Many questionnaire surveys on relevance of higher education to work have been conducted since 1990's in Japan and Western countries. Though in Japan the items of competency used in those surveys are various, the framework of analysis is almost the same in two points. Firstly they are based on academic knowledge and skill and the examination into occupational knowledge and skill is inadequate. Secondly the way of selecting items of competency is based on the standpoint that educational contents are useless to the world of work. This article inspects these methods of research critically from three points of view; an analysis of knowledge and skill selected in questionnaire surveys, a comparative study on the interpretation and an international comparison. As a result some suggestions for reconsidering research methods are presented.