OCCUPATIONAL GENEALOGIES - USING JOB FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS IN PERSONNEL RESEARCH

This research investigates alternative methods of clustering jobs so t hat the resultant clusters may fulfill multiple personnel functions. A Job Activities Inventory containing three types of job descriptors (t asks, behaviors, and abilities) was developed, and judgments on job ac tivities and requirements were collected for 75 Navy entry-level ratin gs (jobs). Job-level component scores were derived to form the basis f or grouping the jobs into descriptor-specific families. Each job's clu ster membership was then cross-tabulated across the different cluster analysis solutions to form ''tree diagrams.'' These job family trees r epresent a job's cluster membership across a number of cluster solutio ns, and they organize and present job characteristic data in ways diff erent from traditional occupational analyses. Several applications of multibasis job characteristic information are discussed.