A Factorial Study of Industrial Morale

71 Pages·2.72 MB·English

by  Askren, William B, Jr

PURDUE UNIVERSITY
THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY SUPERVISION
William Bland As/cren, Jr
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COMPLIES WITH THE UNIVERSITY REGULATIONS ON GRADUATION THESES
AND IS APPROVED BY ME AS FULFILLING THIS PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF
Doctor of fbilosophy
Profkssor in Charge of Thesis
H ead of School or Department
51
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THIS THESIS IS NOT TO BE REGARDED AS CONFIDENTIAL.
PROFESS OB US CHARGE
GRAD. SCHOOL FORM 9—3-4 9—1M

A FACTORIAL STUDY OF INDUSTRIAL MORALE
A Thesis
Submitted to the Faculty
of
Purdue University
by
William B. Askren, Jr.
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
of
Doctor of Philosophy
June, 1951
ProQuest Number: 27714230
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VITA
William Bland Askren, Jr.,
Born April 20, 1926
at Greensburgh, Pennsylvania
Academic Career;
1944 Diploma from Beliefontaine High School,
Beliefontaine, Ohio
194Ô Bachelor of Arts Degree, Wittenberg College,
Springfield, Ohio
1949 Master of Science Degree in Psychology,
Purdue University
1951 Candidate for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree,
Purdue University
Honorary Societies;
Sigma Xi
Membership in Professional Associations:
Associate, American Psychological Association
Field of Interest:
Industrial Psychology
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author is deeply indebted to Professor Joseph
Tiffin for his guidance and encouragement in all phases
of preparation of this thesis, and to Professors C. H.
Lawshe, N. C. Kephart, J. M. Hadley and W. V. Owens for
invaluable comments and suggestions relating to methodol­
ogy employed and interpretation of results.
The author is grateful for the interest in and support
of this research by the Purdue Research Foundation.
Mr. L. E. Grosh of the statistical laboratories was
helpful in solving many of the problems relating to I. B.
M. handling of the data. Professor I. W. Burr and Mr. J.
A. Norton contributed many suggestions for designing this
research so that factor analysis could be used.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ABSTRACT.................................. i
PROBLEM.................................................. 1
METHODOLOGY.............................................. 4
The Morale Scale. ............................ 5
The Factor Solution. .......... 5
The Matrix of Intercorrelations..................... 6
The Number of Factors............................. 10
RESULTS.................................................. 13
Identification of Factors.............................. 13
Discussion.. *......................................... 21
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS................................. 24
REFERENCES............................................... 26
APPENDICES................................................ 30
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1« Factor #1......................................... 14
2. Factor #2.................... 15
3 « Factor #3 * * *.................... 16
4. Factor #4......................................... 17
5» Factor #5......................................... Id
6. Factor #6...................... 19
7* Forty-Six Morale Scale Items Identified by
Harris; and Responses of Twenty-Two Judges,•. 31
8, Original Table of Intercorrelations: M e n 37
9* Original Table of In ter correlations: Women, 40
10. Residuals after Six Factors Removed: Men........ 45
11. Residuals after Six Factors Removed: Women 51
12. Factor Loadings before Rotation: Men............ 57
13* Factor Loadings before Rotation : Women,,*. 58
14* Factor Loadings after Rotation: Men............. 59
15* Factor Loadings after Rotation: Women...**.*...* 60
ABSTRACT
Askren, William B., Jr., A FACTORIAL STUDY OF IN­
DUSTRIAL MORALE. June, 1951, 61 pages, 15 tables, 22
titles in the bibliography, appendix.
A qualitative study of industrial morale was accom­
plished by factor analyzing a forty item morale scale. This
scale was completed by employees of a midwestern manufac­
turing plant in 1948. The employees were split into two
groups: men, N ■ 555; and women, N * 296. Each group was
analyzed separately and factors named separately.
Thurstons's centroid analysis was used to determine
a multiple-factor solution. Machine methodology developed
by Tucker was used to facilitate calculation of the factor
loadings. Simple structure and positive manifold were a-
chieved by rotating the orthogonal axes according to the
algebraic procedure described by Peters and Van Voorhis.
Tetrachoric correlation coefficients calculated with the
aid of Chesire, Saffir and Thurstons's tables were used in
the matrices of intercorrelations. The highest intercorre­
lations for the variables were regarded as adequate esti­
mates of commonality, and were used as diagonal values in
the tables of intercorrelations.
ii
Six factors were extracted for each group* Five factors
in each group were identified* The sixth factors did not
yield sufficient data to suggest psychological meaning. Com­
parison of the five identified factors for each group revealed
that they were equivalent for purposes of discussion and in­
terpretation of results* The five identified factors were:
UNDERSTANDING OF THE SECURITY FUND
ATTITUDE TOWARD SUPERVISION
IDENTIFICATION WITH THE COMPANY
RECOGNITION AS AN INDIVIDUAL
EMPLOYEE SERVICES AND BENEFITS