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Attitudes to work amongPortuguese workers vary greatly. In general, male workers, workers with a university degree and full-time workers seem to feel more secure in their jobs, to think that they have good opportunities for promotion and to be more satisfied about their jobs than female workers, workers with lower education and part-time workers. The former groups are also more likely to consider their jobs as interesting and useful to society.
Introduction
The first and only Portuguese official survey on working conditions was conducted in 1999–2000. On several occasions, a new edition of the survey was expected to be carried out but for different reasons it never happened and no other surveys on this topic – either official or unofficial – were conducted in the meantime. Therefore, few data are available in Portugal, particularly resulting from official national surveys, to capture developments in working conditions over the last few years. More promisingly, the recently published National Strategy for Safety and Health at Work (Estratégia Nacional para a Segurança e Saúde no Trabalho (in Portuguese, 574Kb PDF)) includes a national survey on working conditions as one of its measures. This survey will aim to identify the patterns of exposure to occupational risks and characterise the factors influencing workers’ health.
With no national data currently available, the work orientation (WO) modules of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) provide relevant data concerning some of the dimensions which can be used to address working conditions and quality of work. Portugal participated in WO II/ISSP of 1997 and WO III/ISSP of 2005, although the latter module was carried out in Portugal in 2006/2007 (see annex for more details on survey methodology). This report presents some of the main national results specifically related to the career and employment security dimension.
The results presented for each topic will, on the one hand, show the evolution of data between 1997 and 2005 and, on the other hand, outline findings from the 2005 survey according to some of the respondents’ characteristics: sex, education and employment status. Taking into account these characterising variables, some preliminary information should be noted.
Educational level
In relation to the respondents’ educational profile, a greater proportion of female workers attain higher educational levels than their male counterparts. Almost 31% of female workers have completed higher secondary school or attained a third-level qualification – in other words, they have at least 12 years of education – whereas just 28% of male workers have attained this level (Table 1). More specifically, this difference is due to the higher proportion of female workers who have completed higher secondary education (15.2%, compared with 10.4% of male respondents) and who have a university degree (12.5%, compared with 10.7% of male workers).
Table 1: Highest educational level attained, by sex, 2005 (%)| | Men | Women | Total |
|---|
| No formal qualification | 2.4 | 1.4 | 1.8 |
|---|
| Lowest formal qualification (nine years of education) | 59.8 | 57.9 | 59.0 |
|---|
| Above lowest qualification | 9.8 | 10.0 | 9.9 |
|---|
| Higher secondary level completed (12 years of education) | 10.4 | 15.2 | 12.7 |
|---|
| Above higher secondary level | 6.9 | 3.0 | 4.9 |
|---|
| University degree completed | 10.7 | 12.5 | 11.6 |
|---|
| Total | 100 | 100 | 100 |
|---|
Notes: Cases weighted. All of the data in the tables and figures refer only to respondents stating that they were working for pay at the interview date (see annex). Some of the data may add up to slightly more or less than 100% due to rounding of figures.
Source: ISSP, WO III
Employment status
Regarding employment status, a higher proportion of female workers work part time. In fact, 12.2% of the women in paid employment stated that they worked less than 35 hours a week while only 3.3% of the men at work reported this amount of weekly working hours (Table 2).
Table 2: Employment status, by sex, 2005 (%)| | Men | Women | Total |
|---|
| Employed full time (35 or more hours a week) | 96.7 | 87.8 | 92.4 |
|---|
| Employed part time (15–34 hours a week) | 1.9 | 9.5 | 5.7 |
|---|
| Employed less than 15 hours a week | 1.4 | 2.7 | 1.9 |
|---|
| Total | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
|---|
Note: Cases weighted (see annex).
Source: ISSP, WO III
Job security
According to the ISSP, the proportion of surveyed workers who consider that their job is secure did not vary significantly between 1997 and 2005: the share of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing with the statement ‘my job is secure’ was 63.4% in 1997 and 62.1% in 2005. Nevertheless, in the same period, the proportion of those strongly agreeing with that statement declined from 40% to 25.7% (Figure 1).
