ABSTRACT
Questionnaires for job and task analysis are primarily developed to measure aspects or "dimensions" of specific work situations. Job holders are asked to describe their job by using the dimensions of the questionnaire. The studies can be taken as a quasi-objective diagnosis of the work situation under study. This interpretation is questioned by authors of the "social information processing approach", SIP. The questionnaire Sujective Job Analysis (SAA) consists of 50 items grouped in six categories and 14 subcategories which reflect Blauner's psychological theory of alienation. Additionally, the SAA measures aspects of work overload and underload. In order to study the validity of the SAA, a meta analysis of the categories, sub-categories and items was carried out on the basis of 22 different samples with a total of 2300 subjects. The samples were grouped by type of work and by education level of the subjects. Improvements of the questionnaire are recommended which consider the consequences for job design and organizational development.
