Studies in the use of professional time in family case work agencies

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STUDIES IN THE USE GF PBOFESSIGNAL TIME IN FAMILY CASE WORK AGENCIES

A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the School of Social Work The University of Southern California

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Social Work

by Thelma B* Bearman Cecelia Hahn Margaret Eisenhardt Dorothy M. Pinther Albina A* Guzik Billie King Richardson Clara True Stahl January 1950

UMI Number: EP66322

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T h is thesis, w r i t t e n u n d e r the d ir e c t io n o f the ca n d id a te ’s F a c u l t y

C o m m itte e a n d a p p ro v e d

by a l l its mem bers, has been p resented to and accepted by the F a c u l t y o f the G ra d u a te S c h o o l o f S o c ia l W o r k in p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t o f the re ­ q u ire m e n ts f o r the degree o f

MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK

Dean

Thelma B. Bearman Margaret Eisenhardt Albina A. Guzik T hesis o f ..............

£l&riiL-Xru&.. Stahl.....

F a c u lty C o m m itte e

... Chairman

tv.

Cecelia Hahn Dorothy M* Pinther Billie King Richardson

TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER

PAGE

I. INTRODUCTIONS

PURPOSE OF THE S T U D Y ................. 1 ................

The problem

1

Importance of the studies

..................... 2

Background of the studies

................. 7

Definition of terms • • • • •

........ . . . . . 1 2

Arrangement of the present report . . . . . . . .

I1*

II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE RELATED TO TEE PRESENT S T U D I E S ................

16

Introduction. •

16

Studies of work load and performance. . . . . . .

18

Studies of brief versus long service cases. . . . 30 III.

STUDY METHOD EMPLOYED .............................. 35 Introduction.

• .• •

..........

Problem number ones

the method employed. . . • • kO

Problem number twos

the method employed. . . . .

52

the method employed. . . .

57

the method employed . . . .

62

Problem number threes Problem number fours IV.

35

PROBLEM ONES DATA.

AMLYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF THE ......................................65

Introduction. . . .

• • . . . . • • . . . . . . .65

Relationship between total time spent in all case work activities and time spent in specific case work activitiess

ii

the sample . . . . . . .

66

iii CHAPTER

PAGE Relationship between total time spent in all case work activities and time spent in specific case work activities;

the universe .

85

Relationship between total time spent in all case work activities and the frequency of occurrence of specific case work activities: the sample •

91

Relationship between total time spent in all non-case work activities and time spent in specific non-case work activities: sample

the

.......................................93

Relationship between total time spent in all non-case work activities and time spent in specific non-case work activities:

the

universe • • • . • • • . • • • • • • • • • • • V.

PROBLEM TWO: DATA .

103

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF THE

....................................... 106

Introduction .

...

106

Average cases by agencies in terms of duration of various activities. ..........

. . . . . .

107

Average cases by agencies in terms of frequency of various activities. VI.

PROBLEMS THREE AND FOUR:

.............. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRE­

TATION OF THE DATA Introduction

. 12b

.........

130 ••••

130

iv CHAPTER

PAGE Differences between brief service and long service cases • • . . . • . • • • • • • • • •

133

Are long and brief service cases significantly different?

.....

Ib2

Are Travelers1 Aid cases significantly d i f f e r e n t ? ....................

1^-6

VII.SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . .

152

Problem ones findings and conclusions.

. . . . 152

Problem twos findings and conclusions.

. . . . 157

Problems three and fours sions . . BIBLIOGRAPHY . .

findings and conclu­

...............

l6l

..............

APPENDICES . . . . . . . . . . . . .

16? ___ . . . . . .

. . 171

Appendix A — Specimen of Time Schedule Used by Assistance League of Southern California during Study Month, April, 19^9. • . • • • . • . • . . 173 Appendix B— Specimen of Instruction Sheet Used by Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles during Study Month, December, 1 9 ^ 3 ..........

175

LIST GF TABLES PAGE

TABLE I.

Distribution of Brief Service and Long Service Cases in Samples from Assistance League, Family Service and Jewish Family Service Cases Given Service during the Time Study Month

II*

60

Degrees of Relationship, and Their Significance Levels, of Total Time Spent in All Case Work Activities to Time Spent in Specific Case Work Activities for All Workers in Four Family Agen­ cies and for Individual Agencies during Two Sample Work Days•

III.

76

Time Spent in Office Interviews and Dicataion by Eight Workers on Two Randomly Selected Work Days and the Predicted Amounts Compared to Actual Amounts of Time Spent by Them in All Case Work

82

Activities on Those Days IV.

Degrees of Relationship, and Their Significance Levels, of Total Time Spent in All Non-Case Work Activities to Time Spent in Agency and Broader Professional Meetings for All Workers in Four Family Agencies and for Individual Agencies during Two Sample Work Days

v

............

101

vi TABLE V.

PAGE Absolute and Relative Average Number of Minutes of Case Work Activity Given a Sample of Cases by Four Family Agencies during a Representative Work Month, by Type of Activity and Agency ....

VI.

109

Rank Order of Average Number of Minutes of Various Case Work Activities Given to a Sample of Cases by Four Family Agencies during a Representative Work Month . • . . . .

VII.

. . . . . . . ............ 115

The Minimum and Maximum Number of Minutes of Case Work Activity Given a Sample of Cases by Four Family Agencies during a Representative Work Month, with Numbers of Cases Receiving Them, by Selected Activities and by Agency. . . . . . . .

VIII.

119

Average Number of Frequencies of Case Work Activity Given a Sample of Cases by Four Family Agencies during a Representative Work Month, by Type of Activity and Agency.............

IX.

.• . •

125

Average Number of Minutes of Case Work Activity Given a Sample of Long Service and Brief Service Cases by Three Family Agencies during a Represen­ tative Work Month, by Type of Case, Type of Activity and by Agency ........

X.

. . . . . . . .

Average Occurrence of Case Work Activities Given a Sample of Long Service and Brief Service Cases

13^

vii TABLE

PAGE by Three Family Agencies during a Bepresentative Work Month, by the Type of Case, Type of Activity and by Agency

XI.

................ ♦

1^-0

Significant Differences between Samples of Travelers1 Aid Cases of All Types and the Brief Service and Long Service Cases of Assistance League, Family Service and Jewish Family Service with Respect to the Average Number of Minutes of Case Work Service Rendered during a Sample Work Month • • • • • « • • • • • • » • • •

..........

1^8

LIST OF FIGURES FIGURES

PAGE

1* Regression of Total Case Work Time Related to Total Office Interview Plus Dictation Time, for b7 Workers in Four Family Agencies during Two Sample Work Days • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • »

69

2* Scatter Diagram of Total Case Work Time Related to Total Office Interview Time, for b? Workers in Four Family Agencies during Two Sample Work Days. 3.

70

Scatter Diagram of Total Case Work Time Related to Total Dictation Time, for *+7 Workers in Four Family Agencies during Two Sample Work Days . . .

70

Regression of Total Case Work Time Related to Total Office Interview Plus Dictation Time, for **9 Workers in Four Family Agencies during a Selected Work Month. • • • . • • • • • . • • • . . . . . • 5.

89

Regression of Total Case Work Time Related to Total Frequencies of Office Interviews and Dictation Periods, for by Workers in Four Family Service Agencies during Two Sample Work Days..........

6.

.

$b

Scatter Diagram of Total Non-Case Work Time Related to Total Time Spent in Agency, and Broader Profes­ sional Meetings, for b7 Workers in Four Family Agencies during Two Sample Work Days.............

viii

102

ix FIGURE 7.

PAGE Various Kinds of Case Work Activity Given Per Case in Sample Cases of All Types Handled by Four Family Agencies during the Time Study Period (Absolute Figures)....................

8.

110

Kinds of Case Work Activity Given Per Case in Samples of Cases of All Types Handled by Four Family Agencies during the Time Study Period (Relative Figures) . . • • • • • • • • • • • • •

9.

Ill

Kinds of Case Work Activity Given Per Case in Samples of Long Service Cases Handled by Three Family Agencies during the Time Study Period • • 135

10.

Kinds of Case Work Activity Given Per Case in Samples of Brief Service Cases Handled by Three Family Agencies during the Time Study Period • • 136

11.

Average Number of Minutes of Monthly Case Work Time Per Case by Type of Case and by Agency. • • 151

LIST OF CHARTS CHART I*

PAGE Population Chart Representing the 251 Schedules Submitted by Fourteen Case Workers of the Jewish Family Service for the Work Period, December 6 - 31, 19*1-8, and the Ten Per Cent Study Sample Drawn from It

................

x

b6

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: I.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY THE PROBLEM

The four problems dealt with in the present study are special aspects of a general problem which may be framed thus: To determine how professional time is used in family case work agencies.

The four specific problems which are offshoots of

this general problem are as follows: 1.

To determine the most sensitive measure of the work

load of a case worker in a family agency. 2.

To arrive at a description of the monthly activi­

ties that go into an average case in each family agency, and to determine whether distinguishing differences among agencies, which reflect variations in agency practices, exist with respect to these activities. 3.

To determine whether distinguishing differences

exist between brief service and long service cases as these cases are classified by family agencies. To determine whether the average case handled by Travelers Aid Society differs significantly from the brief service and long service cases of other family agencies.

^ The materials of Chapter I were prepared by Mrs. Dorothy Pinther and Miss Billie King Richardson.

1

2 II.

IMPORTANCE OP THE STUDIES

Measuring work load.

In view of the fact that each

year the public contributes millions of dollars for health and welfare services, the social work profession must accept the responsibility for the expenditure of these funds and for its accounting to the donors.

In the attempt to perform this

responsibility adequately, it has become increasingly appar­ ent, particularly in the case work agencies, that there is a definite lack of factual information on which to base a sound budgeting program.

It has also been recognized administra­

tively that as a result of the lack of this information many problems arise, such as difficulty in evaluating whether a worker*s load is high or low in relation to a desirable standard of service.

In this connection, it should be added

that present methods of reporting work volume do not make allowances for services performed by case workers to the com­ munity and to their profession during working hours.

Some

unit of count is needed to reflect this aspect of work load. It appears essential that if some accurate and gener­ ally acceptable unit of count gauging the worker*s load could be evolved, it would prove of great value not only in agency administration but also to the Community Chest budget com­ mittees.

These committees have been handicapped for many

years in allocating funds equitably among the various welfare

3 2 agencies. The average case*

The standard unit of count for work

load which has been in vogue to date has been the case.

Dis­

satisfaction with this counting method stems largely from the fact that the varying amounts of work involved in handling different cases are in no way reflected through the case as a sole unit of count.

Agencies and workers feel that the case

count method fails to reflect the variations in functions of agencies and the differences in cases serviced and that neither the frequency nor intensity of work activity is shown in this 3 method. If some factual data could be evolved as to what goes into an average case during a given unit of time, such information could prove to be of immeasurable aid in ways such as follows:

describing the size and pressure of case

loads; conveying to Chest budget committees a greater under­ standing of the personnel needs of agencies; working out an acceptable formula for assigning to case workers numbers of cases; clarifying for statistical reporting the amounts of work performed by workers. Information of the type mentioned above might prove

2

"Measuring Work Load in a Family, Agency Setting," Trends, Vol, V (Los Angeles: Research,Department, Welfare Council of Metropolitan Los Angeles, December, 19^8) r p, 3. ^ Loc, cit.

useful to agency administrators in planning for the work loads of their case workers and in estimating the probable time needed for each new case.

