In Round 18, for the first time, the majority of NLSY97 will be interviewed by phone. Dealing with this change in mode is the focus of changes made from the Round 17 to the Round 18 questionnaires. This switch in mode means that we can no longer rely on visual stimuli such as showcards to aid in the survey process. Throughout the questionnaire, the wording of questions has been changed so that there are no references to showcards. In the small percentage of cases that are conducted in person showcards will be retained and used only in income and assets items. The change in mode also means that we will not be able to have a self-administered part of the questionnaire. Because of this, we have concentrated on making the questionnaire more “telephone-friendly.” Many of the items from the self-administered sections of the questionnaire have been moved into other sections. Questions have been re-worded so that an outsider who overhears the interview will not be able to infer the context of the questions from the respondent’s answers. Most importantly, we have worked to shorten code frames and question text so that they may be understood and remembered accurately over the phone.
Attachment 7 details the changes made to the questionnaire by section.
Household Information
Modifications have been made to streamline this section and make it more “phone-friendly”.
Dwelling place: In Round 17, the question on type of dwelling included a long list of dwelling types that would now have to be read on the phone. Because most of the respondents live in a house or apartment/townhouse/condo, we have broken this into two questions. The first (YHHI-4400A), asks if the respondent currently lives in a single family house, in an apartment or condominium, or in some other type of housing. Now only if the respondent responds that she lives in some other type of housing, will she be asked the second question (YHHI-4400X), which lists other types of housing.
Update of the household roster: Streamlines deletion of household members that no longer live with the respondent. Also streamlines the process of verifying whether any new member added to the household has lived with the respondent previously.
Relationship codes: Reduces the set of possible relationship codes used to describe the relationship between each household member and the respondent from 73 to 20. For a small number of relationships (parents, children, and siblings) the more detailed relationship will be collected in a follow-up question.
Religion codes: The coding frame for religion will be shortened from 23 to 16.
Parent background/siblings/family history: The questions about parents, siblings, and religion during the time the respondent was growing up (YHHI-PARENT-INTRO to YHHI-RELIG-CHECK2) will be asked only of those who have not answered them in Round 16 or Round 17.
Religious attendance and religiosity scale: These questions (YSAQ-282A and YSAQ-RELIG-CHECK to YSAQ-282A7) were last asked in Round 15. They will again be asked in Round 18. Previously they were asked in the self-administered portion of the questionnaire. They will now be asked in the household section after YHHI-55709B.
Work Schedule of Spouse/Partner: In the question on how far in advance the spouse or partner knows his or her work schedule (YHHI-51871), the response categories will be altered to break up the category of less than a week. In the question on who sets the spouse or partners work schedule (YHHI-51872) the response categories will be altered to better describe the employee’s input when someone else sets his schedule.
Schooling
No changes other than deletion of showcards and wording changes to no longer refer to showcards.
Employment
Add new questions on job tasks: Questions on job tasks will be added to the employment section for Round 18. All respondents (male and female) who have held a job since their last interview will be asked these questions about their current or most recent job (job #1). The items cover job tasks in three key domains: things (physical or repetitive tasks), data (analytic tasks; problem solving), and people (interpersonal tasks). Respondents are first asked how much of their workday involves carrying out short, repetitive tasks, doing physical tasks, and managing or supervising other workers. They are next asked how often they engage in problem solving on their job, and a separate question asks how often they use advanced mathematics on their job. They are also asked about the longest document that they typically read as part of their job and how often their job involves face-to-face contact with people other than co-workers or supervisors.
By collecting information on what tasks people do at work and how frequently they do those tasks, we hope to inform research that examines whether standard skill and schooling measures capture worker productivity. The questions come from the Princeton Data Initiative (PDII) Extended Interview. They have been included in round 18 at the suggestion of Lance Lochner (University of Western Ontario) and Audrey Light (Ohio State University). While these questions have been asked in a cross-sectional survey (PDII), asking them in the NLSY97 provides the opportunity to examine how job tasks relate to employment outcomes including wage growth and job changes as well as life events such as the birth of children and health outcomes. Moreover, if the NLSY97 continues to collect this information it will enable researchers to examine how changes in job tasks relate to changes in employment outcomes. Note that these questions have also been added to Round 27 of the NLSY79.
