Faculty

of Arts Department of Psychology PSY209: INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY Assignment 1 Due February 16, 2012 at 10 am Purpose This purpose of this assignment is to give you some experience thinking like an Industrial Psychologist. As weve discussed in class, Industrial Psychologists ask certain types of ques@ons: How can we make workers more produc@ve? How can we select the best people to work for us? How can we introduce new technology into the workplace? How can we make downsizing and mergers go more smoothly. And many more! For this assignment you will develop a ques@on that an Industrial Psychologist might ask and then design an experiment that could test it. Tasks Almost everyone has worked at some point in their lives. For this assignment Id like you to think about a problem that arose in your workplace related to any topic covered before the rst mid- term exam (leadership, aKtudes, groups). If you have never worked please ask someone you know has worked for an example. 1) For one mark please state your problem and which topic it is related to. 2) For one mark please select a theory discussed in class or in the textbook that you believe might suggest a possible solu@on to the problem. 3) For one mark please state your proposed solu@on and explain how it is derived from your chosen theory. 4) For one mark state the dependent variable in your proposed experiment. 5) For one mark state the independent variable(s) in your proposed experiment. 6) For two marks create a design matrix that shows your expected results. 7) For two marks create a between-groups study map that could test your idea. 8) For two marks create a within-groups study map that could test your idea. 9) For two marks discuss the pros and cons choosing a between vs. within groups design. For two more marks, state which you would choose if you were running this study in real life and why? 10) Finally, pretend you are working for a consul@ng rm as an Industrial Psychologist. For ve marks write one page that summarizes the problem, the reasons for the problem, and why your solu@on works (hypothe@cally). Remember, you are wri@ng this with the inten@on of selling your services to another company. So include statements that explain how widespread the problem is, its poten@al costs to a company, and why someone should hire you to implement your solu@on.
PSY 209 Assignment 1