1. Prepared by Siti Rokiah Siwok for UHS 2062 at UTM, Skudai Malaysia
Research in IOP
Prepared by Siti Rokiah Siwok for UHS 2062 at UTM, Skudai Malaysia

2. Research helps IO psychologists to:
Answer questions
Make decisions
Save money
Save the company /jobs
And…..many more

3. The Research Process
Choose an area/topic/idea
Focus
Design the research
Collect data
Analyze data
Interpret data
Report, inform and publish

4. Choosing an area/topic/ idea
Pick something that you are interested, you really want to learn about it.
Collect background information by reading articles and journals.
Make yourself more familiar with the topic
Find out what has been done, what has been researched.
You will discover lots of information

5. Focusing your ideas... Focus on a research idea of your interest
Be flexible and have an open mind
Discard irrelevant items
Convert your focused research idea into a research hypothesis or a research question.
A hypothesis is a statement about the relationship between two or more variables.

6. A variable is ...
An aspect or situation that can vary or change; specifically it is a characteristic of a substance, quantity or entity that is measureable ( Kosslynn & Rosenberg,2006, pg 39)
Simply an attribute on which cases vary
( Bryman, 2004, pg 29)

7. Research Design Causal connections between variables Making inferences
A research design provides a framework for the collection and analysis of data.
A choice of research design reflects decisions about a range of dimensions of the research process such as:
Causal connections between variables
Making inferences
Understanding behaviour and its meanings within a specific context
Time-based phenomenon

8. Examples of research designs
Experimental designs
Cross-sectional or survey
Longitudinal
Case study
Comparative design

9. Data Collection
Depending on your hypothesis or research questions, data can be collected using various methods such as surveys, interviews or observations.

10. Analyze and Interpret Data
When data is obtained, analyze and interpret the data.
This may involve computing or softwares to assist you to analyze the data.

11. Report, inform and publish
An important aspect of a scientific method is that research and results must be made public
Reasons for reporting:
The result may become part of a general knowledge base so that other people can use to answer questions or to generate new research ideas.
So that the research can be replicated or refuted

12. References
Aamodt, M.G. (2010).Industrial/Organizational Psychology. An Applied Approach. CA: Wadsworth/ Cengage
Gravetter, F. J (2003). Research Methods for the Behavioural Sciences. USA: Thomson
Bryman, A ( 2004). Social Research Methods (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK : Oxford University Press.
Neuman, L ( 2003). Social Research Methods (5th ed). Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Boston: Pearson