Tool Development Report
Submitted to
Dr. Omama Tariq
Submitted by
Aqsa Khalid
Roll no. 04
MS health psychology-I
Session (2020-2022)
INSTITUTE OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB,
LAHORE
Theoretical Framework
“Productivity in general, is defined as the ability of an individual, team or organization to
work efficiently within that time in order to maximize output i.e., output per unit of input,
typically over a specific period of time” (Encyclopedia of business and finance. 2001).
High productivity results in a mix of factors, such as, time management, environment,
education, talent and luck. Physical aspects also increase the productivity including: exercise,
healthy eating and sufficient sleep can boost efficiency both in the short and long term. Some
people seem to be natural super-producers; others struggle to become more productive and may
look to daily exercises and better habits to help them get things done (positive psychology,
2015).
Key elements of productivity
Productivity is a big business. It stews down three very straightforward things:
1.
Motivation
2.
Efficiency
3.
Choices
Let's explain them in detail.
Motivation
These main elements of productivity are actually somewhat class conscious. At the
bottom of the pecking order, comes motivation. It can come from a variety of sources, but all
lead to a realization that your everyday routine can be made better, faster and enjoyable by
making some changes. (William A Ruch, 1994).
According to me, best ways to get motivation are:
•
Getting up early
•
Reading something motivational
•
Finding an audience (e.g., through blogging)
•
Holding yourself answerable to someone else
•
Having a goal in mind (e.g., spending more time with family)
Efficiency
Efficiency is to do things which you already do with fast and best way. Motivation must
be present before any task to start and productivity increases through efficiency can be found. It's
far too easy to maintain the routine status and do things in the same old tried-and-tested way. Of
course, this is a good thing in increasing mental and physical development. (William A Ruch,
1994)
Choices
Ultimately, though, being productive means making the right decisions which in return
continuously improves work flows and having a fair response system. One of the best ways of
doing this is by being part of a self-improvement community. (William A Ruch, 1994).
Expectancy Theory
Expectancy Theory proposes that people will choose how to behave depending on the
outcomes they expect as a result of their behavior. In other words, we decide what to do based on
what we expect the outcome to be. At work, it might be that we work longer hours because we
expect a pay rise. However, Expectancy Theory also suggests that the process by which we
decide our behaviors is also influenced by how likely we perceive those rewards to be. In this
instance, workers may be more likely to work harder if they had been promised a pay rise (and
thus perceived that outcome as very likely) than if they had only assumed they might get one
(and perceived the outcome as possible but not likely). (Vroom, 2004)
Expectancy Theory is based on three elements:
1. Expectancy
The belief that your effort will result in your desired goal. This is based on your past
experience, your self-confidence and how difficult you think the goal is to achieve.
2. Instrumentality
The belief that you will receive a reward if you meet performance expectations.
3. Valence
The value you place on the reward.
Therefore, according to Expectancy Theory, people are most motivated if they believe
that they will receive a desired reward if they hit an achievable target. They are least motivated if
they don’t want the reward or they don’t believe that their efforts will result in the reward.
Rationale of tool development
The purpose behind the development of this tool is to have a scale of productivity
according to the culture of Pakistan. Conceptual equivalence of scale is a vital component to
measure any construct. The significant reason of this tool development is to provide the tool
which is useful for educational research including psychological tests. Moreover, it is aimed to
construct the tool which is attained for the purpose of collection and analysis of data upon which
hypothesis may be tested. The instrument should be equally natural and acceptable and will
practically perform within the same way. No scale has been developed so far to measure the
productivity of students in order to access their overall academic performance according to
Pakistani cultural context. Minimum measures to measure the construct of productivity ask the
demand to create a tool per the culture of Pakistan. Though, there are multiple differences of
productivity level in students e.g.: in western and eastern cultures. Thus, here are no standardized
scales available for the assessment of productivity level in students. Here comes the demand to
create a new tool for productivity in students. However, every researcher develops and modifies
their scale according to the requirement of the study.
Operational definition
The productivity of students regarding overall academic performance asses the attitude of
students towards their academic tasks and how efficiently they put input production to produce a
given level of output in their academic performance.
Method
This study was carried out to develop a tool that can examine the productivity of students
regarding their academic performance. The developed tool was administered on students, who
were enrolled in university.
Stages of Tool Development
Tool
Conceptualization
Tool Construction
Tool Conceptualization
In the first step of tool development, the construct was theoretically conceptualized by
the tool developer in the light of previous literature and theoretical background and the main idea
was grasped from interviews from the participants. The term productivity will capture all aspects
of productivity, what do students think about the productivity, their readiness, their attitude
towards different tasks in order to accomplish them, their academic performance and how
productivity strengthen their motivation and efficiency towards different tasks related to studies.
A meta-analysis revealed that there are standardized tools to measure productivity in students in
western cultures and how productivity will be functioned in students in order to complete their
specific tasks efficiently within a time (Alem, Plaisent, Bernard & Chitu, 2014). But no such tool
developed in Pakistan to measure the productivity of students regarding their academics or
educational roles. The present study aimed at filling the gap in literature and developing an
exclusive tool to measure productivity of students. For this purpose, an indigenous scale
“productivity in students” was developed.