Again, a Chest or Council budget

committee, by knowing how many minutes per month each agency spends on its “average case," can visualize, in terms of time, the work load that a given agency can carry.

If an agency

knows how much time an “average ease“ receives, this average could provide a basis for comparison between cases.

Should

this average be questioned as being too high or too low in relation to the quality and the skill of the work going into it, the analysis of time spent on specific activities within the “average case11 might provide facts for further refining agency function and the usefulness of its services to the client. Brief versus long service cases.

Testing the method

of classifying cases into brief and long service helps to clarify the adequacy of the criteria used in the classifica­ tion.

The information to be derived therefrom could provide

a means for assessing the nature of a case load and the func­ tioning of an agency.

Agencies often feel the need to analyze

whether a large portion of their cases are closed early because they fall outside the proper functioning of their agency. Criteria for brief and long service cases would furthermore give some basis on which an evaluation of a worker1s skill could be made.

Did the early closing indicate that the case

5 was not handled skillfully and thus the client was unable to use the agency service, or did the particular case show that the client was unable to accept a service due to his own inability?

Or was the client*s expressed needs adequately

met for that time on the part of the agency? Detailed examination of the activities which go to make up a typical brief service case could pave the way toward developing a unit of count specifically applicable to such cases.

The present counting unit used in volume-of-

service reporting and in budgeting does not convey suffi­ ciently well the professional time and skill that so often goes into a brief service case.

Refinements in this area are

long overdue. Finally, an analysis

of the Travelers Aid cases would

help in clearing up a question which is often posed:

Is

Travelers Aid a short contact or a long contact agency?

Are

the services rendered to its cases by Travelers Aid of much shorter duration than those given by other family agencies? Meaning of the data for the casework field. A truly useful administrative study is related to the operating prob­ lems at hand.

Time study research could well be the beginning

tool for the examination of the measurement of work loads. Examination of the use of time lends itself well to research method because it can be conducted in terms of measurable units.

Time can be easily observed, recorded, and verified.

6 Since so much of the data found in the field of social work can not, at the present time, be manipulated mathematically, any efforts toward exactness will strengthen the field and broaden the basis for further research,

Whether time is a

valid variable in case work may be questioned by many.

How­

ever, it may prove of value either by itself or in combination with other variables.

This study is interested not only in

the study results themselves, but in testing the adequacy of the time study technique.

From this knowledge as a base, then,

we might eventually proceed to examine the skills and the quality of the social .work profession as they relate to the people served.

Once a given case worker’s load can be kept

within controllable limits as to size and difficulty, skills and techniques can be manipulated so as to permit objective evaluation of case work results. 4 note of caution.

It can be seen that as the study

problems are here formulated, they relate to the quantitative aspects of the worker’s performance and not to the quality of his work.

The objective of the present studies is, therefore,

not how well each worker or each agency performs, but how much. While quantity and quality are interrelated, to determine quality requires measuring devices of a type different from the ones used in this study.

7 III.

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDIES

Welfare Council and Budget Committee interest.

For the

past several years, the Budget Committee of the Welfare Federa­ tion of Los Angeles Area has been desirous of securing from the family case work agencies some factual information which it can use as a sound basis for allocation of case work staff personnel.

if

The Case Work Section of the Family and Adult Ser­

vices Division of the Welfare Council was aware that in some agencies, where case workers were carrying maximum work loads of thirty-five to forty cases, administrators claimed that work pressure represented a problem. personnel was requested.

In these instances, additional

In other similar agencies the case

work load was sixty or more, but apparently there was no evi­ dence of pressure felt, nor was there additional personnel requested.

Obviously, the Budget Committee was interested in

the wide variations and differences among these reports.

Even

the family agencies differed among themselves with respect to their average loads per worker. Experimental time study.

In an effort to understand

these differences and provide the Budget' Committee with factual information on which it might base an equitable allocation of

** "Measuring Work Load in a Family Agency Setting," loc. cit.

funds for case work personnel, a “Case Work Load Study11 was initiated by the Case Work Section of the Family and Adult Services Division during the fall of 19^7♦

This study began

with questionnaires prepared and mailed to the family case work agencies asking that each respective executive submit an estimate of his workers1 use of professional time spent with the client and in other related activities.

This study did

not provide the desired results since it was based primarily on the opinions of individual executives. Jewish Family Service intake study.

Subsequently,

other attempts were made to evaluate the use of professional time in case work agencies.

Ultimately, a study of the intake

activities of the Jewish Family Service was proposed by its executive and successfully completed.

As a result of this

study, other family case work agencies became interested and were stimulated to undertake time studies of total case work agency activities. Family case work agency time studies.

Since the early

part of 19^7> four family case work agencies have completed Time Analysis Studies.

These four agencies are the Family

Service of Los Angeles Area uhich began its study April 12, 19^8 and completed it on May 7* 19^8; Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles, whose study ran from December 6, 19^8 through December 31> 19^8$ Travelers Aid Society of Los Angeles,

9 November 10, 19^8 through December 10, 19^85 and the Family Service Agency of the Assistance League of Southern California, with a study running from May 26, 19^9 through June 23, 19^9The Family Service was a pioneer in these studies* The staff of this agency gave continuous co-operation and assistance to the research consultant of the Research Depart­ ment.

Preliminary to the study, the entire staff met to dis­

cuss the proposed schedule and to make suggestions for changes. There was a pilot study day on which the schedule form was tested.

Staff committees met again and further suggestions

for changes of the schedule were made.

A second tentative

form was drawn up and a second pilot day was necessary. Following the staff suggestions for minor changes, a schedule went into final form. As previously stated, although the primary purpose of this

study was to provide factual information which would

enable the Chest Budget Committee to allocate case work staff personnel on a sound basis, it broadened to a three-fold one, namely: 1. To provide information on the use of profes­ sional time which has important implications for agencies1 self-study as it relates to administrative and case work practices.

^ A Study of the Use of Professional Time: A Time Analysis of a Working Month at the Family Service Agency of the Los Angeles Area (Family Service of Los Angeles Area,

T9I+877~pTTT

10 2. To provide a core of information which may provide findings or generalizations having impor­ tant meaning to the case work field and to similar case work agencies as it relates to use of staff time. 3. To provide factual information to the Wel­ fare Federation Budget Committee which may be used as a basis for making judgments in allocating case work personnel to agencies.® The Family Service upon completing the schedules for a twenty-day period, the equivalent of a working month, forwarded these completed forms to the Research Department of the Welfare Council.

The Department compiled the data and made only a

simple statistical analysis of the percentage distribution of professional time of workers according to the twenty-two activity categories used in the time study.

These data were

then analyzed by the Family Service and a report of the findn

ings was issued on November 22, 19^8. The report stated that the study had provided a unit of measurement

for evaluating the relative importance of

various activities within the agency, and had offered a tangi­ ble means for determining priorities in relation to the vari­ ous functions of the agency.

The findings also had served as

Ibid., p. 1. 7

Loc. cit. (See the Appendix for a specimen of the daily time sche­ dule which was used by the Assistance League. With minor varia­ tions to suit agency activity routines, the schedules used by all four participating family agencies were identical.)

11 a medium for the examination of each activity in reference to the whole.

The study further revealed that interviews of

all types, whether client or collateral interviews, consumed g the major portion of a workerfs time. It was felt that should further research reveal the interview to be relatively sensitive to the nature of the case and the skill of the worker, it might be a starting point for developing a unit of 9 count♦ The study also demonstrated that a case worker*s routine might consist of tasks other than case work, such as work with committees, and/or the community.

Thus, a unit of

count which would be acceptable generally should reflect these facts by being adapted to the agency’s function in the community and the worker’s role in the agency. The current studies.

The Family Service agency and the

other three agencies convinced the Research Department that the data compiled were rich and warranted further manipulation and deeper analysis.

The specific studies reported here are

only facets that stem from the original study of the use of professional time.

They are based upon the data that had

already been collected in connection with the original time studies.

8 Ibid., p. 12. 9 "Measuring Work Load in a Family Agency Setting," loc. cit.

12 IV.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Throughout this report certain terms will he used repeatedly, the meaning of which should be explained at the outset.

These terms are as follows: Activity categories are the breakdown of a workerfs

total time during one day into twenty-five different activity types which are descriptive of all the tasks performed. Brief service case, or short contact case, is one which involves a contact between agency and client of rela­ tively short duration.

Criteria for short duration are set

up by the agency. Case, as used in these studies, refers to a unit of service.

Thus, a client who is given service of any type

whatsoever is considered a case irrespective of whether the agency subsequently classifies him into a made or not made case. Case load refers to the number of cases carried by the individual worker. Case work service includes all those activities that a case worker performs either directly or indirectly in helping individuals or families with their personal_or family problems through professional case work services. Correlation is the extent to which two or more variables are interdependent.

13 Correlation coefficient is a numerical index indicating the degree of proportional relationship between two factors, the upper and lower limits of which are one and zero. Dispersion is the scatter or deviation of the values of a distribution and is an index of their homogeneity. Duration of activity is the actual amount of time spent in one or more activities. Frequency of occurrence is the number of times any specific activity or activities occurs. Long service case or long contact, or continued service case is one which involves a contact between agency and client of relatively long duration.

Criteria for long duration are

set up by the agency. / Made case is a case in which some case work service has been given. Master tally sheets are the sheets upon which are entered the data by case.

These sheets are used to transfer

relevant data from the schedules.

One final master sheet was

made containing data of all four agencies. Measures of central tendency are the averages of a dis­ tribution of values, viz., the mean, median, and mode. Non-case work activity consists of tasks other than direct case work services, such as administrative work, work with committees, or communities. Not made case is a case in which some other than case

lb work service has been given.

It might be an application for

service which has been rejected. Population as used in this study is all of the cases given service by workers in all agencies during the study month. Sample is a systematic selection of cases representa­ tive of the total population. Schedule is a time record of the work done by a case worker for a given day during the time study period. Time analysis technique is a technique for determining distribution of work time by activities. work load refers to the actual time spent by the case worker in performing professional duties. V.

ARRANGEMENT OF THE PRESENT REPORT

The facts presented in the following chapters will attempt to show the methods used in compiling data, the find­ ings flowing from them, and conclusions derived from these studies of the use of professional time. In Chapter II, the current literature of the field will be reviewed in light of the contributions already made by other time studies and what problems in time analysis research as applied to case work are yet to be solved.

A complete descrip­

tion of research methods as they specifically relate to the four stated problems will be described in Chapter III.

Chapters IV, V, and VI will present the analysis of the data around the four problems.

The summary of the find

ings and the conclusions will be found in Chapter VII.

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE RELATED TO THE PRESENT STUDIES1 I.

INTRODUCTION

During the past twenty-five years leaders in social work have been discussing the need for research in the profes­ sion.

Research in social work has had a slow progress. There 2 are many reasons for it, hut perhaps the most pertinent one pertains to limitations in methodology for social work research. It has been difficult to devise methodology that can scientif­ ically measure the many elusive and subjective elements in the practice of social work.

However, it is recognized that a

methodology can be developed only through continued participa­ tion in research by the profession as a whole.

The many ques­

tions raised by the present study and every preceding study are indicative of the search for the best possible method for scientifically solving problems in social work. Trends in social work research.

The areas covered by

social work research during the past twenty-five years demon­ strate a definite trend.

It is interesting to see how the

^ The materials contained in Chapter II were gathered and analyzed by Miss Thelma B. Bearman and Mrs. Albina A. Guzik. 2 Philip Klein, "Contributions of Research to the Progress of Social Work,'1 (Paper presented before the Committee on Research at the National Conference of Social Work, 19^8). 16

17 form taken by research has grown out of the problems within the profession.

