Form Attachments A1 - A Attachments A1 - A Study Protocols

Attachment A1: Focus Group Protocol

• Hi! Thank you for coming in today.

• I am …... [This is my colleague ( ) who will be taking notes for us today]

• Have you participated in any of our studies before? (if yes, Which ones?)

• Consent Form/Permission to audiotape

• Ice Breaker – Before we begin, I would like to go around and have us all introduce ourselves. Please tell us your first name and

• Explanation

  • As I said, my name is _____. I will be moderating this focus group. What that means is that I have some questions to ask you that will provide a framework for our discussion, but these questions are not meant to be a test. These questions are meant to obtain feedback from you and promote discussion. There are no wrong answers. I expect that there will be a wide variety of opinions and experiences.

  • One of the most important pieces of information that the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts out is the National Unemployment Rate. Is everyone familiar with the unemployment rate? Right now, it’s ___% and you’ll hear it talked about in the news quite a bit.
    
    To get that number, we visit or call 60,000 households every month and ask questions about whether or not the people in that household worked or whether they were looking for work. While it might seem straightforward to answer a question about whether or not you’ve looked for work, there are a lot of different situations that might affect how someone answers that question. Since the unemployment number is so important, we are always working to improve the questions and to understand what people’s answers mean.
    
    So today we are going to focus on different ways you’ve looked for work. As I said before, people have different situations so there are no right or wrong answers. We are interested in finding out more about your experiences .

• Ground Rules - To allow conversation to flow more smoothly, I have the following ground rules so we will all be moving in the same direction and to ensure that the session will end on time.

• Please talk one at a time.

• Please allow someone to finish their point before talking.

• Please talk loudly enough so all can hear.

• Avoid side conversations with your neighbor.

• I need to hear from everyone; however, you don’t have to answer every question.

• Work for equal time so no one talks too much or too little.

• Allow for different points of view; there are no wrong answers.

• Say what you believe, whether or not anyone agrees with you.

Are there any questions about what I have just covered? If there are no other questions, then let's begin.

• Questions

• What would your answer be if I asked “What are all the things you’ve done to find work during the last 4 weeks?” Please write your answers on the sheet of paper in front of you. I’ll give you a couple minutes to do that.

  • (follow-up) Would anyone like to share what they wrote down? Anyone else?

    • [ANSWERS WRITTEN ON BOARD/BUTCHER BLOCK]

  • (follow-up for items that don’t specifically reflect Internet-related job search) Were any of these activities done using the Internet?

  • What percentage of the job search activities that you have done in the last month involve the Internet in some way?

• What have you done to look for work on the Internet?

  • [ANSWERS WRITTEN ON BOARD/BUTCHER BLOCK]

  • (follow-up) Can you tell me more about that?

  • Has anyone had a different experience than <NAME>?

  • (If no new responses) How about outside of the last 4 weeks?

• What Internet sites have you used to look for work?

  • [ANSWERS WRITTEN ON BOARD/BUTCHER BLOCK]

  • (follow-up) Tell me more about how you used <THAT SITE> to look for work?

    • Has anyone else done the same thing at <THAT SITE>?

      • (If yes) Please tell me how you used that site.

    • How about at other <THAT TYPE OF SITE, “social networking sites,” for example>?

      • (if yes) What site(s)?

      • How did you use them?

  • Has anyone used any other Internet sites to look for work? (If yes) Which sites?

  • Has anyone visited a company’s or organization’s website to find work?

    • (If yes) Please tell me how you used that site.

• Thinking about these ways that you looked for work on the Internet. Which ones were successful? That is, which ones got you an interview or a job offer?

  • Are there certain types of job search activities that you think are more likely to lead to job offers?

• One of the things we’re interested in finding out is how you think these different ways of looking for work on the Internet fit into our categories [SHOW CATEGORIES].

	Contacted:	6	Checked union/professional registers
1	employer directly/interview	7	Placed or answered ads
2	employment agency	8	Looked at ads
3	friends or relatives	9	Attended job training programs/courses
4	school/university employment center
5	Sent out resumes/filled out applications	10	Other

Let’s look back at some of the things you mentioned earlier and see if they fit into these categories. I’ll point out an activity, please tell me which of these categories you’d put it into and why? If you don’t think it fits into any of these categories, you can tell me that too.

• (Referring back to board/butcher block point out activities participants mentioned earlier) How about this one?

  • (follow-up) Would anyone put this into a different category?

  • (follow-up) Does it fit into multiple categories?

  • (follow-up) Would anyone put this into a category that’s not on this list?

