Job Analysis / Performance Appraisal Quiz

The smallest unit of work that can be identified as having a clear beginning, middle, and end is known as a/n:

A. Duty

B. Position

C. Task

D. Job

E. Element

(E) Element

The process of discovering the nature of a job

A. Job analysis

B. Job description

C. Job evaluation

D. Job classification

(A) Job analysis

All of the below are methods of collecting job data except:

A. Observation

B. Surveys

C. SMEs

D. Interviews

(C) SMEs

When conducting a job analysis or work analysis, there are many decisions that need to be made. Which of the following is NOT one of the decisions that need to be made in conducting a work analysis:

A. How job information will be collected

B. How the work information will be evaluated

C. Whether the job requires high or low performance

D. Why do we need the job information

(C) Whether the job requires high or low job performance

Which of the following could be considered an alternative source of data used to inform job analysis processes, especially in organizations where work is accountable to individuals other than an immediate supervisor:

A. Mystery shoppers or customer focus groups

B. Supervisor ratings of tasks

C. Employee handbooks

D. Incumbent task ratings

(A) Mystery shoppers or customer focus groups

Kelly is conducting a job analysis for the job of pizza delivery driver and is focused on describing the various tasks (e.g., driving a car to a delivery address and giving customers correct change). Which of the following describes Kelly's approach to job analysis?

A. Work-oriented

B. Element-oriented

C. Worker-oriented

D. Hybrid

(A) Work-oriented

Some of the earliest efforts to classify jobs into occupations was conducted by

A. The J. Walter Thompson advertising agency

B. The US Department of Labor

C. AT&T

D. Ernest McCormick at Purdue University

(B) The US Department of Labor

Which job analysis method should we use in this situation: workers gain a lot of expertise on-the-job. We want to develop a new employee training program that focuses on helping them integrate what they know and develop automated skills and decision-making skills. We are interested in helping new employees get up-to-speed fast.

A. Cognitive task analysis

B. The Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)

C. Time-and-motion study

D. Critical incidents technique

(A) Cognitive task analysis

Job analysis methods that focus on traits, abilities, or skills are most likely classified as:

A. Work-oriented

B. Worker-oriented

C. Hybrid approaches

D. Task-oriented

(B) Worker-oriented

A client asks us to develop a series of scenarios for an employee selection system for emergency responders. They want applicants to go through the scenario to determine who handles the situation most effectively. Evaluators would then rate applicant behaviors to see who should be hired. The client would like these scenarios to be as realistic as possible. Which of the following would BEST help us get adequate information about what to include in these scenarios?

A. Cognitive task analysis

B. PAQ

C. Time-and-motion study

D. Critical incidents technique

(D) Critical incidents technique

Which of the following descriptions below represents the best definition of the term "competency modeling"?

A. The measurable, organizationally relevant, and behaviorally based capabilities of people necessary for effective job performance

B. The research procedure used for arriving at a definition and structure of the requirements for individual success for a given target of jobs

C. Investigate procedures used to capture facts about work tasks

D. the most desired outcome of work-oriented job analysis methods

(A) The measurable, organizationally relevant, and behaviorally based capabilities of people necessary for effective job performance

Identify which statement best represents the concept of competencies to I/O psychologists:

A. Design components of an organization's business strategy

B. Individual-level attributes, characteristics, or capabilities

C. Core leadership or people-related skills

D. Key organizational development factors used in change management practices

E. Aspects of a given job

(B) Individual-level attributes, characteristics, or capabilities

In terms of recommendations for competency modeling, which of the following should happen first:

A. Validation of the HRM system used by the organization

B. Examine relevant financial results

C. Consult with organizational leaders about the structure of the competency model

D. A job analysis

(D) A job analysis

Which of the following describes the easiest way to validate a competency model:

A. Use random assignment of employees to two performance appraisal tools and determine which one is more accurate

B. Measure applicants on the competencies, wait a period of time, and measure applicants on performance of those competencies once they've been on the job for a while

C. Borrow an existing competency model from a similar organization which has already been using it

D. Just use the competencies listed on O*NET for that job

E. Use a survey and ask respondents to rate each competency on things like importance, frequency, and target proficiency at each job level

(E) Use a survey and ask respondents to rate each competency on things like importance, frequency, and target proficiency at each job level

Which of the following is a benefit of using competencies over traditional job analysis:

A. Competency modeling makes up for all the shortcomings of job analysis

B. Competency modeling should be a step in every job analysis effort

C. Competency modeling can be more forward-looking than traditional job analysis

D. Competency modeling ignores organizational strategy when applied to change management efforts

E. All of the above

(C) Competency modeling can be more forward-looking than traditional job analysis

Which of these established the need to determine job-relatedness (which then implies the need to conduct a job analysis)?

A. SIOP principles for the validation and use of personnel selection procedures

B. Uniform guidelines on employee selection procedures issued by the EEOC

C. Civil rights act of 1964

D. Griggs vs. Duke power co.

E. All of the above

(D) Griggs vs. Duke power co.

