WERS98 Data Dissemination Service
THE 1998 CROSS-SECTION SURVEY:
SURVEY OF EMPLOYEES
The Survey of Employees in the WERS98 Cross-Section consisted of an 8-page self-completion questionnaire that was distributed to 25 randomly-selected employees in each workplace (or, to every employee in workplaces with between 10 and 24 employees).
Permission to distribute the Survey of Employees Questionnaires was given by managers in 1,880 (86 per cent) of the 2,191 workplaces that participated in the WERS98 Cross-Section Survey. Over 44,000 questionnaires were distributed in these 1,880 workplaces. Some 28,215 were completed and returned, representing a fieldwork response rate of 64 per cent. The mean number of completed questionnaires received from those workplaces in which at least one questionnaire was returned (1,782 workplaces) was 16.
The survey design provides a nationally representative sample of employees in workplaces covered by the WERS98 Cross-Section. Data from the Survey of Employees may also be matched to that from the Main Management Interview and the Worker Representative Interview by means of a unique workplace identifier.
The conduct of the survey:
In workplaces where managers permitted the Survey of Employees to take place, the interviewer conducting the Main Management Interview obtained a list (from the employer) of all employees at the establishment who were on the payroll at that time. The interviewer selected 25 employees at random from this list and left a named questionnaire for each selected employee, to be distributed by the manager. In workplaces with between 10 and 25 employees, a named questionnaire was left for each employee. Each questionnaire was to be placed in a sealed envelop upon completion. The completed questionnaires were either posted directly to the fieldwork office by the respondent, or collected at the workplace and returned in a single batch to the interviewer or by post.
Topics covered in the questionnaire:
-> The nature of the respondent's job
-> Attitudes towards the respondent's job
-> Flexible working time arrangements
-> Family-friendly employment
-> Consultation and communication
-> Employee representation
-> Attitudes towards the management at the workplace
-> Pay and rewards
Further details:
The WERS98 User Guide contains a number of documents giving further information on the conduct of WERS98. Those User Guide documents which relate specifically to the Survey of Employees are listed in the table below. Follow this link to access more general documentation about WERS98.
Each file in the table below can be viewed using the Adobe Acrobat® Reader. Users without this software can download it free of charge from the Adobe web-site by following the pictorial link below the table.
To view a document below, follow its hyperlink. To download the document, right-click on the hyperlink and this will give you the Save As option.
| Relevant documentation contained within the WERS98 User Guide. |
| Volume 3C: Survey of Employees Questionnaire (SEQ). (Adobe Acrobat® File: 176KB). |
| Volume
5C: Editing Instructions for the Employee Survey. (Adobe Acrobat® File: 40KB). |
| Additional documentation created and supplied by the WERS98 Data Dissemination Service. |
| Notes
to Accompany the Survey of Employees Dataset and Questionnaire (Version 1.2 Jan 2001). (Adobe Acrobat® File: 44KB). SPSS Syntax File to Supplement the Survey of Employees Notes (Seq98fix.sps). (ASCII file: 1KB) STATA Syntax File to Supplement the Survey of Employees Notes (Seq98fix.do). (ASCII file: 1KB) |
| SPSS
Syntax File of Derived Variables (Version 1.1, Jan 2001) (ASCII file: 7KB) Documentation of Derived Variables (Adobe Acrobat® File: 29KB). |
Back to the Cross-Section Menu Page
WERS98 Data
Dissemination Service
National Institute of Economic and Social Research, 2 Dean Trench St, London
SW1P 3HE
URL: http://www.niesr.ac.uk/niesr/wers98/
E-mail: wers98@niesr.ac.uk
This site is maintained by
Simon Kirby
Page last updated: 16 November 2001