• (Continue with several more activities)

• Sometimes we refer to job search methods as “active” and “passive.” Active job search methods are those that can lead to a job offer or interview without any further action; submitting an application for a job, for example. Passive job search activities are ones that require further action before a person would expect a job offer; looking at ads in the paper would still require somebody to apply for the job before they could get an offer. [PUT DEFINITIONS ON BOARD/SCREEN]

Active	Person could be offered a job or get an interview for a job with no further action
Passive	Person would have to do something else before they could get a job offer or an interview

Using these categories, let’s look at some of the other job search activities that were mentioned earlier.

• (Referring back to board/butcher block point out activities participants mentioned earlier) How about this one?

  • (follow-up) Would anyone say this is [ACTIVE or PASSIVE, opposite of what was said]?

Attachment A2: Self-Respondent Cognitive Test Protocol

• Hi! Thank you for coming in today.

• I am …... [This is my colleague ( ) who will be taking notes for us today]

• Have you participated in any of our studies before? (if yes, Which ones?)

• Consent Form/Permission to audiotape

• Explanation:

  • One of the most important pieces of information that the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts out is the National Unemployment Rate. Is everyone familiar with the unemployment rate? Right now, it’s ___% and you’ll hear it talked about in the news quite a bit.
    
    To get that number, we visit or call 60,000 households every month and ask questions about whether or not the people in that household worked or whether they were looking for work. While it might seem straightforward to answer a question about whether or not you’ve looked for work, there are a lot of different situations that might affect how someone answers that question. Since the unemployment number is so important, we are always working to improve the questions and to understand what people’s answers mean.
    
    So today we are going to focus on different ways you’ve looked for work. As I said before, people have different situations so there are no right or wrong answers. We are interested in finding out more about your experiences .

• Any questions before we begin?

• Select Labor Force Participation Questions

Labor Force Participation Questions
Intro	Next, I am going to ask a few questions about work related activities LAST WEEK. By last week I mean the week beginning on Sunday, ____ and ending on Saturday, ___		All
1	Does anyone in this household have a business or farm?	1. Yes 2. No 3. Don't Know 4. Refused	All
2	LAST WEEK, did you do ANY work for (either) pay (or profit)?	1. Yes 2. No 3. Don't Know 4. Refused	All
3	LAST WEEK, (in addition to the business,) did you have a job either full or part time? Include any job from which you were temporarily absent.	1. Yes 2. No 3. Don't Know 4. Refused	1. Q1=1 2. Q2=2
4	What was the main reason you were absent from work LAST WEEK?	1. On Layoff 2. Slack Work/business conditions 3. Waiting for a new job to begin 4. Own illness/injury/medical problems 5. Does not work in the business 6. Other 7. Don't Know 8. Refused	Q3=1
5	LAST WEEK, were you on layoff from a job?	1. Yes 2. No 3. Don't Know 4. Refused	Q3=2
6	Has your employer given you a date to return to work?	1. Yes 2. No 3. Don't Know 4. Refused	Q4=1 OR 2
7	Have you been given any indication that you will be recalled to work within the next 6 months?	1. Yes 2. No 3. Don't Know 4. Refused	Q6=2
8	Could you have returned to work LAST WEEK if you had been recalled?	1. Yes 2. No 3. Don't Know 4. Refused	Q7=1
9	Why is that?	1. Own Temporary Illness 2. Going to School 3. Other (Specify) 4. Don't Know 5. Refused	Q8=2
10	Have you been doing anything to find work during the last 4 weeks?	1. Yes 2. No 3. Don't Know 4. Refused	Q2=2 OR Q5=2
11	What are all of the things you have done to find work during the last 4 weeks?	[INTERVIEWER WILL TYPE VERBATIM RESPONSE] Active: Contacted -- 1. Employer directly/interview 2. Employment agency 3. Friends or relatives 4. School/university employment center 5. Sent out resumes/filled out applications 6. Check union/professional registers 7. Place or answer ads 8. Other Active 9. Passive 10. Don’t Know 11. Refused	Q10=1
12	LAST WEEK, could you have started a job if one had been offered?	1. Yes 2. No 3. Don't Know 4. Refused	Q11 = 1 - 8
13	Why is that?	1. Waiting for a new job to begin 2. Own Temporary Illness 3. Going to School 4. Other 5. Don't Know 6. Refused	Q12=2

• Debriefing

• One of the questions I asked was, “What are all the things you’ve done to find work during the last 4 weeks?” You answered [READ RESPONDENT’S ANSWERS]. Is that correct?

  • Are these ALL the things you did during the last 4 weeks, MOST of the things you did, or SOME of the things you did?

    • (If MOST or SOME) What other things did you do to find work?

  • (follow-up) Can you tell me more about that?

  • (follow-up for items that don’t specifically reflect Internet-related job search) Were any of these activities done using the Internet?

  • What percentage of the job search activities that you have done in the last month involve the Internet in some way?

• What have you done to find work on the Internet?

  • (If no new responses) How about outside of the last 4 weeks?

  • (follow-up) Can you tell me more about that?

• What Internet sites have you used to look for work?