In the twenties, social work was preoccupied

with problems of treatment and attempted to find the answers to them through research.

These attempts were abortive because

of recognized limitations in the methodology of research.

In

the thirties, with the growth in size and scope of public social work programs, agencies found themselves pressed for an 3 accounting of the expenditures of public funds. This served as a stimulant to the development of administrative research and it is in this area that social work research has made the b greatest strides. In the forties, agencies, influenced by the research projects of the thirties, continued to engage in self-analysis and, in addition, began to express the need for evaluating the results of treatment techniques which they had borrowed from psychiatry.

As a result, research within the past nine years

has been done in both the administrative and treatment areas of social work. This

study is part of the general trend of social work

o J Frederick F. Stephan, “Basic Research in Planning Social Work Programs,11 Proceedings of the National Conference of Social Work. 1 9 ^ . pp. L. Anne E. Geddes, “Use of Research in Program Planning and Administration,” The Compass. XXVII (September, 19*+6), 2 ^-26. Klein, loc. cit.

18 to realize a more efficient administration of agency services. The pressure for greater efficiency is coming both from agency boards and from the profession itself.

Old practices, stand­

ards, and concepts of administration are being re-evaluated. The questions which this study attempts to answer are in tune with such self-analysis.

Thus:

What is a realistic measure

of work load?

What are the distinguishing features of an

average case?

What distinguishes a brief from a long service

case?

The old concepts of case count, average case, and short

and long contact case no longer suffice for adequate measure­ ment

of volume of service performed by an agency.

This study

attempts to point toward more realistic indices of that volume. II.

STUDIES OF WORK LOAD AND PERFORMANCE

What other studies have been done in any or in all phases of the problem considered in this inquiry?

There are

no studies that are wholly comparable to this one.

At first

glance, it would appear that this is unique in the field of administrative research.

However, a closer scouring of

selected studies clearly demonstrates how this study is a link in a chain.

It was made possible by the methodology developed

and questions raised by earlier studies in related areas.

It

is interesting to observe how each study in a series, which will be discussed in detail, benefited from the contributions and errors of preceding studies.

With each attempt to avoid

19 the earlier pitfalls, the methodology of research is con­ tinually aiming at greater objectivity. Measuring unit cost of service.

In 1923, Frank Bruno

of the Minneapolis Family Welfare Association reported his agency1s attempt to arrive at some scientifically formulated unit cost of service.

He took the total of the number of

cases under care over the twelve-month period in 1922, and divided this by twelve to determine the average number of cases under care per month for the year.

Combining this

average monthly number with the figures on total relief and administrative costs for that same year, he found that the unit cost per family per month was $5*92.

Mr. Bruno acknowl­

edged the errors of his method when its results were compared with actual practice.

His data did not include services other

than relief, and did not recognize the variable of intensity of service given the individual cases over the month.

He,

therefore, suggested that each case worker keep a daily log of his activities on each case carried.

He believed that

such a method could provide a much more realistic basis for determining unit cost. Although Bruno*s study was concerned with unit cost, it was a forerunner of attempts dealing with units of measure

5 Frank J. Bruno, “Unit Cost of Service in a Case Work­ ing Agency,f* The Family. IV (June, 1923), 89-91*

20 of work load because it is one of the earliest studies in social work administrative research which raised the problem of the variable of time.

There is nothing in the literature

of the 1920*s to illustrate whether subsequent studies util­ ized Mr* Bruno’s suggestions.

However, in 192k, the Brooklyn

Family Society did attempt to determine unit cost of service, basing its findings upon the results of a detailed time sched­ ule kept by each working day over a month’s period. Industrial studies of worker output.

One of the most

thoroughgoing studies to measure the influence of ”intangibles” upon productivity was made outside of the field of social work.

6

The study was conducted at the Western Electric Com­

pany plants and ran for over a decade.

Begun in 1927, this

study examined the relationship of fatigue and monotony to performance.

In relating fatigue to output, it was found that

the output curves of some workers fluctuated as would be expected when work is having a direct physiological effect on the worker; however, in the majority of cases it did not. More minute examination revealed that performance reflected the personal situation of the worker, social control of work behavior and individual work patterns.

In testing the effects

of monotony and lighting, the same social-psychological

F. J. Roethlisberger and William J. Dickson, Manage­ ment and the Worker (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1939).

21 implications were revealed.

This experience highlighted

deficiencies in our knowledge r,of the intangible factors in the work situation that affect the morale and productive effi­ ciency of shopworkers,M and indicated that psychic reactions of people engaged in productive work had more important effect on efficiency than previously recognized.

Many investigators

had been claiming that inefficiency results from poor logical and technical organization of work.

However, this study

revealed that workers obtain certain satisfactions from their own individual organization of work ing which actually

and peculiar way of work­

contributes more to their morale and work

efficiency than might be achieved from a more logical and technical organization of work. The Western as an illustration

Electric studies are relevant

here simply

that painstaking research can get at the

oft-discussed intangibles.

It is true that in an industrial

setting there are less 11intangibles11 to deal with than in the social agency.

Roethlisberger and Dickson also did not need

to be concerned with the basic problem of defining efficiency and productivity.

Nevertheless, the study merits close exami­

nation for suggestive methodology which might prove trans­ ferable to social work. Early case load studies.

Two important case load

studies appeared in the late 1930's.

The first was conducted

22 in 1937 by the Los Angeles County Bureau of Public Assistance 7 in two district offices. The second was conducted in 1938 by the Chicago Relief Administration in one district office over a three-month period.

8

Both studies substantiated the

assumption that reduced case loads, larger staffs, closer supervision, and improved working conditions result in reduc­ tion of relief expenditures.

In each study an experimental

unit was set up and results were compared with those of other district offices used as control units.

Data analyzed were

compiled entirely from case records. Presumably the factor measured in these studies was the i

effect of the size of the work load upon the performance.

Yet,

many other variables, i.e., closer supervision and improved working conditions, were introduced, which no doubt affected the results.

Question was also raised around the validity of

comparing results of a demonstration unit with other district offices when geographic, personnel, administrative, and morale differences between any two district offices of the same agency introduce many uncontrolled variables, thereby invalidating comparisons.

7 Rebecca Staman, “What Is the Most Economical Case Load in Public Relief Administration?11, Social Work Technique. Ill (May, 1938), 117-121. Q

Chicago Relief Administration, “Adequate Staff Brings Economy,1* American Public Welfare Association. January, 1939.

Case load study:

California S. R. A.

Benefiting from

the contributions and errors of the above two studies, the Bureau of Public Administration of the University of California conducted a study of work loads in two district offices of the California State Relief Administration for three months in 9 19^0. The request for the study came from the agency itself, which wanted to know how many social workers were needed by the agency for the most effective and efficient operation of its direct relief program.

In order to determine the work

quotas which would produce the most desirable results, quotas of different sizes were actually tested in practice under com­ parable conditions within each of the two offices studied.

As

in the two other studies, the factor measured was the effect of the size of the work load upon the performance.

However,

in order to isolate this factor, the following elements were controlled:

(1) characteristics of applications and cases,

(2) quality of personnel, (3) administrative policies and procedures, (*0 morale of the staff, and (5) speed of work and amount of overtime.

It was assumed that the increase of

rejections at point of application and the increase in number of closings within the month would be good indicators of varia­ tions in the different size loads.

Consequently, these two

9 Herbert A. Simon, William Divine, et al., Determining Work Loads for Professional Staff in a Public Welfare Agency (Berkeley: University of California Press, 19^+1) •

2b factors, plus the service aspect, were used as criteria for measuring differences in performance in the different size loads* Statistics employed to test the quality of work per­ formed under the different work loads were obtained from: (1) a special form, which was filled out for each case passing through the experiment, (2) a time study, which was made of a sample of workers operating under the experiment, (3) an audit of a sample of the cases made by a special unit of the state office.

The time study was employed to determine the distri­

bution of the worker*s time under the different work loads and served as a tool for interpreting the basic data.

With

the breakdown of the worker*s performance, it was possible to determine specifically what adjustments in the work procedure had been instituted when caseworkers were assigned to different quotas.

The activity categories used in the time schedules

were as follows:

(1) number of contacts, (2) home visits,

(3) office interviews, (*f) telephone calls, (5) dictation, and (6) other. This study is important as the first carefully planned attempt at controlling the many variables in the practice of case work.

The variable of skill was controlled through a

deliberate effort to have only those workers participating in the study who, according to the standards of the agency, repre­ sented the average skill in performance.

The variable of

25 agency function and setting was controlled by having the varied quotas compared within the same office.

The variable

of morale was controlled through an effort to protect the workers from adverse changes in administrative policy#

Fre­

quent group discussions were held wherein the purpose of the study was repeatedly explained and reassurances were given to the staff.

An attempt was made to control speeding up of

effort and overtime through repeated explanations that the purpose of the study was to measure effort under the most normal conditions. Case load studies?

Los Angeles County agencies.

In

19*+8, the Los Angeles County Adult Probation Department under­ took a study by way of determining its annual budget.

The

object of the study was “to supply a yardstick for measuring work load, permit evaluation of efficiency and lead to stream-

10

lining of operations.11

The survey included all deputy pro­

bation officers who kept daily logs of activities, reporting them by ten-minute intervals.

The study was not considered

very successful because there was poor co-operation from pro­ bation officers and administration and because objective cri­ teria for case classification were not readily available.

^ Society for the Advancement of Management, Los Angeles Chapter, Minutes of the Meeting of October 19> 19*+8.

Spot check also indicated inaccuracy on the daily work logs. Apparently the main accomplishment of the study was to indi­ cate questions for future studies.

The very same problems

as were faced by the Adult Probation Department had been encountered in a study conducted in 19^0 by the Los Angeles County Juvenile Probation Department.11

Experience during

the study revealed a conflict between probation personnel and administrative objectives.

Thus:

“Administrative studies

indicate a large field for better control of workers’ activi­ ties and improved systems, techniques and organization, but

12

workers and their superiors are not ready to accept them.11

In 19^7? the Los Angeles County Bureau of Public Assist ance conducted a time study; again it was done for budget pur­ poses.

A daily log of fifteen-minute intervals was kept by

25 per cent of the social workers for five weeks.

Employee

ratings were used to eliminate the lower 20 per cent of the social workers by using their civil service ratings.

In the

analysis of the data, dictation was used as the key activity for the expression of all work. In order to express the rate of production in a simple manner, it was decided to relate the time spent on case activity in terms of the number of dictations. In other words, by dividing the total number of minutes spent on general relief cases,

27 for example, by the number of times entries were dic­ tated on general relief cases, the normal period of productive time per dictation could be computed* Applying this unit to the average number of dicta­ tions per case, per year, it was possible to deter­ mine the total productive time required to service one case over a period of a year. Dividing the total productive time in a year, • • • by the latter figure, results in the proper case load.i3 The study showed that social case workers were spending less than 20 per cent of their time in the field, which indi­ cated they were overburdened with routine clerical duties to the extent “that they were unable to spend sufficient time in lb actual case contact.11 As a result of the findings, the rise in case loads was subsequently handled by increasing clerical help rather than case workers.

In this way, a saving in sala­

ries was accomplished very ingeniously.

An important comment

made was that probably “one of the most important

factors in

making a yardstick study in the social case field would be a declaration of policy outlining the quality and quantity of 15 service to be given.11 4 time study.

In 19^3? a time study was made at the

Cleveland Humane Society, a child care agency.

