Challenges in Minimizing Nonsampling Errors in an International Assessment of Adult Competencies

• Activity Number: 103
• Type: Invited
• Date/Time: Monday, August 1, 2011 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Section on Survey Research Methods
• Author(s): Leyla K. Mohadjer*+
• Companies: Westat Inc.
• Keywords: Nonsampling errors ; international surveys ; standards and guidelines ; quality control

Abstract

The Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) is a multi-cycle international survey of assessment of adult skills and competencies sponsored by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). PIAAC will collect background information and administer an assessment of cognitive skills to measure participants' general levels of literacy and numeracy. In PIAAC, as in any survey, it is a challenge to minimize potential survey errors, which may be due to such factors as the sample design or selection, the measurement instruments, data collection or processing problems, weighting and estimation difficulties, etc. Furthermore, in a multi-national survey such as PIAAC, there are challenges associated with the diversity of cultures, languages and other practices among countries. No single survey design will be effective for every country. Nevertheless, because of survey complexities and the possibility of different practices among countries, it is important to standardize the PIAAC survey procedures as much as practically possible. This paper presents PIAAC's standards and guidelines, and the preliminary results gathered through a field test.