems that will
motivate employees, training employees, makes sure that organizations treat
applicants and employees in a legal and ethical manner)
3. Public Sector (consultant for local, state, or government agency)
4. Private Sector (consultant for single company such as IBM, Microsoft, and
FedEx)
 Job Titles of I/O psychologists:
 Chairman and CEO
  City manager
 Compensation analyst
 Compensation manager
 Consultant
 Director of assessment and selection
 Director of organizational effectiveness
 Director of training and development
 Director of workforce planning
 Employee Relations Manager
 HR Director
 HR generalist
 HR representative
 HR specialist
 HR supervisor
 Industrial-organization psychologist
 Manager of leadership and development
 Personnel manager
 President
 Professor
 Recruiter
 Research psychologist

 Educational Requirements and Types of Programs

 Bachelor’s degrees can find employment in the HRM field, but having master’s
or doctoral degree increases employment and career opportunities.
 Types of Graduate Programs:
1. Master’s Program
2. Doctoral Program

v. Research in I/O Psychology

 Why conduct research?
 To answer questions and making decisions
 Research and everyday life
 Common sense is often wrong

 Considerations in conducting research:

 Ideas
 Hypotheses/Hypothesis an educated prediction about the answer to a question.
 Theory a systematic set of assumptions regarding the cause and nature of
behavior.
 Review of Related Literature
 Four types of periodicals:
 Journals, written collection of articles describing the methods and results of
new research.
 Bridge publications, designed to “bridge the gap” between academia and
applied world. Usually written by professors.
 Trade magazines, contain articles usually written by professional writers who
have expertise in a given field.
 Magazines, an unscientific collection of articles about a wide range of topics.
Good source of ideas but terrible sources to use in support of a scientific
hypothesis.
 Location of Study
 Laboratory research. Usually, this done at a university, but research is also
conducted in organizations. External validity or generalizability, one of the
disadvantages of laboratory research. External validity or generalizability, the
extent to which research results can be expected to hold true outside the
specific setting in which they were obtained.
 Field research. Research conducted in a natural setting as opposed to
laboratory. It could be the assembly line of an automotive plant, the secretarial
pool of a large insurance company, etc. Ethical dilemma: Informed consent.
Informed consent, the formal process by which subjects give permission to be
included in a study. Institutional review boards, a committee designated to
ensure the ethical treatment of research subjects.
 Research Methods
 Experiments. A type of research study in which the independent variable is
manipulated by the experimenter. The most powerful of all research methods
because it is the only one that can determine cause-and-effect relationships.
Cause-and-effect relationships, the result of a well-controlled experiment
about which the researcher can confidently state that the independent variable
caused the change in the dependent variable.
 Two characteristics define an experiment: (1) manipulation of one or more
independent variables and (2) random assignment of subjects to experimental
and control conditions.
 Independent variable, the manipulated variable in an experiment. Dependent
variable, the measure of behavior that is expected to change as a result of
changes in the independent variable.
 Experimental group, the group of subjects that receives the experimental
treatment of interest to the experimenter. Control group, used to establish a
cause-and-effect relationship by isolating the effect of an independent variable
 Example: A researcher randomly assign 100 employees to received customer
service training and 100 employees to receive no training. Following the
training program, the researcher looks at the change in customer spending.
 In this example, training is the independent variable (what was manipulated),
and customer spending is the dependent variable (what was expected to change
as a result of the independent variable).
 The employees who received the training are collectively called the
experimental group, and the employees who did not receive the training are
collectively called the control group.
 Quasi-experiments. Research method in which the experimenter either does
not manipulate the independent variable or in which subjects are not randomly
assigned to conditions.
 Quasi-experiments are often used to evaluate the results of a new program
implemented by an organization.
 Example: an organization that instituted a child care center wanted to see
whether the center had any effect on employee absenteeism. To find the
answer, the organization compared absenteeism levels from the year before the
center was introduced with the absenteeism levels for the year following the
implementation; the organization found that both absenteeism and turnover had
decreased.
 Archival research. Research that involves the use of previously collected data.
 Archival research has many desirable factors, such as not being obtrusive or
expensive, but it also has severe drawbacks (Shultz, Hoffman, & Reiter-
Palmon, 2005). Records in files are not always accurate and are not always kept
up-to-date.
 Example: we want to know what distinguishes good workers from poor
workers, we could look in the personnel files to see whether the backgrounds of
good workers have common characteristics not shared by poor workers.
 Surveys. Research method that asks people about their opinion on some topic.
 Surveys can be conducted via a variety of methods such as mail, personal
interviews, phone, email, and the internet.
 When selecting a survey method, it is important to consider whether the
intended population can access the medium of survey (e.g., access to email,
access to a computer, access to a phone with a landline), whether they will
agree to complete the survey (e.g., survey length), and the extent to which the
person will provide honest and accurate answers.
 Example: A survey of drug usage or criminal behavior should not use face-to-
face interviews. People are more likely to admit having engaged in sensitive
activities when the questions are not asked by a live person (Touraneau & Yan,
2007).
 Meta-Analysis. A statistical method of reaching conclusions based on previous
research.
 Effect size, a statistic that indicates the amount of change caused by an
experimental manipulation.
 Mean effect size, a statistic that is the average of the effect sizes for all studies
included in the analysis.
 Correlation coefficients (r) are used to determine the relationship between two
variables. The common statistical tool used is the Pearson correlation
coefficient.
 Difference score (d), a type of effect size used in meta-analysis that indicates
how many standard deviations separate the mean score for the experimental
group from the control group.
 Subject Samples
 Random sample, a sample in which every member of the relevant
population had an equal chance of being chosen to participate in the study.
 Convenience sample, a nonrandom research sample that is used because it
is easily available.
 Random assignment, the random, nonbiased assignment of subjects in a
research sample to the various experimental and control conditions.
 Running the Study
 To ensure that all data are collected in an unbiased fashion, it is important that
all instructions to the subjects be stated in a standardized fashion and at a level
that is understandable. Once the subject is finished with her participation, she
 should be debriefed, or told the purpose of the experiment and be given a
chance to ask questions about her participation.
 Statistical Analysis
 Statistical analysis helps us determine how confident we are that our results are
real and did not occur by chance alone.
 Correlation is a statistical procedure that enables a researcher to determine the
relationship between two variables.

