Designing Survey Questionnaires: Should Surveys Ask about Public Servants’ Perceptions of Their Organization or Their Individual Experience?

Kim Sass Mikkelsen, Camille Mercedes Parker

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingBook chapterResearchpeer-review

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.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Government Analytics Handbook : Leveraging Data to Strengthen Public Administration
EditorsDaniel Rogger, Christian Schuster
Number of pages27
Place of PublicationWashington
PublisherWorld Bank Publications
Publication date2023
Edition1
Pages497-523
Chapter23
ISBN (Print)9781464819575
ISBN (Electronic)9781464819810
Publication statusPublished - 2023

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