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The magnitude of the NHSDA required a field data collection management structure robust enough to support the interviewing staff and flexible enough to manage an ever-changing variety of issues. The basic management structure remained unchanged from the 1999 NHSDA: Field Supervisors managed states and substate regions and reported to Regional Supervisors who then reported to Regional Directors who reported directly to the National Field Director. This chapter discusses the process of assembling the staff needed to conduct the 2000 NHSDA data collection effort.
Regional Directors (RDs) managed data collection within defined territories of the nation. Reporting directly to the National Field Director, the RDs, working with the Project Director and the National Field Director, served as the management team for all data collection operations.
The nation was divided among 7 RDs for the first three quarters of data collection for 2000. At the beginning of Q4, territories were realigned to accommodate a change to 6 RDs.
The RDs were survey managers with many years of experience at RTI. Staff for six of the seven RD positions for the 2000 NHSDA served as RDs for the 1999 survey. The other RD position was filled by a member of the Survey Research Division with significant experience managing other large and complex projects. At the end of Quarter 2, that person was replaced by a Regional Supervisor who was promoted to the RD position.
Each of the RDs managed a staff of Regional Supervisors (RSs), who in turn managed a staff of three to six Field Supervisors (FSs) who managed the team of Field Interviewers (FIs) in their individual states or assigned areas. Each region also had a "Super" FS to assist or substitute for the region's staff of FSs. The "Super" FS reported directly to the RD. Each RD also managed a small staff of survey specialists at RTI who assisted the RD in a variety of functions, including monitoring various reports and measures of production and quality, and maintaining spreadsheets to monitor costs. In addition, each RD supervised a Traveling Field Interviewer (TFI) Manager who coordinated the work of TFIs within the RD's region.
RDs also had project-wide ancillary functions not specific to their region. These included coordinating FS and FI recruiting; Counting and Listing activities; training activities; interactions with the Headway staff; and the supplying of material, equipment, and training packages to the field staff. The survey specialists assigned to the RDs assisted in these functional areas as well.
Exhibit 3.1 displays the RD regions and management task assignments at the end of the 2000 NHSDA. Listed under each RD is the structure containing the number of Regional Supervisors and Field Supervisors, geographic regions, and the ancillary management functions.
Regional Supervisors (RSs) were the direct managers of three to six Field Supervisors. Reporting to an RD, RSs were responsible for all data collection activities in the state or states in their region. Each of the eight large states was supervised by a single RS. The 43 smaller states, including the District of Columbia, were clustered geographically to be managed by the remaining RSs. During the course of the year, assignments were adjusted as RSs left the project team and new RSs joined; other changes allowed stronger, more experienced staff to manage troubled areas. See Exhibit 3.1 for the final groupings of states managed by each RS.
Of the 20 RS positions on the supervisory team at the beginning of Quarter 1, 18 of those had served as RSs during the 1999 survey. One of the two new RSs was new to the project while the other had served as the RS for Counting and Listing. New Regional Supervisors who joined the team during the year were either staff in the Survey Research Division at RTI or highly successful Field Supervisors promoted to the RS position.
Field Supervisors were the first-level supervisors of the interviewers conducting the data collection in each of the states. The FSs assigned work, monitored progress, resolved problems, and managed the day-to-day activities of the interviewers. Each FS reported directly to an RS. Each RD region's "Super" FS (SFS) was available to substitute during vacations of primary FSs and to help with FI recruiting, problem resolution, and mentoring of new FIs.
There were 82 FS and SFS positions at the beginning of 2000. During the year as staff left the FS position, territories were sometimes realigned to absorb the work, or replacement FSs were hired from the "bullpen." Five new FSs were hired during 2000.
In order to maintain a "bullpen," Field Supervisor candidates were identified from individuals referred by current NHSDA staff and from the group of FSs currently working on other RTI survey projects.
Each recommended candidate was screened for interest and basic qualifications for the position. Candidates who successfully completed this initial screening were interviewed and evaluated by two or more of the RSs. A subset of the RSs conducted all of the interviews and reference checks using standardized materials. The interview summary and the reference checks were forwarded to the RDs for review. Based on the RD evaluations, candidates were either placed in the "bullpen" or told that they would not be considered further.
As openings occurred during the year, the RD and RS for the region reviewed the candidates in the "bullpen" and identified one or more candidates for an additional personal interview. After review and approval by the National Field Director, an offer was made to the candidate whom the RD and supervising RS felt would best match their staffing needs.
One of the primary FS functions was the continuous recruiting and hiring of the FI staff needed to complete the data collection work each quarter. FSs used multiple recruiting approaches to identify candidates, including:
Networking involved any or all of the following contacts:
A competitive hourly wage was offered to attract a large pool of candidates. Those with general interviewing experience, and especially those with experience working on government surveys, were given preference in hiring. However, candidates with transferable skills and experience—such as contact with the public, attention to detail, and organizational skills—were considered.
The work of an interviewer requires a wide range of skills and abilities. Some of the characteristics/qualities FSs tried to identify in potential hires included:
It was essential that staff hired to serve as interviewers understood and were committed to the standards of confidentiality and excellence required by the NHSDA. To help ensure this, all individuals hired to serve as FIs were required to read and sign a Data Collection Agreement (see Exhibit 3.2). Failure to comply with the provisions of this agreement would have resulted in termination from the NHSDA.
