A construct validity assessment of the occupational work ethic inventory

Despite the proclivity of research which has been undertaken to expand our knowledge of what is generically called work ethics, utilizing various experimental and otherwise inferential designs, little effort has been expended in examining the construct validity of the instruments used to assess level(s) of work ethic. The purpose of this investigation was to compare the scores of a large sample of individuals on two work ethic scales. Scores from The Protestant Ethic Scale (Mirels & Garrett, 1971), a commonly used and validated instrument, were compared to those of the Occupational Work Ethic Inventory (Petty, 1995).

A correlational and factor analytic study of scores obtained from a usable sample of 841 participants was undertaken. A Pearson bivariate correlation was not found to be significant. A factor analysis of the PE Scale revealed five significant factors. A factor analysis of the OWEI revealed eight significant factors.

Because of the thoroughness of the underlying researched used to develop the OWEI, and in conjunction with other rationales, it was decided that post hoc analyses were warranted. Utilizing structural equations modeling methodology, various iterations of the OWEI were examined for goodness-of-fit to the data set. A model was found which conformed to the sample utilized in the study. This model consisted of fifteen of the original fifty OWEI items, which were grouped into four factors.

Caveats as to the appropriateness of this procedure were made in the thesis, especially in the areas of sample and replication efforts. Further research in construct validity of work ethic scales was also encouraged.