^

Ik

It grew out

Loc. cit. Loc. jCit. Loc. cit.

^ Alan Keith Lucas, “A Time Study: Its Use in a Child Care Agency," Child Welfare League of America Bulletin. XIII (March, 19W-), 1-7* See also: Verne Weed, “Method of Arriving at a Case Load Figure," Child Welfare League of America Bulletin. XXIV (May 19^5) •

28 of a discussion of the relative advantages of a forty-eight hour week.

The agency*s case loads were increasing, there

were staff shortages, and the staff was pondering over the pressure of work.

It was decided that in order to determine

a wise use of time, a time study would be conducted.

The

case workers kept a record of all their activities over a period of four weeks. When the data were compiled, the staff was faced with the problem of determining its significance. When the quantities measured are simple and homogeneous, figures speak for themselves. When, however, something as complex as the use of time in an agency is under consideration, each figure is in fact the end result of a number of inter­ related trends of different weight. Thus, in com­ paring the time spent on some operation by two groups of workers, we can see and measure a differ­ ence but have no means of telling without further research whether this difference is a function of disparity in case load, in type of work, in experi­ ence, and/or in some other unmeasured and perhaps unmeasurable factor. Still more pertinently the figures can tell us nothing of the quality of the work done. It seemed, therefore, that what we needed was not a time study per se, but some way of measuring the part played by such factors as case load, experience, planning and quality of work in the time spent on each activity. Not the end results, but the trends themselves became important. Thus, the time study became a time related study.1/ The first step was to evaluate carefully the actual performance of each worker in each activity category of the

17

Loc. cit.

29 time schedule.

The criteria for judgment were carefully defined,

and each worker was rated after a conference with her supervisor. The ratings were then checked and re-evaluated by the district secretary to eliminate any subjective factors that may have colored the supervisory evaluations.

Workers were then ranked

on a performance scale and each activity category was then related to the performance scale. The findings indicated that the workers with the highest ratings spent the most time on interviewing of clients and the least time on dictation and routine clerical work.

The highest

rated workers dictated on fewer cases during the month.

A com­

parison of case loads with the performance scale revealed that the best workers carried the biggest case loads.

Record read­

ing and planning decreased from four to two hours a week on the performance scale as the quality of the worker increased. The agency concluded that the results confirmed most of what had been assumed at the start of the study, but had also uncovered some new factors.

The agency was not surprised at

the high rate of interviewing nor at the low rate of dictation among the best workers.

The best workers dictated in summary

fashion; they were well organized individuals who needed little time for clerical activities.

The surprise lay in the low time

of record reading among good workers; also in the discovery that not all of the best workers were the most experienced ones. These two findings raised questions around the real use made of

30 case records as well as around the practice of salary ratings based upon experience and seniority. III.

STUDIES OF BRIEF VERSUS LONG SERVICE CASES

Classifying cases.

One method employed in analyzing

the services rendered by an agency is to determine the nature of the case work contacts of its workers.

Cases are frequently

classified as long and short contact, or, more recently, as brief and long service cases.

There is in the literature and

practice a variety of interpretations of the distinguishing difference between a short and long contact case.

Short con­

tact may be used to describe a time-limited case work relationship that has implications for skill.

18

In this instance,

emphasis is placed on the attitude which worker and client bring to the interview regardless of how many interviews may actually take place or how long a period of time service of the agency to the client may cover.

On the other hand, the

concept may be used as a means of assessing the nature of the 19 case load of an agency and the functioning of an agency. Travelers Aid studies.

18

Travelers Aid has been especially

Bertha Capen Reynolds, ”An Experiment Contact Interviewing,’1 Smith College Studies in (September, 1932), pp. 7-87™ 19 Anne W. Shyne, Short Contact Cases in Agencies (New York: Family Service Association August, 19^-8).

in ShortSocial Work Family Service of America,

31 interested in short contact or brief service due to the nature of its function, and in 1937 published a study which discussed the skills and problems in the evaluation and treatment in 20 short contact. One of the problems discussed is that of defining the short contact. When we attempt to define . . . difficulties arise. Some case workers refer to short contacts as the one-, two-, or three-interview cases. Some think of them by duration of time. . • • Others prefer to define the concept in terms of a particular approach to treatment. . . . The Travelers Aid study defined short contact as the workerclient relationship which is limited to one, two, or three interviews or to a period of two weeks or less.

The goals of

treatment and the workerfs approach take into account this time limitation. Four varieties of short contact are discussed: (1) Rejected applications and applications withdrawn. type of contact, which may never be made into a

In this

case record,

the agency may have assumed no responsibility but may perform a valuable service with skill.

(2) Incidental service cases.

Here the agency assumes very little responsibility but does attempt to give some minor service which the applicant has requested.

(3) Short service cases taken under care for a

20

Robert S. Wilson, The Short Contact in Social Case Work (National Association for Travelers Aid and Transient Service, 1937)* 21 -Ibid., p. 23.

time-limited period.

These are short service eases in which

the agency assumes a definite responsibility for evaluation and treatment.

They consist primarily of cases complete in

themselves and cases which it is planned to transfer to another agency after a brief period of study. relationships within extended-care cases.

0+) Short-time

This refers to such

contacts as worker with relative, agency specialist with client, intake, et cetera. The study pointed out that the short contact which involves an emergency may require in a day or a week as much use of procedure and as many interviews as the worker might ordinarily undertake in a case covering a much longer period. It is this variation in the required amount of worker*s time and activity which makes particularly difficult any computa­ tion regarding the case load which a short contact worker can

22 carry. Family Service Association of America study.

In 19^8,

the Family Service Association of America conducted a study of 2^ short contact cases among its member agencies. The study % dealt with cases closed in March, 19^8, in which there were less than two in-person client interviews.

Participating

were more than one-fourth of all the private member agencies

33 of F.

S. A. A., and representative of the membership as to

size,

geography and agency programs*

asked

to submit data on only a sample of their March closings,

while

smaller agencies were to include all closings for the

month*

A total of

Large agencies were

individual case schedules were sub­

mitted comprising approximately 65 per cent of all closings for that month for the participating agencies. This study was particularly concerned with the types of problems presented by short-contact eases, i.e., whether they fell within agency function and the reasons for their early closing.

Cases were tabulated according to types of

problems, referral sources, and reasons for closing.

The

data were analyzed to yield answers to questions such as: Were poor referrals made because of inadequate understanding of agency function on the part of other agencies and the general public?

Were certain types of cases closed early

because they did not fall within the function of the agency or because they were not handled skillfully?

Are there cer­

tain types of cases which do not tend to follow through?

The

study is regarded as a pilot study, the chief value of which lies in focusing attention on groups of cases requiring more detailed analysis and in suggesting other areas for study by agency boards and staff. Interest in this study developed originally because of the increasing number of short contact cases in F. S. A. A.

3^ agencies.

Prior to 19*+6, the proportion of short contact

cases appeared relatively low, with “brief service*1 cases constituting only 21 per cent of active cases per month in 19^5*

Cases were classified as brief service only if the

worker did not plan to continue service beyond the first interview.

Cases once classified as “continued service*1 on

the basis of the case workerfs intention to continue service remained in this category even though no further contact with the client occurred.

When, in 19*+6, the plan was adopted of

classifying cases at closing, on the basis of the actual number of client interviews since the opening of the case, the resulting figures of sixty F. S. A. A. agencies showed an increase of short contact eases to over 50 per cent.

It

is interesting to note here that in the course of the present study, when the Los Angeles Family Service cases were sampled, using the F. S. A. A. criteria for short contact cases, 50 per cent of its cases turned out to be short contact cases.

CHAPTER III STUDY METHOD EMPLOYED I. The raw data#

INTRODUCTION

It has already been indicated above'1'

that the raw data subjected to analysis by the studies herein reported were contained on the time study schedules which were submitted to the Research Department of the Welfare Council of Metropolitan Los Angeles by the Family Service Agency, the Jewish Family Service, Travelers Aid Society and Assistance League Family Service Agency, all of Los Angeles.

The actual

collection of the data had been completed and it was the sole function of the present studies to subject these data to inten­ sive analysis to yield answers to the four problems posed in the opening paragraph of this report. The Advisory Committee.

2

In order to insure that the

problems subjected for study would be sufficiently vital and meaningful to the community, an Advisory Committee on Time Studies was formed to which were invited the executives of the family agencies which had participated in the time

1 p

See Chapter I, Section III. See Chapter I, Section I.

35

36 studies.

3

The problems eventually posed were a product of

the deliberations of this committee.

The committee met three

times during the study period; the first time to hammer out the problems and on the succeeding two occasions to listen critically to progress reports on findings and to make sugges­ tions for further study and for modifications of direction and method. The problems reviewed.

The problems which had been

selected for study by the Advisory Committee were as follows: 1. To determine the most sensitive measure of the work load of a case worker in a family agency. 2. To arrive at a description of the monthly activities that go into an average case in a family agency, and to determine whether distinguishing differences among agencies, which reflect varia­ tions in agency practices, exist with respect to these activities. 3. ences

3

To determine whether distinguishing differ­ exist between brief service and long service

The composition of the Advisory Committee on Time Studies consisted of the following: Mrs. Winifred Smith, Case Supervisor, Los Angeles Chapter, American National Red Cross, Chairman; Mrs. Edith Bogen, Executive Director, Assistance League Family Service Agency; Dr. Genevieve W. Carter, Direc­ tor, Research Department, Welfare Council of Metropolitan Los Angeles; Miss Grace F. Coombs. Director of Case Work, Family Service Society; Miss Dorothy B. De la Pole, Executive Secretary, Travelers1 Aid Society; Mr. Peter Geiser, Assistant Executive Secretary, Travelers' Aid Society; Mr. Ernest Greenwood, Assistant Director, Research Department, Welfare Council; Miss Freda Mohr, Executive Director, Jewish Family Service; Miss Marion Voges, Director, Family and Adult Ser­ vices Division, Welfare Council.

37 cases as these cases are classified by family agencies. To determine whether the average case handled by Travelers Aid Society differs sig­ nificantly from the brief service and long service cases of other family agencies. The problems operationally defined.

For research pur­

poses it was necessary to restate the problems into, what is customarily called, "operational terms."

An operational

statement of a problem is one which spells out the actual mental and physical operations required to secure the solub tion. In this manner others are enabled to repeat the opera­ tions and verify the results, thereby insuring objectivity to the findings.

Another purpose in operationally restating the

study problems was to translate them into the vocabulary already employed in the time study schedules inasmuch as the data utilized to solve the problems were to come from these time schedules. The operational statements of the four problems are as follows: Problem 1 Are there statistically significant correlations: A.

between:

(1) the amount of time spent on all case

George A. Lundberg, "Social Research: A Study in Methods of Gathering Data," (Longmans, Green and Co., 19^2), pp. 88-93.

38 work activities during the month and (2)

the frequency of occurrence of and the

amount of time spent in selected

specific case work activities con* sidered singly and in combinations; and B.

between:

(1)

the amount of time spent on all non­ case work activities during the month and

(2) the frequency of occurrence of and the amount of time spent in selected specific non-case work activities con5 sidered singly and in combinations? Problem 2 A.

What is the central tendency and the dispersion in

the frequency of occurrence of and the amount of time spent in each ofthe case

work activities given to a representative

sample ofcaseswhich

received service from each of the four

family agencies studied during the time study period; and B.

In a series of comparable case work activities,

are the average amounts of time spent per case, as found in the same representative sample of cases (as in Part A of

' Mrs. Albina A. Guzik, Mrs. Dorothy Pinther and Miss Clara True Stahl worked on Problem No. 1.

