Multilevel modeling in industrial and personnel psychology

Many of the topics of interest in the social and behavior sciences are ofte n hierarchical or multilevel in nature. These multiple levels (e.g,, indivi dual versus group) create problems for researchers related to the choice of measurement and analysis. Recent innovations in statistical analysis have made it possible to account for the hierarchical nature of observations. Th erefore, in this article we begin with a review of multilevel analysis tech niques and discuss advances that have been made in the social sciences usin g multilevel models. Next, we summarize contemporary research specific to t he organizational psychology literature that uses multilevel analysis. Poss ible applications for industrial and personnel psychology are then discusse d. Guidelines for determining if multilevel analysis is appropriate for a g iven applied research project are provided. We conclude with a summary and call for increased use of multilevel analysis in industrial and personnel p sychology.