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Occupational coding:principles, practice and problems
A workshop within the ESRC Research Methods Programme
Peter EliasInstitute for Employment Research
University of Warwick
Royal Statistical Society, London June 2004
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Principles of occupational coding
Aim:
to categorise an occupational description within an occupational classification
Rationale:
to reduce a complex set of information to a manageable set of categories which reflect the conceptual basis of the classification
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Some definitions
What is the unit to be classified?A ‘job’ – a set of tasks/duties executed, or designed to be executed, by one person
What is an occupational description?Account of the main tasks and duties performed in a set of jobs which are characterised by a high degree of similarity
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What do we mean by ‘similarity’?
Similar in terms of the underlying conceptual basis of the classification
What is the ‘conceptual basis’
This relates to the purpose for which the classification is designed (e.g. to measure ‘skill’, social positions, safety of the work environment, etc.)
Some definitions (contd.)
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What is an occupational classification?
A set of categories which reflect the conceptual basis of the classification and within which all units can be appropriately classified
Usually described via a Structure, an Index and a set of Rules
Some definitions (contd.)
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Coding practice
Self classificationPresent the informant with a set of occupational categories – they select most appropriate for the occupation they wish to classify
‘Coder’ classificationAll the requisite information is passed to a ‘coder’. Coding is achieved by comparing occupational information with the index to the classification, applying the coding rules to obtain the most appropriate code for the occupational category
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Self-classification
Consistent coding requires all informants to have the same understanding of the nature of the classification (or, at least, for errors in coding to be normally distributed)
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SOC2000 Major groups
1 Managers and senior officials2 Professional occupations3 Associate professional and technical occupations4 Administrative and secretarial occupations5 Skilled trades occupations6 Personal service occupations7 Sales and customer service occupations8 Process, plant and machine operatives9 Elementary occupations
Can you classify your job to SOC2000?
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‘Coder’ classificationCollect required information:
Labour Force SurveyWhat was your (main) job (in the week ending Sunday [date])? <Interviewer Instruction - ENTER JOB TITLE>What did you mainly do in your job?<Interviewer Instructions - CHECK SPECIAL QUALIFICATIONS/TRAINING
NEEDED TO DO THE JOB>
Millennium Cohort (First survey)What is your (main) job? <Text: up to 40 characters>What do you mainly do in your job?<Interviewer: CHECK SPECIAL QUALIFICATIONS/TRAINING NEEDED TO
DO THE JOB<Text: up to 40 characters>
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Compare information collected with index and apply coding rules
- reverse word order?
- default coding rules?- ‘see notes’?
- obtain code
‘Coder’ classification (contd.)
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What problems can arise?
• Cannot always collect the information needed for detailed and accurate coding
• The index and/or the rules may not yield an appropriate code
• The process is complex, tedious and error prone
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How do we resolve these problems?
• Give explicit instructions to informant, with examples
• Ask the right questions
• Update the index and the rules on a regular basis in the light of experience
• Coder training
• Interviewer coding
• Update the classification
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Updating the Classification
1980 1990 2000
Classification of Occupations 1980 (CO80)
1990 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC90)
2000 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC2000)
CODOT and the Key list of Occupations for Statistical Purposes (KOS)
HE First destination statistics (SOC(FDS))
HE Destination of Leavers Survey (SOC(DLHE))
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The classification of ICT occupations (1946-1972)
ED526 (1946-72)
Systems analyst/programmer (computers)
Programmer (computers)
Hollerith machine operator
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CODOT (1973-90)
Office manager (records)
Data processing manager
Systems analyst
Computer programmer
Data processing machine operator
Computer operator
Sorting machine operator
Key punch operator
The classification of ICT occupations (1973-1990)
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SOC90 (1991 – 2000)
Computer systems and data processing managers
Software engineers
Computer analysts/programmers
Filing, computer and records clerks
Typists and word processor operators
Computer and data processing machine operators
Computer engineers; installation and maintenance
The classification of ICT occupations (1991-2000)
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SOC2000 (2001 – 2010)
ICT managers
IT strategy and planning professionals
Software engineers
IT operations technicians
IT user support technicians
Database assistants/clerks
Computer engineers; installation and maintenance
The classification of ICT occupations (2001-2010)
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How well can we monitor occupational change?
• Monitoring trends requires that we ‘backcast’ occupational data when a new classification is introduced
• Different approaches to this:- recoding historical data (expensive)- use of ‘converter matrices’ (inaccurate)- preserving text descriptions for future reprocessing
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Classification converters?
• LFS Winter 96/97 and Spring 2000 dual coded – SOC90 and SOC2000
• ’91 Census (E&W ½ % sample) ‘component coded’ – CO80 and SOC90
• 1990 New Earning Survey – KOS and SOC90
• For assistance, contact Occupation Information Unit
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0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
350,000
Info &communication
technologymanagers
IT strategy andplanning
professionals
Softwareprofessionals
IT operationstechnicians
IT user supporttechnicians
Databaseassistants &
clerks
Computerengineers,
installation &maintenance
Call centreagents &operators
19911996/72003
Growth of ICT-related occupations, England and Wales 1991- 2003
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Good coding practice
• Code to the most recent version of the UK national occupational classification
• Adopt the wording of questions as developed by the Office for national statistics
• Create electronic records of text descriptions
• Train coders: promote understanding of conceptual basis of classification, nature of rules, use of index
• Where possible, dual code to previous occupational classification
• Conduct consistency checks