39 Problem 2), significantly different from one family agency to another?

6 Problem 3.

A.

What is the central tendency in the frequency of

occurrence of and the amount of time spent in each of the case work activities given to a representative sample of brief service and long service cases which received service during the time study period from the three agencies where the terms, brief and long service, are in use; and B.

Is there a significant difference in the average

amount of total case work activity time spent per case between brief service and long service cases in the same representative sample (as in Part A of Problem 3) within each of the same three -agencies studied? Problem b A.

Is there a significant difference in the average

amount of total case work activity time spent per case as between a representative sample of cases which received ser­ vice from Travelers Aid Society and a representative sample of brief service cases which received service from the other three family agencies where the terms, brief and long service, are in use; and

£ Miss Margaret lisenhardt and Miss Billie King Richardson worked on Problem No. 2.

*K) B.

Is there a significant difference in the average

amount of total case work activity time spent per case as between the same representative sample of cases (as in Part A of Problem *+) which received service from Travelers Aid Society and a representative sample of long service cases which received service from the other three family agencies where the terms, 7 brief and long service, are in use? II.

PROBLEM HUMBER ONE:

THE METHOD EMPLOYED

8

In this section we will describe the research methods employed to carry out the steps implied in the operational 9 statement of the first problem under study. Some basic assumptions.

The operational statement of

this problem rests on the assumption that the truest test of a work-load for a caseworker is the total amount of time spent in case work activity and in supportive and broader professional activity.

To take the number of cases carried by a worker as a

measure of work load, as is often done, immediately evokes doubt for a number of reasons.

Agencies vary as to structure

7 Miss Thelma B. Bearman and Mrs. Cecelia Hahn worked on Problem Nos. 3 and b* o The materials of Section II of this Chapter were pre­ pared by Miss Clara True Stahl. ^ The reader is referred to Section I of this Chapter for a review of the operational statement of Problem No. 1.

bl and function*

There are differences in the services requested

and in the service rendered*

From agency to agency there are

varying standards of performance and levels of supervision. Within a given agency similar differences exist, dependent upon worker skill, speed and learning level* is an unreliable measure of load.

Hence, the case

In some settings the number

of interview hours is thought to provide a reliable index of work-load.

In a clinic setting, for example, in which client

interviews are by appointment and of known duration, this would appear to have some validity, but it is open to doubt in a multi-purpose agency such as the average family society. Both the case-count and the interview-count for a worker, taken alone, are open to question because agency services, methods of operation, worker skills and other variables have themselves not been measured.

In the present state of social

work research, the truest test of work-load thus appears to be the amount of time actually spent by the caseworker in the performance of the job.

It is recognized that this, too, is

not of unquestioned validity.

Two case workers may both be

putting in equivalent amounts of work time and still be carry­ ing unequal loads if one is more skilled and experienced and hence can actually produce more in terms of case work activi­ ties or is assigned the more difficult cases.

Such uncon­

trolled variables as the complexity of the case, the skill of the worker and the caliber of his performance are not taken

b2 into account when the total work time on the job is taken as the sole index of work-load.

And yet, no other alternative

is open to us until we have learned to control these variables. We must proceed on the assumption that total work bime is an index of work load because it is a tangible factor and hence can be manipulated.

This total time is something to which

all the various case work components may be related. Therefore, for the purposes of this study, total case work time was selected as the variable to which to correlate various classes of case work activity, and total time spent on activities other than case work was taken as the variable to which to relate activities of a supportive and broader professional nature. The data.

The source of data was the time-study sched­

ules of agency workers for each of the twenty days of the time-study period.

With the exception of the executives of

Assistance League and Family Service Society, and of the supervisor of case work of the latter agency, all professional workers kept schedules.'1'0

As constructed, the schedules called

for the recording of activity in five-minute intervals. Regarding any and all case activity, the name of the client

See the Appendix for a specimen of the daily time schedule which was used by the agencies.

>+3 was entered.

11

Count was made, separately, of office, phone

and home interviews with the client, of phone and in-person interviews with collaterals, of individual staff conferences, of reading and planning, of routine clerical, and of travel regarding cases.

Record was also kept of agency and broader

professional meetings, and preparation and travel time for them.

In addition to these categories, Travelers Aid Society

scheduled others, specific and pertinent to its function, namely:

the categories of "Travel Meet," "Waiting for Cases"

and "Information and Direction Service," which did not appear in the time schedules of other agencies. The calendar period of the time-study was different for each of the agencies, but was selected by that agency as most 12 representative of its annual work program. The clocking and tallying of the use of time were self­ kept.

Although a prepared instruction guide was used by the 13 workers, some lack of uniformity of approach and interpreta­ tion, and divided responsibility for accuracy of scheduling,

Case, as used in these studies, refers to a unit of service. Thus, a client who is given service of any type what­ soever is considered a case irrespective of whether the agency subsequently classifies him into a made or not made case.

12

See Chapter I, Section III for the different periods used by the agencies for the conduct of their time studies. 13 J See Appendix for a specimen of the Instruction Sheet which accompanied the use of the time schedules of Jewish Family Service.

were doubtless inevitable. The population.

By definition, the problem was limited

to the study of the use of time of the case worker.

It was

therefoi'e necessary to identify those who were to be considered Mcase workers.11 Schedules had been prepared by some workers in each agency who carried administrative and supervisory respon­ sibility in addition to case work.

From the total group, those

workers were excluded who had given less than 5 per cent of their total time to client interviews— office, phone or home. The remainder was forty-nine workers:

six from the Assistance

League, fifteen from Family Service Society, fourteen from Jewish Family Service and fourteen from Travelers Aid Society. The total population for study thus comprised the number of schedules submitted by all forty-nine workers. unit was therefore the schedule.

The population

The total number of units

comprising the population was 8J8 schedules. The sample.

The original study plan called for the

examination of each of the 858 schedules.

Owing to the limita­

tion of time available for the study, this number was considered too large.

A 10 per cent study sample, therefore, was drawn.

Agency differences made it desirable to stratify the total field, by agency, thereby insuring homogeneity within strata. The schedules within each agency were then exposed to equal chances in selection by random sampling.

For each agency a

**■5 population chart was prepared, which listed the case workers alphabetically along the stub and the working days as column headings, and contained the dates for which time-study sched­ ules had been submitted for each worker.

The 10 per cent

sample was found by circling the first and eleventh days for worker A, the second and

twelfth for worker B, and so on.

In the event of a worker*s absence on the date selected for the sample, the preceding or following day was alternately chosen.

A specimen of the population chart used in this

sampling method is to be found on the following page.

The

sampling procedure just described was not usable in the instance of Travelers Aid Society, inasmuch as the work periods of its case workers did not uniformly follow the customary eight-hour day and five-day week.

For this agency the sched­

ules were arranged by date within the alphabetical order of the workers* names, and in rotation every tenth was selected for the sample.

In this manner, eighty-seven schedules sub-

mitted by forty-seven workers found their way into the sample.

-}k

l)

The reader will note a discrepancy between the fortynine workers mentioned before as constituting the population and the forty-seven workers chosen for the sample. The dis­ crepancy is explainable thus. In the instance of one case worker, the schedules covered a period later than that of other workers of that agency, and were submitted too late for inclusion in the analysis of sample data. Another was a parttime worker and submitted few schedules, of which, by the selection process described above, none fell into the sample.

CHART I POPULATION CHART REPRESENTING THE 251 SCHEDULES SUBMITTED BY FOURTEEN CASE WORKERS OF THE JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE FOR THE WORK PERIOD, DECEMBER 6 - 31, 19^8, AND THE 10 PER CENT STUDY SAMPLE DRAWN FROM IT

WORKER 6 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N

8

7

9

w 0 R K I N G 10 13 1*4- 15

D A Y S I ^ D E C E M B E R 16 17 20 21 22 23 2k 27

28

29

30

31

X X X X (X) X X X X X (X) X X X X X X X X X X (X) X X X X X X X X X (X) AB. X X X X X X X X X X (X) X X X X X X X (X) X X X X X X X X X X (X) X X X X X X X (X) X X X X X X X X X X X X (AB.) (X) X X X X X X X X X X (X) AB. AB. AB. X X X X X X X X (X) X X X X X X (X) AB. AB. AB. X X X X X X X X X X (X) X X X X X (X) AB. (AB.) AB. AB. AB. X X X X X X X (X) X AB. X (X) X X X X X X X X X X X ' X X (X) X X X X X X X X X X X X (X) X X X X (X) X X X X X X X X X X X AB. X X (X) X X X X AB. (X) X X AB. X X X X X (X) X X X X X AB. X X X X X X X X X (X) X X X X X X (X) X X X X X AB. X X X X X (X) X X X X X X AB. X X (X) X X X X (X) X X X X X X

KEY:

X

Days on which schedules were submitted.

AB

Days on which no schedules were submitted.

(X)

Schedules which were.selected for the study sample. -r ON

>7 Tabulation of data*

Sample schedules were tabulated

for the frequency of occurrence of and the amount of time spent in each activity which appeared on the schedules.

From

these tabulations a general purpose table was then prepared. The latter contained the frequencies of and time duration of all work categories, arranged by worker and by agency.

Time

spent on lunches and rest periods, which had been accounted for in the time schedules, was excluded from the general pur­ pose table.

Strictly case work time was then separated from

the time concerned with activities other than case work.

In

separating out these two major groups of activity, some ques­ tions inevitably arose as to the proper allocation for certain activities.

Arbitrary decision was made, for example, in

placing all individual staff conferences in the major group­ ing of Casework Activity, and all agency meetings in the NonCasework group.’*"'* It should be pointed out here that certain information was already available from the time analyses which had pre­ ceded the present studies.

Thus, there existed general purpose

tables, by agencies, showing the total time spent in each of

^ The instruction guide had defined "Individual Staff Conferences" as including "all conferences with the agency. . . ." Likewise, "Agency Meetings" were defined to include ". . . all planned meetings initiated by the agency, such as staff meetings, case discussion groups. • • .", et cetera. These categories are not strictly mutually exclusive.

*+8 the activities by each worker during the respective study periods•

These tables, however, did not show the frequency

of occurrence of these activities during the study month. Such information was made available for the sample only, follow­ ing tabulation by the study group. Graphic presentations.

As an aid in determining by

inspection which activities appeared to be correlated and for which, therefore, coefficients of correlation might be calcu­ lated, a series of scatter diagrams was constructed from the data of the general purpose tables.

These portray visually

the degree and type of relationship in any two series of data. Figures of all four agencies were plotted on the same scatter diagram, a different

colored pencil being used for each agency.

In this way, each agency retained its identity and its contri­ bution to the correlation could be visually ascertained.

Five

sets, consisting of a total of thirty scatter diagrams, were made.

These were: 1.

Relationship, for the sample, between (a) total

time spent in all case work activities and (b) time spent in specific case work activities. 2*

16

Relationship, for the population, between (a) total

Scatter diagrams of major significance are reproduced in Chapter IV, “Problem One: Analysis and Interpretation of the Data.11

^9 time spent in all case work activities and (b) time spent in specific case work activities* 3«

Relationship, for the sample, between (a) total

time spent in all case work activities and (b) the frequency of occurrence of specific case work activities* Relationship, for the sample, between (a) total time spent in all non-case work activities and (b) time spent in specific non-case work activities. 5*

Relationship, for the population, between (a) total

time spent in all non-case work activities and (b) time spent in specific non-case work activities. Correlation coefficients*

From the thirty scatter

diagrams, eighteen were chosen for the correlations.

