Abstract
Civil service surveys are often interested in organizational aggregates and comparisons across organizations Therefore, the choice of question referent is important in questionnaire design Should survey questions refer to individual employees or to employees’ assessments of their organizations?
This chapter provides tools for thinking through this choice Moreover, experimental evidence from representative public service surveys in Romania and Guatemala shows that the choice of referent matters to how employees respond Finally, the chapter provides evidence that organizational referents
can help reduce socially desirable responding, particularly for highly sensitive questions, and that referent effects may be larger for attitudes and behaviors that are uncommon, but that the size of referent effects beyond this is difficult to predict.
This chapter provides tools for thinking through this choice Moreover, experimental evidence from representative public service surveys in Romania and Guatemala shows that the choice of referent matters to how employees respond Finally, the chapter provides evidence that organizational referents
can help reduce socially desirable responding, particularly for highly sensitive questions, and that referent effects may be larger for attitudes and behaviors that are uncommon, but that the size of referent effects beyond this is difficult to predict.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | The Government Analytics Handbook : Leveraging Data to Strengthen Public Administration |
Editors | Daniel Rogger, Christian Schuster |
Number of pages | 27 |
Place of Publication | Washington |
Publisher | World Bank Publications |
Publication date | 2023 |
Edition | 1 |
Pages | 497-523 |
Chapter | 23 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781464819575 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781464819810 |
Publication status | Published - 2023 |