‘My job is secure’, 1997 and 2005 (%)
The results from the 2005 module reveal that men seem to feel more secure than women about their job. Some 64.1% of male respondents agree or strongly agree that their job is secure, while 59% of the female respondents stated the same. A fact that may at least partially explain this difference is that the proportion of women with temporary employment contracts has invariably exceeded the corresponding share of men in the last decade: in 2005, 20.4% of women and 18.7% of men had temporary employment contracts. It should be noted that this gap has tended to narrow in recent years. Furthermore, the unemployment rate in Portugal has been increasing since 2000–2001, a trend which is more pronounced among women; this development may account for some of the female respondents’ perception of job insecurity (CITE, 2007).
Job security does not seem to be directly related to the educational level of respondents, although the survey results show that those who have attained a university degree are more likely than those with lower or no education to believe that they are secure in this regard. The group with the lowest formal qualification (nine years) ranks second in terms of perception about job security: 70.1% of the individuals with a university degree agreed or strongly agreed that their job is secure, followed by 62.5% of respondents with the lowest formal education (Table 3). This result is not surprising taking into account that, in 2005, more than 70% of the employed population in Portugal had, at most, nine years of formal education; by 2007, this proportion was still above 70%, according to the Labour Force Survey conducted by Statistics Portugal (Instituto Nacional de Estatistíca, INE).
On the other hand, employment status seems to be directly related to job security. A higher proportion of respondents working full time consider that they have a secure job, compared with those working part time or less.
Table 3: Job security, by sex, education and employment status, 2005 (%)| | Strongly agree | Agree | Neither agree nor disagree | Disagree | Strongly disagree |
|---|
| Men | 27.5 | 36.6 | 11.5 | 18.2 | 6.1 |
|---|
| Women | 23.8 | 36.2 | 15.7 | 17 | 7.3 |
|---|
| Highest education level |
|---|
| No formal qualification | 22.9 | 28.9 | 14.4 | 31.3 | 2.5 |
| Lowest formal qualification (nine years of education) | 24 | 38.5 | 12.6 | 18.2 | 6.7 |
| Above lowest qualification | 21.7 | 37.6 | 16.6 | 15.7 | 8.5 |
| Higher secondary level completed (12 years of education) | 26.5 | 32.8 | 15.3 | 16.5 | 8.9 |
| Above higher secondary level | 25 | 30.5 | 16.4 | 26.4 | 1.6 |
| University degree completed | 37.5 | 32.6 | 12.6 | 11.8 | 5.5 |
| Current employment status |
|---|
| Employed full time (35 or more hours a week) | 27.3 | 36.4 | 12.8 | 17.4 | 6.1 |
| Employed part time (15–34 hours a week) | 7.2 | 34.4 | 24.6 | 25.6 | 8.2 |
| Employed less than 15 hours a week | 13 | 34.8 | 18.6 | 10 | 23.7 |
Note: Cases weighted (see annex).
Source: ISSP, WO III
Income
The proportion of respondents who consider that they have a high income did not change in the period between 1997 and 2005, remaining at about 15% (Figure 2). However, an important change occurred in the share of respondents disagreeing or strongly disagreeing that their income is high: it decreased from 68.2% in 1997 to 55.4% in 2005. This variation was mainly due to a reduction in the proportion of those strongly disagreeing that their income is high from 39.3% to 17.6%. This surprising finding somewhat contradicts the fact that, during this period, a declining trend was registered in relation to the purchasing power of workers, which would suggest that a different result might be expected.
‘My income is high’, 1997 and 2005 (%)
Men have a more positive perception of their income: 18.6% of the male respondents consider that their income is high, compared with 12.7% of the female respondents (Table 4). In terms of educational effect, the group with a university degree stand out from the rest, showing a higher proportion of those agreeing that they have a high income (30%) and a higher share of those neither agreeing nor disagreeing with this statement (almost 41%). The perception of income is also more positive for those holding a full-time job: 16.6% of this group consider that they have a high income while only 7.7% of part-time workers have the same opinion.