One reason that job analysis is important to organizations is:

A. It can be used in legal defense of employment practices

B. It fosters better relationships between employees and HR

C. That employee attitudes improve with participation in job analysis

D. That supervisors would not understand incumbents' jobs without it

(A) It can be used in legal defense of employment practices

The Uniform Guidelines specify

A. Any method of job analysis can be used as long as it provides information for the kind of validation strategy used

B. The SIOP principles should be given "great deference" by the courts

C. Tests that can be used to support affirmative action programs

D. Minimum competency levels for tasks, duties, and activities

(A) Any method of job analysis can be used as long as it provides information for the kind of validation strategy used

Identify which list appropriately includes all of the protected classes (protected groups) established in the civil rights act of 1964

A. Race, color, religion, sex, national origin

B. Age, ethnicity, religion, gender, national origin

C. Race, ethnicity, religion, sex, age

D. Race/ethnicity, color, gender, national origin, age, disability

E. Color, nationality, gender, disability, religion

(A) Race, color, religion, sex, national origin

Which of the following support the use of job analysis as an important tool for determining job-relevance?

A. Uniform Guidelines

B. Laws

C. Court decisions

D. Professional Standards

E. All of the above

(E) All of the above

When collecting job information do we always need to focus on the KSAs required for being selected into a job?

Yes or no

No--sometimes we aren't doing a job analysis for selection (let the purpose drive the methods you use and the job data you are collecting--you don't have to gather EVERYTHING for every project; for example, sometimes we only need to know about tasks, like for training content)

A consultant decides to collect data from different sources who are likely to vary in their motivation to self-present. What social or cognitive factor should this strategy help with?

A. Motivation loss

B. Conformity pressure

C. Information overload

D. Social Desirability

E. Order effects

(D) Social desirability

A consultant decides to use several forms of a questionnaire, where the question order varies across different forms. What social or cognitive factor should this strategy help with?

A. Motivation loss

B. Conformity pressure

C. Information overload

D. Social Desirability

E. Order effects

(E) Order effects

A consultant decides to use shorter questionnaires when collecting job data from SMEs. What social or cognitive factor should this strategy help with?

A. Motivation loss

B. Conformity pressure

C. Information overload

D. Social Desirability

E. Order effects

(C) Information overload

An I/O psychologist develops a set of performance criteria that have hardly any criterion deficiency or contamination. However, the measures are not approved by the organization because they are too difficult to measure and too abstract to be useful for their purposes. The I/O psychologist has encountered a problem with the criteria's:

a. fairness

b. reliability

c. sensitivity

d. practicality

d. practicality

The type of criteria taken from organizational records and referred to as "hard" or "nonjudgmental" are known as ___ performance measures.

a. dynamic

b. subjective

c. composite

d. objective

d. objective

Probably the most typical objective criterion is:

a. turnover

b. productivity

c. absence

d. effort

b. productivity

"Traditional" performance appraisal in organizations typically derived from job analysis, but only included one of these:

a. performance management

b. development

c. feedback

d. performance measurement

d. performance measurement

Which of the following is true about performance criteria?

a. performance criteria usually consist of one dimension only

b. I/O psychologists have identified several performance criteria that are perfect measures of performance

c. all performance criteria are suitable for all organizational decisions

d. there is no one performance criterion that is suitable for all organizational purposes

d. there is no one performance criterion that is suitable for all organizational purposes

A thorough understanding of this term, described by your textbook as "the setting within which something exists or happens", means that we cannot just take a performance appraisal from one organization to another without changing important aspects of the process.

a. environment

b. organizational culture

c. context

d. general systems theory

e. sociological setting

c. context

Consider cultural variables according to Hofstede's dimensions. In a hierarchically structured organization, which factor (if high in this organization) might suggest that a 360 degree feedback or multisource feedback performance appraisal would NOT be practical?

a. masculinity

b. uncertainty avoidance

c. power distance

d. long-term orientation

e. individualism

c. power distance

A main issue in broad (work activities and competencies) vs. specific (tasks and KSAs) as describing a job is:

a. job relatedness of broad descriptions may be called into question and lead to legal challenges

b. specific descriptions may lead to more reliable and accurate ratings

c. overly broad statements may be less valid, but more practical, depending on purpose

d. all of the above are issues to consider

d. all of the above are issues to consider

In terms of best practice in legal defensibility:

a. using an off-the-shelf questionnaire is the simplest, best recommendation

b. because they are more current, practitioners should follow the SIOP Principles before the Uniform Guidelines

c. solid research design and execution based on professional standards should be a significant focus

d. subjective judgment is acceptable for job analysis experts

c. solid research design and execution based on professional standards should be a significant focus

all of the following are true except:

a. Guidelines, Principles, and Standards do not cover the range of practical issues that impact job analysis

b. cognitive and social inaccuracies associated with subjective judgments are important practical considerations for job analysis

c. an organization's environment and culture have very limited influence on the particular job analysis approach that should be used

d. external consultants may have less credibility than internal consultants in job analysis projects

c. an organization's environment and culture have very limited influence on the particular job analysis approach that should be used

Which of the following is a proximal (rather than distal) variable that could influence performance appraisal?

a. organizational strategy

b. economy

c. national culture

d. legal environment

e. technical environment

a. organizational strategy