Research Needs for Human Factors (1983) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 140-163
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From page 140... ...
Hennessy. It is based on a workshop on applied methods held in December 1981 under the sponsorship of the Committee on Human Factors.
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Other methods, such as the critical incident technique and link analysis, appear to have been created by human factors specialists to meet their needs in solving particular problems. Whatever their origins, applied methods have been developed as tools to help answer questions when there are constraints of time, dollars, and freedom of action and when experimental methods are not suitable to answer the questions that arise in system development.
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Determine System Performance Can Be Provided by Proposed Personnel-Equipment Capabilities 2. Assure Human Performance Requirements Do Not Exceed Human Capabilities 3.
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Obtained o Criteria for Acceptable Performance 3.2.4.3 Failure Analysis (Human Error Factors) 3.2.5 Cognizance and Coordination ( Interdisciplinary Integration )
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The importance of applied methods in human factors work is clear from the number of technical reports and journal articles that discuss one or more applied methods. Two recent reports (Williges and Topmiller, 1980; Geer, 1981)
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the lack of research to improve existing methods and to develop new methods that will provide the data and information needed in current and future practical human factors work. DOCUMENTATION OF APPLIED METHODS The practical work of human factors specialists, unlike scientific research, does not result in an orderly progression and an orderly accumulation of knowledge.
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Other purposes of the review would be to structure or codify the methods and to document them for subsequent educational and research purposes. It would also be extremely valuable to practitioners, educators, and researchers in human factors to have a compendium that codifies and provides standard or generic descr iptions of applied methods that are used in practical human factors work.
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These criteria imply that the approach to documenting standard definitions of applied methods should be conservative. That is, only shone methods for which there is evidence of practicality and validity should be selected for inclusion in a compendium.
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SURVEY OF HUMAN FACTORS SPECIALISTS ON APPLIED METHODS Because of the dearth of information on the variety and use of applied methods in human factors work we recommend a survey of human factors practitioners concerned with the acquisition, design, development, and evaluation or modification of equipment and systems. Such a survey would determine the importance and frequency of use of existing applied methods in their work; the kind of information most needed in human factors application" for which existing applied methodologies are inadequate or nonexistent; and the methods for which descriptions and guidance for use are most needed.
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Control Theory Accuracy Theory Predetermined Time Analysis Readability Indices EVAI UATION Test Plan Evaluation Simulation Mock-Ups Walk m roughs Check Diets Ratings FIGURE 7-3 Generally Known Applied Methods Categorized by Purpose according to the priorities of importance and frequency of use derived from the survey. Information from the survey would be useful in shaping human factors curricula in colleges and universities so that students can be trained in applied methods that they will subsequently need on the job.
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They have no current and comprehensive reference works to develop a balanced and thorough course in applied methods.
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Human factors professionals are likely to be more easily educated because of their general knowledge of human factors techniques and the likelihood that they have at least a working familiarity with some applied methods. Because of their previous education and experience, continuing education courses for them can be much more practical,
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From page 152... ...
First, the materials generated for the tutorial would contribute to the development of standard definitions and documentation of applied methods, since the course materials would have to describe the subject methods with sufficient care and detail to allow human factors specialists to use them easily and properly. Second, the tutorials would be a means for validating a prior needs analysis of which applied methods are considered most important to human factors practitioners.
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From page 153... ...
A by-product of the initial tutorial would be the development and testing of the structure and effectiveness of the initial instructional methods. A tutor ial on applied methods would probably require 10 to 40 hours of planning and prepar ing for each hour of instructional time.
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RESEARCH ON APPLIED METHODS Each applied method was originated to fill some particular need for information to support system design, evaluation, or problem analysis. Through a succession of repeated, successful use in different contexts, methods have evolved and have become known and accepted as tools of the trade in human factors work.
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Improvement and Extension of Existing Applied Methods AS previously discussed, fundamental problems are the lack of documented def initions and descriptions of existing applied methods and the lack of knowledge about what information is needed in human factors work. Documentation and survey work is necessary to provide baseline descr iptions and to help identify the particular problems and shortcomings of existing methods.
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From page 156... ...
SUMMARY There is a serious disparity between the importance of applied methodologies for human factors work, particularly systems and equipment design, and the efforts being made to document and codify them in a standard manner; to educate behavioral so fence and engineering students in their use in colleges and uniters ities; to provide continuing education in applied methods to working human factors specialists; and to engage in research to improve existing applied methodologies and develop new ones. It is of great importance to document what is currently known about applied methods .
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From page 157... ...
· Human factors practitioners should be surveyed to determine the importance and f requency of use of existing applied methods in their work; the kinds of information most needed in human factors applications for which existing applied methods are inadequate or nonexistent; and methods for which they require descriptions and guidance for use. · Tutorials on applied methods should be developed to meet the continuing educational needs of human factors specialists.
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158 Me inter, D ~ 1980 Human Factors for the Future-Trends and Speculations. In Proceedings of Symposium on Human Factors in Systems Development: Experience and Trends.
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The feasibility of performing required tasks within the required time; 3. Antecedent hardware and operations conditions to ensure that the requirements of each task element are met; 4.
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160 Workload demands, by comparing time requirements to complete a task series to the time available for completion within the constraints of a given system. Information Analysis Information analysis identifies information and its flow through a system, usually an perceived from a user's viewpoint.
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v, _ 4) supervisory control systems; 5)
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