Factor Analysis of Importance Ratings in Job Analysis: Note on the Misinterpretation of Cranny and Doherty (1988)

Abstract

An article by Cranny and Doherty has inadvertently created a common perception among researchers that factor analysis should never be applied to importance ratings collected in a job analysis. The author argues that factor analysis of job analysis importance ratings is appropriate under the following conditions: (a) meaningful differences exist between jobs or positions analyzed, (b) each variable has some interrater agreement within jobs and some variance across jobs or positions, and (c) the research objective is to find a set of factors that reflect shared patterns of the extent to which the tasks, behaviors, or characteristics are relevant to different positions. Illustrative examples are presented of situations in which within-job correlations and variances have little effect on the factor structure across jobs.