Job Task Analysis: The Foundation of a Strong Certification Program

Job Analysis, or Role Delineation, is required by international standards as an essential step in developing a certification that is defensible and eligible for accreditation. Our experts can help you efficiently produce a job analysis study for your certification, then implement it for test publishing on our secure platform.

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The Methodology: Job Task Inventory

It’s not easy to develop a defensible certification exam, but the process of job task analysis (JTA) doesn’t require a Ph.D. in Psychometrics to understand. Here’s an overview of what to expect.

Convene a panel of subject matter experts (SMEs), who discuss the role of the certification in the profession, and establish high-level topics (domains) that the certification test should cover. Usually, there is 5-20. Sometimes there are subdomains, and occasionally sub-subdomains.
The SME panel generates a list of job tasks that are assigned to domains; the list is reviewed for duplicates and other potential issues. These tasks have an action verb, a subject, and sometimes a qualifier. Examples: “Calibrate the lensometer,” “Take out the trash”, “Perform an equating study.”
The final list is used to generate a survey, which is sent to a representative sample of professionals that actually work in the role
The respondents take the survey, whereby they rate each task, usually on its importance and time spent (sometimes called criticality and frequency). Demographics are also gathered, which include age range, geographic region, work location (e.g., clinic vs hospital if medical), years of experience, educational level, and additional certifications.
A psychometrician analyzes the results to determine critical and frequent tasks. This is often done by either adding or multiplying the ratings and then analyzing the weight across domains.
A draft of the test blueprints is recommended. Tasks/domains with more importance and frequency should have top priority.
The SME panel reviews and approves the blueprints.

Why is this important?

The fundamental goal of psychometrics is validity, which is evidence that the interpretations we make from scores are actually true. In the case of certification and licensure exams, we are interpreting that someone who passes the test is qualified to work in that job role. So, the first thing we need to do is define exactly what is the job role, and to do it in a quantitative, scientific way. You can’t just have someone sit down and write up 17 bullet points as the exam blueprint.

There are other aspects that are essential as well, such as item writer training and standard setting studies.

Get in touch with one of our consultants to learn more.

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Job Task Analysis: The Foundation of a Strong Certification Program

The Methodology: Job Task Inventory

Why is this important?

Get in touch with one of our consultants to learn more.

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