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RESEARCH SETTINGS IN INDUSTRIAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY: FACTS, FALLACIES, AND THE FUTURE 1, 2, 3
Author(s) -
FLANAGAN MICHAEL F.,
DIPBOYE ROBERT L.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
personnel psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.076
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1744-6570
pISSN - 0031-5826
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-6570.1981.tb02175.x
Subject(s) - psychology , field (mathematics) , industrial and organizational psychology , organizational behavior , variety (cybernetics) , psychological research , applied psychology , field research , social psychology , social science , statistics , sociology , mathematics , pure mathematics
Data were collected about research issues involving laboratory and field settings through a content analysis of the 1966, 1970, and 1974 volumes of the Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Performance , and Personnel Psychology. Four general categories of data were collected: (a) affiliation of investigators, (b) topic areas investigated, (c) settings of the research, and (d) research strategies employed. Four common beliefs of either laboratory or field advocates were contradicted by the data. First, laboratory research was found fairly frequently in the industrial‐organizational literature. Second, theory and hypothesis testing were not overemphasized. Third, laboratory research was as applied as field research. Lastly, studies published by researchers with nonacademic affiliations were as likely to have been conducted in laboratory settings as field settings. Recommendations were made to use the laboratory more frequently for theory and hypothesis based research and to use a variety of research strategies in both laboratory and field settings.