Evaluating the Displaced-Worker/Job-Tenure Supplement to the CPS (Current Population Survey): An Illustration of Multimethod Quality Assessment Research

摘要

Displaced workers are persons who have lost or left jobs involuntarily as a result of unfavorable economic events/conditions (e.g., plant closings, insufficient work, downsizing). The main objective of the paper is to illustrate the utility of using multiple methods to evaluate survey questionnaires. Three methods were used: (1) interaction coding (via behavior coding); (2) interviewer debriefing (using a focus-group format and rating forms); and (3) respondent debriefing (using follow-up probe questions). An effort is made to demonstrate how the qualitative and quantitative information provided by these techniques contributed to our 'understanding' of how data quality may have been affected by various sources of measurement error.