job classification in health research in iran: a case of a developing country

b a c k g r o u n d & aim: due to lack of a unique and acceptable classification scheme for occupation in iran, the role of this measure has been ignored in many health researches. we aimed to find a suitable classification . methods  & materials:   in-depth  interviews  with  expert  health  professionals  were done through purposeful  sampling.  they  expressed  their  opinions  on five commonly  used  occupational  based socio-economic  measures  in  the  world  to  develop  a  consensus  draft  for  iranian  occupational classification. the main themes were identified by content analysis. r e s u lt s : the experts agreed that the national statistics socio-economic classification was the most compatible  job  classification  for  iran’s health  researches.  some  of  the  problems  in  occupation assessment in health research were also clarified through interviews. c on c l u sio n : job classification would better consist of more than one job dimension; the economic parameters are not stable and accurately measurable, so more social aspects of occupation such as the authority and control over workforce should be considered.