Research Project Assignment: Organizational Behavior
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
To complete this project, you must
1. Conduct research to
a. Define the concept of emotional labor
b. Describe, explain, and discuss perspectives on emotional labor in general as well as in different workplace settings
2. Conduct limited field research aimed at assessing varying understandings and experiences of emotional labor in at least three work settings
3. Analyze and summarize findings from your field research
4. Prepare a term paper on the topic of emotional labor in workplace settings, using both your field research and your background research as you do so
INSTRUCTIONS
Before you begin, read through this entire procedure. Then, follow these steps to com-plete your project:
1. Create your own working definition of emotional labor. Your definition should include likely effects of emotional labor, such as fatigue, workplace stress, anxiety, and alienation. Use your definition to guide your field research and clarify your thinking prior to beginning work on your term paper.
2. Use the following sources to conduct background research. Note: You must use all of these sources for your project.
a. Your textbook, Organizational Behavior, page 82
b. Online sources
- Context Magazine, "Feeling around the World," Arlie Hocschild, page 80
- Wikipedia: Defining Emotional Labor
- "What Is ‘Emotional Labor'?" (feminist view)
c. At least one source of your own from the Internet, a library source, or else-where. Here's a place to start for information on resources, citations, and references for this assignment. Visit the Organizational Behavior Page in the Penn Foster Virtual Library.
3. Prepare a survey for interviewing people in various work settings. On the survey, leave room for notes you take during or immediately following your interview with any subject. Although you may add questions of your own, include the following questions on your survey:
a. On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your satisfaction with your job?
b. On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your satisfaction with your present workplace environment?
c. Are you expected to present yourself in certain ways to customers (patients, passengers, clients, and so on)?
d. If so, how are you expected to present yourself? To help the interviewee answer this question, you may ask one or more of the following questions:
- Are you expected to follow a sales script?
- Are you expected to "up-sell" special offers?
- Are you instructed to always be polite?
- Are you expected to encourage and support patients?
- Are you supposed to smile when you would prefer to scream or frown?
e. Do you feel stress when you feel one way and have to pretend you feel another way? Can you give me examples?
f. When you feel some kind of work stress, can you tell me how you feel about it? (If interviewees need help answering this question, you may ask, "Does stress make you feel tired? Frustrated? Amused? Irritable? Sad?")
4. Follow these guidelines for conducting your research:
a. Interview people in at least three different work settings. Your subjects might include fast-food workers, bus or taxi drivers, firefighters, law enforcement officers, sanitation workers, bank tellers, airline flight attendants, public school teachers, paramedics, and social workers-to offer some examples.
b. Interview at least two people from each work setting.
c. To find individuals to interview, begin making contacts through people you know.
d. During the interview, complete the surveys yourself. Don't ask the subjects to fill out the forms.