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(BALS) Data
Core Focus
At the core of the BALS data collection from both firms and individuals is a series of questions about skills. Questions were posed to firms about the skills required of workers in a particular entry-level, low-skilled job. These skills were translated into survey language for individuals through a series of informal focus groups with individuals from a low-income neighborhood.
The 76 skills were grouped under eight areas: reading English (8 specific skills), writing English (12 specific skills), math (13 specific skills), communication (11 specific skills), problem solving (12 specific skills), use of equipment (10 specific skills), and computer software (10 specific skills). Each specific skill (and each grouping) was included in data collection because informal focus groups with employers suggested the skill was required in low-skilled positions in the Bay Area.
Methodology
The set of surveys to firms were administered over the telephone in two waves. In Wave I, 5,514 employers were randomly selected from a Genesys data base (http://www.m-s-g.com/) and were asked for cursory information about the firm and its low-skilled positions (job title, wage, benefits, English language ability, and job availability in next year) and their willingness to participate in an in-depth, on-site survey about a selected entry-level, low-skilled position ( Phone Survey). 75.2 percent of the 5,514 firms selected for surveying in the Phone Survey had a positive survey disposition, meaning they completed the survey or were not eligible to do so (e.g., no entry-level, low-skilled jobs, not in business, restrictive hiring).
In the second part of Wave I surveying, the 405 firms hiring for entry-level, low-skilled positions (about 20.8 percent of those eligible for surveying) participated in an on-site survey to collect in-depth information about one specific entry-level job ( Employer Survey). Firms that were hiring in one entry-level, low-skilled position were asked questions about that position. If they were hiring in more than one position, a position for surveying was selected using the criteria of maximizing the variability of jobs in the sample. Wave I surveys were administered from June 1998 to October 2002.
In Wave II, BALS reinterviewed the 405 firms participating in the Employer Survey from October 2002 through October 2003 (averaging about 22.8 months after initial surveying) to determine the overtime changes in wages and job requirements ( Longitudinal Survey of Employers) that occurred between the two time periods. 92.4 percent of the firms surveyed had a positive disposition, meaning they completed the survey or were no longer in business.
BALS surveys for firms were administered in San Francisco, Alameda, and San Joaquin counties. Selection of firms for surveying in Wave I was stratified by both county and number of employees in the firm to ensure meaningful analysis along these lines. Within each county, three sizes of firms were targeted for surveying: small (1-49 employees), medium (100-250 employees), and large (over 300 employees). Discrete categories were developed to allow for discontinuity in classification, which makes firms in different size categories unique (e.g., they do not differ by only one employee).
A report detailing BALS surveying efforts of employers is available in PDF at http://www.hire.csueastbay.edu/hire/discpap/abstracts/D04-06-04.pdf or from hire@csueastbay.edu by requesting HIRE Center Report D04-06-04.
In 2002, BALS expanded surveying to include individuals in the 94544 zip code in Hayward California, allowing for a comparison between skills supplied in the local labor market ( Household Survey) to those defined as essential by local employers (from the Employer Survey). Because Household Surveys were administered from March 2002 to January 2003, only partial overlap exists between their fielding and that of the EmployerSurveys. 19.3 percent of the Employer Surveys were in the field at the same time as the Household Surveys, 66.2 percent were fielded a year prior to it, and 14.6 percent were fielded about 3.5 years prior.
The zip code was selected for surveying because it contains a disproportionate proportion of low-skilled workers (defined as no more than a high school education and one year of work experience).
The area might best be described as “working class” or a “gateway” community for households striving for upward mobility for their families. Its location in “the heart of the Bay” means that its residents seek employment from firms located in each of the three counties included in our Employer Surveying. In fact, 25 percent of all workers in the BALS counties reside in the zip code’s county and 63.9 percent of the workers living in the county work in the BALS local labor market.
Household Surveys were administered face-to-face to 766 individuals in one zip code in the San Francisco Bay Area. The surveying had a 37.3 percent response rate. Two distinct populations were selected for surveying. 91 surveys were administered at local social service organizations or their sponsored events and 675 surveys were administered door-to-door to randomly selected households in each of the 13 census tracts in the zip code. Because a relatively high percentage of residents were monolingual Spanish speaking, surveys were translated into (and back translated from) Spanish for administration by bilingual residents. About 23 percent of the surveys were completed in Spanish. Respondents were given a $15 voucher at one of the local supermarkets for completing the survey.
A report detailing BALS surveying efforts of individuals is available in PDF at http://www.hire.csueastbay.edu/hire/discpap/abstracts/D04-06-05.pdf or from hire@csueastbay.edu by requesting HIRE Center Report D04-06-05.
More information about the 94544 zip code can be found at:
“ Describing South Hayward. Diversity along Many Dimensions .” http://www.hire.csueastbay.edu/hire/discpap/abstracts/F04-01-01.pdf) or from hire@csueastbay.edu by requesting HIRE Center Report F04-01-01.
“A Statistical Portrait of Hayward California: Residents in the 94544 Zip code” (http://www.hire.csueastbay.edu/hire/discpap/abstracts/F03-11-08.pdf) or from hire@csueastbay.edu by requesting HIRE Center Report F03-11-08.
Phone Survey
Employer Survey
Longitudinal Survey of Employers
Resident Survey (English Version)
Resident Survey (Spanish Version)
Data collection was funded by:
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Department of Human Services, City and County of San Francisco
- Rockefeller Foundation
- W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
Research reports, books, and articles using BALS data have been funded by.
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
- W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Department of Human Services, City and County of San Francisco
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