vi. Ethics in I/O Psychology

 Ethical dilemmas are ambiguous situations that require a personal judgment of what is
right or wrong because there are no rules, policies, or laws guiding such decisions.
Individuals often rely on their morals and personal values, which often leads to
different decisions by different people in similar situations.
 Two types of ethical dilemmas:
 Type A dilemma, there is a high level of uncertainty as to what is right or
wrong, there appears to be no best solutions, and there are both positive and
negative consequences to a decision.
 Example: Many people would say that drug research that uses animals to test
new drugs is unethical because it is morally wrong to hurt any living creature.
Others would say that new drugs could save millions of lives and that it would
be morally wrong not to make and test drugs that could potentially save human
lives.
 Type B dilemma, also called rationalizing dilemmas. The difference between
right and wrong is much clearer than in Type A. Usually, individuals know
what is right but choose the solution that is most advantageous to themselves.
 Example: Many students will say that they have cheated at least one time on a
test. Most of those students would agree that it is morally wrong to cheat. So,
why have so many done it? They rationalize that “for just this one time” it is
okay and that it is not hurting anyone. And they convince themselves that
because everyone else is doing it, it must be okay.
I. MODULE TITLE: Job Analysis and Evaluation (PRELIM – Chapter 2)

II. DESIRED LEARNING OUTCOMES:

a. Student will be able to explore and explain the following:
i. Understand the definition and uses of job analysis
ii. Know how to write a job description
iii. Know how to conduct a job analysis
iv. Learn when to use the various job analysis methods
v. Understand the concept of job evaluation
vi. Understand the concept of pay equity

