Quantitative measures of job variety: an experimental study-based on a psychophysical scaling technique
- 1 July 1980
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Production Research
- Vol. 18 (4) , 441-454
- https://doi.org/10.1080/00207548008919681
Abstract
This paper presents some quantitative measures of job variety based on entropy statistics of information theory and on a modification of the Turner-Lawrence measure. By means of the psychophysical scaling technique of magnitude estimation, subjective judgements of variety for a number of different job situations were obtained from a total of 42 subjects. Power models or linear models between perceived variety and its physical correlates were found to explain up to 99% of the variation in perceived variety. Since job variety is generally considered to have a significant influence on motivation and job satisfaction, such quantitative models may possess practical utility for job design and for systematic programmes of job enlargement or enrichment.Keywords
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