MEMO #72

TO:       WLS files
FROM:     Jeff Hayes
DATE:     August 16, 1991  (Revised August 21, 1991)
RE:       Jencks, et al.'s (1988) Index of Job Desirability


     References are to:

     Jencks, Christopher, Lauri Perman, and Lee Rainwater. 1988. "What Is a
          Good Job? A New Measure of Labor-Market Success." American Journal of
          Sociology 93(May):1322-1357. 

     Below are the questions used by Jencks, et al. (in italics).  The wordings
are taken from pp. 1333-1334 and Table 1 (pp. 1326-1327).  Recodes for the 
independent variables are described in Table 1.  A note to Table 1 indicates 
that lead-ins and interviewer explanations are not included; the full 
questionnaire is available from the authors on request.  Asterisks after items 
indicate that they are in the IJD reduced form equation. (See Jencks, et al. 
Table 2.)  My comments based on the article and the 1975 WLS questionnaire.  
Of course we will need to be sure that these questions all get asked about the 
same job.  Where I indicate similar items that were asked in 1975,
the reference job may not always be the same.  The items that were asked in 
the 1975 survey of the class of 1957 were asked of the selected siblings 
interviewed in 1977.

To measure the dependent variable Jencks, et al. asked:

     Taking everything into account-pay, fringe benefits, working conditions, 
     kind of work, etc.- when most people think of average jobs they think of 
     jobs like telephone operator, carpenter, or payroll clerk.  Let's give an 
     average job a rating of 100.  Compared to an average job like one of 
     these, I would like to ask you to rate your own job.  If you think your 
     own job is twice as good as an average job, for example, give it 200.  
     If you think your job is half as good as an average job, give it a 50.  
     You can give any number you like.  Considering everything, if an average 
     job is rated 100, how would you rate your job?

Ratings were done at beginning and at end of interview, after rating jobs on 
specific criteria.  The natural log of the scores were used in the analysis.

     * How much do your total earnings from your present job figure out to be a
     year, before taxes and deductions?

This is basically the same as 1975 WLS question 58.  Jencks, et al. take the 
natural log of deviations from the mean.  They also include its quadratic.

     * How many hours do you usually work each week on your main job, not
     counting time you take off for meals?

This is basically the same as 1975 WLS question 20a.

     Other than holidays like the Fourth of July or Labor Day, how many paid
     vacation days are you allowed to take off each year?

No clear equivalent in 1975 WLS, unless questions 54 and 54a were coded to 
include how much vacation was taken and that is good enough.

     * Do you feel that a person on your job learns new things that could lead 
     to a better job or a promotion?

No clear equivalent in 1975 WLS.

     What chance do you think there is that you will lose your job completely 
     in the next two years?  Could you give your answer as a percentage between
     zero and 100?

No clear equivalent in 1975 WLS.

     * How many years of education do most people in jobs like yours have?

No clear equivalent in 1975 WLS.

     * What percentage of the time do you do the same things over and over?

Similar basic content to 1975 WLS question 35.  The wording is quite different.

     * In your present work, do you get dirty?

1975 WLS question 34 is quite close.

     Can you decide what time to come to work and when to leave, either 
     officially or unofficially?

No clear equivalent in 1975 WLS.

     * About how many times an hour, day, week, month or year does a supervisor
     check up on your work?

No clear equivalent in 1975 WLS.  The autonomy series (questions 41a-c) is
quite different. 

     Is your current job covered by a union contract?

1975 WLS question 133 asks about respondent's union membership status, but it 
isn't really the same.

     Are you employed by...a government agency, a non-profit organization, or a
     profit making business?  [If government agency, ask :] Is that a branch 
     of * federal, state, or local government?

Federal government dummy is in reduced form equation; it can be recoded from
detailed industry classification.

     Does your boss have a boss?

No clear equivalent in 1975 WLS.