1.5 Key Takeaways, Knowledge Check and Key Terms
Key Takeaways
In this chapter, we learned that:
- Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behaviour.
- There are many sub-disciplines within psychology, including organizational behaviour (OB).
- OB is the systematic study and application of knowledge about how individuals and groups act within the organizations where they work.
- OB researchers study workplace behaviour using a variety of methods, including surveys, field studies, laboratory studies, case studies, and meta-analysis.
- The study of OB and communication can help student to develop communication skills that are essential for success in the workplace.
Knowledge Check
Review your understanding of this chapter’s key concepts by taking the interactive quiz below.
Key Terms
Key terms from this chapter include:
The word “psychology” comes from the Greek words “psyche,” meaning life, and “logos,” meaning explanation. Formally defined, psychology is the scientific study of mind and behaviour. See Section 1.1 Psychology Defined
Research psychologists use scientific methods to create new knowledge about the causes of behaviour. See Section 1.1 Psychology Defined
Psychologist-practitioners, such as clinical, counselling, industrial-organizational, and school psychologists, use existing research to enhance the everyday life of others. See 1.1 Psychology Defined
Organizational behavior (OB) is defined as the systematic study and application of knowledge about how individuals and groups act within the organizations where they work. See 1.2 What is Organizational Behaviour?
Surveys are one of the primary methods management researchers use to learn about OB. A basic survey involves asking individuals to respond to a number of questions. The questions can be open-ended or close-ended. See 1.3 OB Research Methods
Field studies are an effective ways to learn about what is truly going on within organizations. Compelling evidence comes from field studies that employ an experimental design. See 1.3 OB Research Methods
Case studies are in-depth descriptions of a single industry or company. Case writers typically employ a systematic approach to gathering data and explaining an event or situation in great detail. See 1.3 OB Research Methods
Meta-analysis is a technique used by researchers to summarize what other researchers have found on a given topic. This analysis is based on taking observed correlations from multiple studies, weighting them by the number of observations in each study, and finding out if, overall, the effect holds or not. See 1.3 OB Research Methods
