WorklifeWizard.org Future Research

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WorklifeWizard.orgFuture Research

• Isabelle Ferreras iferreras_at_law.harvard.edu
• Jason Anastasopoulos
• anastas_at_fas.harvard.edu

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All About the WorklifeWizard Who We Are

• A project of the Labor Worklife Program at
  Harvard Law School http//www.law.harvard.edu/pro
  grams/lwp
• Harvard Trade Union Program
• Pension Research and Reform
• Labor Economics and Employment and Labor Law
  Research
• A Team of Social Scientists

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All About the WorklifeWizard Our Team

• Dr. Richard Freeman - WorklifeWizard Research
  Director
• PhD Economics, Harvard
• Professor of Economics at Harvard University
  Faculty Co-Chair, Labor and Worklife Program
  Harvard Trade Union Program
• Dr. Isabelle Ferreras- WorklifeWizard Research
  Coordinator
• PhD Sociology, University of Louvain, MA
  Political Science, MIT.
• Research Associate, Labor and Worklife Program
• Jason Anastasopoulos
• AM Statistics, Harvard
• Web and Publications Coordinator, Labor and
  Worklife Program

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Context The Need for Worklife Data in the US
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ContextKnowledge About Worklife In the US

• Data on work and employment in the US is
  incomplete
• Employment v. Work
• Focus on quantitative aspects of the American
  workforce wages, employment rates, etc.
• Lack of qualitiative information
• What is the experience of American workers?

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ContextKnowledge About Worklife In the US

• American Data Collection Institutions
• US Census Bureau www.census.gov
• Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
• The source for data on the American workforce.
• Over 30,000 articles using BLS data (using Google
  Scholar).
• Major surveys are the Current Population Survey
  (CPS) and the Occupational and Employment Survey.

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ContextKnowledge About Worklife In the US

• Current Population Survey (CPS)
• Deals with employment and unemployment across
  many dimensions race, sex, marital status,
  occupation, industry, etc)
• Occupational and Employment Survey
• Data forms the basis of our salary checker.
• Offers detailed information about wages by state.

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ContextKnowledge About Worklife in the US

• Where the Worklife Wizard Comes In
• Ask more questions about work life rather than
  just employment.
• Employee involvement in the workplace
• Gender and power issues
• Employee-management relations
• Work life issues not systematically covered

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ContextA Permanent Research Tool

• The Google of work life
• A resource for researchers, academics and labor
• Answers to social, political and economic
  questions relating to work
• Making it happen

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Survey Structure and Methods
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Structure and MethodsThe Survey

• Dual Level Structure
• Core Survey
• Special Research Modules

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Structure and MethodsThe Survey

• Core Survey
• About 40-50 questions
• Similar to all other WageIndicator Survey
  Questions
• Contains several Current Population Survey
  questions for statistical purposes.

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Structure and MethodsThe Survey

• Special Research Modules (SRMs)
• Def. A set of roughly 10-30 questions unified
  by a common theme
• Gender
• Customer-worker relations
• Shared capitalism
• Unlike any questions asked by major American data
  collection institutions.

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Structure and MethodsThe Survey

• Special Research Modules (SRMs)
• Mechanics
• Rotation
• Question Submission Data Collection

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Structure and MethodsMethodology

• Internet Surveys
• Problems with non-random sampling
• Solutions
• Advertising and promotion
• Data Comparisons Current Population Survey
  questions in the core

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An Information Resource
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An Information Resource

• WorklifeWizard Observatory
• An observatory of work life
• A source for information about virtually all work
  related issues
• Workers rights
• Labor and employment law
• Job tips and advice
• A permanent blog index
• Work life news, labor news, top news stories,
  worklife books and more!

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Future Collaborations

• Currently working with Monster.com, Business Week
  several US labor unions
• Partnership program
• New collaborations with American researchers

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CONTACT US!

• Isabelle Ferreras
• Research Coordinator
• iferreras_at_law.harvard.edu
• Jason Anastasopoulos
• Web manager
• janastasopoulo_at_law.harvard.edu