III. DISCUSSION:
i. Job Analysis
 The gathering and analyzing information about the work an employee performs, the
conditions under which the work is performed, and the worker characteristics needed to
perform the work under the identified conditions.
 The foundation for almost all human resources activities. It is also called the work
analysis. (Wilson, Bennett, Gibson, & Alliger, 2012)
 Importance of Job Analysis:
 Writing Job Descriptions
 Employee Selection
 Training
 Personpower Planning
 Performance Appraisal
 Job Classification
 Job Evaluation
 Job Design
 Compliance with Legal Guidelines
 Organizational Analysis
 Job Description. One of the written products of job analysis. It is a brief, two- to five-
page summary of the tasks and job requirements found in the job analysis. In other
words, job analysis is the process of determining the work activities and requirements,
and a job description is the written result of the job analysis.
 Job Description Contents:
 Job Title, describes the nature of the job, its power and status level, and the
competencies needed to perform the job (Martinez, Laird, Martin, & Ferris,
2008). An accurate job title also aids in employee selection and recruitment.
 Brief Summary, should only be one paragraph in length but should briefly
describe the nature and purpose of the job.
 Work Activities, lists the tasks and activities in which the worker is involved.
Tasks and activities should be organized into meaningful categories to make
the job description easy to read and understand.
 Tools and Equipment Used, a section should be included that lists all the tools
and equipment used to perform work activities in the previous section. It is
used primarily for employee selection and training.
 Job Context, describes the environment in which the employee works and
mentions stress level, work schedule, physical demands, level of responsibility,
temperature, number of coworkers, degree of danger, and any other relevant
information.
 Work Performance, contains a relatively brief description of how an
 employee’s performance is evaluated and what work standards are expected of
the employee.
 Compensation Information, a section of the job description that contains
salary grade, whether the position is exempt, and the compensable factors used
to determine salary.
 Job Competencies, this section contains what are commonly called job
specifications or competencies. These are the knowledge, skills, abilities, and
other characteristics (KSAOs) (such as interest, personality, and training) that
are necessary to be successful on the job. Job competencies are divided into
two sections: (1) KSAOs that an employee must have at the time of hiring; (2)
KSAOs that are an important part of the job but can be obtained after being
hired. The first set of KSAOs is used for employee selection and the second is
for training purposes (Wooten, 1993).
ii. Preparing for a Job Analysis
 Who Will Conduct the Analysis? Consultants, because they are well trained and have
extensive experience.
 How Often Should a Job Description Be Updated? If a job changes significantly. Job
descriptions change across time because of job crafting – the informal changes that
employees make in their jobs (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001).
 Which Employees Should Participate? All employees should participate in the job
analysis.
 What Types of Information Should Be Obtained? Formal and informal requirements
 A typical job analysis involves interviewing and observing subject-matter experts
(SMEs) to determine tasks that are performed, the conditions under which they are
performed, the tools and equipment needed to perform them and the KSAOs.

iii. Conducting a Job Analysis

 Step 1: Identify Tasks Performed
 Gathering existing information
 Interviewing Subject-Matter Experts (SMEs)
 Job analysis interviews can be individual (interview is done by a job analyst,
the person conducting a job analysis) and group (SME conference, a group of
job analysis interview consisting of SMEs).
 Ammerman technique, a job analysis method in which a group of job experts
identifies the objectives and standards to be met by the ideal worker.
 Observation, a job analysis method in which the job analyst watches a job
incumbents perform their jobs.
 Step 2: Write Task Statements
 Write task statements that will be used in the task inventory, a questionnaire
containing a list of tasks each of which the job incumbent rates on a series of
scales such as importance and time spent.
 Step 3: Rate Task Statements
 Conduct task analysis, the process of identifying the tasks for which employees
need to be trained – using a group of SMEs to rate each task statement for the
frequency and the importance or criticality of the task being performed.
 Step 4: Determine Essential KSAOs
 Knowledge – a body of information needed to perform a task.
 Skill – the proficiency to perform a learned task
 Ability – The basic capacity for performing a wide range of tasks, acquiring a
knowledge, or developing a skill.
 Other characteristics – factors that are not knowledge, skills, or abilities such
as personality, willingness, interest, and degrees.
 Step 5: Selecting Tests to Tap KSAOs
 Determine the best methods to tap the KSAOs needed at the time of hire.