Table 4: Perception of income by sex, education and employment status, 2005 (%)| | Strongly agree | Agree | Neither agree nor disagree | Disagree | Strongly disagree |
|---|
| Men | 3.2 | 15.4 | 29.6 | 35.4 | 16.4 |
|---|
| Women | 1.2 | 11.5 | 28.2 | 40.2 | 18.8 |
|---|
| Highest education level |
|---|
| No formal qualification | 0.0 | 14.3 | 14.3 | 57.1 | 14.3 |
| Lowest formal qualification (nine years of education) | 1.5 | 12.1 | 27.0 | 39.9 | 19.6 |
| Above lowest qualification | 1.8 | 16.2 | 27.0 | 39.6 | 15.3 |
| Higher secondary level completed (12 years of education) | 2.8 | 7.6 | 31.7 | 39.3 | 18.6 |
| Above higher secondary level | 0.0 | 17.5 | 28.1 | 31.6 | 22.8 |
| University degree completed | 6.9 | 23.1 | 40.8 | 23.1 | 6.2 |
| Current employment status |
|---|
| Employed full time (35 or more hours a week) | 2.2 | 14.4 | 28.8 | 37.5 | 17.0 |
| Employed part time (15–34 hours a week) | 4.6 | 3.1 | 30.8 | 41.5 | 20.0 |
| Employed less than 15 hours a week | 0.0 | 0.0 | 22.7 | 36.4 | 40.9 |
Note: Cases weighted (see annex).
Source: ISSP, WO III
Working hours and money earned
An interesting question in the ISSP work orientation modules in 1997 and 2005 is related to the respondents’ preference in terms of working hours and money earned. In answering, those surveyed must choose between working more hours and earning more, working the same number of hours and earning the same, or working less hours and earning less.
The results for Portugal reveal that only a small number of respondents are willing to work fewer hours and earn less money. Overall, the results indicate an almost even proportion of those willing to work more hours and earn more, and those preferring to work the same number of hours and earn the same money that they already earn in their job. Nevertheless, Figure 3 shows that the proportion of those stating their preference to work longer and earn more increased between 1997 and 2005, from 45% to just over 50%.
Preference on working hours and money earned, 1997 and 2005 (%)
The 2005 data show that men in Portugal are more willing than women to work more in exchange for more money. While about half of the female respondents reported that they would prefer to work the same and earn the same, almost 56% of the male respondents would prefer to work more and earn more (Table 5).
In terms of educational effect, the two groups with the highest educational levels seem to be more satisfied with their present working hours and income. Meanwhile, the proportion of those willing to work more and earn more is greater for respondents who have completed higher secondary school than for those with the lowest formal education.
Taking into account respondents’ employment status, the results show that most of those working part time or less would prefer to work more hours and earn more. However, almost half of full-time workers (48.6%) also expressed their willingness to work more and earn more.
Table 5: Preference on working hours and money earned, by sex, education and employment status, 2005 (%)| | Work more hours, earn more money | Same number of hours, same money | Work less hours, earn less money |
|---|
| Men | 55.9 | 41.7 | 2.4 |
|---|
| Women | 44.6 | 51.3 | 4.1 |
|---|
| Highest education level |
|---|
| No formal qualification | 73.7 | 21.1 | 5.3 |
| Lowest formal qualification (nine years of education) | 51.9 | 45.2 | 2.9 |
| Above lowest qualification | 48.6 | 47.7 | 3.7 |
| Higher secondary level completed (12 years of education) | 56.7 | 39.0 | 4.3 |
| Above higher secondary level | 33.3 | 61.4 | 5.3 |
| University degree completed | 40.2 | 58.1 | 1.7 |
| Current employment status |
|---|
| Employed full time (35 or more hours a week) | 48.6 | 47.9 | 3.5 |
| Employed part time (15–34 hours a week) | 65.6 | 34.4 | 0.0 |
| Employed less than 15 hours a week | 80.0 | 15.0 | 5.0 |
Note: Cases weighted (see annex).
Source: ISSP, WO III
Opportunities for promotion
The proportion of workers considering that they have good opportunities for promotion increased significantly between 1997 (26.4%) and 2005 (36.5%). Notable also is the substantial decrease in the share of those strongly disagreeing with this statement, from 28.8% to 11% (Figure 4).
‘Opportunities for advancement are high’, 1997 and 2005 (%)
The results from the ISSP WO III 2005 module show that men are more optimistic in terms of opportunities for promotion than are women. Almost 40% of male respondents agreed that they have high opportunities for career advancement while only one third of their female counterparts stated the same (Table 6).
Higher educated respondents also seem to have a more positive opinion about their opportunities for promotion than those with fewer years of schooling. Half of the respondents with a university degree agreed or strongly agreed that they have good opportunities for career advancement – a much greater proportion than in any other group. For example, only 32.8% of those holding the lowest formal qualification expressed the same opinion.
