WLS Codebooks

Note: Codebooks contain frequency data from the private data release. For some variables, these differ from the frequencies in the public release. Variables that differ between the public and private versions include "(not available on public release)" as part of the variable description, or a note indicating the difference between the public and private versions.

Mail: Job Characteristics

Sibling Mail: Job Characteristics

OVERVIEW

This module is a reduced version of the 2005 mail survey's Work and Family
section, with retained items addressing specific job characteristics and
spillover between work and family. As in 2005, only one of the participant's
employer job spells was selected as the subject of the section (where
applicable). For CAPI participants, the spell previously selected as the
subject of the CAPI interview's Job Characteristics Module was supposed to have
been further addressed herein; due to a programmatic error, however, only
approximately 40% of eligible CAPI participants - almost all of them currently
employed in the selected spell - were asked to complete the section. For more
information on how a spell was selected for CAPI participants, see the CAPI Job
Characteristics Module.

Sometimes participants who were unwilling to be interviewed in-person or by
telephone indicated they would be willing to return a self-administered
questionnaire (SAQ). We sent such cases a mail-only version of the SAQ, known
as the MOSAQ. In addition to replicating all content in the original 2011 SAQ,
the MOSAQ also contained questions analogous to those asked in selected CAPI
modules such as Employment. For this section, MOSAQ participants were prompted
to report on an employer spell as follows: if the participant had ever retired,
they were asked to focus on the first employer spell they retired from; if the
participant had yet to retire but was currently employed, they were asked to
focus on the current spell they started first (their longest active current
spell); finally, if the participant had never retired and was not currently
employed, they were asked to focus on their most recently completed spell of at
least six months' duration. MOSAQ participants were instructed to skip this
section if they had yet to retire, were not currently employed, and had never
maintained an employer spell for at least six months. Unlike CAPI participants,
who were explicitly asked about employment since their last interview (whether
during the 1994 or 2005 collection wave), MOSAQ participants were allowed to
report on spells regardless of their timing relative to last interview. 

Notably, both CAPI and MOSAQ participants were instructed to skip this section
of the mail survey if the characteristics of a job that ended in retirement
were previously recorded in 2005. For more 2011 employment data, please see the
CAPI Employment and Job Characteristics Modules. 


BRIEF VARIABLE DESCRIPTIONS

    Variable ranges reference dataset/codebook order and are not necessarily 
    alphabetical.
    _____________________________________________________________________

    PG500RER-PG501RER:	    Indicators for Whether Participant Was 
    			    Eligible for Job Characteristics and the 
    			    Outcome of Section Administration
    
    PG502RER: 		    Employer Job Spell (from CAPI Employment 
    			    Module) Selected as Subject of Job 
    			    Characteristics Section  

    PG312RER-PG317RER:      Physical Demands of Work Place While with
    			    Selected Employer

    PG351RER-PG354RER:	    Hours Per Week Spent Performing Specific
    			    Job-Related Tasks While with Selected 
    			    Employer

    PY001REC-PY002RE:       Family Stress Spills Over Into Work Summary

    PY004RER-PG311RER:	    Family Stress Spills Over Into Work Items

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