References:
Autor, David H. (2013) “The “Task Approach” to Labor Markets: An Overview.” IZA Discussion Paper No. 7178.
Autor, David H. and Michael J. Handel (2013) “Putting Tasks to the Test: Human Capital, Job Tasks, and Wages.” Journal of Labor Economics, Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. S59-S96.
Add new questions on non-compete agreements: Questions on whether the respondent signed a non-compete agreement will be added to the employment section for Round 18. Respondents (male and female) will be asked two questions about each job (excluding self-employed jobs) s/he held since the date of the last interview. The two items cover whether the respondent has agreed to a non-compete provision and how confident he is in his answer. By asking about these provisions, we hope the NLSY97 will permit the study of how non-compete agreements affect labor market outcomes, including job mobility, training, and wages. The questions come from in an on-line survey on entrepreneurial process "Entrepreneurial Process Survey."
Recent US Treasury and White House reports on non-competes highlight the effects of non-compete agreements on a variety of economic outcomes, including employee mobility, entrepreneurship, wages, investment in human capital, innovation, inequality, and firm-profitability. For example, the reports highlight that while restricting employee mobility may encourage firm-sponsored investment and innovation, non-competes may also be used to reduce wage growth and prevent individuals from utilizing their skills most productively. Data on the use of non-compete agreements are not generally available. Findings from the only nationally representative survey – a 2014 online survey of 11,505 labor force participants (Prescott et al. 2016) – indicate that non-competes are a common: Roughly 20% US labor force participants (~30 million) are bound by a non-compete, including 15% of those without a Bachelor’s degree; and nearly half of individuals who signed a non-compete and turned down an offer from a competitor cited the non-compete as the reason. A cross-sectional survey, however, cannot address important questions about the effects of non-compete agreements. How do they affect an individual’s lifetime earnings or career trajectory? How do changes in their use contribute to economic dynamism in the US, the rate and direction of innovation, or rising wage inequality?
References:
Prescott, JJ, Norman Bishara, and Evan Starr, “Understanding Noncompetition Agreements: The 2014 Noncompete Survey Project,” Michigan State Law Review, 2016, pp. 369–464.
Reason Left Job and Reason Left Business: Alter question (YEMP-58400 and YEMP-58400A) to make them more phone-friendly by shortening pick list. Add an interviewer instruction and have interview code the respondent’s response.
Job Search and Internet Job Search: Alter questions (YEMP-101300B, YEMP-101300C, and YEMP-119400) so that respondent is not read a list of responses, but instead interviewer codes respondent’s answer.
Reason not looking for work, on unpaid vacation or leave, and not working during employer gap: Alter questions (YEMP-103400,YEMP-103500, and YEMP-105932) to make them more “phone-friendly” by not reading response categories and having interview code responses.
Business ownership: Questions on business ownership (BUSOWN-AGECHECK to BUSOWN-LOOP-END) will be dropped in Round 18 due to time constraints.
Work Schedule of Respondent: In the question on how far in advance the spouse or partner knows his or her work schedule (YEMP-WS3D), the response categories will be altered to break up the category of less than a week. In the question on who sets the spouse or partners work schedule (YEMP-WS4D) the response categories will be altered to better describe the employee’s input when someone else sets his schedule.
Training
No changes other than deleting references to showcards and adding interviewer instructions to make the items more “phone-friendly”.
Marriage
No changes.
Fertility
Sex, birth control, and pregnancy: These topics were previously covered in the self-administered sections of the questionnaire. In general, in Round 18 the questions will not be altered, but will be moved into the marriage section of the questionnaire. Some introductory language will be added to ease transition between topics. Move sex, birth control questions, and pregnancy questions (YSAQ2-PRISONCHECK to YSAQ2-346) immediately after YMAR-13250. This puts the sex questions after marriage but before fertility.
Surgical sterilization: Add questions on surgical sterilization. For males ask whether had vasectomy, for females ask whether respondent had tubal ligation or hysterectomy. This will permit us to skip these respondents out of questions on birth control in future rounds.
Pregnancy outcomes: In Round 18, the way that pregnancy outcomes is asked will be altered to a series of yes/no response items (YSAQF-337a, YSAQF-337b, and YSAQF-337c ) so that a respondents does not have to state outcome if answering in a non-private location.