  • (follow-up) Tell me more about how you used <THAT SITE> to look for work?

  • How about other <THAT TYPE OF SITE, “social networking sites,” for example>? Have you used them?

  • I will read you a list of types of Internet sites where someone might look for work. Please let me know if you’ve used them or not by saying yes or no:

Job Search Website (CareerBuilder.com, Monster.com, etc.)	Sent e-mail to potential employer
Company/Organization Website	Placed or Answered Ad Online
Union or Professional Association Website	Social Networking Website
Post Resume/Vita to clearinghouse

• Thinking about these ways that you looked for work on the internet. Were any successful? That is, did any get you an interview or a job offer?

  • Are there certain types of job search activities that you think are more likely to lead to job offers?

• One of the things we’re interested in finding out is how you think these different ways of looking for work on the Internet fit into our categories [SHOW CATEGORIES].

	Contacted:	6	Checked union/professional registers
1	employer directly/interview	7	Placed or answered ads
2	employment agency	8	Looked at ads
3	friends or relatives	9	Attended job training programs/courses
4	school/university employment center
5	Sent out resumes/filled out applications	10	Other

Let’s look back at some of the things you mentioned earlier and see if they fit into these categories. I’ll point out an activity, please tell me which of these categories you’d put it into and why? If you don’t think it fits into any of these categories, you can tell me that too.

• (Referring back to answers recorded earlier) How about this one?

  • (follow-up) Does it fit into multiple categories?

  • (follow-up) Would anyone put this into a category that’s not on this list?

• (Continue for all activities mentioned)

• Sometimes we refer to job search methods as “active” and “passive.” Active job search methods are those that can lead to a job offer or interview without any further action; submitting an application for a job, for example. Passive job search activities are ones that require further action before a person would expect a job offer; looking at ads in the paper would still require somebody to apply for the job before they could get an offer. [SHOW DEFINITIONS]

Active	Person could be offered a job or get an interview for a job with no further action
Passive	Person would have to do something else before they could get a job offer or an interview

Using these categories, let’s look at some of the other job search activities that were mentioned earlier.

• (Referring back to answers recorded earlier) How about this one?

  • (follow-up) Would anyone say this is [ACTIVE or PASSIVE, opposite of what was said]?

Attachment A3: Proxy Respondent Cognitive Test Protocol

• Hi! Thank you for coming in today.

• I am …... [This is my colleague ( ) who will be taking notes for us today]

• Have you participated in any of our studies before? (if yes, Which ones?)

• Consent Form/Permission to audiotape

• Explanation:

  • One of the most important pieces of information that the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts out is the National Unemployment Rate. Is everyone familiar with the unemployment rate? Right now, it’s ___% and you’ll hear it talked about in the news quite a bit.
    
    To get that number, we visit or call 60,000 households every month and ask questions about whether or not the people in that household worked or whether they were looking for work. We ask the person who answers the door or the phone to answer on behalf of everyone in the house that’s over 15 years old.

While it might seem straightforward to answer a question about whether or not you’ve looked for work, it may be a different story when you’re talking about a spouse, or a child, or a roommate. Since the unemployment number is so important, we are always working to improve the questions and to understand what people’s answers mean.

So today we are going to focus on how you would answer questions related to job search activities for other members of your household. We aren’t trying to stump you with any of these questions, we are interested in finding out how much information we could realistically expect someone to have about the rest of their household.

• Any questions before we begin?

• Select Labor Force Participation Questions

Labor Force Participation Questions
Intro	Next, I am going to ask a few questions about work related activities LAST WEEK. By last week I mean the week beginning on Sunday, ____ and ending on Saturday, ___		All
1	Does anyone in this household have a business or farm?	1. Yes 2. No 3. Don't Know 4. Refused	All
2	LAST WEEK, did [NAME] do ANY work for (either) pay (or profit)?	1. Yes 2. No 3. Don't Know 4. Refused	All
3	LAST WEEK, (in addition to the business,) did [NAME] have a job either full or part time? Include any job from which [he/she] was temporarily absent.	1. Yes 2. No 3. Don't Know 4. Refused	1. Q1=1 2. Q2=2
4	What was the main reason [NAME] was absent from work LAST WEEK?	1. On Layoff 2. Slack Work/business conditions 3. Waiting for a new job to begin 4. Own illness/injury/medical problems 5. Does not work in the business 6. Other 7. Don't Know 8. Refused	Q3=1
5	LAST WEEK, was [NAME] on layoff from a job?	1. Yes 2. No 3. Don't Know 4. Refused	Q3=2
6	Has [his/her] employer given [him/her] a date to return to work?	1. Yes 2. No 3. Don't Know 4. Refused	Q4=1 OR 2
7	Has [NAME] been given any indication that [he/she] will be recalled to work within the next 6 months?	1. Yes 2. No 3. Don't Know 4. Refused	Q6=2
8	Could [NAME] have returned to work LAST WEEK if [he/she] had been recalled?	1. Yes 2. No 3. Don't Know 4. Refused	Q7=1
9	Why is that?	1. Own Temporary Illness 2. Going to School 3. Other (Specify) 4. Don't Know 5. Refused	Q8=2
10	Has [NAME] been doing anything to find work during the last 4 weeks?	1. Yes 2. No 3. Don't Know 4. Refused	Q2=2 OR Q5=2
11	What are all of the things [NAME] has done to find work during the last 4 weeks?	[INTERVIEWER WILL TYPE VERBATIM RESPONSE] Active: Contacted -- 1. Employer directly/interview 2. Employment agency 3. Friends or relatives 4. School/university employment center 5. Sent out resumes/filled out applications 6. Check union/professional registers 7. Place or answer ads 8. Other Active 9. Passive 10. Don’t Know 11. Refused	Q10=1
12	LAST WEEK, could [NAME] have started a job if one had been offered?	1. Yes 2. No 3. Don't Know 4. Refused	Q11 = 1 - 8
13	Why is that?	1. Waiting for a new job to begin 2. Own Temporary Illness 3. Going to School 4. Other 5. Don't Know 6. Refused	Q12=2

