| dc.description.abstract | This report provides an analysis of the limitations of the current Norwegian practice of measuring work conditions, and offers suggestions for improving practice. We discuss the needs for updated and representative measurement of working conditions in Norway, and argue that despite Norway’s strong tradition of work life research, studies of work life and working conditions have almost always been focused on particular topics or narrow problems, with little thought given to obtaining a comprehensive, or general, examination and analysis of work life. We identify the measures, or instruments, that have been used to examine working conditions on a national level up to the present time. Focus is on measurements employed to measure psychosocial work conditions, but during this process we also touch upon measurement of other work conditions. Unfortunately, current measurement practices have several limitations. The six most important deficiencies are: 1. The use of “one shot” surveys designed to collect information about specific, often narrow, work life topics (with exception of Statistics Norway) 2. The surveys have had weak theoretical underpinnings 3. An absence of a clear method or logic for selecting topics to be included or excluded 4. The surveys have been designed and used for cross sectional research, not for cohort or longitudinal studies 5. The surveys have focused almost exclusively on the individual level of analysis 6. There has been a division of labor between the agency collecting data and agencies analyzing data, which has resulted in limited use of the data collected Based on this analysis, we then propose a new design for measuring the work environment in Norway, built on the following principles: • Surveys should be based on well established theories of work life and work experiences, and contain questions from validated instruments based on international research, in order to provide an overall view of, if not all. then at least the most salient features of work environment in Norway • Research samples should be representative of the Norwegian work life, both on the individual and enterprise level. That is, the research design should include parallel panels of employees and enterprises • To measure changes in the work environment over time, surveys should be conducted at regular intervals, say every two or three years • A longitudinal design should be used to allow for repeated sampling of information from the same unit of analysis • The survey design should allow analyses on both the individual and enterprise level • The institution carrying out the surveys should also be responsible for reporting and using the data collected We propose that the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority should be the responsible governmental agency for ensuring that regular surveys of the Norwegian work environment be carried out. We also propose topics to be included in the surveys, with a focus on the psychosocial work environment. | en_US |