Sperm/egg donor: If respondent volunteers sperm/egg donor, alter the instructions to have interviewer enter sperm/egg donor and skip out of subsequent questions about other parent.
Religion of child’s other parent (YFER-9000). Reduce coding frame to 16 from 23 categories (as was done for questions in household section) and add instruction.
Child Care
Questions on child care use, payments, and travel time by mode by child will not be asked in Round 18. The YCCAL series will rotate out of the questionnaire in Round 18. Instead, summary information about hours and payments for all children will be asked.
Income
Change year reference: Adjust year references from 2013 to 2015 and from 2014 to 2016.
Financial advice: Drop question on financial advice (YINC-498) for Round 18.
Showcards: We will use showcards in this section for all in-person interviews where possible. There are 10 different questions which have showcards – only the first (YINC-550) is asked of every respondent. The others are asked only of respondents who don’t know or refuse an income question. In those cases, the showcards are used in questions that follow-up to collect categorical income from those who did not report an exact amount.
Assets
Assets at age 25: Questions on the value of assets and debts at age 25 will no longer be asked, as respondents have aged out. Questions on wealth have been collected at five-year age increments the first-time the respondent is a given age or older (but has not yet reached thenext age at which assets information is collected.)
Assets at age 30 and at age 35: Because respondents will turn ages 33 to 37 in 2017 when fielding of Round 18 begins, questions collecting assets at age 30 (or higher) and age 35 (or higher) will be collected. All those born in 1983 and 1984 who have not already completed the Assets 30 module will be eligible. Those who were born in 1980 through 1982 who have not completed Assets 30 will complete the Assets 35 section instead; they will never complete Assets 30. Birth years 1981 and 1982 will go through Assets35 in Round 18, along with any NIRs in R17 from birth year 1980.
Showcards: We will use showcards in this section for all in-person interviews where possible. There are 25 different questions which have showcards, but in most cases a respondent is only asked the showcard question if they don’t estimate the value of an asset either out right or by giving a high and low estimate. These questions are: YAST30-CH10C, YAST30-4000S9C, YAST30-4000S10C, YAST30-4426, YAST30-4556, YAST30-4686, YAST30-4296, YAST30-FA_8C4, YAST30-4300A2, YAST30-4816, YAST30-4846, YAST30-4036, YAST30-4036A, YAST30-4166, YAST30-4870, YAST30-4906, YAST30-5014, YAST30-5018, YAST30-5086_NEW, YAST30-5176, YAST30-5210A4, YAST30-5210C4, YAST30-5210D4, YAST30-5286, YAST30-5326.
Household Furnishing: The question on household furnishings (YAST35-4870) will be simplified. A similar question exists in the YAST30 section. We will not change that one since only a very small number of respondents have not been asked that question.
Program Participation
No changes other than removal of showcards and wording changes to facilitate removing the showcards.
Self-Administered
The self-administered section of the questionnaire will no longer be asked. In some instances, the questions will be retained, but moved to a different section of the questionnaire. Questions on sexual activity, birth control, and pregnancy (YSAQ2-PRISONCHECK to YSAQ2-346) will now be located at the start of the fertility section of the questionnaire. Questions on weight (YSAQ-000B) and depression (YSAQ-282B through YSAQ-282G) as well as on grit (YSAQ-GRIT-CHECK through YSAQ-GRIT-8) will move to the health section of Round 18. The question on religion attendance (YSAQ-282A) will move to the household section where we ask about religion.
Some topics that were covered in the self-administered section will still be asked in the same location. These include smoking, alcohol and drug use, criminal activity and criminal justice items. (With the exception of smoking, prisoners skip out of all other topics that make up this “former” SAQ module of the questionnaire.) These former-SAQ items will not be altered, and thus responses may be affected by the change in mode.
Deletions: Questions on first sex: (YSAQ2-SEXCHECK through YSAQ2-300) and on risky sex (YSAQ2-306 through YSAQ2-307-NEW) will be deleted from the questionnaire.
Health
Health 29: Health 29 will not be asked in Round 18 except for those who have not yet answered the section.
Grit: YSAQ-GRIT-1 through YSAQ-GRIT-8 will be asked only of respondents who did not answer those questions in R16 or R17.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Kincaid, Nora - BLS |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-15 |