Semi-Structured Interview
After thorough conceptualization of construct researcher aimed to gather possible
answers that the students hold regarding their productivity in overall academic performance.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 students (5 females, 5 males). They were
informed about the purpose of interview and consent was taken formally. The interview guide
consisted of following main and additional questions; (see appendix A)
Sample Characteristics
The convenient sampling technique was used to select 10 students (males=5, females=5)
and recruited from Lahore. The participants approached were the students of University of the
Punjab. The age range of the participants selected was 20-26. They were selected belonging to
varied socio-economic status and having varied educational level.
Procedure
Participants were approached in the ground for interviews. First of all, participants were
given a consent form for requesting them to participate in this study that specifies the nature of
the study and they were ensured for the confidentiality of their data. Participant responded to the
open-ended and closed ended questions and they were thoroughly probed further with questions.
The responses of the participants were tape recorded and then transcribed. Each interview lasted
for 15-20 minutes. At the end of the interview participants were thanked for their cooperation.
Construction of Tool
The construction of tool involves process discussed below
Generation of items
The recordings of the interviews were then transcribed carefully by the researcher. All the
statements were carefully listened and meaningful statements were processed to make items for
the scale. After transcribing the items, an initial pool of total 16 items were generated
All the items were formulated in English language. A four-point Likert-type rating scale was
used as a scoring measure (1 = almost always, 2 = frequently, 3 = sometimes, 4 = hardly ever).
Expert panel
To make a critical review of the items of the tool, the initial pool of items was shown to
the expert panel for this significant purpose. The expert panel was consisted of two experts from
MS health psychology and a PhD scholar from applied psychology. Items were generated and all
the 16 items were shown and discussed by the panelists, their views were taken on 1-4 likert type
scale on favorable or non-favorable items. During discussions, items were carefully examined
and reviewed to exclude irrelevant, repeated and redundant items. Having a discussion with them
would make us able to conclude about the items which are most favorable according to the
experts. Finally, 6 items were excluded and the final tool being finalized retained 10 items.
Conclusion
The tool development was done to measure the construct of productivity in students
regarding the academic performance or tasks. A theoretical framework of High productivity
results in a mix of factors, such as, time management, environment, education, talent and luck.
Physical aspects also increase the productivity including: exercise, healthy eating and sufficient
sleep can boost efficiency both in the short and long term. Some people seem to be natural super-
producers; others struggle to become more productive and may look to daily exercises and better
habits to help them get things done (positive psychology, 2015). The gaps in previous literature
prompted the one to develop this tool according to the culture of Pakistan. So, the main point to
generate a scale for productivity in students was to measure their academic tasks performance
according to eastern societies specially Pakistan’s society. The tool was being critically analyzed
by the experts panel and got their review regarding items per 1-4 likert rating scale, all the items
they have said is irrelevant and unfavorable were disregarded and all favorable was finalized. So,
the final version of this tool contains 10 items. These ten items were generated according to the
cultural relevance of Pakistan that how the students perceive productivity and their attitude
towards academic tasks.
References
Haapakangas, A., Hallman, D. M., Mathiassen, S. E., & Jahncke, H. (2018). Self-rated
productivity and student well-being in activity-based offices: The role of environmental
perceptions and workspace use. Building and Environment, 145, 115-124.
Hafner, M., van Stolk, C., Saunders, C., Krapels, J., & Baruch, B. (2015). Health, wellbeing and
productivity in the workplace. A Britain's Healthiest Company summary report" RAND
Corporation
Report,
Available
online:
https://www.
rand.
org/pubs/research_reports/RR1084. html.
Pogačar, T., Casanueva, A., Kozjek, K., Ciuha, U., Mekjavić, I. B., Bogataj, L. K., & Črepinšek,
Z. (2018). The effect of hot days on productivity in students: Implications for workers’
well-being and productivity. International journal of biometeorology, 62(7), 1251-1264.
Wright, T. A., & Cropanzano, R. (2000). Psychological well-being and productivity as
predictors of academic performance. Journal of occupational health psychology, 5(1), 84.
APPENDIX: A
SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW PROTOCOL
Q.1. How much do you feel productive in your tasks?
Q.2. Do you take longer in finishing assignment than the time prescribed for it?
Q.3. Do you think the stresses of your work were much harder to handle?
Q.4. Do you consider that your study is easy?
Q.5. Do you often get late in submitting/finishing work?
Q.6. Does your health problem distracted you from taking pleasure in your tasks?
Q.7. How would you manage to complete your task on time?
Q.8. have the tasks looked hardest to you to finish?
Q.9. Do you lose interest in work most of the time?
Q.10. Are you able to focus and achieve your goals?
Q.11. Do you feel energetic to accomplish all your academic tasks?
Q.12. Do you feel able to finish your assignments well within given time frame?
Q.13. What services/tools do you use to stay on top of college work and interact with instructors?
Q.14. What do you like and dislike about your academic tasks?
Q.15. What kind of activities are you involved in at your college, outside the classroom?
Q.16. Do you reach the class at time?
APPENDIX: B
Student Productivity Tool
(overall academic performance)
Please indicate the student’s performance level by checking one indicator for each behavior in
the table below.
AA= Always Almost, F= Frequently, S= Sometimes, HE= Hardly Ever
Items
Statements
no.
1.
Brings required materials
2.
Arrive to class on time
3.
Begin assignments without prompting
4.
Rushes through assignments
5.
Submitted work meets class expectations
6.
Engages peers in off-topic discussions
7.
Percentage of tasks completed in class
8.
Percentage of assignments submitted
9.
Sustain attention to task/lecture
10.
Overall productivity
Almost always
Frequently
Sometimes
Hardly ever