EMPLOYMENT PSYCHOLOGY 
It is customary to list also under the heading of “Job 
Analysis” all the abilities and characteristics of the em- 
ployees which are of importance in selecting men for the 
job. In a scientific investigation the analysis of these abili- 
ties is facilitated if it is made after the criterion of success 
has been decided upon and the workers chosen for measure- 
ment. 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 work- 
ers and obtaining their points of view as well as observing 
the motions which the job calls for. It is sometimes prefera- 
ble 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 train- 
ing 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 con- 
clusions 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 self- 
conscious. 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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