레벨이슈(Level Issue)의 의미, 현상 및 해결방안

Level issue refers to a situation when there exists an inconsistency between level of theory, level of measurement, and level of analysis. When it occurs, it causes serious problems in terms of research methods and practical application. Because an organization is a multilevel system by nature, level issues occur very often in practice and in research of organizations and human resource management. However, many Korean researchers, not to mention Korean practitioners, lack understanding of the level issue, that they did not consider the issue and therefore made many serious mistakes. In this paper, we first address the concept of level issue and various fallacies connected to it. We also present theoretical constructs and research models for specifying level of theory which should be considered foremost for the research. We then examine examples of level issues that occur in the major areas of organizational behavior, and the latest research trends about level issues. By giving concrete examples, we show how pervasive the error of level issue is in Korean literature. Finally, we summarize and compare the methods to be used to overcome the level issue in the stages of theory development, measurement, and statistical analysis.