WERS98 Data Dissemination Service
THE 1998 CROSS-SECTION SURVEY:
WORKER REPRESENTATIVE INTERVIEW
The Worker Representative Interview
in the WERS98 Cross-Section consisted of a face-to-face interview with either: the
representative of the recognised union with the largest number of members at the workplace
or, if there were no representatives from recognised unions, the most senior employee
representative on a workplace-level joint consultative committee, if one existed.
Eligible worker representatives were found to be present in 1,151 of the 2,191 workplaces that participated in the WERS98 Cross-Section Survey. Interviews were achieved with 918 of these worker representatives, representing a fieldwork response rate of 80 per cent. The majority of the non-response was due to management's refusal to sanction an interview with a worker representative at their workplace. Of the 918 achieved interviews, 870 were conducted with a representative of a recognised union and 48 with a committee representative.
Data from the Worker Representative Interview may be matched to that from the Main Management Interview and the Survey of Employees by means of a unique workplace identifier.
The conduct of the interview:
The presence of an eligible worker representative was established through questioning in the Main Management Interview. At the end of this interview, the main management respondent was asked if they would permit the interviewer to conduct a short interview with the worker representative and, if permission was granted, contact details were collected. The Worker Representative Interview was conducted on-site by the same interviewer, using Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) technology. Interviews lasted 47 minutes on average.
The Worker Representative Questionnaire is available from the table of documentation at the bottom of this page, along with documentation that outlines the coding and editing of the resultant data.
Topics covered in the questionnaire:
-> Structure of representation at the workplace
-> Union recruitment
-> Role of worker representatives
-> Relations between worker representatives and management
-> Methods of communication and consultation used at the workplace
-> Payment systems and pay determination
-> Collective disputes and procedures
-> Grievance and disciplinary procedures
-> Management's attitudes towards worker representatives
It is possible to compare some of the responses given in the Worker Representative Interview with responses to similar questions in the Main Management Interview, in order to examine the different perspectives of the two respondents.
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 Worker Representative Interview 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 3B: Worker Representative Questionnaire (Adobe Acrobat® File: 89KB). |
| Volume 5A: Code Book for Cross-Section Datasets (Adobe Acrobat® File: 121KB). N.B. This document also covers data from the Management Questionnaire. |
| Volume
5B: Instructions for Editing the Cross-Section Datasets (Adobe Acrobat® File: 35KB). N.B. This document also covers data from the Management Questionnaire. |
| Additional documentation created and supplied by the WERS98 Data Dissemination Service. |
Notes
to Accompany the Worker Representative Dataset and Questionnaire (Version 1.2 Jan 2001). (Adobe Acrobat® File: 46KB). SPSS Syntax File to Supplement the Worker Representative Notes (Wrq98fix.sps). (ASCII file: 2KB) STATA Syntax File to Supplement the Worker Representative Notes (Wrq98fix.do). (ASCII file: 1KB) |
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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: 31 January 2001