Industrial/organizational psychology

  1. Think about a career in I-O Psychology. Write a short essay detailing an individual’s career trajectory
    (from education to mid-career). You will need to provide details such as a) where this individual went to
    school, b) what degree they chose to pursue, c) why they chose to pursue this degree, d) what kind of job
    did they end up getting (how much they are making), and e) what are their job responsibilities?
  2. Imagine there is a theory that suggests that the quality of a worker’s commute influences how well a
    worker performs on the job. In a short essay, please design a study that examines this assumption. You’ll
    need to provide specifics regarding factors such as a) what are your independent/dependent/control
    variables, b) what kind of study design you will use, c) how your study design speaks to causal inferences,
    internal, and external validity, and d) how you will determine if your measures of IV/DV are reliable and
    valid?
  3. In a short essay, compare and contrast two different types of job analysis for a particular job (your
    choice). In the essay, you should use this particular job as an illustrative case. For example, what kind of
    information would a task-oriented job analysis approach reveal for the position of a barista and how would
    that compare to that of a worker-oriented approach?
  4. Describe the two ways that we discussed dynamic criteria and how it relates to evaluating worker
    performance.
  5. Imagine there are three raters engaging in the three different types of distributional errors. First, describe
    the three different errors and how each of them would make both a good performer and a bad performer
    feel. Next, describe whether you’d use Rater Error Training or Frame of Reference Training to help these
    raters become better. Provide rationale as to why you picked one training method over another.
  6. An organization wants to use the Big Five personality inventory as a selection instrument for a new
    position. They come to you to ask your opinion on whether they should use this selection instrument. In a
    short essay, please a) describe the five different personality factors, b) what they are great at predicting as
    compared to cognitive ability measures, and c) address their concerns about faking on personality tests.