CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY OF FULLERTON FOUNDATION 12

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STUDY DESIGN - UNIVERSAL ACCESS CUSTOMER SURVEY The special strengths ofthe SSRC are our methodological approaches to questionnaire construction, pre-testing the survey instrument (Pilot testing), language capabilities, sample design, data collection, data analysis, and technical report preparation. Questionnaire construction, pilot testing, language capabilities, sampling, and data analysis and report preparation, are discussed below. Our scientific approach to data collection is detailed in Appendix B. Questionnaire Construction and Pilot Testing The SSRC is higWy experienced at translating the information needs of decision-makers to survey instrumentation. The process of developing a survey instrument for the Santa Ana WIB will be greatly accelerated because of this experience and access to the instrument used to support the previous ROI study. Working with relevant program staff, the SSRC will design a questionnaire to determine the services and resources used by universal access, or "Core A" customers, their preceding employment status, their satisfaction with WORK center services and the employment and wage outcomes associated with their use of the services/resources. A variety of demographic information will also be collected. Our location close to the Santa Ana WORK Center will facilitate meetings during this process and throughout the study, if necessary. It is imperative that the contractor selected to collect these data carefully measure the duration and intensity of service use at the WORK Center. Using this "dose- response" covariate for outcome measures is necessary to adequately explain outcomes. One would not expect the casual user to obtain the same outcomes as someone who visited the WORK Center often and/or used a number of different services and resources. Use of a covariate quantifying the duration and intensity of service utilization will add accuracy and clarity to outcomes assessment. The survey questionnaire will quantify the use of services including, but not limited to, WORK shops, computer access to job orders, hard copy po stings on the job order board, want ads, provision of computer time for job searches, resume preparation, email access, use of basic business machines, and use of free outgoing mail for resume submission. Pre- and post-wages will depend upon self- report, which can be compared to the base wage data provided by the WORK Center. The SSRC pre-tests survey instruments prior to initiating full-scale data collection. All supervisorial and interviewing staff working on a project are trained using a paper-and- pencil version ofthe survey. Each question is read aloud and staff are paired to practice the survey instrument on the CATI system. After this hands-on practice, the instrument may be refined to improve comprehensiveness, flow, length and factors that influence respondent cooperation and interest. Surveys are conducted with approximately 25 to 30 respondents. Supervisors and SSRC management-level staff then conduct a "debriefing," which allows interviewers to discuss the overall progression of survey item sequencing as well as to comment on specific survey items that may have been unclear to survey respondents. Before the next interviewing shift, SSRC personnel review the pilot 5