In July, 1974 the Social Rehabilitation Services of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, awarded a grant to the School of Social Work at Portland State University to "identify and examine the skills and abilities that are utilized by middle-management personnel in the human services field." The project sought to (1) identify and prioritize the management, administrative and planning skills utilized by practitioners in a variety of urban and rural social welfare setting throughout Oregon, (2) develop a list of middle-management skills deemed important for graduate and undergraduate students in the School of Social Work, and (3) provide data upon which to redesign a curriculum for the development of management and planning skills. In essence, the project sought data to strengthen curricula in management and planning areas and link graduate and undergraduate education more closely with community practice.

The research project herein contained was an outgrowth of concern associated with performance levels placed upon Welfare Assistance Workers (WAW’s). The Oregon State Public Welfare Division has become increasingly concerned with accuracy rates among branch offices throughout the system. It was the impression of the research group that WAW’s see this increased concern as combined pressure to reduce error rates and demand for a broader diversity of skills. The primary purpose of this study was to explore ways of clarifying individual characteristics and work habits and their relationship to error rates in the WAW’s in the East Multnomah County Branch of PWD. Our hypothesis was that a relationship exists among individual personality characteristics, work practices, and error rates. A secondary purpose of the study was to develop a conceptual framework which might suggest methods of personal management or employment screening for WAW positions.