Description
The Minnesota Job Description Questionnaire (MJDQ) is designed to measure the reinforcer (need-satisfier) characteristics of jobs along 21 reinforcer dimensions:
- Ability Utilization
- Achievement
- Activity
- Advancement
- Authority
- Autonomy
- Company Policies
- Compensation
- Co-workers
- Creativity
- Independence
- Moral Values
- Recognition
- Responsibility
- Security
- Social Service
- Social Status
- Supervision--Human Relations
- Supervision--Technical
- Variety
- Working Conditions
In typical applications of the MJDQ, a group of raters (e.g., supervisors, employees, or job analysts) are asked to rate a specific job. Composite scaling of the MJDQs completed by all raters results in an Occupational Reinforcer Pattern (ORP), which is the pattern of rated reinforcers or need-satisfiers on a given job. The MJDQ is the instrument used to create the ORPs in Occupational Reinforcer Patterns (1986), and can be used to create ORPs locally. The MJDQ can also be used to obtain an individual's perception of jobs in terms of expected or perceived reinforcer patterns.
Format
The MJDQ comes in two forms--Form E for employees and Form S for Supervisors. The forms are the same except for the different orientation to rating the job required by supervisors (or other "experts") and employees. Form E also includes the standard 20-item short form of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire. The MJDQ is appropriate for use with individuals who can read at the fifth-grade level or higher. Both Form S and Form E are gender-neutral. The MJDQ can be administered to groups or to individuals. Instructions for the administration of the MJDQ are given in the booklet. Either form usually requires about 20 minutes to complete.
Manual
A technical manual on the development, reliability, and validity of the MJDQ (and a copy of Form S) has been published as Monograph XXV in the Minnesota Studies in Vocational Rehabilitation. This monograph also includes information on the development of ORPs. ORPs developed from the use of the MJDQ for 185 occupations are reported in Occupational Reinforcer Patterns (1986).