iv. Methods Providing General Information About Worker Activities

 Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) is a structured instrument developed at Purdue
University by McCormick, Jeanneret, and Mecham (1972). It contains 194 items
organized into six main dimensions: information input, mental processes, work output,
relationships with other persons, job context, and other job-related variables such as
work schedule, pay, and responsibility.
 Job Structure Profile (JSP) is a revised version of the PAQ developed by Patrick and
Moore (1985). It includes item content and style, new items to increase the
discriminatory power of the intellectual and decision-making dimensions, and an
 emphasis on having a job analyst, rather than the incumbent.
 Job Elements Inventory (JEI) is another alternative to the PAQ developed by
Cornelius and Hakel (1978). The JEI contains 153 items and has a readability level
appropriate for an employee with only a tenth-grade education (Cornelius, Hakel, &
Sackett, 1979).
 Functional Job Analysis (FJA) was initially designed by Sidney Fine (1955) as a
method that could be used by the Federal government to analyze and compare
thousands of jobs. It rates the extent to which a job incumbent is involved with
functions in the categories of data, people, and things.
 Job Components Inventory (JCI) was developed by Banks, Jackson, Stafford, and
Warr (1983). It consists of more than 400 questions covering five major categories:
tools and equipment, perceptual and physical requirements, mathematical requirements,
communication requirements, and decision-making and responsibility

v. Methods Providing Information About the Work Environment

 Arbeitswissenschaftliches Erhebungsverfahren zur Tätigkeitsanalyse (AET) which
means “ergonomic job analysis procedure”. Ergonomic, the instrument is primarily
concerned with the relationship between the worker and work objects. Developed in
Germany By Rohmert and Landau (1983). It is a 216-item standardized questionnaire
that analyzes a job along the dimension.

vi. Methods Providing Information About Competencies

 Occupational Information Network (O*NET) is a national job analysis created by the
federal government to replace the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT). It includes
information about the occupation and the worker characteristics needed for success in
the occupation.
 Critical Incident Technique (CIT) was developed and first used by John Flanagan. It is
used to discover actual incidents of job behavior that make the difference between a
job’s successful or unsuccessful performance (Flanagan, 1954)
 Threshold Traits Analysis (TTA) was developed by Lopez, Kesselman, and Lopez
(1981). A 33-item questionnaire that identifies traits necessary to successfully perform
a job. This method is available only by hiring a particular consulting firm (Lopez and
Associates)
 Fleishman Job Analysis Survey (F-JAS) a job analysis method in which jobs are rated
on the basis of the abilities needed to perform them.
 Job Adaptability Inventory (JAI) a 132-item inventory developed by Pulakos, Arad,
Donovan, and Plamondon (2000). This method taps the extent to which a job involves
eight types of adaptability.
 Personality-Related Position Requirements Form (PPRF) a job analysis developed by
Raymark, Schmit, and Guion (1997). It consists of 107 items tapping 12 personality
dimensions that fall under “Big 5” personality dimension (openness to experience,
conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability).
 Performance Improvements Characteristics (PIC) a 48-questions on the PIC help
determine which of the seven main personality traits are needed to perform a given job.
vii. Job Evaluation
 The process of determining the monetary worth of a job.
 A job evaluation is typically done in two stages:
 Determining internal pay equity
 Determining external pay equity
 Determining Internal Pay Equity
 Step 1: Determining Compensable Job Factors. Compensable Job Factors
are factors such as responsibility and education requirements that differentiate
the relative worth of jobs. Possible compensable job factors include the
following:
 Level of responsibility
 Physical demands
 Mental demands
 Education requirements
 Training and experiences requirements
 Working conditions
 Step 2: Determining the Levels for Each Compensable Factor. Ex: Factor
(education), levels are easy to determine (high school diploma, associate’s
degree, bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, etc.)
 Step 3: Determining the Factor Weights. Wage Trend Line, a line that
represents the ideal relationship between the number of points that a job has
been assigned (using the point method of evaluation) and the salary range for
that job.
  Determining External Pay
Equity
 With external equity, the
worth of a job is
determined by
comparing the job to the
external market (other
organizations).
 External equity is
important if an
organization is to attract
and retain employees.
 Salary surveys, a
questionnaire sent to other organizations to see how much they are paying their
employees in positions similar to those in the organization sending the survey.
 Direct compensation, the amount of money paid to an employee (does not
count benefits, time off, and so forth).
 Determining Sex and Race Equity
 Aside from internal and external equity, pay audits should also be conducted to
ensure that employees are not paid differently on the basis of gender or race.
 Comparable worth, the idea that jobs requiring the same level of skill and
responsibility should be paid the same regardless of supply and demand.