Q:
Discuss the ways information can be collected.Information can be collected in two ways: conventional methods and quantitative methods.Conventional methods - The most common way to collect job information is to ask the people who are doing a job to fill out a questionnaire. Sometimes an analyst will interview the jobholders and their supervisors to be sure they understand the questions and that the information is correct. Or the analyst may observe the person at work and take notes on what is being done.The advantage of conventional questionnaires and interviews is that the involvement of employees increases their understanding of the process. However, the results are only as good as the people involved. If important aspects of a job are omitted, or if the jobholders themselves either do not realize or are unable to express the importance of certain aspects, the resulting job descriptions will be faulty.The process is open to bias and favoritism and takes a huge amount of time.Quantitative methods - Increasingly, employees are directed to a Web site where they complete a questionnaire online. Such an approach is characterized as quantitative job analysis (QJA). In addition to facilitating statistical analysis of the results, quantitative data collection allows more data to be collected faster.A questionnaire typically asks jobholders to assess each item in terms of whether or not that particular item is part of their job. If it is, they are asked to rate how important it is and the amount of job time spent on it. The responses can be machine-scored, similar to the process for a multiple-choice test, and the results can be used to develop a profile of the job. Questions are grouped around five compensable factors: knowledge, accountability, reasoning, communication, and working conditions.If important aspects of a job are omitted or if the jobholders themselves do not realize the importance of certain aspects, the resulting job descriptions will be faulty. This analysis needs to include good performers to ensure that the work is usefully analyzed.
