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A TAXONOMIC APPROACH TO STATE CLASSIFICATION CAN REDUCE INTERSPACE VARIATIONS INTO INTERTIME AND PROVIDE BASIS OF QUANTIFIABLE COMPARISON MAINTAINING UNIQUENESS OF EACH SPECIES. DIFFICULTIES IN PREPARING INVENTORIES OF VARIABLES UNDER EACH OPERATIONAL PRINCIPLE AND IN QUANTIFYING THE TIME FACTOR CAN BE OVERCOME BY APPLYING HISTORICAL SOCIOLOGY.

Considerable interest has developed in task taxonomy. Rational approaches are too simple. Empirical classifications based on performance will ultimately be forthcoming. A more readily available technique is described and illustrated where judgments of task verbs serve as data which are intercorrelated and factor-analyzed. In the study, four broad task dimensions were found: cognitive, social, procedural, and physical. Major problems in task taxonomy include the use of job-oriented rather than worker-oriented verbs and the inability to define the level of a task. A well-developed task taxonomy would aid both system designers and researchers on task performance.

In this paper we discuss the modes of engagement between social scientists and their clients. There are three significant variables: the negotiability of the problem, the openness of the client to the nature of the solution, and the discretion allowed to the social scientist in choice of method. During engagements clients experience pressure to close options, while social scientists wish to keep them open. The resulting balance determines the nature of the engagement at any time.