In addition to the honorary degree, Dr. Christal received a congratulatory commendation (delivered via video tape) from the Honorable Fred Pang, Assistant Secretary, United States Department of Defense, Force Management and Policy. Mr. Pang noted, in part, that "your work in assessment, occupational measurement and personality theory has influenced the lives of countless young men and women seeking employment with the United States Armed Forces, not to mention the influence of your work in business and industry, indeed world-wide."

Dr. Christal served as an officer in the United States Navy during World War II. Following the war, Ray began a long career as a psychologist, working with the United States Air Force. He earned B.S. and M.S. degrees from North Texas State University, and a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin. When Ray retired in 1980, he was the Director of Personnel and Manpower Division, Air Force Human Resources Laboratory. Among the many awards bestowed upon Ray while working for the Air Force was the prestigious Exceptional Civilian Service Award, presented by the Secretary of the Air Force. This is the highest award given to a civilian.

Following his "retirement" Ray assumed the position as Chief Scientist in the Learning Abilities Measurement Program (LAMP) working as a "reemployed annuitant" until 1984. Since that time, he has continued to serve as a consultant to the Armstrong Laboratory (working through Metrica, Inc.) on LAMP and other programs. He is currently conducting research on personalities and motivation. Dr. Christal also serves as a member of the IJOA Advisory Panel.

Jimmy has been, and continues to be, a dedicated supporter and contributor to the exchange of ideas and advancement of the science of personnel assessment propounded as the goals of the International Military Testing Association (IMTA). Since 1975, when he attended his first IMTA conference, Jimmy has been a significant and prolific participant. He is an internationally recognized expert in job and occupational analysis. His in-depth knowledge of the history of current job analysis programs in the US Armed Services, and of similar methodologies in the civilian arena has enriched his contributions to the IMTA and to job analysis research around the world.

He has also been involved in the US Air Force Training Decisions System (TDS) research program as an R&D contractor with McDonnell Douglas Aerospace. This program uses comprehensive models to portray career field job and training events using dynamic simulations of organizations based on occupational analysis data. His research (with Bill Phalen) exploring new CODAP applications and capabilities and his work on the TDS have been hallmarks of his contributions to IMTA.

Jimmy has contributed to the peer-reviewed military scientific literature with recent Military Psychology articles related to identifying training requirements from job and task data and the use of behavioral scientists in the Air Force. In addition to his strong commitment to advance scientific and practical research within the military research community, Jimmy has been concerned with increasing awareness of the need for integrated Human Resource Management systems for improving the productivity of individuals. He is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP), as well as IMTA.

The CAOS feasibility study has continued to progress well. This is in spite of unforeseen "gauntlets"; i.e., a couple of software peculiarities and survey disks being "infected" by computer viruses when inserted into personal computers at field locations.

Individuals participating at each step of the development and administration processes have voiced strong support for implementing automated occupational surveys. The savings to be realized for production of surveys is significant. The costs for "ready" disks was $.56 for 5.25" disks and $.76 for 3.5" disks. The costs for producing hard-copy survey booklets range between $3.00 and $10.00. The differences in costs for mailing disks and hard-copy booklets were negligible.

Registration fee is $100 per person. For information about the workshop or to register contact Lt. Glenn Mayes or Ms. Cindy Luster, AFOMS. They can be contacted by electronic mail at

by Fax, DSN 487-3773 or commercial 210-652-3773, or by telephone, DSN 487-6811 or commercial 210-652-6811.

There will be a call for papers forthcoming in the near future. Representatives of AFOMS, Armstrong Laboratory, and IJOA plan to discuss Task Difficulty research (past and future) and the results of the Computer-Administered Occupational Survey (CAOS) feasibility study. Metrica and IJOA will also be briefing potential integration across a number of task- (or task module-) based R&D programs.

Persons attending this workshop will be provided a number of opportunities for meaningful discussions about occupational analysis and research efforts ongoing throughout the world. Please plan to attend and share your experiences with others.

United States Air Force Captain Lisa Boyce, currently serving on an exchange tour with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), advises that the RAAF has started work on a pilot research project to determine the impact of the order in which tasks are presented in Job Inventories.

