Industrial and Organization Psychology has its emphasis in the areas of scientific discipline and professional practice. As a science, the goal is to discover the phenomena that influence behavior on the job and throughout the organization. In identifying observable phenomena, predictions about behavior and the resulting consequences can be inferred. As a practice, information obtained from empirical research can be used in decision making to solve practical problems in organizations. Given the uses of each side of the discipline, it is easy to see how I and O go hand in hand. In the history of I/O, the process of identifying organizational behaviors, the context in which they occurred, and resulting consequences, usually took form of case studies or experiments. The information obtained from historical case studies has major implications for the way we conduct ourselves today.

Conduct a search for a case study in the field of I/O. In finding a case study, please use the textbook or any of the assigned articles as the basis of origin to conduct the search. See the Learning Activity tab for more information on searching the online database. Write a 4-6 page paper (not including title and reference pages) that demonstrates critical thinking and evaluation of the study as it relates to contemporary standards. Use the online library to provide references that back up and support your analysis.

Important: All of the I/O psychologists assigned did far more work in their lifetime than could be described in such a brief paper, thus a focus on some small aspect of the person's work is critical to success on this assignment.

The paper should be structured as follows:

Focus on some aspect of the person's study or contribution to the field of Industry and Organizational Psychology (4-6 pages).
What you select as the focus is up to you and should reflect your own interests. A list of possible areas of focus can be found below.
The focus is obviously the key part of this paper. It should include a treatment of some aspect of the person's work as well as YOUR evaluation of that work.
You should be able to answer such questions as:

a. Which direction was the emphasis of the author's case study or experiment inclined - more I or O?
b. How was the work received by other I/O psychologists at the time?
c. What influence did the work appear to have on the field?
d. How is that work regarded today? Beware of hagiography: There is a tendency in writing these papers to present the individual in a largely positive light. In
some cases such an assessment may be entirely merited. But your job as "historian" in this assignment is to interpret the data as objectively as you can, and
that means being critical when such criticism is called for.
e. This means you should express your ideas as to (a) elements that were left out or were not considered (b) population and/or diversity issues (c) how results
were possibly misinterpreted (d) how the results differ from a contemporary perspective.

Possible areas of focus:

Consider the level at which the author focused the case study or experiment. The levels of focus in I/O would include: individual, team, departmental, organizational, and environmental.

Determine whether the inclination of the author' experiment leans toward Industrial or Organizational measures. Industrial subjects would include topics concerning measurement such as: Job analysis, selection and placement, training, performance appraisal, and measurement scales. Organizational subjects would lean more toward topics such as: motivation and work attitudes, influence and leadership, culture and climate and organizational learning, development and change.

Consider the historical context in which the study took place: World War I (1917 - 1918), Between Wars (1919-1940), World War II (1941-1945), (1950s and 1960s). Consider the philosophical era in which the study took place: pre-modernism (up until 1650s), modernism (1650s to 1950s), postmodernism (1950 to current times).