Job Analysis Methods

The Observation Method is implemented by sending a trained observer to watch and record the actions of a job. Its advantages are that the observer can easily gather first hand information, it is simple, it verifies data from other sources, and is good for evaluating manual tasks. Its disadvantages are that it is time consuming, and therefore expensive especially if the observer is being paid a high hourly wage. Because of the time and expense involved, only a small number of jobs or people can be taken into observation. Additionally, when a worker knows they are being watched, they may modify their performance to skew the observed data. The observer must have high levels of observation skills to effectively gather data and if the job is one that is primarily mental, little to no data may be available to observe since internal mental processes are not visible.

The Diary Method involves requiring workers to keep a journal of daily activities. The advantage of this method is that it allows data to be gathered about jobs that aren't easily observable. It's disadvantages are that it relies on the writing skills of the workers, the workers may have conflicts of interests such as making themselves look good or the desire to not have extra work added to their job that will cause them to skew the data, and that they may have difficulty remembering what they did especially if the log is made at the end of a long day.

In the Interview Method, workers who have been doing the job are questioned about it. It's advantages are that it can lead to the acquisition of data that might be difficult to observe because it is of a cognitive nature and it works well for jobs with long job cycles. Its disadvantages are that it requires the questions that are to be asked to be well constructed to uncover the data sought, there may be difficulties meshing data gathered from various interviews as each interview may produce different and even conflicting data, the interviews may produce more data than was sought, and the data is colored by the perceptions, beliefs and preferences of the interviewee.

Like the Interview Method, the Questionnaire Method gathers data by asking the employees a series of questions, except the questions are asked in a written rather than verbal medium. Its advantages are that since it does not require a trained interviewer it is less expensive, data may be drawn from a larger sample population since questionnaires are easily distributed among the workforce, and the data gathered by this method is standardized and structured. The disadvantages are that effective questionnaires are challenging to create, workers may be reluctant to complete them or may only partially complete them. If the questions are open-ended (allowing the workers to write whatever they like instead of using a rating scale or other multiple choice option) the answers may be difficult to interpret.

The Checklist Method is similar to the Questionnaire Method in that is paper administered and therefore carries some of the same advantages of cost effectiveness and ease of administration. It's disadvantage is that it might not gather data in enough detail to encompass all critical components of a job.


-Resources-

University of Minnesota, Office of Human Resources (May 8, 2008) "Advantages and Disadvantages of Job Analysis Methods" Retrieved January 19, 2010 from
http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/compensation/classification/jobanalysis/advantages/index.html

Ngo (January 2, 2009) HR Management. "Diary Method" Retrieved on January 19, 2010 from http://www.humanresources.hrvinet.com/diary-method/