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Theory, Schmeory. Let's Keep Our Models Simple and Strong

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2015

Allen I. Kraut*
Affiliation:
Baruch College, CUNY
*
E-mail: [email protected], Address: Baruch College, CUNY, New York, NY 10010

Extract

Craig Russell has done us all a service in his review of current turnover research (2013), but I think he is too severe in his judgment of the validities and relevance of our field's research, and he encourages us to go down some questionable research paths in the future. Despite his expertise in the field, there are several points where I believe other views are more attractive.

We can recognize the usefulness of assessing so many studies and meta-analyses done in recent decades, as summarized in his Table 1 (drawn from Griffeth, Hom, & Gaertner, 2000). But let us also note that Russell would have done readers a bigger favor if the results were presented in some logical order. Right now, not even an alphabetic order among the variables is evident. This is a flaw that obscures key understandings. Looking at the data another way can make one more optimistic about its predictive validity and relevance.

Type
Commentaries
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology 2013

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References

Griffeth, R. W., Hom, P. M., & Gaertner, S. (2000). A meta-analysis of antecedents and correlated of employee turnover: Update, moderator tests, and research implications for the next millennium. Journal of Management, 26, 463488.Google Scholar
Kraut, A. I. (1975). Predicting turnover of employees from measured job attitudes. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 13(2), 233243.Google Scholar
Rosenthal, R., & Rosnow, R. L. (1984). Essentials of behavioral research: Methods and data analysis New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Russell, C. J. (2013). Is it time to voluntarily turn over theories of voluntary turnover? Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, 6, 156173.Google Scholar