A factorial approach to job families

This is an experimental study of the application of factor analysis to a new domain—the formation of job families. Correlations between jobs are computed from the formula based on the number of common elements between two variables and the job analyses provide the basic data on the presence or absence of the elements. A first-order general factor and four common factors are obtained in a small sample of twenty occupations. Tentative interpretations are made and implications for job analysis and the formation of job families are pointed out.The analysis the results of which are reported here was made possible by the Bureau of Psychological Services, Institute for Human Adjustment, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies, University of Michigan.