Question 1
The Hawthorne effect deals with the notion that any new change in a work environment will result to a positive response from the people (Jex and Britt, 2008). Small changes in the work place may cause an individual to react positively. However, the positive reaction only lasts for a short while.
An example of an experience of Hawthorne effect can be seen in new college students. The idea of joining a university may seem a big deal and may cause an individual to be motivated to study. However, once the student acclimatizes to the conditions of the university, laxity sweeps in and the idea of being in a university does not seem to be a big deal altogether. In an office environment, as an intern I was provided with an opportunity to go an collect data in the field regarding the construction of a building. This seemed to be a big issue initially, but it later became a normal thing.
Question 2
An industrial/organizational professor is mostly concerned with research in the field of organizational psychology. Research is an important aspect in the field of industrial/organizational psychology. Supervision of graduate students is also another roe that an industrial/organizational professor does. Additionally, the industrial/organizational psychologist is responsible for teaching different courses in the field of industrial psychology at undergraduate and graduate level. This may also apply to the doctoral programs. The industrial/organizational professor can also be a consultant for different organizations. Similarly, a practicing, industrial/organizational psychologist is mainly involved in consultancy work. Often, the practicing psychologist may contribute to research studies being done in research institutions.
Most of the practicing industrial/organizational psychologist and industrial/organizational professor account for the highest areas of interest (Weiten, 2007). A practicing industrial/organizational psychologist is constantly researching, as the job involves dealing with individuals in organizational settings. An industrial/organizational professor has to go to an organization to conduct research whereas the practicing industrial psychologist is constantly present in the organization where he or she is constantly focused on trying to implement new ways of improving organizational performance.
Question 3
Research is the central component in the field of industrial/organizational psychology. Thus, industrial psychologists apply different methodologies in research in order to get data relating to employee behavior and attitudes. From a research, it becomes easy to evaluate different aspects of employee performance, job satisfactions and effects of diverse management and leadership approaches on the performance of employees. To collect different data, the psychologist has to observe different aspects of how the employees interact with each other.
A research method used by industrial/organizational psychologists involves the use of a quasi experiment. Quasi experiments are beneficial in the sense as they reduce any ethical concerns in the study and do not require additional approaches that are normally experienced in randomizing of the study (Rogelberg, 2007). The major drawback with a quasi experiment is that the avoidance of randomization, may limit the outcome of the study results. Researchers may also use actual work setting to conduct their research. This may be significant when evaluating how certain environmental factors such as temperature or rain influence absenteeism (Rogelberg, 2007). The advantage of experiments is that they allow they provide cause and effect relationships. Experiments are time-consuming. Surveys or questionnaires can also be used. This may involve interviews (Rogelberg, 2007). The benefit of surveys is that they allow large amounts of data to be collected. However, survey may be limiting in terms of accuracy and may provide inadequate sample representation.
Question 4
Industrial psychology entails dealing with detailed characteristics of the workplace, workers and job activities. Activities that fall under this category include job analysis, development of performance appraisals and development of training programs. Organizational psychology relates to the aspect of how employees relate with one another, their environment and organizational structure. Activities under this include organizational development, job satisfaction and leadership. The field of industrial/organizational psychology has gained a lot of attention in many countries owing to the direct effect it has on the performance of organizations. Most of the research works done by the industrial/organizational psychologist are normally used by different organizations.
Question 5
In ascertaining validity and reliability of measurement when using questionnaires, one needs to ensure that the questions are phrased appropriately. Thus, questions in a questionnaire need to cover significant aspects or factors that may affect student motivation. Using of experts in different fields may help in coming up with a valid questionnaire. Additionally, ensuring that the sample for the experiment is adequate can help to obtain reliable data that can be generalized for other scenarios. Answers to questionnaires need to be consistent, thus, most of the answers if evaluated need to relate with the issue of student motivation.
References
Jex, S. M., & Britt, T. W. (2008). Organizational psychology: A scientist-practitioner approach. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons.
Rogelberg, S. (2007). Handbook of Research Methods in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Weiten, W. (2007). Psychology: Themes and variations. Belmont, Calif: Thomson/Wadsworth.
