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185 – Statistical Methods for Applied Problems
Testing the Collection of Occupational Requirements Data
Gwyn R. Ferguson
Bureau of Labor Statistics
In FY 2013, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is working in conjunction with the Social Security Administration (SSA) to design, develop, and carry out a series of tests to assess the feasibility of using the National Compensation Survey (NCS) platform as a means to accurately and reliably capture data that are relevant to the SSA's disability programs. These tests will include but are not limited to collecting data on an indicator of "time to proficiency," physical demand (PD) characteristics/factors of occupations, and environmental conditions. This year, the BLS is evaluating survey design options, developing protocols, aides, and a collection approach to meet SSA data needs, collecting data to test and refine the protocols and aides, and documenting the work performed, conclusions drawn and recommendations for future data collection. This work is being done with three general phases of testing, an initial proof of concept phase, collection protocol testing, and broad scale testing. This paper will describe the approaches being used to test the feasibility if this potential data collection effort and describe the current status of the testing efforts.