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Title:
Workplace Employment Relations Survey, 2004: Teaching Dataset
(WERS 2004 Teaching Dataset)

Subject Categories:
Teaching packages and test datasets - Reference and instructional resources
Workplace Employee Relations Survey - Major studies
Industrial relations - Employment and labour

Depositor(s):
National Institute of Economic and Social Research

Principal Investigator(s):
Forth, J., National Institute of Economic and Social Research
Stokes, L., National Institute of Economic and Social Research

Original Producer(s):
Department of Trade and Industry. Employment Markets Analysis and Research

Sponsor(s):
Department of Trade and Industry
Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service
Economic and Social Research Council
Policy Studies Institute
National Centre for Social Research

Grant Number:
R6-F3-16

Abstract:
The Workplace Employment Relations Survey, 2004: Teaching Dataset is a slimmed down version of the Workplace Employee Relations Survey, 2004: Cross-Section Survey, (WERS) (available at the UKDA under SN 5294). The dataset contains all of the workplaces and employees that participated in the WERS 2004 Cross-Section Survey, but contains only a subset of the data collected in the survey in order to make the dataset more manageable. This subset comprises a selection of the data items collected in the Employee Profile Questionnaire and Management Interview, and a selection of the data items from the Employee Questionnaire. The remaining data items from these components of the survey are excluded, along with all data from the Employee Representative Interview and the Financial Performance Questionnaire. The data from the 1998-2004 Panel Survey are also excluded.

This teaching dataset may prove useful to teachers and students of employment relations, human resource management, industrial sociology and labour economics. It may also prove useful to those teaching or studying survey methods because WERS employs a variable probability sampling design which requires the use of weights in the analysis of the survey data. Finally, it may prove useful to those teaching or studying statistics or econometrics because the employee observations are clustered within workplaces, thus providing opportunities for multi-level analysis.

Further information can be found at the WERS 2004 Information and Advice Service web page.

For the second edition (October 2008), the Survey of Employers and Matched data files have been updated to include weight variables.

Main Topics:
Topics covered in the cross-section management interview include workforce composition, management of personnel and employment relations, recruitment and training, workplace flexibility and the organisation of work, consultation and information, employee representation, payment systems and pay determination, grievance, disciplinary and dispute procedures, equal opportunities, work-life balance and workplace performance.

The cross-section survey of employees contains questions on working hours, job influence, job satisfaction, working arrangements, training and skills, information and consultation, employee representation, and pay.

Coverage:
Dates of Fieldwork: February 2004-April 2005
Country: Great Britain
Spatial Units: No spatial unit.
Observation Units: Individuals; Institutions/organisations
Kind of Data: Numeric data

Universe Sampled:
Location of Units of Observation:National
Population:All establishments in Britain with five or more employees and operating in Sections D-O of the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC 2003).

Methodology:
Time Dimensions: Cross-sectional (one-time) study
This study is taken from WERS 2004 which is the fifth in the survey series, with previous surveys carried out in 1980, 1984, 1990 and 1998.
Sampling Procedures: One-stage stratified or systematic random sample
Number of Units: Managers Questionnaire (xs04_mqv2_teaching_dataset): 2,295 cases; Survey of Employees (xs04_seqv2_teaching_dataset) 22,451.
Method of Data Collection: Face-to-face interview; Self-completion
Weighting: Weighting used. See documentation for details.
Data Sources: The study contains data from WERS 2004 Cross-Section dataset available at the UKDA under SN 5294.

Language(s) of Written Materials:
Study Description: English
Study Documentation: English

Access:
Access Conditions: The depositor has specified that registration is required and standard conditions of use apply. The depositor may be informed about usage. See terms and conditions for further information.
Availability: ESDS Access and Preservation, UK Data Archive
Contact: Help desk: help@esds.ac.uk

Date of Release:
First Edition: 7 August 2008
Latest Edition: 01 October 2008 ( 2nd Edition )

Copyright:
Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland

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