EMPLOYMENT PSYCHOLOGY
It is customary to list also under the heading of “Job
Analysis” all the abilities and characteristics of the employees
 which are of importance in selecting men for the
job. In a scientific investigation the analysis of these abilities
 is facilitated if it is made after the criterion of success
has been decided upon and the workers chosen for measurement.
 We shall, therefore, devote a later chapter to this
topic.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION IN MAKING A JOB ANALYSIS
Working at the job. Undoubtedly the best method of
obtaining the information sought is for the investigator to
spend considerable time at the job, mingling with the workers
 and obtaining their points of view as well as observing
the motions which the job calls for. It is sometimes preferable
 if his identity and purpose be kept from both workers
and executives immediately in charge. He should go
through the entire employment process, including the training
 courses, and if possible join in the social life of the
employees after he is hired. This procedure will give him
the opportunity of analyzing the motions he makes as well
as the motions of the other workers. It will place him in
a position to make important notes on the abilities, social
life, personal history, personality, aspirations, and attitudes
of the employees, as well as on the conditions of work and
the quality of training and supervision.
Observation. The investigator may draw valuable conclusions
 from merely observing the men at work, without
doing the work himself. He should aim to keep himself in
the background in order to avoid making the workmen selfconscious.
 Photographs and motion pictures of the work
are valuable additions to his written observations.
Interviews with workers. Another source of information
is through personal interviews with workers of all degrees of
proficiency. The investigator should try to find the reasons

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