Certification Tests as an Indicator of Interviewer Productivity

Rachael Walsh, U.S. Census Bureau

The Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) is currently undergoing redesign to incorporate an Event History Calendar (EHC), reducing cost and a change to respondent burden through annual data collection. As this evolution continues, the quality of data collected is being assessed, as is interviewer training effectiveness, through an incorporation of an interviewer certification test administered at the end of the classroom training. Using OLS regression, this research assesses the effectiveness of this certification test as a predictor for interviewer productivity with respect to length of time necessary to complete an interview and person non-response. Recommendations for the future direction of interviewer training will be made from these research implications.