Statistic for Executives, Article Critique Example

Thanacoody, P., Bartram, T., & Casimir, G. (2009). The effects of burnout and supervisory social support on the relationship between work-family conflict and intention to leave: A study of Australian cancer workers. Journal of Health Organization and Management, 23(1), 53-69.

This study was prompted by the interest of researchers on the relationship between work-family conflict and intention to leave due to the effects of burnout and supervisory social support for cancer workers. According to the authors burnout among cancer workers is a direct consequence of work-family conflict, due to the competition for time and energy resources from both domains. The authors conducted a survey to test a model of the consequences of work-family conflict. Work-family conflict is generally defined as a form of inter-role conflict in which role pressures from the work and family domains are mutually incompatible because participation in one role is made more difficult by virtue of participation in the other Through a moderated mediation analysis, they established that the strength of indirect effects of work-family conflict on intention to leave via burnout depended on supervisory support. In support to the hypothesis that burnout mediates the relationship between work-family conflict and intention to leave the organization, the path analytic test of moderated mediation was also proved to be stronger in the presence of higher supervisory support.

Work-family conflict has a positive relationship with job burnout and is often associated with a higher propensity to leave the organisation.

Burnout among employees results as a direct consequence of work-family conflict, due to the competition for time and energy resources from both domains. The two domains were hypothesized under:

H1: Work-family conflict will positively correlate to burnout.

H2: Burnout will positively correlate to intention to leave.

H3: Work-family conflict will positively correlate to intention to leave.

H4: The strength of the indirect effects of work-family conflict on intention to leave via burnout will depend on supervisor social support.

The variables used included work-family conflict measured on a 24-item scale; burnout on a eight-item scale; supervisory social support on a four-item scale; and intention to leave on a three-tem scale. Data was collected with the respondents participating in the survey through questionnaires voluntarily on the premise that the information would be treated with utmost confidence; thus data appropriately fitted the variables. The survey used quantitative data collected through the Likert scale with varying item scales depending on the variable. From a total of 407 cancer clinicians working at an Australiaan metropolitan hospital that were asked to complete the questionnaire, the researchers employed a sample of 114 clinicians representing 28 percent of the response rate. 76 percent of the sample was adopted on a full-time basis and 24 percent on a part-time basis. The research adopted a descriptive research design that allowed the researchers to describe the various characteristics of various groups. Furthermore, the study used a census because of the large number of clinicians surveyed.

On all variable scales, principal components analysis was conducted. Because of the sample size, separate analyses was used in assessing the scales for Workplace-Family Conflict, Supervisor-Support, Burnout, and Intention to Leave; with a cut-off value of 0.55 used for the component loadings. Similarly, a four-component Varimax setting was used to examine the Workplace-Family Conflict scale; a two-component Oblimin setting was used to examine the two-dimensional burnout scale; and all of the items from the Support scale load satisfactorily onto a single component. An overall score for Supervisor-Support was calculated by averaging the scores for the four items in this scale. All of the items from the Intention to leave scale load satisfactorily on a single component. An overall score for Intention to leave was calculated by averaging the scores for the three items in this scale.

From a means (SD) and correlations analysis for the measured variables answered the research questions; shown through H1, which stated that work-family conflict will correlate positively to burnout, that was supported; H2, which stated that intention to leave will correlate positively to burnout, that was supported; and H3, which stated that work-family conflict will correlate positively to intention to leave, that was also supported.

Personally, the research in addition to adding to the general body of knowledge on work-related performance indicators has outlined the out-of-work factors that greatly impact on workers’ performance. In addition to demonstrating that burnout mediates the relationship between both types of work-family conflict and intention to leave the organization, the study also shows that the mediation framework is stronger in the presence of lower social supervisory support; with findings having important implications for healthcare sector managers. The research is outstanding through the use of time-based and stress-based components under the work-conflict variable.

References

Rosenwasser, D., & Stephen, J. (2006). Writing Analytically. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth.

Thanacoody, P., Bartram, T., & Casimir, G. (2009). The effects of burnout and supervisory social support on the relationship between work-family conflict and intention to leave: A study of Australian cancer workers. Journal of Health Organization and Management, 23(1), 53-69.