1. Economic and Labor Foundations of Workforce Education
Learning Objectives
Economic Analysis – Techniques for studying work. On the job performance analysis methods
Labor market Analysis – Economists Study resources, capital to produce a product. Supply & Demand
Workforce Projections – Trends and factors shaping the Labor Market. Long-term trends, short-term trends

2. Economic and Labor Foundations of Workforce Education
Economic Analysis - Workforce Education is a Social Science. Different social science methodologies are applied to study work
How does Validity and Reliability apply to worker analysis?
Validity – Measure what is supposed to be measured
Reliability – look for consistency of results
Historical Data – review company records (Customer service inquires)
Companies may be reluctant to allow this process

3. Economic and Labor Foundations of Workforce Education
Economic Analysis…….. Continued
Ethnographies (p. 82)
Participant Observations – Analyze by working with people. CEO of Subway made sandwiches. CEO of Norwegian Cruise line was a maintenance worker to learn employee thoughts and problems. Another employee recognized him
Non-Participant Observations - Analyze by watching people work. Will people continue to work as if no one is watching?
Experimenter Bias – Workers change behavior to please observer. Validity, reliability?
Hawthorne effect – Workers try to do what the experimenter/observer wants. Validity, reliability?

4. Economic and Labor Foundations of Workforce Education
Sample Surveys
All members
Cross-section of members to get a good random sampling
Trends in job satisfaction, work commitment
Nissan employee satisfaction survey of management
Selection bias – only certain types of people may complete survey so results may not be true sampling
Response error – responders misunderstand question or give false answer

5. Economic and Labor Foundations of Workforce Education
Units of analysis: the Worker and the Labor Force
Ascribed Characteristics: Gender, Race, Age, culture, etc.
These are categories used to discuss make-up of workers
Ascribed Characteristics: Education, Work Experience, Skills
Additional categories used to discuss make-up of workers
Government definition of Employment (P. 92)
Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) (P. 92)
Unemployment Rate: number of unemployed divided by the labor force X 100 _ % (p. 93)
“Not in the Labor Force” (NILF) and Discouraged Workers? (p. 93)

6. Economic and Labor Foundations of Workforce Education
Units of Analysis: Industry, Occupation, and Workplaces
Industry (NAICS) North American Industry Classification System - link to WED 460….why important? Table 2.1 p. 97
Occupation: Standard Occupation Classification System (SOCS) - link to WED 460….why important? p. 99
Problems Studying Work:
Lack of Information – Definition of the labor force in different govt’s
Characteristics that are hard to measure – Job commitment, underemployment, and pride in work. Little agreement about how to measure these.