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<title>Work sampling</title>

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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Work sampling</span></span>

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<p><b>Work sampling</b> is the statistical technique used for determining the proportion of time spent by workers in various defined categories of activity (e.g. setting up a machine, assembling two parts, idle...etc.).<sup id="cite_ref-Groover_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Groover-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> It is as important as all other statistical techniques because it permits quick analysis, recognition, and enhancement of job responsibilities, tasks, performance competencies, and organizational work flows. Other names used for it are 'activity sampling', 'occurrence sampling', and 'ratio delay study'.<sup id="cite_ref-Sheth_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Sheth-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>In a work sampling study, a large number of <a href="Observation" title="Observation">observations</a> are made of the workers over an extended period of time. For statistical accuracy, the observations must be taken at random times during the period of study, and the period must be representative of the types of activities performed by the subjects.

</p><p>One important usage of the work sampling technique is the determination of the standard time for a manual <a href="Manufacturing" title="Manufacturing">manufacturing</a> task. Similar techniques for calculating the standard time are <a href="Time_and_motion_study" title="Time and motion study">time study</a>, standard data, and <a href="Predetermined_motion_time_system" title="Predetermined motion time system">predetermined motion time systems</a>.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Characteristics_of_work_sampling_study">Characteristics of work sampling study</h2></div>

<p>The study of work sampling has some general characteristics related to the work condition:

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<ul><li>One of them is the sufficient time available to perform the study. A work sampling study usually requires a substantial period of time to complete. There must be enough time available (several weeks or more) to conduct the study.</li>

<li>Another characteristic is multiple workers. Work sampling is commonly used to study the activities of multiple workers rather than one worker.</li>

<li>The third characteristic is long cycle time. The job covered in the study has relatively a long cycle time.</li>

<li>The last condition is the non-repetitive work cycles. The work is not highly repetitive. The jobs consist of various tasks rather than a single repetitive task. However, it must be possible to classify the work activities into a distinct number of categories.</li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Steps_in_conducting_a_work_sampling_study">Steps in conducting a work sampling study</h2></div>

<p>There are several recommended steps when starting to prepare a work sampling study:<sup id="cite_ref-Groover_1-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Groover-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

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<ol><li>Define the manufacturing tasks for which the standard time is to be determined.</li>

<li>Define the task elements. These are the defined broken-down steps of the task that will be observed during the study. Since a worker is going to be observed, additional categories will likely be included as well, such as "idle", "waiting for work", and "absent".</li>

<li>Design the study. This includes designing the forms that will be used to record the observations, determining how many observations will be required, deciding on the number of days or shifts to be included in the study, scheduling the observations, and finally determining the number of observers needed.</li>

<li>Identify the observers who will do the <a href="Sampling_(statistics)" title="Sampling (statistics)">sampling</a>.</li>

<li>Start the study. All those who are affected by the study should be informed about it.</li>

<li>Make random visits to the plant and collect the observations.</li>

<li>After completing the study, analyze and present the results. This is done by preparing a report that summarizes and analyzes all data and making recommendations when required.</li></ol>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Determining_the_number_of_observations_needed_in_work_sampling">Determining the number of observations needed in work sampling</h2></div>

<p>After the work elements are defined, the number of observations for the desired accuracy at the desired confidence level must be determined.

The formula used in this method is:

</p><p><span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \sigma _{P}={\sqrt {\frac {pq}{n}}}}">

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</p><p><span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle n={\frac {pq}{{\sigma _{P}}^{2}}}}">

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</math></span><img src="./d78493fc27d2f9b7682a2f75ee6f644de340f992.svg" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -2.338ex; width:9.177ex; height:5.343ex;" alt="{\displaystyle n={\frac {pq}{{\sigma _{P}}^{2}}}}" loading="lazy"></span>

</p><p><span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \sigma _{P}=}">

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</math></span><img src="./041757b43213f04dda1456eb2063f3624382a470.svg" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.671ex; width:5.247ex; height:2.009ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \sigma _{P}=}" loading="lazy"></span> standard error of proportion

</p><p><span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle p=}">

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</p><p><span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle q=}">

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</p><p><span class="mwe-math-element mwe-math-element-inline"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle n=}">

