Brendan Burchell

The effect of questionnaire length on survey response

Survey textbooks suggest that long questionnaires should be avoided, and a careful reading of the available empirical evidence confirms the negative effects of substantial length on both response rates and the quality of those responses which are obtained. Data is presented from a lengthy survey in Britain in 1987. Analysis of reasons for nonresponse to this survey suggest that length may indeed have been a significant disincentive to respond for many. However, no effect of length was found on item quality as measured by the number of responses given to open-ended questions. Unexpectedly, the variance in number of responses was greater when the questions were asked later in the questionnaire. The results are interpreted as resulting from the greater power that respondents gain as the survey proceeds.

Gender and Skills

A survey of a random sample of over 600 employed adults in the Northampton area is used to compare mens and womens perceptions of the content of their jobs and to construct an index of skill. Differences were found between men and women in perceptions of both the types of skills required in their jobs, with women emphasising personal and social skills, and in the level of skill involved. Mens jobs on average appeared to be higher skilled, but the main difference was found in fact not to be by gender but between full- and part-time jobs. Some of these differences may be related to differences in perceptions of skill. Women part-timers were much less likely than men to perceive their jobs as skilled, even when sharing similar perceptions of job content.

Job quality in Europe

Promoting job quality and gender equality are objectives of the European Employment Strategy (EES) in spite of a downgrading of the attention given to both in the revised employment guidelines and the relaunch of the Lisbon Process. However, advances on both of these objectives may be important complements to the employment rate targets of the EES, as access to good quality jobs for both sexes is likely to help sustain higher employment rates. While the European Commission has a broad view of the concept of job quality in practice, it relies on a selection of labour market type indicators that say little about the quality of the actual jobs people do. Using data from the 2005 European Working Conditions survey, we analyse job quality along three dimensions: job content, autonomy and working conditions. We conclude that gender and occupational status, along with other job characteristics such as working time and sector, have more influence on an individuals job quality than the country or national model they are situated in. Our results also demonstrate the value of developing indicators of job quality that are both gender sensitive and derived at the level of the job rather than the labour market in order to advance EU policy and academic debate on this topic.

The changing world of the temporary worker: the potential HR impact of legislation

Purpose – Temporary workers have many human resource and labour market implications. These consequences are further influenced with the introduction of new legislation relating to temporary workers. The purpose of this article is to present research on the impacts of the legislation – Fixed Term Employees Regulations and Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations – on temporary workers in the labour force.Design/methodology/approach – Information from 24 Labour Force Surveys, conducted between December 1997 and November 2003, were analysed with two longitudinal Labour Force Surveys. Qualitative data was also gathered from six temporary worker employers and 17 agency workers.Findings – Analysis of data demonstrated that the utilisation of temporary workers had declined in the labour force: Temporary workers had decreased in real terms by 24 per cent and agency workers who were less regulated by only 11 per cent. Also, an increased take‐up of permanent work by temporary workers was...

A Temporal Comparison of the Effects of Unemployment and Job Insecurity on Wellbeing

Analyses of individuals’ working lives make a variety of assumptions about the relationship between time, wellbeing and economic stress. Some assume that stress will accumulate in adverse environments, leading to chronic effects of, for instance, long-term unemployment or job insecurity. Other studies emphasize the acute effects of changes per se, and assume adaptation. This paper examines how employees respond both to acute and chronic job insecurity. This paper will use two datasets. The first is from a survey of over 300 UK employees employed in 26 companies; this dataset included both qualitative and quantitative data, at both employer and employee levels. The second dataset consisted of longitudinal data from the British Household Panel Survey. It was found that the unexpected announcement of job insecurity can cause a sudden and marked spike in psychological symptoms. Looking at longer-term effect for prolonged periods of job insecurity, wellbeing (i.e. symptoms of anxiety and depression) continues to deteriorate for at least a year, with no sign of leveling off or recovery. This is in contrast to the findings on long-term unemployment, where there is evidence of adaptation and slight improvements in psychological wellbeing after six months. The reasons for these opposing patterns between job insecurity and unemployment are discussed in terms of the challenge for individuals attempting to cope with perceived future uncertainty during the prolonged recovery from the current recession.

