Operational Testing of ASCII CODAP Job and Task Clustering Methodologies

Abstract : The ASCII CODAP programs developed to enhance occupational analysis capability were operationally tested on a number of example data sets representing several recently completed occupational analysis projects. Using such examples, the operational testing compared several algorithmically derived solutions with those actually made by experienced analysts. Feedback from such tests were used to further refine and adjust the algorithms used to identify potential job and task clusters. New displays and adapted CODAP products needed for an analyst to make final job type or task module decisions were developed and their utility tested in actual use. The overall result of the testing suggests that the advanced technology can be highly useful in assisting analysts to make realistic decisions, but that considerable skill and judgement are still needed to properly assess the significance of alternative sets of jobs or task modules. With these new tools, however, an experienced analyst should be able to considerably reduce the amount of time required to accomplish an occupational analysis project. Occupational analysis, Task clustering.