A review of difference score research in the is discipline with an application to understanding the expectations and job experiences of it professionals

In recent decades, IS researchers have collected and analyzed difference score data with regard to IS service quality research, system functionality and user interface features, as well as job- and career-related expectations of IT personnel. Despite the prevalence of difference scores in IS research, these methods have been criticized due to various theoretical and statistical anomalies. In this research in progress study, we identify some problems that have been identified in the organizational behavior literature. We review various research streams that employ difference scores, focusing in depth on one popular stream of 'difference score' research: work on person-environment fit or person-job fit in shaping IT employees' job satisfaction, performance and turnover intentions. We analyze a dataset containing difference score data for 120 software developers with regard to their preferences for specific job attributes, along with their self-reports regarding how well their current job matches these preferences. We analyze our data using both conventional difference score methods, as well as using new techniques suggested in the OB and IS literature.

[1]  Alan R. Dennis,et al.  Individual Swift Trust and Knowledge-Based Trust in Face-to-Face and Virtual Team Members , 2009, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[2]  Gregory E. Truman,et al.  Integration in Electronic Exchange Environments , 2000, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[3]  Rajiv D. Banker,et al.  Understanding the Impact of Collaboration Software on Product Design and Development , 2006, Inf. Syst. Res..

[4]  Terry Anthony Byrd,et al.  The leveraging influence of strategic alignment on IT investment: An empirical examination , 2006, Inf. Manag..

[5]  Gary Klein,et al.  Resolving Difference Score Issues in Information Systems Research , 2009, MIS Q..

[6]  Charles L. Hulin,et al.  The measurement of satisfaction in work and retirement: A strategy for the study of attitudes. , 1969 .

[7]  J. Edwards,et al.  Job demands and worker health: three-dimensional reexamination of the relationship between person-environment fit and strain. , 1993, The Journal of applied psychology.

[8]  Ephraim R. McLean,et al.  Job characteristic preference-reality discrepancies and the job and career attitudes of I/S professionals , 1993, SIGCPR '93.

[9]  J. Edwards.  Alternatives to difference scores: Polynomial regression analysis and response surface methodology. , 2002 .

[10]  Judy A. Siguaw,et al.  The Influence of the Market Orientation of the Firm on Sales Force Behavior and Attitudes , 1994 .

[11]  Ephraim R. McLean,et al.  Self-perceptions and job preferences of entry-level information systems professionals: implications for career development , 1991, SIGCPR '91.

[12]  J. French,et al.  The mechanisms of job stress and strain , 1984 .

[13]  Robert P. Bostrom,et al.  A psychometric study of the job characteristics scale of the job diagnostic survey in an MIS setting , 1991, SIGCPR '91.

[14]  Gary Klein,et al.  A Discrepancy Model of Information System Personnel Turnover , 2002, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[15]  Ming Zhou,et al.  Revisiting feedback systems: Trust building in digital markets , 2009, Inf. Manag..

[16]  Richard T. Watson,et al.  Service Quality: A Measure of Information System Effectiveness , 1995, MIS Q..

[17]  Viswanath Venkatesh,et al.  E XPECTATION D ISCONFIRMATION AND T ECHNOLOGY A DOPTION : P OLYNOMIAL M ODELING AND R ESPONSE S URFACE A NALYSIS 1 , 2010 .

[18]  Dean B. McFarlin,et al.  Standards of comparison and job satisfaction. , 1989 .

[19]  Blaize Horner Reich,et al.  IT alignment: what have we learned? , 2007, J. Inf. Technol..

[20]  Ephraim R. McLean,et al.  The structure of job attitudes among entry-level I/S professionals: a path-analytic analysis , 1993, SIGCPR '93.

[21]  Deborah J. Armstrong,et al.  Person-Job Cognitive Style Fit for Software Developers: The Effect on Strain and Performance , 2005, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[22]  Deborah J. Armstrong,et al.  Performance and strain levels of it workers engaged in rapidly changing environments: a person-job fit perspective , 2010, DATB.

[23]  William J. Kettinger,et al.  Perceived Service Quality and User Satisfaction with the Information Services Function , 1994 .

[24]  H. P. Sims,et al.  The Measurement of Job Characteristics , 1976 .

[25]  Richard W. Scamell,et al.  The Effects of Information System User Expectations on Their Performance and Perceptions , 1993, MIS Q..

[26]  Mark A. Fuller,et al.  Involvement and Decision-Making Performance with a Decision Aid: The Influence of Social Multimedia, Gender, and Playfulness , 2005, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..