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Additional_applications_of_work_sampling">Additional applications of work sampling</h2></div>

<p>Work sampling was initially developed for determining time allocation among workers' tasks in manufacturing environments.<sup id="cite_ref-Tsai_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Tsai-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> However, the technique has also been applied more broadly to examine work in a number of different environments, such as healthcare<sup id="cite_ref-Ampt_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Ampt-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and construction.<sup id="cite_ref-Buchholz_5-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Buchholz-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> More recently, in the academic fields of <a href="Organizational_psychology" class="mw-redirect" title="Organizational psychology">organizational psychology</a> and <a href="Organizational_behaviour" class="mw-redirect" title="Organizational behaviour">organizational behaviour</a>, the basic technique has been developed into a detailed <a href="Job_analysis" title="Job analysis">job analysis</a> method for examining a range of different research questions.<sup id="cite_ref-Robinson_6-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Robinson-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

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<ul><li><a href="Sampling_(statistics)" title="Sampling (statistics)">Sampling (statistics)</a></li>

<li><a href="Profiling_(computer_programming)" title="Profiling (computer programming)">Profiling (computer programming)</a> can be done by work sampling a computer program.</li>

<li><a href="Staffing_models" title="Staffing models">Staffing models</a></li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>

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<li id="cite_note-Groover-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Groover_1-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Groover_1-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Groover, M. P. <i>Work Systems and Methods, measurement, and Management of Work</i>. Pearson Education International, 2007 <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">

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</style><a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>978-0-13-140650-6</bdi></span>

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<li id="cite_note-Sheth-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Sheth_2-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Sheth, V. <i>Industrial Engineering Methods and Practices</i>. Penram International Publishing, 2000, <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>81-87972-18-1</bdi></span>

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<li id="cite_note-Tsai-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Tsai_3-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFTsai1996" class="citation journal cs1">Tsai, W-. H. (1996). "A technical note on using work sampling to estimate the effort on activities under activity-based costing". <i>International Journal of Production Economics</i>. <b>43</b> (1): <span class="nowrap">11–</span>16. <a href="Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1016%2F0925-5273%2895%2900189-1">10.1016/0925-5273(95)00189-1</a>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-Ampt-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Ampt_4-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFAmptWestbrookCreswickMallock2007" class="citation journal cs1">Ampt, A.; Westbrook, J.; Creswick, N.; Mallock, N. (2007). "A comparison of self-reported and observational work sampling techniques for measuring time in nursing tasks". <i>Journal of Health Services Research & Policy</i>. <b>12</b> (1): <span class="nowrap">18–</span>24. <a href="Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1258%2F135581907779497576">10.1258/135581907779497576</a>. <a href="PMID_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="PMID (identifier)">PMID</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17244393">17244393</a>. <a href="S2CID_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="S2CID (identifier)">S2CID</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:20690796">20690796</a>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-Buchholz-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Buchholz_5-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFBuchholzPaquetPunnettLee1996" class="citation journal cs1">Buchholz, B.; Paquet, V.; Punnett, L.; Lee, D.; Moir, S. (1996). "PATH: A work sampling-based approach to ergonomic job analysis for construction and other non-repetitive work". <i>Applied Ergonomics</i>. <b>27</b> (3): <span class="nowrap">177–</span>187. <a href="Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1016%2F0003-6870%2895%2900078-X">10.1016/0003-6870(95)00078-X</a>. <a href="PMID_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="PMID (identifier)">PMID</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15677058">15677058</a>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-Robinson-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Robinson_6-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFRobinson2010" class="citation journal cs1">Robinson, M. A. (2010). "Work sampling: Methodological advances and new applications". <i>Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing & Service Industries</i>. <b>20</b> (1): <span class="nowrap">42–</span>60. <a href="Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1002%2Fhfm.20186">10.1002/hfm.20186</a>.</cite></span>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2></div>

<ul><li><cite id="CITEREFRobinson2009" class="citation journal cs1">Robinson, Mark A. (2009). "Work sampling: Methodological advances and new applications". <i>Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing</i>. <a href="Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1002%2Fhfm.20186">10.1002/hfm.20186</a>.</cite></li></ul></div><div><div class="zim-footer">

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