March 30, 2007
Dr. Rita Dobbs Studies Important Research Problems in HRD
Associate Professor of Human Resource Development, Dr. Rita Dobbs, is currently working on systematically identifying important problems facing the discipline of Human Resource Development.  This annual study will be based on data collected from top scholars within the discipline.

“HRD practitioners and researchers have a sense of the changes that are affecting organizations and the workplace of today, yet they do not systematically identify the important research problems in the field,” states Dr. Dobbs.

The study will use over 100 editors and editorial board members from the four major research journals in HRD to contribute to a list of research problems in the field and the domains in which they may be categorized.  These problems and domains, once identified, will then be ranked in order of importance.  Dr. Dobbs will analyze and process the overall data in order to collectively identify what the top minds in the field determine to be the main problems that need to be addressed.

“This is going to be an important study for both neophyte and experienced scholars,” says Dr. Dobbs. “It allows junior scholars the chance to create an agenda on important research problems based on top expert opinion.” 

Dr. Dobbs is planning to make this a replicable study to be updated every year with trends being identified over time. Dr. Dobbs believes these trends will display how problem areas change as the organizational needs of the work place change.