A respondent’s data is considered complete for the purposes of the scaling of psychometric assessment data provided that at least the Background Questionnaire variables for age, gender and education have been completed.
The ALL survey design combined educational testing techniques with those of household survey research to measure literacy and provide the information necessary to make these measures meaningful. The main task booklets were the last of a series of collection instruments to be applied. Initially, respondents were asked to complete a survey entry component, or screener, which constructed a roster for each sampled dwelling. This screener collected enough demographic data to identify target subpopulations for the survey and to permit the random selection of one member from each dwelling. The background questionnaire was then asked of the selected respondent, encompassing several modules of information required to relate the tested skills to individuals’ economic and social situations. The respondents were asked a series of questions on educational attainment, literacy practices at home and at work, labour force information, information communications technology uses, adult education participation and literacy self-assessment. As a result, the background questionnaire required a median time of about 35 minutes to administer.
Once the background questionnaire had been completed, the interviewer presented a short core task booklet of six relatively simple tasks (Core task booklet). Respondents who passed the Core tasks were given a more difficult main task booklet, with a much larger variety of tasks involving about 45 items. No time limit was imposed on respondents, and they were urged to try each item in their booklets. Respondents were given a maximum leeway to demonstrate their skill levels, even if their measured skills were minimal. All respondents were to attempt the Core task, and then if indicated, the main task booklet (median completed time of 58 minutes) immediately after completing the background questionnaire in order to control the impact of fatigue on the assessment tools.
The core and main task booklets were paper and pencil assessments; however the screener, background questionnaire, and even the administration of the core and the main task booklets were handled in a computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI) environment. As a benefit of an extensive match of the census frame to the central Address Register, telephone numbers were available for approximately 74 percent of the survey file. In such a case, interviewers were permitted to make an initial contact by telephone to complete the screener and to then schedule an appointment for a personal interview with the selected respondent.
Data collection began in 2003 with the planning of interviewer assignments by the regional offices coordinating the collection activities. The first contacts with respondents were initiated in March 2003 across the country and the last interviews were completed in August, with all survey-related materials being returned to head office by September of 2003.
To ensure high quality data, the international Survey Administration Guidelines were followed and supplemented by adherence to Statistics Canada’s own internal policies and procedures. The interviews were conducted in the respondent’s home in a neutral, non-pressured manner. Interviewer training and supervision were provided, emphasizing the importance of precautions against non-response bias. Interviewers were specifically instructed to return several times to non-respondent households in order to obtain as many responses as possible. Extensive effort was expended to ensure that the address information provided to interviewers was as complete as possible, in order to reduce potential household identification problems. Finally, the interviewers’ work was supervised by using frequent quality checks at the beginning of data collection, fewer quality checks throughout collection and having help available to interviewers during the data collection period. In total, Canada used 317 interviewers with an average assignment size of 62 respondents.