About The Survey

This report is based on a nationwide, representative telephone survey of 1,051 federal government workers and 500 private sector employees, conducted under the direction of Princeton Survey Research Associates (PSRA) and led by PSRA Vice President Mary McIntosh. Interviewing was conducted between Feb. 7 and June 1, 2001. The interviews averaged 20 minutes in length, and interviewers made up to 20 calls to each sampled respondent to attempt to complete an interview.

PSRA interviewed federal workers across the workforce: 177 Senior Executive Service (SES) members; 107 Presidential Management Interns (PMIs); 213 General Schedule managers and supervisors; and 554 GS employees. Most of the PMIs came from the classes of 1997, 1998 and 1999. Likewise, PSRA interviewed 247 private business managers and supervisors and 253 private rank-and-file employees. The total federal government and private business samples were weighted to reflect the actual proportion of managers and nonmanagers in each sector.

For results based on the total sample of federal workers the margin of error is ±3 percent. The margin of error for federal worker subsamples is ±9 percent for PMIs; ±7 percent for the SES; ±7 percent for GS managers; and ±4 percent for GS employees. For results based on the total sample of for-profit business workers, the margin of error is ±4 percent. Sampling errors, variations in how questions are asked and practical difficulties in conducting a survey by telephone can all introduce error or bias into the findings.