January 2018
Intermediate to advanced
480 pages
236h 9m
English
The work sampling method involves estimating the proportions of time spent by people and machines on activities, based on a large number of observations. These activities might include producing a service or product, doing paperwork, waiting for instructions, waiting for maintenance, or being idle. The underlying assumption is that the proportion of time during which the activity is observed in the sample will be the proportion of time spent on the activity in general. Data from work sampling also can be used to estimate how effective machines or workers are, estimate the allowances needed to set standards for use with other work measurement methods, determine job content, and help assess the cost of jobs or activities.