Functional job analysis is a commonly used method. Olson, Fine,
Myers, and Jennings (1981) discuss the purpose and process of this
technique. They state that first one needs to examine the purpose and the
goals of the work being done. These goals are then broken down into
smaller tasks and responsibilities. Through this process, what an individual
does and how he or she does it is discovered. The specific tasks and
responsibilities of the job are then well documented so that the analysis
may be used in the future in a variety of contexts. The critical incident
technique is another method of collecting information about a job. With
this method, the researcher gains information about examples of positive
and negative performance for a job (Flanagan, 1954).