This is the handout from the Poster Presentation presented at AEA 2016.

1. LET'S ALL BE FRIENDS:THECONVERGENCEOF EVALUATION, I-
O PSYCHOLOGY,& MARKETING RESEARCH
PAGE 1 OF 2
ABSTRACT:
An interdisciplinary approach to evaluation is essential for ensuring that professionals
have a broader range of knowledge, allowing organizational practices to be grounded in
research from these fields. This research has explored how an interdisciplinary approach
to evaluation can make research more applicable to, and better for organizational
practices, through the integration of methods and techniques from Evaluation Studies,
Industrial-Organizational (I-O) Psychology, and Market Research programs (Cropanzano &
Mitchell, 2005; Deshpande & Zaltman, 1982). A content analysis of program content
from graduate studies in Interdisciplinary Studies, Liberal Studies, Evaluation, I-O
Psychology, Business Psychology,and Market Research has been performed to derive
interdisciplinary applications of evaluation to organizational practices. Specifically, this
presentation provides a synthesis of research methodology, communication techniques,
and theoretical frameworks for specific organizational practices. The audience should
gain a broader knowledge of interdisciplinary techniques, thereby aiding the usefulness of
evaluations (Moorman, Deshpande & Zaltman, 1993).
INTRODUCTION:
Evaluation is an ever-growing and developing field, full of practitioners and scholars from a number of different fields. Evaluation as a
skill/ability is applicable in a wide range of professional situations and often overlaps with other disciplines.
- Purpose: To examine the overlap and convergence of methodologies, skillsets, and practices in the fields of Evaluation, I-O
Psychology, and Market Research.
In order to understand where evaluation can develop as a field, and how to make best use of a particular evaluation study, it is
important to understand the convergence of these different disciplines.
By examining the interdisciplinary nature of evaluation practice, evaluators will be able to gain knowledge of interdisciplinary and
multidisciplinary approaches to evaluation, and build a larger professional network with practitioners and scholars in other disciplines.
Two Objectives:
(1) ensure use of recommendations
(2) allow for more communication and networking between disciplines (Campion & Thayner, 1985;Davidson, 2002;Deshpande
& Zaltman, 1982).
The research question: “How can multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary applications be taken to organizational practices through a
utilization-focused approach?”
SAMPLE:
1,654 courses
- 95 graduate programs in disciplines of evaluation, I-O psychology,
marketing research, and liberal studies utilized in this study
- Courses:
o 235 from 20 evaluation programs
o 640 from 46 I-O psychology programs
o 92 from eight marketing research programs
o 687 from 21 liberal studies programs
REFERENCES
Campion, M. A., & Thayer, P. W. (1985). Developmentand
field evaluation of an interdisciplinary measure of job
design. Journalof Applied Psychology,70(1), 29-43.
Davidson, E. J. (2002). The discipline of evaluation: A
helicopter tour for IO psychologists. The Industrial-
OrganizationalPsychologist, 40(2), 31-35.
Deshpande, R., &Zaltman, G. (1982). Factors affecting the
use of market research information: A path
analysis. Journalof MarketingResearch, 19(1), 14-31.
Moorman, C., Deshpande, R.,&Zaltman,G. (1993). Factors
affecting trust in market researchrelationships.Journal
of Marketing, 57(1), 81-101.
Authors:
M. JustinMiller
millerm6241@my.uwstout.edu
Nick Stilp
stilpn6176@my.uwstout.edu
Tiffany Smith
smithtif@uwstout.edu
Deven Wisner
wisnerd5259@my.uwstout.edu
Phillip Stoeklen
stoeklenp@uwstout.edu

2. PAGE 2 OF 2
METHOD:
- Program lists created from graduate program listings on websites of leading organizations in the fields
- Selected to identify points of convergence amongst the three fields
- Course listings chosen to identify points of convergence between evaluation, I-O psychology, and marketing research
- Only programs that had program description, program objectives, or course listings on the program’s website were retrieved
o 23 evaluation programs retrieved from listings on the American Evaluation Association website.
o 89 I-O psychology programs retrieved from listings on the Society of Industrial-Organizational Psychology website.
o 14 marketing research programs were retrieved from program listings on the Marketing Research Association
website.
o 80 liberal studies programs retrieved from program listings on the Association of Graduate Liberal Studies website.
- Exclusion Criteria: Criteria for removal of programs from the program lists that did not fit the data analysis plan –
o EC1: Program websites did not offer course listings
o EC2: Login access was required to obtain course listings from the programs’ websites
o EC3: Humanities and liberal arts programs, which are also listed on the Association of Graduate Liberal Studies
website and included in the liberal studies program list, were removed.
o EC4: Courses and/or concentrations did not fit the business discipline scope of the content analysis
o EC5: Individualized courses were excluded because the content of these courses are structured around students’
individual experiences, rather than a specified topic within an academic discipline (includes: capstone,
comprehensive examination, dissertation, independent research, independent readings, internship, portfolio, pre-
practicum, practicum, qualifying examination, and thesis)
- Two researchers examined and coded courses from the course lists to create agreed upon themes and sub-themes
- Decided collaboratively which courses met the exclusion criteria of being an individualized course during thematic coding
- Following the creation of themes and sub-themes, the two researchers independently coded the course listings
- After coding was completed, researchers came together to test their degree of coding agreement
- Agreement between coders ranged from 95.22% to 99.99%
RESULTS:
See handout provided at session.
DISCUSSION:
Implications
- Curriculum building for well-rounded
education for more efficient and better
informed organizational practices
- Understanding evaluation from an
interdisciplinary perspective will allow the
evaluator to report findings in a manner
where non-evaluators (i.e. market
researchers, I-O Psychologists) will understand
and thereby use the approach.
- Allow for more communication and
networking among professions in academic
disciplines.
Limitations
- Only courses on websites between July 2016
and September 2016 were utilized
- Made assumptions about courses solely based
on course titles
- Did not use the program list from the
Association of Interdisciplinary Studies
- Program lists may not be comprehensive or updated to reflect current programs
- Conservative approach to exclusion criteria was used
- Interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary programs have personalized tracks, thus were not examined for the study
Future Directions
- Investigate convergence in these fields through course descriptions, syllabi, program descriptions, and program objectives.
- Use coders from each of the three fields during the thematic analysis phase of the content analysis.
- Use program list from Association of Interdisciplinary Studies.
ISOMORPHIC RELATIONSHIPS