Job Satisfaction in Security Forces Career Field, Research Paper Example

Overview Chapter

The subject of this research paper concerns the job dissatisfaction of American citizens working in security force career field. The research is based primarily on a survey, which I have personally conducted on twenty different people. The survey contains both the opinion of individuals who share my point of view and accept my hypothesis as being true, and the opinions of people who disagree with the hypothesis. The hypothesis of this research paper is the following: 90% of all security force members do not want to be in career field of security force. Using the data collected by means of surveying a number of people somehow connected to security force career field, I am to prove that the majority of security force members are discontented with their job and were never inclined to become a part of security forces.

Review of the Literature

Yim, Youngyol. “Police and their perceived image: how community influence officers’ job satisfaction”. Police Practice and Research Volume 10, Issue 1 (2009): 17-29

The given study observes how police think they are recognized by the public and how the image in question influences the officers’ job satisfaction. The study population in this research was obtained from affirmed police officers from a considerable metropolitan police agency situated in the Midwest, United States of America. Information and statistics was collected by means of a self-administered survey questionnaire. It was discovered that generally police officers suppose they are perceived less positively by the community, which, consequently influenced their job satisfaction and their will to work in this security field. It was also discovered that officers’ recognized image in most non-enforcement circumstances was significantly linked to their job satisfaction. Several policy suggestions of the findings and propositions for future research are argued.

Hoath, David. “Police job satisfaction as a function of career orientation and position tenure: Implications for selection and community policing”. Journal of Criminal Justice Volume 26, Issue 4 (1998): 337-347

This research concentrates on how the job satisfaction of 239 members of a municipal police department differed as an occupation of officer career course (careerist, craftsperson, social advocate, and self-investor), job duty group, and two categories of occupancy (position, organization). The results showed that among career positions, careerists were uppermost in job satisfaction, and among assignment groups, officers in investigation and management were superior to those in patrol. Furthermore, of four conditional variables (position, organization, age, rank), only position occupancy justified for a considerable proportion of exceptional inconsistency in job satisfaction: job satisfaction was related with low position occupancy. The results were construed as sustaining the idea that there is an essential connection between the position that an officer occupies and the amount of satisfaction he/she receives from his occupation. It was also underlined that the low rank may influence an officer to quit the position acquired and think negatively of his/her inclination for working in security forces. The necessity to take individual officer characteristics into account, including their career courses, in selection and positioning was emphasized.

Army News Service. Survey Shows Soldiers’ Job Satisfaction on Rise. 18 Sept. 2002. 7 May 2009. <http://www.scribd.com/doc/1823094/US-Army-surveys-jobsatisfaction>

According to the survey soldiers’ satisfaction with pay, security, and benefits is seemingly increasing. Using a four-point scale soldiers were to measure their level of satisfaction with the amount of payment, job security, and retirement benefits as part of ‘Sample Survey of Military Personnel’. It is emphasized that the level of satisfaction of soldiers is rising, due to the measure of the officials in regards to retirements plans and increased payment.

I have personally conducted a survey using a questionnaire developed and created by me. Both the results of the survey, containing twenty different responses from twenty different people commenting for or against the hypothesis mentioned in the overview chapter, and the questionnaire sample can be observed in the Appendices section.

Methodology

Survey Research, Quantitative Research

Carrying out a survey is in fact a technique of data gathering employed in multiple survey kinds of research. In general, individuals are asked questions, either using consistent questionnaires, focus groups, or interviews.  Normally, surveys are processed to a scientifically chosen sample, even though sometimes they are acquired from an entire population. The poll that I have conducted can be an example of this type of research.  Such surveys are applied to determine beliefs, feelings, views, behaviors, desires, capacities, social position, and other aspects of people’s lives and behavior.  Data discovered are utilized to depict individuals, approximate population factors, and distinguish relationships between what people assume, how they operate, and the conditions in which they exist. In order to prove my hypothesis, I will survey twenty people using a questionnaire, which I have composed. Most of the people questioned, are either former or active members of security forces. In order for the information to be valid and truthful, I have inquired for each individual to hand in a resume before answering the questionnaire. This way I have ensured for each participant to be somehow relevant to the area of interest. The received data was gathered into one document, and each question was processed into a graph representation. The graph representations and together with the other data can be found in the Appendices.

Limitations

The limitations that I have encountered while conducting the research can be divided into two major sections: informational and physical. Informational limitations include the lack of statistical data that could be easily found in the Internet and the electronic libraries. This fact has limited my research to using a few relevant articles and my own survey, which played a vital role in proving my hypothesis. Physical limitations include the inability of finding and questioning a greater number of individuals connected to security forces career field. Therefore, the survey was limited to only twenty people being questioned.

Research Findings

After carrying out a research by means of surveying twenty people somehow related to security forces career field I have concluded that 15% of the people being questioned are dissatisfied with their job, while nearly 20% are satisfied with their occupation. However, 40% of the participants think that their working experience is not satisfying and not rewarding. Half of the people being questioned agree on the fact that their manager does not show the right amount of recognition and acknowledgement. More than half of the participants are not challenged in their current working position and nearly half of the people questioned are not appropriately compensated for the work they do. 30% of the individuals think that they do not have the same opportunities to advance as others. Finally, more than 50% of the people questioned would change their career field if they could. The survey sample can be located in the Appendices.

Summary and Conclusion

This quantitative research was carried out through conducting a survey with a specially composed questionnaire. Twenty individuals connected to the career field of security forces were questioned and the results of this survey prove the hypothesis to be close to the truth. The limitations included the shortage of easily found relevant statistical data online and the difficulty of finding twenty people willing to take part in the survey. The literature review gave a possibility to better understand and retrieve useful information about the topic.

Recommendations

In order to better explore the topic, the researches should find ways to locate additional sources (journal articles, news paper articles, surveys) and study the relevant information prior to conducting a personal survey. The participants of the survey should be valid to be questioned. This objective can be reached by checking their resumes and finding out their former or present occupancy in the security forces.

Bibliography

Yim, Youngyol. “Police and their perceived image: how community influence officers’ job satisfaction”. Police Practice and Research Volume 10, Issue 1 (2009): 17-29

Hoath, David. “Police job satisfaction as a function of career orientation and position tenure: Implications for selection and community policing”. Journal of Criminal Justice Volume 26, Issue 4 (1998): 337-347

Army News Service. Survey Shows Soldiers’ Job Satisfaction on Rise. 18 Sept. 2002. 7 May 2009. <http://www.scribd.com/doc/1823094/US-Army-surveys-jobsatisfaction>