An Empirical Investigation into the Segmentation of the Labour Supply

This paper explores the empirical evidence for segmentation in the labour supply using survey data from a local labour market. Employees were clustered using variables relating to their work histories, current job attributes, employment expectations and personal attributes. Five clusters of employees were identified, which differed markedly in their past, present and expected future labour market behaviour. The main theoretical tenets of segmentation theorists were supported, in as much as the labour market was found to foster and perpetuate the advantages and disadvantages of identifiable groups of workers. The analyses presented in the paper suggest that this structuring of the labour supply is both complex and varied, giving rise, for example to several markedly different types of secondary workers. Examples are given of how this segmentation approach to analyzing labour markets can further our understanding of related phenomena, such as the position of women in the labour market and work values.

A New Way of Analyzing Labour Market Flows Using Work History Data

The methodological component of this paper describes a novel way of analyzing work-history data, treating the job change as the unit of analysis rather than the individual or the job. After considering the theoretical and practical problems and advantages of such an approach, two examples are given of the ways in which this technique can be used in the investigation of macro-level and micro-level labour market phenomena concerning the way in which individuals move between jobs. First, the way in which the rate of promotions and involuntary demotions follows the national unemployment rate is demonstrated. In times of high unemployment involuntary transitions from better to worse-paid jobs become much more numerous, even when that transition is not accompanied by a spell of unemployment. Second, the way in which demotions (whether precipitated by domestic considerations or dismissals and redundancies) and promotions are associated with moves from larger to smaller establishments is investigated and discussed. The case of women moving to small establishments is particularly striking; small firms may provide flexible jobs which are more compatible with womens domestic roles, but at some cost in terms of pay.

Distributed work: communication in an ‘officeless firm’

This paper describes and analyses an officeless firm, where all employees work from their own homes. Drawing upon observations and interviews, the modes of communication and the nature of the interpersonal relationships that have permitted this organisation to succeed are described, along with the challenges that face this organisation in the future as it attempts to grow.

Prevalence of restless legs syndrome and associated factors in an otherwise healthy population: results from the Danish Blood Donor Study

OBJECTIVE Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a neurological sensorimotor disorder characterized by uncomfortable sensations in the legs. RLS often occurs as a comorbid condition. Besides an increased risk of iron deficiency, blood donors are considered to be generally healthy. Blood donors are therefore an ideal population for studying factors associated with RLS occurrence, herein the role of iron. It is suggested that RLS is linked to sex, age, low socioeconomic status, unhealthy lifestyle, and iron deficiency. The objective of this study is therefore to estimate the RLS prevalence and identify associated biological, sociodemographic, economic, and lifestyle factors in a population of blood donors. METHODS A total of 13,448 blood donors enrolled in the Danish Blood Donor Study from May 2015 to May 2016. RLS cases were identified using the validated Cambridge-Hopkins RLS-questionnaire. Logistic regression models were applied to assess the relationship between RLS and data on socially related factors collected using questionnaires and population registers. RESULTS In this study, 7.2% women and 4.5% men were classified with RLS. RLS was associated with: female sex, high age, smoking, frequent alcohol consumption, and low education. RLS-related symptoms were associated with obesity, parity and donation intensity three years prior to inclusion among women. RLS was not related to: reduced plasma ferritin, employment status, and income. CONCLUSIONS RLS is a frequent disorder in otherwise healthy individuals. The associations discovered in this study can be utilized in preventing or reducing RLS symptoms.

Participatory HRM practices and job quality of vulnerable workers

Vulnerable workers can be expected to be more subject to direct managerial control over the work process and have little opportunity for participation in shaping their work environment. Opportunities for participation not only are in themselves desirable, but also may have beneficial effects on job quality. However, there has been little exploration of either the extent to which vulnerable workers have access to employee participation or whether such access is equally associated with improved job quality for both vulnerable and non-vulnerable groups. These issues are explored using the fifth wave of the European Working Conditions Survey. We define vulnerable workers by the labour supply characteristics of low education and being female. Consistent with our predictions, regression analyses reveal that, although vulnerable workers have considerably less access to participatory human resource management practices, for those that do have access, similar improvements are found when compared to non-vulnerable groups on all four dimensions of job quality included in the analysis. Some variations were found depending on gender and level of education, but overall, our analysis suggests that increasing access to employee participation practices could provide an important means of improving job quality for vulnerable workers.