1 Investigating the Relationship Between O*NET Skill and Ability Ratings and Job Analyst Cognitive Ability and Conscientiousness Frederick P. Morgeson & Kelly Delaney-Klinger Michigan State University Donald Truxillo Portland State University Download the slides at:

2 Potential Inaccuracy in O*NET  Ability-based system vs. Task-based system in DOT  Ability judgments require greater abstract reasoning Harvey (1991); Morgeson & Campion (2000) Morgeson, Delaney-Klinger, Mayfield, Ferrara, & Campion (In press)

3 Impact of Individual Differences  What’s Been Studied – Age, sex, race – Experience level, education level  What’s Been Ignored – General Cognitive Ability – Conscientiousness

4 Our Contributions  Examine link between job analyst cognitive ability and conscientiousness and O*NET skill and ability ratings  If there is a problem…what could we do? – Identify potential strategy for reducing relationships

5 Method  Participants – 322 undergraduate business students » Job analysis training » Experience with job (M = 10 prior business classes)  Overall Activity – Made ratings of the job of “a teacher in the business school”

6 Method, cont.  Experimental Design Condition 1 O*NET: Skills & Abilities Wonderlic NEO - C Condition 2 Task Ratings O*NET: Skills Wonderlic NEO - C Condition 3 Task Ratings O*NET: Abilities Wonderlic NEO-C

7 Item Example-Skill Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents. How important is READING COMPREHENSION to the performance of the job of a teacher in the business school? (1-5: Not important to Extremely Important) What level of READING COMPREHENSION is needed to perform the job of a teacher in the business school? (1-7) Anchors: 2Read step-by-step instructions for completing a form 4Read a memo from management describing new personnel policies 6Read a scientific journal article describing surgical procedures

8 Item Example - Ability Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand. How important is ORAL EXPRESSION to the performance of the job of a teacher in the business school? (1-5: Not important to Extremely Important) What level of ORAL EXPRESSION is needed to perform the job of a teacher in the business school? (1-7) Anchors: 2Cancel newspaper delivery by phone 4Give instructions to a lost motorist 6Explain advanced principles of genetics to college freshmen

9 Item Example-Task Categories Categories of TEACHING-RELATED Activities Items Developing and Maintaining a Syllabus8 Course Preparation20 Class Administration and Participation13 In-Class Activities9 General Grading Activities11 Managing Teaching Assistants15 Developing and Administering Exams18 World-Wide Web7 Relationship with Students13 Professionalism5 Course Evaluations5

10 Results-Skills  19 of 140 correlations significant (13.57%)  Exposure to tasks before skill ratings decreased relationships (14 of 19 were reduced) Samples: O*Net OnlyTask + O*NET O*NET Descriptor‘g’Consc.‘g’Consc. Speaking – Imp..28 ** Speaking – Lev..27 ** Serv. Orien. – Imp ** Serv. Orien. – Lev **

11 Results-Abilities  58 of 208 correlations significant (27.88%)  Exposure to tasks before skill ratings decreased relationships (48 of 58 were lower) Samples: O*Net OnlyTask + O*NET O*NET Descriptor‘g’Consc.‘g’Consc. Oral Comp. – Lev * Oral Comp. – Imp * Prob. Sensitivity – Lev.-.20 *.30 ** Math. Reason. – Lev **

12 Conclusions  Ability ratings are more susceptible to influence of individual differences  Giving detailed task information helped reduce impact of individual differences on ratings