a social influence analysis of perceived organizational support
a social influence analysis of perceived organizational support
a social influence analysis of perceived organizational support
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Overview<br />
CHAPTER THREE:<br />
METHODS<br />
The objective <strong>of</strong> this dissertation is to explore the effects <strong>of</strong> <strong>social</strong> <strong>influence</strong> on<br />
employees’ POS. To test the hypotheses, a field study was conducted utilizing student-<br />
employees from a section <strong>of</strong> the admissions department at a large university in the eastern United<br />
States. The unit is regarded as a specific organization in and <strong>of</strong> itself. Organization members<br />
completed a sociometric survey which consisted <strong>of</strong> a roster including the names <strong>of</strong> all employees<br />
in the organization. On this survey, they indicated whether or not they considered their<br />
coworkers to be friends, sources <strong>of</strong> advice, and/or role models, and assessed the strength <strong>of</strong> their<br />
relationships with these individuals. In addition, employees completed the Survey <strong>of</strong> Perceived<br />
Organizational Support and provided information regarding their tenure in the organization, race,<br />
gender, and whether or not they held leadership positions in the organization. All data was<br />
collected at one point in time.<br />
This dissertation utilized <strong>social</strong> networks <strong>analysis</strong>. While traditional <strong>social</strong> science<br />
methodologies focus on individual attributes to explain phenomena, <strong>social</strong> networks <strong>analysis</strong><br />
examines relationships among actors in order to explain <strong>social</strong> phenomena (Bonacich, 1972;<br />
1987; Burt, 1992; Freeman, 1979; Wasserman & Faust, 1994). Social networks research can<br />
focus on the individual level, the dyadic level, and the group level (Raider & Krackhardt, 2001).<br />
In this dissertation, I focused on the dyadic <strong>influence</strong> that occurs when two individuals have a<br />
relationship with each other. Accordingly, Quadratic Assignment Procedure regression was<br />
utilized to test all hypotheses.<br />
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