• Debriefing

• One of the questions I asked was, “What are all the things [NAME] has done to find work during the last 4 weeks?” You answered [READ RESPONDENT’S ANSWERS]. Is that correct?

  • Are these ALL the things [NAME] did during the last 4 weeks, MOST of the things [he/she] did, or SOME of the things [he/she] did?

    • (If MOST or SOME) What other things did [he/she]do to find work?

  • (follow-up) Can you tell me more about that?

  • (follow-up for items that don’t specifically reflect Internet-related job search) Were any of these activities done using the Internet?

  • What percentage of the job search activities that [NAME] has done in the last month involve the Internet in some way?

• What has [NAME] done to find work on the Internet?

  • (If no new responses) How about outside of the last 4 weeks?

  • (follow-up) Can you tell me more about that?

• What Internet sites has [NAME] used to look for work?

  • (follow-up) Tell me more about how [he/she]used <THAT SITE> to look for work?

  • How about other <THAT TYPE OF SITE, “social networking sites,” for example>? Has [NAME] used them?

  • I will read you a list of types of Internet sites where someone might look for work. Please let me know if [NAME] has used them or not by saying yes or no:

Job Search Website (CareerBuilder.com, Monster.com, etc.)	Sent e-mail to potential employer
Company/Organization Website	Placed or Answered Ad Online
Union or Professional Association Website	Social Networking Website
Post Resume/Vita to clearinghouse

• Thinking about [his/her] job search activities on the Internet. Were any successful? That is, did any get [him/her] an interview or a job offer?

• One of the things we’re interested in finding out is how you think these different ways of looking for work on the Internet fit into our categories [SHOW CATEGORIES].

	Contacted:	6	Checked union/professional registers
1	employer directly/interview	7	Placed or answered ads
2	employment agency	8	Looked at ads
3	friends or relatives	9	Attended job training programs/courses
4	school/university employment center
5	Sent out resumes/filled out applications	10	Other

Let’s look back at some of the things you mentioned earlier and see if they fit into these categories. I’ll point out an activity, please tell me which of these categories you’d put it into and why? If you don’t think it fits into any of these categories, you can tell me that too.

• (Referring back to answers recorded earlier) How about this one?

  • (follow-up) Does it fit into multiple categories?

  • (follow-up) Would anyone put this into a category that’s not on this list?

• (Continue for all activities mentioned)

• Sometimes we refer to job search methods as “active” and “passive.” Active job search methods are those that can lead to a job offer or interview without any further action; submitting an application for a job, for example. Passive job search activities are ones that require further action before a person would expect a job offer; looking at ads in the paper would still require somebody to apply for the job before they could get an offer. [SHOW DEFINITIONS]

Active	Person could be offered a job or get an interview for a job with no further action
Passive	Person would have to do something else before they could get a job offer or an interview

Using these categories, let’s look at some of the other job search activities that were mentioned earlier.

• (Referring back to answers recorded earlier) How about this one?

  • (follow-up) Would anyone say this is [ACTIVE or PASSIVE, opposite of what was said]?

• How often do you talk to [NAME] about [his/her] job search?

  • When you talk about looking for work, how detailed are those conversations?

    • Do you talk about specific jobs?

    • Do you talk about where [NAME] is in the process (e.g., finding an ad, submitting an application, interviewing, etc.) or do you only discuss things once they reach a certain stage?

    • Do you talk about methods [NAME] has used to find work?

• How confident are you that your answer to the question “What are all the things [NAME] has done to find work during the last 4 weeks?” is correct?

  • Why is that?