Standardized observations: An approach to measuring the nature of jobs

Abstract

Determined the usefulness of standardized job observations by training 35 college students to observe the characteristics of jobs. A total of 448 employees of an automobile parts manufacturer, a printing concern, and a hospital were observed for 2 hrs and were also interviewed. The observation measures were assessed to determine if they possessed repeatability, homogeneity, and convergence. Of the 19 job dimensions studied, 11 demonstrated repeatability and homogeneity. 6 of the dimensions were tested for convergence with the interview data, and 4 showed moderate convergence. It is concluded that job observations are a potentially useful way to measure the characteristics of jobs, but that they have significant limitations. (15 ref) (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)