A corre­

lation coefficient gives in a single compact number the nature and amount of the relationship between the two series of data plotted.

Coefficients were computed only in those instances

where inspection of the scatter diagram revealed a close axial arrangement of the plotted points.

Thus, when the points

seemed to cluster in a wide band from the lower left to the upper right corner of the scatter diagram, they were indica­ tive of a positive correlation.

1/\ftien the band extended from

the upper left to the lower right, the reverse was indicated. A seemingly random scattering of dots suggested lack of any relationship and rendered the calculation of a coefficient unnecessary.

The relative magnitude of a given total block of time in any one category was also considered in the selection of the activities for which to compute correlations.

Activities

which ranked high in duration and in frequency were.preferred over those which ranked low.

Not only single categories but

combinations of categories were subjected to computation of correlation coefficients.

This was done so that the statisti­

cal discrepancies of one worker would average out in a combina tion.

Correlations were made for all four agencies in combina

tion and for agencies individually. The significance of a correlation is separate from the size of the correlation.

Hence, two coefficients of the same

size might have unequal- significance.

The degree of signifi­

cance of a correlation coefficient is a function of the size of the coefficient and the number of values (or frequencies) from which it was calculated, the latter being the size of the sample. The significance level of eaeh correlation coefficient was calculated by the formula for the Student*s T.

The T

value was then entered into a table of T values to determine its significance at various levels.

For the purposes of this

study, only levels of .05 or less were considered significant. To say, for example, that a given correlation coefficient is significant at the .05 level, is simply to state that the probability of getting a coefficient of that value from a

51 series of successive samples on a pure chance basis is 5 per cent.

Conversely, that the chances are 95 per cent that the

correlation is real and not fortuitous. Testing the coefficients. An attempt was made to test the predictive possibilities of the correlation coefficient in at least one instance.

The most significant coefficient

was selected for the test, viz., that showing the relationship, in the sample, between (1) total time spent in all case work activities and (2) the sum of time spent in both office inter­ views and dictation.

From the coefficient, a regression equa­

tion was calculated; and from the equation a regression line was constructed.

By definition, this regression line best

summarizes the relationship between the two variables, i.e., total case work time and the combination of office interview 17 and dictation time. Presumably, then, it should yield the best predicted value for total case work time for a given worker from his known amount of time spent in both office

17

A line of regression is essentially the line of best fit from which the deviations of the points on a scatter diagram are a minimum. It is therefore the line which will give the best predicted value of the variable represented on one axis of the scatter diagram (here: total case work time spent by a given case worker) for any given known.value of the variable represented on the other axis (here: time spent by the same worker in combined office interview and dictation)• A regres­ sion line can be constructed only where data on both variables are given. But once constructed, it can. then be employed to predict values of one variable from the other when only the latter is known.

52 interview and dictation. This presumption was tested by drawing a second random sample of worker-days from the population and consisting of units other than those which were contained in the study sample. The selection was made by assigning a number to each worker, placing the numbered slips into a hat and drawing randomly two workers from each agency. selected randomly.

The days per worker were also

In the Travelers Aid Society the first and

eleventh days worked by the sampled workers in the time-study period found their way into the test sample.

In the other

three agencies, these happened to be the eighth and eighteenth days.

The amount of time spent in both office interviews and

dictation by each of the sampled workers on the sampled days was then noted.

Using the regression equation, a prediction

was made of the most probable total case work time spent by each of these workers on the sampled days from their known time spent in office interview and dictation.

Comparison was then made of

these predicted values with the total case work time actually put in by these workers on the days in question. III.

PROBLEM NUMBER TWO:

THE METHOD EMPLOYED

18

In this section we will describe the research methods

18

The materials of Section III of this Chapter were prepared by Miss Margaret Eisenhardt.

53 employed to carry out the steps implied in the operational 19 statement of the second problem under study. The data.

The source of the data was the time-study

schedules submitted by workers who participated in the time studies of the four family agencies.

The schedule provided

a series of clearly defined and mutually exclusive categories for the various types of case work activities and served as a standardized procedure in collecting facts.

The use of simi­

lar schedules by all four agencies provided a means of securing common units of data among them.

20

The case name or

number was entered onto the schedule every time a case work activity occurred, so that case work time could be related directly to specific cases.

In this way the total amount and

varieties of case work activity given each case during the study could be determined.

21

Examination of the case entries under the “Case*1 column of the schedules revealed that during their respective study periods the four agencies had handled 2,^31 cases which were

^ The reader is referred to Section I of this Chapter for a review of the operational statement of Problem No. 2

20

Additions in the case work activity categories were made on Travelers Aid schedules, namely, “Travel Meet*1 and “Station Personnel,“ since these two categories were unique to that agency. 21 See Footnote 11, page **3, for the more general meaning of the term case as employed in these studies.

51* distributed among them as follows: cases;

22

Assistance League, *+38

Family Service, *f25; Jewish Family Service, 765$

and Travelers Aid Society, 807* the population.

These 2,^31 cases constituted

In view of this large total case count, it

was felt that it would be unwieldy and unrealistic to analyze all the cases, considering the limited time at the disposal of the project. The sample.

It was decided that a random sample would

be drawn from the 2,^31 cases, with each agency handled as a sub-population and sampled individually.

It was agreed to

pull a 5 per cent sample from each agency with the exception of the Assistance League.

At the request of the latter agency,

its sample was set at 10 per cent.

Since the four agency

samples were not to be lumped together during analysis, but rather to be treated as distinct populations, this was not considered as a violation of proper sampling procedure. From case entries on the time study schedules an alphabetical case list was compiled.

22

Then every n

case was

Assistance League had given service during its study period to slightly more than the ^38 cases indicated above. One of its workers joined the time study two weeks after it began and continued to keep schedules two weeks beyond her agency*s study period. Her last two weeks* schedules were submitted too late for inclusion in the present studies. In this fashion, a number of cases was lost to the population of this agency. There is nothing to suggest that these exclusions rendered the population unrepresentative of the agency*s case work load.

55 checked off on the list, i.e., every tenth case in the Assist­ ance League population and every twentieth on the others. Assistance League had made entries under the “Case11 column of the time schedules by both case names and case numbers.

It

was therefore necessary to set up two case lists for this agency, one an alphabetical list and the other a numerical list.

A 10 per cent sample was drawn from each list.23 In this fashion, a sample consisting of the following

numbers was drawn: Assistance League

b2

Family Service

20

Je\*ish Family Service 38 Travelers Aid Calculating the average.

**0 After drawing the sample cases,

the schedules containing the case names and numbers were pulled and then grouped by worker and date as a means of facilitating the recording of the case data onto the tally sheets.

Separate

tally sheets were then set up for each agency showing the cases by name, the dates on which the ease work activities were given them, the type of activity given, the frequency and duration of the latter.

^ In the case of Assistance League, two substitutions in the original sample were made to replace two Day Nursery cases which, it was felt, were not truly characteristic of family case load.

From the data of the tally sheets, frequency tables were set up showing the frequency of occurrence and the dura­ tion of each case work activity*

The next step involved the

computation of the "average case" for each agency in terms of time spent in the various case work activities and in terms of the frequency of these activities. mean and the median were computed.

Both the arithmetic

It was found that in terms

of minutes spent, the mean was more realistic in depicting the "average case."

Thus, tabulating for the duration of the

various activity categories, a large number of zeros occurred, indicating no occurrence of specific activities for over half of the sample cases during the study month.

Thus, when the

median was calculated, it turned out zero for certain case work activities.

For this reason, the arithmetic mean was

deemed in this context to be a more realistic statistical measure although it is very sensitive to extreme values. From the data of the frequency tables, charts were con­ structed showing the cross-section of the "average case" by agencies.

These portray the amount of each type of case work

activity which goes into a typical case during a given month. Analysis of variance. After calculating the "average case" for each agency the next step was to determine to what extent these averages differed from one another; that is, how different is the typical case of one agency from the typical case of another agency.

To yield answers to this question, a

57 statistical procedure known as Analysis of Variance was employed.

Instead of subjecting to analysis the average

figure representing all case work activities per case, the averages for each specific activity were subjected singly. The procedure essentially involves that of determining whether the variation among agency averages for any given activity is greater or less than the variation among the individual cases which make up the sample of any one agency.

This method

tells us whether agency averages for a given activity are significantly different from one another, that is, whether the differences among averages is so great'that they could not have possibly occurred by chance.

Only those differences

were accepted as significant which could have occurred no more often than five times out of one hundred. IV.

PROBLEM NUMBER THREE:

THE METHOD EMPLOYED

2*f

In this section we will describe the research methods employed to carry out the steps implied in the operational statement of the third problem under study. The data.

The source of the data was identical to

The materials of Sections IV and V of this Chapter were prepared by Miss Thelma B. Bearman and Mrs. Cecelia Hahn. The reader is referred to Section I of this Chapter for a review of the operational statement of Problem No. 3.

58 that of Problem No. 2 described in the previous Section.

As

before, the population consisted of the 2,^31 cases appearing on the time schedules of the four agencies.

Again it was

deemed too great a task to analyze all of them*

To economize

on time, it was decided to utilize, the sample which had been drawn for the solution of Problem No. 2. of the following numbers:

The sample consisted

Assistance League, **2; Family Ser-

vice, 20; Jewish Family Service, 38; Travelers Aid, *K).

Inas­

much as Travelers Aid Society does not employ the brief-long service concept, its cases were excluded from the present analysis. Classification of cases.

The three remaining agencies

were each submitted the list of the cases which had been sampled for study from their respective populations and were requested to designate each case as either a brief or a long service case, as the agency itself employed these concepts. Jewish Family Service employs the terms under care and short contact and classified its thirty-eight cases into eighteen short contact and twenty under care. Family Service and Assistance League have abandoned the short-long contact terminology.

Instead, the latter two

agencies employ the method adopted in 19^6 by the Family Service Association of America of classifying cases at clos­ ing on the basis of the number of client interviews from the

59 opening to closing.

26

On this basis, the twenty cases of

Family Service were found to be as follows;

no interview, 3; 27 one interview, 7> two or more interviews, 10. The forty-

two cases of Assistance League fell into these groupings; no interview, 8; one interview, 5; two or more interviews, 29*

28

It was decided arbitrarily to classify as brief service

cases all those which received less than two client interviews. In this way, the distribution between brief and long service of the sample cases of the three agencies is indicated in Table I on the following page. Analysis of data.

Inasmuch as the sample cases used in

the present problem were identical to those used in Problem No. 2, the tracing of eases through the time schedules and the transfer of case work activity data from the schedules to tally sheets were already completed.

As in the previous problem

^ See page 33 of Chapter II. 27 The Family Service Agency conducted its time study during April of 19*+o. The present studies here reported, which utilized the Family Service data, were conducted a full year after. By that time, of the twenty sample cases of Family Service, all but three had been closed. The three cases still open had received more than two interviews. pQ

The present studies here reported were concurrent with the Assistance League Time Study. It is perfectly possi­ ble that had the present studies followed the agency1s own time study by several months, some of the cases indicated above as having received no interviews would by then have received one or more. Similarly, cases which appear above as having received one interview would have appeared in the present studies as having received two or more.

60

TABLE I DISTRIBUTION OF BRIEF SERVICE AND LONG SERVICE CASES IN SAMPLES FROM ASSISTANCE LEAGUE, FAMILY SERVICE, AND JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE CASES GIVEN SERVICE DURING THE TIME STUDY MONTH

Cases in Sample

Tyne of Service Brief

Long

Assistance League

b2

13

29

Family Service

20

10

10

Jewish Family Service

38

18

20

6l so here, frequency tables were set up showing the frequency of occurrence and the duration of each case work activity accord­ ing to type of case by agency.

