Stress and The Workplace

Research papers on stress and the workplace focus on the various aspects of this inevitable phenomena. You dictate whether you want our writer to focus on the psychological aspects of stress or the business elements that are affected by stress in the workplace.

The following sections are recommend when doing an upper level research project on stress in the workplace. This assumes you need an in-depth study on the psychological aspects of stress.

1. Introduction section: The introduction section will have at least scholarly references. In this section, you will be describing the literature relevant to your research question. This literature review will provide the basis for the research question (or hypotheses) that you will address in your proposed study. This section concludes with a statement of the research question(s) you are addressing.
2. Method section: Here you will provide all of the details of the study you are proposing to investigate your research question(s). Depending on the exact nature of the proposed study, you will need to have sections on participants, design, procedure, and materials. Be sure to address ethical issues. You may phrase this section in either past tense (as you would in a study already conducted) or future tense (as you would in a study that you will conduct in the future) - the main concern is to be consistent.
3. Method section two: Unlike most proposals, your proposal will have two method sections. The second one will provide an alternative research approach that you might take to answer the same research question(s).
4. Results section: Describe the statistical analysis that would be appropriate for each of the methods you are proposing.
5. Discussion section: Discuss the pros and cons of each of your two methodological approaches. Dimensions for comparison might include such things as internal validity, external validity, cost, ethics, ease of interpretation, etc.
6. References

Stress and the Workplace Term Paper:

1. Assignment Outcomes
2. Plan different types of program evaluations.
3. Demonstrate the ability to display data through graphs and tables.
4. Apply knowledge of appropriate statistical tools to different research designs.

Time and the Workplace

Studies show that since the 1960's the proportion of people's lives they devote to work has increased steadily. Work is associated with both positive and negative consequences. Not only can work provide people with more money, fulfillment and satisfaction, it can also cause unhappiness, stress and even physical and mental illness. This review of job stress will explain the issue, causes, and coping strategies. Furthermore, my personal experiences as related to the research will be described.

Job stress is the harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the characteristics associated with the job do not match those of the worker. Such stress can lead to poor health or illness. The statistics involving job stress are alarming. One-fourth of all employees reportedly view their jobs as the biggest stressor in their lives. Also, problems at work are more strongly associated with health issues than are any other life stressor, including financial and family problems.

In understanding work stress and the effects it is important to consider three concepts about the relationship between work and stress. First, stress is an interaction between individuals and a source of demand, or stressors, within the environment. Next, stress itself is neutral, but a stressor is perceived by the individual to be threatening. Researchers believe that the appraisal of stress is an intermediate step in the relationship between a stressor and physical response to it. Furthermore, workers differ regarding their values, goals, individual commitment, personal resources and coping strategies. Therefore, people may respond in different ways to the same stressor.

Perhaps the most appropriate model for work stress is represented by the image of an inverted "U" curve. This graphic has also been applied to athletic performance and academic success. The idea was built on the concept that stress itself is a neutral factor in life. How it is interpreted causes a physical effect which may be positive or negative. For instance, athletes may learn to interpret stress as a positive factor that increases their performance. When it is associated with adrenaline, stress may physically improve the athlete's performance. Similarly, deadlines may cause stress for workers that effectively motivates them to complete boring tasks. However, too much pressure in either case can inhibit good performance. Thus, on a graph, the vertical axis may be a scale of low to high work performance. The horizontal axis is a scale of low to high pressure. When pressure is low, performance is also low. When pressure is moderate, performance may peak at its highest level. However, increased pressure will not improve performance at this point but will cause it to drop. This image is very useful in illustrating the difference between moderate and excessive stress. However, individuals react differently to stress, and those reactions may change over time. As a result, the inverted "U" diagram is useful only in generalizing human reactions to stress.

The human body is equipped to handle minor stress on a daily basis and remain relatively healthy. However, unusual and continued stress has been shown to lead to health and other problems. In jobs, this form of stress, known as major stress, may stem from issues such as too much work, fear of a job layoff, or poor relationships with bosses and coworkers. These sources of job stress fall into six main categories.