FI candidates who were unknown to the FS were interviewed by the FS using behavior based questions which required the candidates to provide examples about how they had handled specific situations in the past. For example, an FS might say "Tell me about the last time you were in a situation where you had to approach a stranger to extract some sort of information. How did you do it?" Also during the interview, the FS fully explained the requirements and responsibilities of the NHSDA interviewer's job, described the project expectations, and defined the required time commitment. The FS then probed the candidate's job and interviewing history. At the conclusion of the interview, if the FS still considered the person a viable FI candidate, the FS conducted reference checks. If the reference checks were satisfactory, the FS then recommended the candidate for hire. Criminal background and driving history checks were then completed before the candidate attended a training session.
FSs attempted to hire bilingual interviewers who spoke Spanish fluently in those sample areas with large populations of Hispanics. Before an FS hired a bilingual candidate, each applicant was screened by a bilingual staff member to assess the applicant's Spanish-language abilities. The assessment involved reading and speaking in Spanish. The bilingual candidate had to meet these assessment requirements satisfactorily before he/she could be hired and trained as an RTI-Certified bilingual interviewer.
Another subset of specialized interviewers were the Traveling Field Interviewers (TFIs). Each RD region had a team of up to 10 TFIs promoted from among their current staff or hired from newly-identified candidates with proven interviewing experience. These TFIs were hired at an out-of-pattern pay rate to recognize their experience and proficiency levels and to compensate for potential periods of low hours. Each TFI was asked to commit to at least two 12-day trips each quarter. TFI teams were used to fill the unmet needs in areas with staffing shortfalls or where special needs arose (such as covering long-term illnesses in the staff). In addition, several TFIs were certified bilingual interviewers and were assigned to areas where no bilingual interviewer was available.
Exhibit 3.3 displays a flow chart that presents all of the steps in the FI recruiting and hiring process.
During the entire data collection period, a total of 1,375 FIs completed training and worked on the study. The following are demographic characteristics of the interviewing staff:
Table 3.1 provides a distribution of interviewers by race and gender for the veteran interviewers; Table 3.2 for the interviewers hired and trained during 2000; and Table 3.3 for the total. Table 3.4 provides a distribution of veteran interviewers by bilingual skill and gender; Table 3.5 for the newly trained staff; and Table 3.6 for the total.
In certain areas, the number of staff working continued to be less than the targeted number of interviewers needed. This targeted number was based on:
As each quarter's sample was provided by the statisticians, the process to estimate the number of needed interviewers was repeated. The assumptions were refined based on the most recent experience. Staff needed from quarter to quarter varied, so FSs had to review staff assignments throughout the quarter and continually recruit and hire additional staff.
While most areas were close to the targeted number, some areas struggled. To compensate for these problem areas, TFIs were used to perform the work. Supervisors also borrowed FIs from other areas to complete the work. These borrowed interviewers had completed their initial assignment and were willing to travel and take on additional work.
The attrition rate amongst the interviewing staff improved, decreasing from 38% in 1999 to 29.8% in 2000, matching the rate for the 1998 survey year. Even though the rate decreased, the continuing attrition meant FSs had to continually recruit new staff and juggle assignments to ensure that all of the assigned work was completed appropriately. There were significant costs associated with continuous recruiting efforts. These included not only the time of the FSs and the RTI office staff, but the costs of placing additional newspaper ads, preparing and shipping recruiting material, traveling to conduct interviews with candidates, and eventually training the newly hired staff. Additional costs were also incurred when TFIs had to be sent to work in areas where no interviewer was available.
| Race | Male | Percent Male |
Female | Percent Female |
Total | Percent of Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 27 | 12.9% | 101 | 13.3% | 128 | 13.2% |
| White | 162 | 77.1% | 583 | 76.7% | 745 | 76.8% |
| Other | 21 | 10.0% | 76 | 10.0% | 97 | 10.0% |
| Total | 210 | 100.0% | 760 | 100.0% | 970 | 100.0% |
| Race | Male | Percent Male |
Female | Percent Female |
Total | Percent of Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 11 | 10.1% | 55 | 18.6% | 66 | 16.3% |
| White | 88 | 80.7% | 210 | 70.9% | 298 | 73.6% |
| Other | 10 | 9.2% | 31 | 10.5% | 41 | 10.1% |
| Total | 109 | 100.0% | 296 | 100.0% | 405 | 100.0% |
| Race | Male | Percent Male |
Female | Percent Female |
Total | Percent of Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 38 | 11.9% | 156 | 14.8% | 194 | 14.1% |
| White | 250 | 78.4% | 793 | 75.1% | 1,043 | 75.9% |
| Other | 31 | 9.7% | 107 | 10.1% | 138 | 10.0% |
| Total | 319 | 100.0% | 1,056 | 100.0% | 1,375 | 100.0% |
| Language Ability |
Male | Percent Male |
Female | Percent Female |
Total | Percent of Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilingual | 15 | 7.1% | 49 | 6.4% | 64 | 6.6% |
| Non-Bilingual | 195 | 92.9% | 711 | 93.6% | 906 | 93.4% |
| Total | 210 | 100.0% | 760 | 100.0% | 970 | 100.0% |
| Language Ability |
Male | Percent Male |
Female | Percent Female |
Total | Percent of Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilingual | 7 | 6.4% | 28 | 9.5% | 35 | 8.6% | Non-Bilingual | 102 | 93.6% | 268 | 90.5% | 370 | 91.4% | Total | 109 | 100.0% | 296 | 100.0% | 405 | 100.0% |
| Language Ability |
Male | Percent Male |
Female | Percent Female |
Total | Percent of Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilingual | 22 | 6.9% | 77 | 7.3% | 99 | 7.2% |
| Non-Bilingual | 297 | 93.1% | 979 | 92.7% | 1,276 | 92.8% |
| Total | 319 | 100.0% | 1,056 | 100.0% | 1,375 | 100.0% |
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This page was last updated on December 29, 2008. |
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