Again, the “average brief ser­

vice ease*1 and the “average long service ease“ for each agency, in terms of the time spent in various case work activities, 29 were computed, using the arithmetic mean as the average. From such data, charts were constructed, showing the crosssection of these average cases, which portray the amount of each type of case work activity which goes into a typical brief and long service case during a given month. Brief-long service differences.

Profiles were con­

structed as aids in determining by inspection whether differ­ ences were evident between the brief and long service cases of a given agency in the frequency of occurrence and time spent in each case work activity.

The profiles portraying duration

of time by activity categories suggested that data on time duration merited statistical treatment.

It was felt that an

intense analysis of time duration data would yield more fruit­ ful results than would analysis of the frequency data. The statistical method resorted to in ascertaining whether a significant difference exists between brief and long

xhe utility of the arithmetic mean in this instance, despite its sensitivity to extreme values, has already been discussed; see page 56*

service cases with respect to the amounts of case work time given them, was the usual one of determining the significance of the difference between two means.

The arithmetic mean

used was that representing the total amount of all case work time given per case, according to type of case by agency. The logic underlying this method lies in this:

that if it is 30 found that the arithmetic means of two distributions have a

difference whose occurrence would be highly improbable on a chance basis, then the difference is significant and the two distributions are considered as having come from different populations.

The degree of chance which was set as the level

above which differences would not be considered significant Ol was 5 per cent. V.

PROBLEM NUMBER FOURS

THE METHOD EMPLOYED

In this section we will describe the research methods employed to carry out the steps implied in the operational

30 Here the two frequency distributions in each instance are: (a) the distribution of all types of case work time given the sample of brief service cases of an agency, and (b) the distribution of all types of case work time given the sample of long service cases of the same agency. ^ This simply means that a difference which could by pure chance have occurred more than five times out of one hundred was considered a chance difference and hence not sig­ nificant. 32 The reader is referred to Section I of this Chapter for a review of the operational statement of Problem No. *+•

63 statement of the fourth problem under study. The data.

The data subjected to analysis in this Sec­

tion were those used in Problem Numbers 2 and 3 which were 33 discussed in the previous two sections. Inasmuch as tabu­ lation of the data and construction of frequency tables had already been done for the previous problems, it was not neces­ sary to repeat the operation.

The figures subjected to

analysis were those which related to (a) the average amount of all case work time given per case in the Travelers Aid Society sample, (b) the average amount of all case work time given per brief service case in the samples of Assistance League, Family Service and Jewish Family Service, and (c) the average amount of all case work time given per long service case in the samples of the latter three agencies. Determining significant differences.

The statistical

method employed was the same as that used in Problem No. 3 where significant differences between brief and long service cases were sought.

Again the method involved was that of

determining whether the difference between a set of two arithmetic means could have occurred on a purely chance basis.

^ See Section III for Problem No. 2 and Section IV for Problem No. 3* 31* See Section IV, “Brief-Long Service Differences.1*

6b Here, however, the sets of two means consisted in each instance (1) on the one hand, of the average amount of all case work given per case in the Travelers Aid Society sample, and (2) on the other hand, of (a) the average amount of all case work time given per brief service case in the samples of the other three agencies, each taken singly, or (b) the average amount of all case work time given per long service case in the samples of the same three agencies, each taken singly.

As

before, the level above which a difference between means was rejected as non-significant was chance occurrence five times 35 out of one hundred.

35

For a more detailed elaboration of the methods, and the logic underlying them, of determining the significance of the difference between two statistics and of analyzing the variance among a series of distributions, the reader is referred to any standard text in statistics. In this respect, sees Margaret Jarman Hagood's Statistics for Sociologists (Henry Holt & Co., 19^1), Chapter 17, pp. ^3^-69, "Tests of Significance of Observed Differences'* and Chapter 20, pp. 5^191, “Analysis of Variance.**

CHAPTER IV PROBLEM ONE:

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF THE DATA1 I.

INTRODUCTION

The problem reiterated.

For a better understanding of

the analytical and interpretive material of the present chap­ ter, it might be well to reiterate the operational definition of the first problem as it was stated in Chapter III.

Are

there statistically significant correlations: A.

between: (1) the amount of time spent on all case work activities during the month and (2) the frequency of occurrence of and the amount of time spent in selected specific case work activities considered singly and in combina­ tions; and

B.

between: (1) the amount of time spent on all non-case work activities during the month and (2) the frequency of occurence of and the amount of time spent in selected specific non-case work activities considered singly and in combinations?

1 The materials of Chapter IV were prepared by Mrs. Albina A. Guzik, Mrs. Dorothy Pinther and Miss Clara True Stahl. 65

66 The study method reviewed*

From a population of 858

time schedules submitted by forty-nine case workers in four family agencies a 10 per cent sample amounting to eighty-seven schedules representing forty-seven workers was

drawn.

Sample

schedules were tabulated for the frequency of occurrence of and the amount of time spent in each activity appearing on the time schedule.

Tabulations for the population were

previously available showing the amount of time spent in, but not the frequency of, each activity.

From these two sets of

tabulations thirty scatter diagrams were made showing the relationship of the total time spent in all case work and in all non-case work activities to the time spent in and the fre­ quency of specific case work and specific non-case work activi­ ties.

From the scatter diagrams fourteen correlation coeffi­

cients were selected for calculation and the significance level of each coefficient was determined by the use of Student*s T.

Finally the predictive possibility of the most significant

correlation coefficient was tested. II.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN.TOTAL TIME SPENT IN ALL

CASE WORK ACTIVITIES AND TIME SPENT IN SPECIFIC CASE V/ORK ACTIVITIES:

THE SAMPLE

Contents of scatter diagrams. As indicated before, a series of thirty scatter diagrams was-, prepared from the data. Of these, eight were drawn from data derived from the sample

67 and showed the relationship between the total time spent in all case work activities and the time spent in specific case work activities considered singly and in combinations.

In

each of the eight scatter diagrams total time spent in all case work activities was plotted on the vertical axis, while the

specific case work activities were plotted on the hori­

zontal axis.

The vertically plotted factor was, of course,

identical for each scatter diagram.

The horizontally plotted

factors varied with each scatter diagram and comprised the following: (1)

Time spent in office interviews with clients.

(2)

Time spent in dictation regarding cases.

(3)

Time spent in reading and planning regarding cases.

(b)

Time spent in routine clerical activity regarding cases.

(5) Time spent in individual staff conferences with supervisor, executive or consultant regarding cases. (6) Time spent in (a) telephone interviews of clients plus (b) collateral telephoning. (7) Time spent in (a) office interviews with clients plus (b) dictation regarding cases. (8) Time spent in (a) office interviews with clients plus (b) dictation regarding cases plus (c) all telephoning, both client interview and collateral.

68 In all instances time was given in terms of numbers of minutes. Scatterbrains of high axial characteristics.

Visual

inspection of the scatter diagrams revealed a noticeable axial distribution of the plotted points in only three instances, viz., scattergrams showing the relationship of total time spent in all case work activity (1) to time spent in office interviews with clients; (2) to time spent in office interviews with clients plus dictation regarding cases; and (3) to time spent in office interviews with clients plus dic­ tation regarding cases plus interview and collateral.

all telephoning, both client The axes in all instances ran from

the lower left hand to the upper right hand of the diagram, thereby indicating a positive relationship.

Two of these

scatter diagrams, viz., that involving office interview time and that involving office interview plus dictation time are shown in Figures. 2 and 1, respectively.

The concentration

of the plotted points around the imaginary axis was, of course,

2

greatest in the case of the scatter diagram showing

the relationship between time spent in all case work activity and time spent in office interviews plus dictation plus p

We say “of course11 advisedly. The more activities are combined and plotted against total case work time, the more axial the resultant distribution of points. Obviously, the more activities are combined, the more we approach unity, which, in this instance, is total case work time itself.

FIGURE 1

WORK TIME IN M MUTES

69

1200 ♦

1100

1000 ® o

/ 900

4

3>

0

•

®

0

800

®

® I

0

® / y /®

700 •

•

0

600

• •

0

Y #

•

*

*

o

(j

800

®

«) 0

700 •

•

•

o

600

• ►

o +

oo

•

500

.

®

•

!> ®

(

400

300

4

200

•

t ♦ • o ®

ASSISTANCE LEAGUE FAMILY SERVICE OF L.A. JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE TRAVELERS AID SOCIETY

100

5

10 15 20 25 FREQUENCIES OF OFFICE INTERVIEWS PUUS DICTATION PERIODS

30

REGRESSION OF TOTAL CASE WORK TIME RELATED TO TOTAL FREQUENCIES OF OFFICE INTERVIEWS AND DICTATION PERIODS, FOR 47 WORKERS IN FOUR FAMILY SERVICE AGENCIES DURING TWO SAMPLE WORK DAYS

BY RESEARCH DEPT. WELFARE COUNCIL OF M ETRO. LOS ANGELES CRD 99-49

95 wider area than is true when the frequency of office inter­ views is considered alone.

Evidently the frequency of dicta­

tion periods is related to facts other than total time spent in case work, so that in combination with the frequency of office interviews it detracts from the association produced by the latter activity alone.

This is in contrast to what was

found in the relationship of total case work time to the duration of office interview and dictation time.

There the

combination of the latter two activities produced an associa­ tion greater than that resulting from the use of one activity considered singly. The factors, other than total time spent in case work, which might be related to the frequency of dictation periods, and hence resulting in the low association evident in Figure 5* could well be the training, skill, experience and personal idiosyncracies of the dictating worker, as well as the agency setting which regulates the number of times that the worker is able or is permitted to engage in dictation.

All these merit

eventual research. Scatter diagrams with little axial charact eris tics.

The

remaining five scatter diagrams present a picture of almost random scatter and hence did not warrant statistical refinement. Despite the scatter, none showed any plotted points in the lower right-hand portion of the diagrams, which could have been sug­ gestive of a possible negative correlation.

In the case of

96 two scatter diagrams increase in total time spent in case work was not accompanied by an appreciable rise in the frequency of the related activity, so that the plotted points were grouped in an almost solid belt running vertically from the lower left-hand to the upper left-hand of the scatter diagram.

This

was the picture in the scatter diagrams showing the frequency of reading and planning periods and the frequency of individual staff conference periods. In the case of the scatter diagram which relates total case work time to the frequency of collateral telephone calls the plotted points, while scattered wide, seem faintly to resemble an L-shaped distribution with the base of the L rest­ ing on the vertical axis.

There is here a slight suggestion 29 of a positive curvelinear relationship that bears eventual research. Agency variations.

Since each point in the scattergrams

representing a worker was identified by a color representing a given agency, it was possible to detect differences among individual agencies.

29

In this way an association for a given

If a positive curvelinear relationship should exist between the time spent in all case work and the frequency of collateral telephone calls, this would mean that up to a certain point an increase in the latter implied an increase in total case work time and once that point was passed, additional col­ lateral telephone calls by a worker did not necessarily imply that she was putting in more ease work time.

97 agency can be identified whereas that same association would be obscured when all agencies are lumped together.

Hence it

was interesting to note that a possible association existed between the frequency of phone interviews of clients and total case work time for Jewish Family Service.

Also, there seemed

to be an association between the collateral phone calls and total casework time for Family Service.

