Attachment E Recruitment Script

Appendix E: Recruitment and Eligibility Scripts

Outgoing emails

Dear [FILL FIRST NAME],

Are you interested in participating in research to help understand veterans’ experiences with finding civilian jobs and transitioning to civilian life?

The Department of Labor Veterans' Employment and Training Service (DOL VETS) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) jointly sponsor a national survey of veterans to try to understand and measure the employment and transition issues facing veterans today. We are testing a new survey and would like input from veterans to see that the survey is targeting the right concepts and that respondents can interpret and answer the questions as intended.

To participate, you would be interviewed over the phone and give your feedback on the survey questions. Sessions will take place April-May and last one hour.

If you are interested, please reply to this message or leave a voicemail at 202.691.7524. We’ll give you a call back to tell you more about the research, confirm that you are eligible to participate, and answer any questions you have.

We may also try to contact you by phone. However, after this study is complete, we will not attempt to contact you again.

Thank you,

Erica Yu, PhD

Office of Survey Methods Research

Department of Labor

Outgoing Calls \

Hello, my name is [FILL recruiter name] calling on behalf of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Labor Veterans' Employment and Training Service. May I speak with [FILL veteran name]?

The VA and DOL VETS sponsor a national survey of veterans and we’re looking for veterans to volunteer to participate in a research interview. Sessions take place in April and May, they are being held over the phone, and take about an hour.

By volunteering, you’d be helping us to understand and measure the employment and transition issues facing veterans today. This is a new survey and we would like your input to see that the survey is targeting the right concepts and that respondents can interpret and answer the questions as intended.

[Then proceed with screening questions]

Incoming Calls

Thanks for calling about the Veterans study. This is a study to help us prepare for a national survey of veterans. We want to test out the questions with veterans to see if the questions work well and can be answered easily by respondents. We are interested in getting your opinions about the survey questions and we’ll take your feedback to improve the survey. If you have more questions about the survey, I can ask the researcher in charge of the study to give you a call.

[Then proceed with screening questions]

Screening questions

I have a couple of questions to check if you are eligible to participate in the study.

1. Have you ever served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces?

• Yes

• No

IF YES TO Q1:

2. Are you now in the Armed Forces?

• Yes

• No

IF NO TO Q1:

3. Do you live with someone who has ever served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces?

• Yes

• No

4. (IF YES) How are you related to that person?

The participant is the….

• Spouse/Partner

• Child/Grandchild

• Parent

• Brother/Sister/Other relative

• Roommate/Friend

• Other non-relative

IF Q3 = NO or Q4 = Roommate/Friend or Other non-relative

THEN the participant is not eligible – thank them for their interest but do not schedule them.

All others may be eligible but we need to collect more information about them before we schedule them.

5. When did (you/she/he) LAST serve on active duty? Was it…

• In the last 1-5 years (2015-2020)

• In the last 5-10 years (2010-2015)

• More than 10 years ago (before 2010)

6. (Are you/Is he/Is she) now retired from the military?

• Yes

• No

7. (Do you/Does he/Does she) have any disability?

• Yes

• No

8. (Do you/Does he/Does she) have a service-connected disability rating?

• Yes – What is the rating? _____________

• No

9. (Have you/Has she/Has he) ever served in the Reserves or National Guard?

• Yes

• No

10. (Do you/Does he/Does she) consider (yourself/himself/herself) unemployed or underemployed?

• Yes

• No

11. Ask if not apparent:

(Are you or have you/Is he or has he/Is she or has she) ever been married?

• Yes

• No

12. What is your race?

Let the participant respond and select all that apply:

• White

• Black or African American

• American Indian or Alaska native

• Asian

• Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander

13. Do not ask aloud:

• Male

• Female

Check their responses against the recruiting list. If they meet the criteria for a group that we still need representation from, schedule them. If not, thank them for the information and let them know that we’ll call them back within a day or two after we confirm availability. Aim to schedule participants representing a mix of these characteristics – for example, some married, and some not married.