The Management and Organizational Practices Survey (MOPS): Cognitive Testing

49 Pages Posted: 8 Dec 2016

See all articles by Catherine Buffington

Catherine Buffington

US Census Bureau

Kenneth Herrell

Government of the United States of America - Bureau of the Census

Scott Ohlmacher

University of Maryland

Date Written: December 6, 2016

Abstract

All Census Bureau surveys must meet quality standards before they can be sent to the public for data collection. This paper outlines the pretesting process that was used to ensure that the Management and Organizational Practices Survey (MOPS) met those standards. The MOPS is the first large survey of management practices at U.S. manufacturing establishments. The first wave of the MOPS, issued for reference year 2010, was subject to internal expert review and two rounds of cognitive interviews. The results of this pretesting were used to make significant changes to the MOPS instrument and ensure that quality data was collected. The second wave of the MOPS, featuring new questions on data in decision making (DDD) and uncertainty and issued for reference year 2015, was subject to two rounds of cognitive interviews and a round of usability testing. This paper illustrates the effort undertaken by the Census Bureau to ensure that all surveys released into the field are of high quality and provides insight into how respondents interpret the MOPS questionnaire for those looking to utilize the MOPS data.

Suggested Citation

Buffington, Catherine and Herrell, Kenneth and Ohlmacher, Scott, The Management and Organizational Practices Survey (MOPS): Cognitive Testing (December 6, 2016). US Census Bureau Center for Economic Studies Paper No. CES-WP- 16-53, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2881612 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2881612

Catherine Buffington (Contact Author)

US Census Bureau ( email )

4600 Silver Hill Road
Washington, DC 20233
United States

Kenneth Herrell

Government of the United States of America - Bureau of the Census ( email )

4600 Silver Hill Road
Washington, DC 20233
United States
301-763-2197 (Phone)

Scott Ohlmacher

University of Maryland

College Park
College Park, MD 20742
United States

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