A plausible explana­

tion for these differences among individual agencies was sought through a closer inspection of the tabulated data.

An attempt

was made to compare the total number \d.th the total length of telephone calls.

Although the total number of telephone

interviews with clients was highest for Jewish Family Service, the average (Mean) length per call in this agency was lower 30 than in the other three agencies. The total number of collateral phone calls was greater for Family Service and the length of each call was likewise greater than in the other three agencies. These differences open areas for further speculation. Are they due to the variation of agency policy and procedure? Do they reflect the variable of worker skill? work load?

Pressure of

Answers to these questions and to all other

3° The computed Means in minutes for the four agencies were as follows: Assistance League, 11.^. Family Service, 20, Jewish Family Service, 8.1, and Travelers* Aid, 9*3 minutes per collateral phone call.

98 questions raised by this study are outside the present scope of the report and suggest points of departure for considera­ tion in future inquiries. V.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TOTAL TIME SPENT IN ALL NON-CASE WORK ACTIVITIES AND TIME SPENT IN SPECIFIC NON-CASE WORK ACTIVITIES: Introduction.

THE SAMPLE

The study of the use of professional

time in the Family Service of Los Angeles Area had indicated that approximately one-eighth of the time of the case worker goes into activities that are not strictly related to services rendered directly to clients.

Such activities included agency

meetings and broader professional activities.

Since such non­

case work activities are part of the normal load of the case worker, their reliable measurement is just as important as the measurement of strictly case work load.

In fact, the conten­

tion frequently leveled at the case as the unit of work measure is that it fails to reflect the non-case work activities of workers.

For this reason an attempt was made to investigate

the possibilities of developing a measure of non-case work load and Sections V and VI of the present Chapter present the results of these efforts. Contents of scatter diagrams.

Of the series of thirty

scatter diagrams prepared for the solution of Problem One, four portrayed the data derived from the sample which showed the

99 relationship between the total time spent in all non-case work activities and the time spent in specific non-case work activi­ ties considered singly.

In each of the four scatter diagrams

total time spent in all non-case work activities was plotted on the vertical axis, while the specific non-case work activi­ ties were plotted on the horizontal axis.

Thus total non-case

work time was related in turn to: (1) Time spent in agency and broader professional meetings. (2) Time spent in preparation for agency and broader professional meetings. (3) Time spent in travel to agency and broader profes­ sional meetings. (*+) Time spent in all other non-case work activities not included in the above three. Scatter diagram of high axial characteristics.

Inspec­

tion of the four scatter diagrams showed a possible association between the time spent on agency and broader professional meet­ ings and total non-case work time.

Although the scattergram

indicated a heavy concentration of values in the zero cell, it did suggest some hugging of a central axial line.

31

A

31 The zero cell showed the plotting of all workers who spent no time on either agency or broader professional meetings.

100 correlation coefficient was computed, first, for all four agencies, and then, for each individual agency* shown in Table IV.

These are

The scatter diagram showing the plotted

points for all four agencies is presented in Figure 6. Although the correlation coefficient for all four agencies is +.897, the breakdown by individual agencies sug­ gests that the two agencies mostly contributing to the high correlation are the Family Service and Assistance League. However, since only five workers participated in the Assistance League study and fifteen in the Family Service study, it is apparent that Family Service contributed most markedly to the results reflected in the over-all correlation coefficient. The difference among the individual agencies could be attributed to the variability of administrative practices concerning staff development and participation in community activities. Scatter diagrams with little axial characteristics.

The

other scatter diagrams showed a completely random scatter of plotted points.

Therefore they were not considered for fur­

ther statistical analysis.

However, the diagrams were studied

for individual agency differences.

The Family Service workers

spent the highest amount of time on travel to agency and broader professional agency meetings. in two ways.

This could be explained .

First there is the possibility that this agency,

more than any of the others, participates in community activi­ ties outside of its agency setting.

Then, too, there is the

101

TABLE IV DEGREES OF RELATIONSHIP, AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE LEVELS, OF TOTAL TIME SPENT IN ALL NON-CASE WORK ACTIVITIES TO TIME SPENT IN AGENCY AND BROADER PROFESSIONAL MEETINGS FOR ALL WORKERS IN FOUR FAMILY AGENCIES AND FOR INDIVIDUAL AGENCIES DURING TWO SAMPLE WORK. DAYS

Agency

Correlation Coefficient

Significance of Coefficient Significant

At Level of

1. All Agencies

♦••897

Yes

.001

2. Assistance League

*•993

rt

.001

3. Family Service

p. 213. Brown, Janies, “A Board Member Speaks on Our Responsibility for Research,11 Child WelfareT May, 19^9, p. 1?. Bruno, J. Frank, ‘‘Unit Cost of Service in a Case Working Agency,11 The Family. June, 1923, p. 89* Bureau Report No. 10, U. S. Social Security Board. Washington, D. C.: Bureau of Research and Statistics, 19^1. 5 pp. Burns, Allen T., “Twenty-five Years of Growing/1 Survey Midmonthly. April, 193$, P* 101. Butsch, R. L. C., How to Read Statistics. 19^6. Clarke, Helen I., “Cooperative Research and Student Training/ 1 The Family. March, 1931* p. 22. “Community Case Loads Ratios/ 1 Highlights. December, 19^6, p. 119* Deardorff, Neva R., “Social Statistics— Whose Responsibility?“ The FamilyT April, 1933? P* 50. “Establishing Units of Measurement to Determine the Number of Personnel Required for Technical or Professional Services/ 1 S.. A. M. Study Group. Minutes of. Los Angeles County, Division of Research, October, 19**8. 10 pp. Fletcher, Ralph Carr, “Research and Statistics,11 Social Work Yearbook. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 19*+9. Francis, Blythe W . , A Study of the Use of Professional Time. Los Angeles: Family Service of Los Angeles Area, November, 19W . 28 pp. ______ , “Los Angeles Time Study,“ Highlights. May, 19**9* P. 71.

16?

168 Geddes, Anne E., "Use of Research in Program Planning and Administration/ 1 The Compass. September. 19^6, pp. 2k~ 26. Gissal, Elizabeth E. A., "Stock-Taking/1 The Family. March, 1931, p, 3. Glenn, John M . , Lillian Brandt, et al., Russell Sage Founda­ tion— 1907 to 19>+6. 19^7. Vols. I and II. Gorden, Joel and Bryon T. Hippie, Analyzing the Use of Staff Time in Public Assistance Agencies. Haber, William, "Relief Costs— How Much Is Too Much?", Survey Midmonthly. April, 193&> P* 10?. Havemsk, Roman L . , "The Caseload Standard ment Worker," Child Welfare. October,

for a ChildPlace­ 19^8, p. 3 .

Haynes, Rowland C., "Relation of Scientific Research and the Development and Administration of Social Work," The Family. October, 1926, p. 173* Heckman, A. A., "Measuring the Effectiveness of Agency Ser­ vices." Journal of Social Casework. December. 19*fo. P. 39*. Hollingshead, Lawrence, "Costs and Standards of Service." • Child Welfare League of America Bulletin. June, 19**o. Hunt, J. McV., "Measuring Movement in Casework," Journal of Social Caseworkt November, 19^8, p. 3^3 . Hurlin, Ralph G . , "Symposium on Social Breakdown: A Plan for Measurement and Control— From the Point of View of Research," The Family, January, 19^1, p. 288. Jocher, Katherine, "Methods of Research in Studying the Family," The Family. May, 1928, p. 80. Klein, Philip, Contributions of Research to the Progress of Social Work," an unpublished paper presented before the Committee on Research at t h e ‘National Conference of Social Work, 1 9 W . Lee, Joseph, "A Possible Justification of Research," Survey Midmonthly. March, 1931? P« Long, Elizabeth and Julian Griggs, "An Experiment in Case Work Statistics," The Family. October, 1929, P* 171**

169 Lucas, Alan Keith, riA Time Study— Its Use in a Child Care Agency,” Child Welfare League of America Bulletin. March. 191* . . ’

--------------------- ----------------------------

McLean, Francis H . , “Surveys in the Family Field,” The Family. June, 1939, V* 107* ______ , “Surveys in the Family Field,” The Family. July, 1939, p. Ib 6 . Peterson, Arthur L . , and John M. Pfiffner, Voluntary Police Supervision for Juvenile Offenders. 19VJT (Unpublished study.) Phelps, Harold, “The Case Becord and Scientific Method,” The Family. June, 1927, p* 103. Pray, Kenneth L. M . , “Heeded: September, 19^0, p. 256.

A Yardstick,” Survey Midmonthly.

Heed, Ellery F., “The Relativity of Social Case Work Measure­ ments,” Proceedings of the National Conference of Social Work. New York: Columbia University Press, 1931, PP* 5>15^207 Reynolds, Bertha Capen, “An Experiment in Short-Contact Inter­ viewing,” Smith College Studies in Social Work. September, 1932. 101 pp. Robinson, Virginia P., “Case Studies of the Family for Research Purposes,” The Family. February, 1926. Roethlisberger, F. J. and William Dickson. Management and the Worker. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1939. Schwarz, Frederick A. 0., “Research for Welfare,” Survey Midmonthly. December, 19^2, p. 330. Sherman, Corinne A., “The Case Worker and Social Research,” The Family. June, 1925, p* 100. Shyne, Anne W . , Short Contact Cases in Family Service Agencies. New York: Family Service Association of America, August, 19^8• 25 pp* Simon, Herbert and William Divine, et al., Determining Work Loads for Professional Staff in a Public Welfare Agency. Is^l.

170 Smith, Martha Strong, “An Approach Toward Objectivity in Evaluating Social Work Performance,11 The Compass, Journal of the American Association of Social Workers, March, 19^6, pp. 33-37. Staman, Rebecca, “What Is the Most Economical Case Load in Public Relief Administration?” , Social Work Technique, 3:117-121, May-June, 1938. Stephan, Frederick F . , “Basic Research in Planning Social Work Programs,*1 Proceedings of the National Conference of Social Work. New York: Columbia University Press, 1931*-, pp. Swander, T. Hester, “Let!s Make a Survey— Effective!” , The Family. January, 1936* P* 28*f. “The Short-Contact Case in a Family Agency,” Highlights. October, 19^8, pp. 121-12^. Turitz, Zitha, “An Experimental Study of Case Loads in Child Welfare Agencies,” Special Bulletin of the Child Welfare League of America. Inc.T March, Weed, Verne, “Method of Arriving at a Case Load Figure," Child Welfare League of America Bulletin. Vol. XXIV, May, 19^5* White, R. Clyde, “The Relative Value of Case Study and Statistics,” The Family. January, 1930, p. 2?9. Wilson, Robert S., The Short Contact in Social Case Work. 2 vols. National Association for Travelers1 Aid and Transient Service, 1937* Witmer, Helen Lelan, “Some Underlying Principles of Research in Social Case Work,” Proceedings of the National Confer­ ence of Social Work. New York: Columbia University Press, W * 2 , pp. #>3-^3V Youngdahl, Benjamin E . , “Social Work as a Profession,” Social Work Yearbook. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 19h-9.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A SPECIMEN OF TIME SCHEDULE USED BY ASSISTANCE LEAGUE OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA DURING STUDY MONTH, APRIL, 19^9

i>-i to

& o 53 £

Office

Phone Hone ^

Interview Number Phone c+ O I—■*

00 In Person Dictation re Cases g

j0 pu 8 u tj I Hi c+* H* ® P o
a

-q Preparation

vo Time in Meetings o

Preparation

o

>-3 ^ TJ

S o

vo

CO

•• 8