Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You group them together.
You've consulted with various university departments and professional physicists. Many of them make picky cases for the differences between physics in theory and applied physics. You also talk to some chemical and electronics labs about their personnel's varied backgrounds. All of them seem to work under the same banner of physics.
Realizing how one job category for these employees would simplify the labs' organization, you decide that coding their jobs as "physicist" makes the most sense.
Samantha Smith is growing up on a poor family farm. She's 17 and applying for post-secondary education. She loves physics, and came out at the top of her class this year.
She would love to study physics further, but after reading the SOC classification online for "physicist," she's frightened off. It says most physicists have a PhD, and Smith can't see herself being able to afford an expensive university education for the next seven years.
By grouping them together, you may have given students like Smith the wrong impression about a career field.
"Our decisions have an impact on how people interpret the way we've presented information on an occupation," says analyst Clara Hamory. "Their own decisions are affected by knowing the skills needed to perform the work, with respect to their own career development.
"With many fields today, a university degree may be required, but many people with college-level or courses related to the actual work would qualify as well," says Hamory. "So we have to find the balance of where we would put a job -- do we put it into a technical group? Do we put it in a professional group? That's our call."