Amundsen, Peter (2020) Examining the unobservable: Investigating a new heuristic-based measure of employee judgment. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Scholars continue to develop ways to examine the judgment strategies people use when faced
with the tasks and problems associated with daily life. Examining the unobservable strategies
used in judgment, objectively and dependably, is no easy task and relies on theoretical and
methodological rigour. The judgments made by employees when faced with workplace
change are highly consequential to the workplace, yet little is known about judgment in this
context. We conducted two concurrent instrument development studies using an untested
measure that adopts a behavioural economics framework and uses heuristic-based items,
labelled the Organisational Change Management Questionnaire (OCMQ), to examine
employee’s judgment of workplace change. It was hoped the OCMQ would demonstrate
practical utility for change managers in using heuristic cues to enhance the likelihood of
employee support when introducing workplace change. To test the OCMQ, we carried out a
content validation study using a panel of six experts to assess the relevance and sensitivity of
OCMQ items. A pilot deployment of the OCMQ (N = 162) was also carried out to assess
those items rated as excellent by the expert panel. Results from the two studies were
contradictory. Results from the pilot study were contrary to expert evaluation and the current
researchers’ expectations. We discuss the theoretical implications of using an unorthodox
methodology to develop the OCMQ as a likely explanation for the results and provide
recommendations for future iterations of the OCMQ.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Counselling (1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Liam Hendry; Erich Fein |
| Date Deposited: | 19 Jun 2025 06:49 |
| Last Modified: | 19 Jun 2025 06:49 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Measurement; content validation; judgment; heuristics; behavioural; economics; workplace change. |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52111 |
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