Jan 16, 2009

A Man With A Plan: Dr. Harvey Is Ready To Replace The DOT

Social Security has appointed an Occupational Information Development Advisory Panel to consider what to do about the fact that the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) is obsolete. The DOT has been an important foundation stone for disability determination at Social Security for more than 30 years.

I can only find the name of the panel chairman, Dr. Robert J. Harvey of Virginia Tech. Dr. Harvey appears to have strongly held views. If you are familiar with the DOT issues at Social Security, take a look at these power points, apparently created by Dr. Harvey. Keep reading. They get more and more interesting. Dr. Harvey has a plan. You cannot tell exactly what the plan is from these power points but it involves something called the Common-Metric Questionnaire (CMQ).

I hope that Social Security will remember the Data Quality Act as they go ahead with this. There had better be others beyond Dr. Harvey who think that CMQ is reliable.

Update: Here is Dr. Harvey's curriculum vita. It appears that he has had no problem with the "publish or perish" part of academic life.

Further update: A 2002 study by the Disability Research Institute, paid for by the Social Security Administration, while commending the CMQ in many ways, still recommended that Social Security not adopt Dr. Harvey's CMQ.

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