Collecting Employment Data

Public

Discussion:

Hello,

Presuming this thread was started based on information in the CS202 Course, I think there is confusion. Susan said, "It's interesting to me that telephone interview is seen as being able to gather more results." In discussing the different data collection methods for an employment verification program, three methods are presented. There is no mention of what presents "better results" but rather a presentation of the benefits and challenges of each. Additionally, if one were to claim a certain method has "better results," one would have to define what is meant by "results." If by results, one means more information collected, it may or may not be true. If by results, one means data integrity, I would have to say it is more likely verified information will have higher data integrity than self-reported (unverified) data.

The three methods discussed were:

Questionnaire Survey Method: Self-reported employment data is collected (not verified) from graduates through a questionnaire administered by the institution.
Interview Method: An interviewer from the institution works directly with respondents to collect, record, and verify employment data.
Third-party Verifications: Institutions outsource collection and verification of graduate employment data to a vendor or have the vendor re-verify institutionally collected data.

Notice that "Interview Method" is not defined as being restricted to using a telephone. It is only defined as an "interviewer" working directly with respondents to collect, record, and verify employment data. This means a representative from the institution is doing all they can do to "collect, record, and verify." It does not mean they are restricted to "Telephone" interviews. Thus, an institution who uses the "Interview Method" likely has representatives doing all they can to collect and verify data such as emails, phone calls, social media messaging, etc. The distinction is not in the modality, but rather in the proactive one-on-one nature of aggressively trying to collect and verify data rather than relying on self-reported data alone that is not verified.

- Robert

Hello, Presuming this thread was started based on information in the CS202 Course, I think there is confusion. Susan said, "It's interesting to me that telephone interview is seen as being able to gather more results." In discussing the different data collection methods for an employment verification program, three methods are presented. There is no mention of what presents "better results" but rather a presentation of the benefits and challenges of each. Additionally, if one were to claim a certain method has "better results," one would have to define what is meant by "results." If by results, one means more information collected, it may or may not be true. If by results, one means data integrity, I would have to say it is more likely verified information will have higher data integrity than self-reported (unverified) data.    The three methods discussed were: <ol> <li>Questionnaire Survey Method: Self-reported employment data is collected (not verified) from graduates through a questionnaire administered by the institution.</li> <li>Interview Method: An interviewer from the institution works directly with respondents to collect, record, and verify employment data.</li> <li>Third-party Verifications: Institutions outsource collection and verification of graduate employment data to a vendor or have the vendor re-verify institutionally collected data.</li> </ol>   Notice that "Interview Method" is not defined as being restricted to using a telephone. It is only defined as an "interviewer" working directly with respondents to collect, record, and verify employment data. This means a representative from the institution is doing all they can do to "collect, record, and verify." It does not mean they are restricted to "Telephone" interviews. Thus, an institution who uses the "Interview Method" likely has representatives doing all they can to collect and verify data such as emails, phone calls, social media messaging, etc. The distinction is not in the modality, but rather in the proactive one-on-one nature of aggressively trying to collect and verify data rather than relying on self-reported data alone that is not verified.  - Robert