The primary goal of this effort is to identify whether responses are different when tasks are ordered alphabetically by verbs within duties versus when tasks are ordered by nouns within duties.

If readers of this newsletter are aware of studies in this area, Lisa asks that you contact her at Headquarters Training Command, RAAF Williams, Point Cook, VICTORIA 3027, Australia. Telephone 03-368-1432, or Fax 03-368-1915.

John's immediate objective is to determine how much it currently costs to conduct Task Inventory CODAP-based occupational analysis in the Canadian Forces.

John would appreciate hearing from anybody who has been involved in or has knowledge of similar studies. Please contact Major Kropac at:

Mark would appreciate hearing from anybody currently involved in conducting job analysis. Contact Mark via E-Mail: Mark@Poe.COE.NCSU.EDU; Voice Mail: 919-515-1718; Fax: 919-515-1716; or postal address: Department of Psychology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695.

IJOA recently subscribed to the American Online Service, which includes E-Mail. The E-Mail address for IJOA is:

Those interested in the National Skills Standard Initiative may want to subscribe to a new internet interest group called the SKILLSNET. Their introduction package is quoted below for your information:

"SKILLSNET is a mailing list for individuals in Skills Research, Educators, Trainers, Human Resource Managers, Certification Organizations, Technology & Telecom Organizations, Instructional Software Organizations, Training Consultants, Government, and anyone else who is interested in the National Skills Standard Initiative. We look forward to the transfer of skills knowledge and experience in the areas of the 1) National Skills Standard Board and supporting infrastructure, 2) Advanced Skills Research, 3) Technology-Based Skill Training Offerings, 4) Content Design and Certification, 5) Worker Certification, 6) Assessment & Measurement Instruments, 7) National & Regional Conferences, 8) Legal and Social Issues, 9) Union & Non-Union issues and much more.

Review of skills research, publications and observations relating to the SKILLS STANDARD are welcome and encouraged. Our mission is to become the electronic voice for the SKILLS STANDARD INITIATIVE and to provide interested parties with timely and accurate information.

Soon, we will provide SKILLSNET participants with numerous workgroup options. This will enable the participant to focus on one or two specific SKILL STANDARD issues."

To subscribe to SKILLSNET, send your request to:

A second administration of the inventory to a sub-set of the original respondents will allow comparison of repeat item reliabilities to test-retest reliabilities for the same items. In addition, the second administration will examine any effect of computer versus traditional administration procedures on reliability estimates.

The second issue concerns the reliability of knowledge, skills, and ability (KSA) ratings attained from job incumbents. Moreover, relatively little is known about the reliability of such ratings.

Joe is a world renowned statistician, modeler, and the father of linear regression analysis and person-job match technology. He is a longstanding member of the San Antonio Chapter of the American Statistical Association (ASA). Joe has, since the early 1960's, been working with high school students and teachers in San Antonio, helping them to combine prediction (regression) models and computers for data analysis.

Joe implemented an "Adopt a Statistician" program by recruiting and then disseminating a list of statisticians in the San Antonio area who were willing to assist students and teachers with design and analysis for research projects. He also matches volunteer statisticians with students and teachers.

Many students have benefitted from Joe's direction and guidance. One student was recognized by the Westinghouse Science Talent Search for his paper "A Vector Approach to Statistics". Other students applied their data analysis to research projects entered in Junior Academy of Science, Science fairs, and the ASA Project/Poster contests.

Joe has prepared documents reflecting his efforts and experiences. Anyone interested in receiving these documents may contact Joe at:

Joe would graciously accept tax deductible contributions for his worthwhile cause; make checks payable to the Northeast School District.

It was recently learned that one of the former AFOMS Occupational Analysts, Dr. Gordy Curphy, is now a senior consultant for Personnel Decisions, Incorporated (PDI) in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It seems that Gordy, along with Dr. David P. Campbell, Center for Creative Leadership, and Ms. Tamara Tuggle, Texas Instruments, Incorporated, are participating in a workshop entitled "360-Degree Feedback Instruments: Beyond Theory" during the Tenth Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. The conference will be held 19 - 21 May 1995 at the Hilton at Walt Disney World Village, Orlando, Florida.

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