Skip to main content Skip to navigation

Cascot: Computer Assisted Structured COding Tool

Data Quality

The SOC classification is designed to code job titles. Often captured data may amount to job descriptions, industry area, or may be too verbose providing additional information beyond the job title.

Good quality input should be a job title, as would be used inside a place of work, on a business card or employment contract. Where this would give a title that would be ambiguous in meaning, the title may be qualified with one or more terms in brackets. Such qualification may be used to indicate.
* Type of industry 
   e.g.
   Chemist (pharmaceutical)
   Chemist (retail trade)
   Administrator (insurance)
   Administrator (government)
   Administrator (local government)
   Administrator (charitable organisation)
   Administrator (trade union)

* Type of work
   e.g.
   Advisory Officer (welfare)
   Advisory Officer (housing)
  
* Level of work, 
   e.g.
   Mechanical Engineer
   Mechanical Engineer (professional)

* Place of work
   e.g.
   Teacher (primary school)
   Teacher (university)

Such bracketed expressions may be combined. 
e.g.
Engineer (professional, structural)
Engineer (professional, water)
Engineer (professional, highways)

Sometimes it is possible to express a job title several ways
e.g. Police inspector
     Inspector (police service)
In these cases either/any format would be as good as the next.


Examples of problematic occupational text:
 
Examples: "casual work"
  "temp"
Comment: This should be whatever job they are doing 'casually'.
 
 
Example: "adult & continuing education"
Comment: This is where they are working (or spending time). It is not a job title or even a job description. Are they a teacher, a student or even a cleaner?
 
Examples: Examples: "advertising & marketing"
  "advertising"
  "assurance & business advisory services"
Comment: Similarly, these are the area of work. Are they an advertising executive, an advert designer or an advertising salesman? Try to find out what someone does in preference to where or what type of industry and if possible their actual job title.
 
Examples: "allocating stock to stores, supplier communication"
  "arranging flights"
  "arranging loans"
  "assembling kits for car parts"
Comment: These are descriptions of duties, not job titles.
 
Example: "analyst, meeting corporate clients"
Comment: Be brief and concise.
Alternative: "business analyst"
 
Example: "answering phone enquiries"
Comment: Again this is a job description, not a title. There could be enquiries in all sorts of different jobs. If you know more about the nature of the job, use this information.
Alternative: "call centre operative"
 
Example: "application developer - developing lotus notes databases for clients"
Comment: This has too much detail. Again be brief and concise. Try to get the job title and qualify if ambiguous.
Alternative: "application developer (software)"
 
Examples: "assistant correspondent for Japanese broadsheet"
  "behavioural scientist - interactivity with digital technology"
  "applications chemist - provide technical information, product training, and troubleshooting"
Comment: Again, far too much detail for all of these.
Alternatives: "assistant correspondent (newspaper)"
  "behavioural scientist"
  "applications chemist"