Tool Summary
Human Performance Improvement practitioners have a seemingly endless supply of tools to gather and analyze data. While we cover five tools of the trade, it is important to note that this is not an inclusive list.
Focus Group - a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked for their opinions on a particular subject in order to receive feedback on how to improve or modify it. They are used to discover how different people think and feel about a topic and why they hold certain opinions.
Job Task Analysis (JTA) - is an important component of the instruction systems design (ISD) approach to training. Without a successful JTA, the training designer may not fully understand a job and its contents and thus will not produce a properly designed training program.
Ishikawa Diagram - is named for Kaoru Ishikawa who popularized them in the 1960s by using them for quality management purposes in the Kawasaki shipyards. Ishikawa diagrams are often referred to as fishbone diagrams because their shape is similar to a fish skeleton.
Direct Observation - is a type of data collection in which the observer watches and records real world behaviors and results. It can involve qualitative measures, which are not measurable numerically, and quantitative measures, which are numerically measurable. It may also be called a field observation.
Pareto - is a bar graph that organizes data from highest to lowest values, allowing users to take a large amount of data and highlight the most important pieces of information first. It helps determine the causes with the greatest impact.
Focus Group - a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked for their opinions on a particular subject in order to receive feedback on how to improve or modify it. They are used to discover how different people think and feel about a topic and why they hold certain opinions.
Job Task Analysis (JTA) - is an important component of the instruction systems design (ISD) approach to training. Without a successful JTA, the training designer may not fully understand a job and its contents and thus will not produce a properly designed training program.
Ishikawa Diagram - is named for Kaoru Ishikawa who popularized them in the 1960s by using them for quality management purposes in the Kawasaki shipyards. Ishikawa diagrams are often referred to as fishbone diagrams because their shape is similar to a fish skeleton.
Direct Observation - is a type of data collection in which the observer watches and records real world behaviors and results. It can involve qualitative measures, which are not measurable numerically, and quantitative measures, which are numerically measurable. It may also be called a field observation.
Pareto - is a bar graph that organizes data from highest to lowest values, allowing users to take a large amount of data and highlight the most important pieces of information first. It helps determine the causes with the greatest impact.