THE PRACTICE OF GEOLOGY (1995 - 2010)

The National Association of State Boards of Geology (ASBOG^®) conducts task analysis surveys (TAS) every five years to collect information from random samples of practicing geologists and academicians on the importance of different geologic tasks to public health, safety, and well-being. The TAS results are used to define the content and scope of the Fundamentals of Geology (FG) and Practice of Geology (PG) Examinations by assigning more questions to those tasks that are deemed most critical to public protection.

ASBOG^® conducted the initial TAS study in 1995 and has updated the research every five years (i.e., 2000, 2005, and 2010) to ensure the FG and PG Examinations remain current relative to the practice of the geologic profession. During this time period, the data indicate a shift in the practice of the profession in recent years with geologists spending more time performing hydrogeologic activities.

The consistency in the practice of the geologic profession was evaluated by performing reliability analyses using ratings made by geologists that practice in different regions of the USA. All four TAS studies have demonstrated an extremely high degree of consistency in the practice of the profession throughout the USA. The estimated reliability (Coefficient Alpha) for each TAS has been 0.98 or higher, where 0 indicates no consistency and 1.00 reveals perfect agreement.

The consistency in the practice of geology across jurisdictions has now been demonstrated in four research studies. These findings reveal that geologists are making distinct task differentiations, and these differentiations are consistent among jurisdictions. These findings are extremely important because they demonstrate that national exams can be fair to candidates from all regions of the country.