In order to select the most effective instrument for a specific assessment of job satisfaction, you must analyze the instruments and consider the factors they measure. Not all instruments will contain the set of work factors needed (e.g., pay, opportunities for promotion, environment) to adequately measure job satisfaction or facets of job satisfaction across all groups. Only a few of the instruments may meet reliability and construct validity criteria. Investigators measure constructs using reliable and valid instruments. A reliable instrument provides a consistent measurement every time it is used. For example, a standard 12-inch ruler is an example of a reliable instrumentit will always measure 12 inches. Even if the instrument is reliable, you still need to know whether it is valid. Validity is the idea that your instrument empirically measures what it is intended to measure.
Now consider what you know about measuring job satisfaction and what you have observed about the employees problems with job satisfaction at Walden Sports. For this Discussion you will select a suitable instrument to measure job satisfaction and describe the psychometric properties of the instrument.
To prepare for this Discussion:
- Using the Learning Resources and Walden Library, search for an instrument to measure job satisfaction at Walden Sports.
- Recall the stages of the consulting cycle and where measurement would fall in the cycle. Also consider the value of communicating to the client psychometric properties and how that explains the rationale for using an instrument in helping them solve organizational problems. You likely covered many aspects of the consulting cycle in a previous Walden learning experience; however, review Optional Resources for more information on the consulting cycle if necessary. (Some texts listed in Optional Resources you may have acquired in a previous course.)
- Read the article Moderating Role of Job Satisfaction on Turnover Intention and Burnout Among Workers in Primary Care Institutions: A Cross-Sectional Study. Identify the model of testing job satisfaction, burnout, and turnover intention and the items and surveys used to do so.
- Read the article Measuring of Job Satisfaction: The Use of Quality of Work Life Factors. Review the methods employed by the study to evaluate instrument and item selections.
- Read the article The Efficient Measurement of Job Satisfaction: Facet-Items Versus Facet Scales. Consider the rationale when choosing facet items versus facet scales in measurement instruments.
- Review the website Tests Reviewed in the Mental Measurements Yearbook Series. Identify potential instruments for measuring job attitudes.
By Day 3
Post a response to the following:
Provide a description of the instrument you selected to measure job satisfaction of the employees at Walden Sports. Then, explain why this instrument is appropriate for measuring job satisfaction. Finally, provide an example item, taken from the instrument you selected to measure job satisfaction or another relevant instrument, one that you might use in a diagnostic survey. Then, describe the scale anchors used to score the instrument and the psychometric properties (reliability and validity) of the instrument. Finally, post how instrument selection fits in the consulting cycle stages and how it would be presented to the client. Keep in mind that your client might not be familiar with job satisfaction questionnaires or psychometric properties, so explain how you would address your audience in your presentation at this stage of consulting.
