BLS.gov User's Survey

Questionnaire Items for the Short Form (Phase 1)

Introductory Message

Please help us improve our website by participating in the survey that begins below!

Our Pledge of Privacy

The answers you provide on this survey will be used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to improve the website. Please note:

• Your participation is completely voluntary and anonymous.

• We estimate that it will take an average of one minute to complete this survey.

1. What information were you looking for on this website? (Please check all that apply)

 Career information, including information to help me find a job

 Employment data for the U.S. work force (including hours worked)
 Import/Export price data

 Inflation, price, or cost of living data

 Information about, or job opportunities in, BLS

 International statistics

 Productivity data

 Unemployment/layoff data

 Wages and benefits data

 Workplace safety and health data

 Nothing specific/just browsing

 Other – please specify below

2. If you checked “Other”, what specific information were you looking for? [open-end]

3. Which of the following BLS website features or tools did you use to try to find the information? (Please check all that apply)

 A-Z index of topics

 Calculators (for example, inflation, location quotient, or wage)

 Create Customized Tables

 FTP files

 Information (text) on a web page

 Latest numbers

 Maps

 “Most Requested Statistics” series

 Phone call to BLS

 Search box or advanced search

 Sent an e-mail to the help desk

 Series report

 Tabs at the top of a page

 Word links (hyperlinks) on a Web page

 Other – please specify

4. If you checked “Other”, what other tools or aids did you use to try to find the information? [open-ended]

5. Did you find the information that you were looking for?

Yes, all of it

Yes, some of it

No (go to Q6)

Not looking for anything specific/just browsing

Not yet, but still looking

Not sure/don’t know

6. [If Q5 = no] Why were you unable to find the information you were looking for?

(Please check all that apply)

 Still looking

 Approach tried (for example, A-Z Index, calculators, customized tables, etc.)

did not work

 BLS data are too complex to understand or use

 Information is not available for my area of interest

 Information is not published with the right amount of detail

 Information is too old or dated

 Search box gave poor results

 The website’s layout and design make it difficult

 There is too much jargon or too many technical words

 Don’t know why I haven’t been able to find the information

 Other – please specify below

7. If you checked “Other”, please explain why you were unable to find the information you are looking for. [open-ended]

8. Please rate your satisfaction with the website.

 Very Satisfied

 Satisfied

 Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied

 Dissatisfied

 Very Dissatisfied

9. How often do you visit the BLS website?

 First-time visitor

 Visit often

 Other – please specify below

10. If you checked “Other”, please describe how often you visit this website. [open-ended]

11. Which of the following BEST describes your position? [Note: This is a “mark all that apply” item but to encourage a single answer, please leave off the “Please check all that apply” instruction)

 Contract specialist

 Employer or business owner

 Government employee or contractor – Federal

 Government employee or contractor – State or local

 HR specialist

 International visitor

 Journalist (newspaper, TV, Internet, etc.)

 Librarian or school library media specialist

 Management consultant

 Marketing or sales professional

 Policy analyst

 Researcher

 Student - elementary, middle, or high school level

 Student - college or graduate level

 Teacher or counselor - elementary, middle, or high school level

 Teacher/professor or counselor - college or graduate level

 Union representative

 Other – please specify below

12. If you checked “Other”, please describe your position. [open-ended]

13. We welcome any comments you care to make about this website! [open-ended]

We are collecting this information under OMB Number 1225-0059. Without this currently-approved number, we could not conduct this survey. (expiration: September 30, 2009)

Thank you for your help!

Questionnaire Items for the Long Form (Phase 2)

Introductory Message

Please help us improve our website by participating in the survey that begins below!

Our Pledge of Privacy

The answers you provide on this survey will be used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to improve the website. Please note:

• Your participation is completely voluntary and anonymous.

• We estimate that it will take an average of three minutes to complete this survey.

1. Short questionnaire, q1: What information were you looking for on this website? (Please check all that apply)

2. Follow-up for “other” response from question 1.

3. Short questionnaire, q5: Did you find the information that you were looking for?

4. Short questionnaire, q6: [If q2 = no] Why were you unable to find the information you needed? (Please check all that apply)

5. Follow-up for “other” response from question 5.

6. How easy or difficult was it to find the information that you were looking for?

1	2	3	4	5
Very Easy	Easy	Neither Easy nor Difficult	Difficult	Very Difficult

7. [skip if q1 = “nothing specific/just browsing” OR skip if q2 = “no”] How quickly did you find the information that you were looking for?

1	2	3	4	5
Very Quickly	Quickly	Neither Quickly nor Slowly	Slowly	Very Slowly

8. Short questionnaire, q3: Which of the following BLS website features or tools did you use to try to find the information? (Please check all that apply)

9. Follow-up for “other” response from question 8.

Please give us your opinions about the website.

10. The information on the website is clearly written and easy to understand.

1	2	3	4	5
Strongly Agree	Agree	Neither Agree nor Disagree	Disagree	Strongly Disagree

11. The website is well-organized.

1	2	3	4	5
Strongly Agree	Agree	Neither Agree nor Disagree	Disagree	Strongly Disagree

12. Please rate the ease of navigation on the website.

1	2	3	4	5
Excellent	Good	Average	Poor	Very Poor

13. How likely or unlikely are you to return to the website?

1	2	3	4	5
Definitely will return	Probably Will Return	Equally Likely to Return or Not Return	Probably Will Not Return	Definitely will not return

14. [ask if 10 = 4 or 5] Can you tell us why you would not return? [open-end]

15. Short questionnaire, q8: Please rate your satisfaction with the website.

16. Short questionnaire, q9: How often do you visit the BLS website?

17. Follow-up for “other” response from question 16.

18. On average, about how many hours do you use the Internet each week?

Less than 1 hour

1-5 hours

6-10 hours

11-15 hours

16-20 hours

21 or more hours

19. What is your gender?

Male

Female

20. How old are you?

Under 18

18 – 34

35 – 49

50 – 64

Over 65

21. Short questionnaire, q11: Which of the following BEST describes your position?

22. Follow-up for “other” response from question 21.

23. We welcome any comments you care to make about this website! [open-ended]

We are collecting this information under OMB Number 1225-0059. Without this currently-approved number, we could not conduct this survey. (expiration: September 30, 2009)

Thank you for your help!

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