In terms of employment status, full-time workers also expressed a more optimistic opinion about their possibilities for career advancement, compared with part-time workers. Almost 43% of those working 15 to 34 hours a week disagree or strongly disagree that they have high opportunities for advancement, whereas the equivalent proportion is 37.7% for full-time workers.
Table 6: Opportunities for advancement, by sex, education and employment status, 2005 (%)| | Strongly agree | Agree | Neither agree nor disagree | Disagree | Strongly disagree |
|---|
| Men | 11.3 | 28.5 | 24.7 | 26.8 | 8.7 |
|---|
| Women | 5.6 | 27.3 | 26.1 | 27.7 | 13.3 |
|---|
| Highest education level |
|---|
| No formal qualification | 4.5 | 9.1 | 27.3 | 50.0 | 9.1 |
| Lowest formal qualification (nine years of education) | 7.2 | 25.6 | 26.8 | 29.8 | 10.7 |
| Above lowest qualification | 9.7 | 33.6 | 22.1 | 23.0 | 11.5 |
| Higher secondary level completed (12 years of education) | 8.2 | 28.8 | 22.6 | 28.1 | 12.3 |
| Above higher secondary level | 8.9 | 32.1 | 26.8 | 16.1 | 16.1 |
| University degree completed | 14.6 | 35.4 | 23.8 | 17.7 | 8.5 |
| Current employment status |
|---|
| Employed full time (35 or more hours a week) | 8.8 | 28.6 | 24.9 | 27.1 | 10.6 |
| Employed part time (15–34 hours a week) | 4.8 | 22.2 | 30.2 | 28.6 | 14.3 |
| Employed less than 15 hours a week | 0.0 | 17.4 | 26.1 | 34.8 | 21.7 |
Note: Cases weighted (see annex).
Source: ISSP, WO III
Importance of the job
Work is interesting
One way of finding out how important a job is to someone is to ask them if they find their work interesting. In the ISSP work orientation modules of 1997 and 2005, respondents were asked whether they agreed with the statement ‘my job is interesting’. Although the proportion of individuals reporting that they agree or strongly agree that their job is interesting remained high, it declined from 80.6% in the 1997 survey to 73.2% in 2005. Notable also is the decrease observed in the share of those strongly agreeing that their job is interesting, from almost half to less than one third in the same period (Figure 5).
‘My job is interesting’, 1997 and 2005 (%)
According to the 2005 module results, men in Portugal find their job more interesting than women do: while 77.6% of male respondents consider that their job is interesting, only 68.6% of the women surveyed have the same opinion (Table 7).
The feeling that one’s job is interesting also varies according to education, appearing to increase with educational level. More than half of individuals holding a university degree strongly agree that their job is interesting, and those agreeing and strongly agreeing with this statement represent over 90% of this group. Individuals with the same opinion in the other groups vary between 70% and 80%; however, it is noteworthy that the group with the lowest formal qualification and the group with a higher secondary education present the same proportion – about 70%.
People working full time find their job more interesting than those working part time or less. Nevertheless, a similar proportion of full-time workers and part-time workers disagree that their job is interesting (about 9%); this share is higher for persons working less than 15 hours a week (18.1%).
Table 7: ‘My job is interesting’, by sex, education and employment status, 2005 (%)| | Strongly agree | Agree | Neither agree nor disagree | Disagree | Strongly disagree |
|---|
| Men | 30.2 | 47.5 | 15.1 | 5.7 | 1.6 |
|---|
| Women | 25.2 | 43.4 | 18.8 | 10.2 | 2.5 |
|---|
| Highest education level |
|---|
| No formal qualification | 4.8 | 42.9 | 19.0 | 28.6 | 4.8 |
| Lowest formal qualification (nine years of education) | 23.0 | 46.7 | 19.1 | 8.8 | 2.4 |
| Above lowest qualification | 34.5 | 44.2 | 14.2 | 5.3 | 1.8 |
| Higher secondary level completed (12 years of education) | 27.1 | 42.4 | 22.9 | 5.6 | 2.1 |
| Above higher secondary level | 25.0 | 57.1 | 7.1 | 10.7 | 0.0 |
| University degree completed | 51.1 | 39.7 | 5.3 | 3.1 | 0.8 |
| Current employment status |
|---|
| Employed full time (35 or more hours a week) | 28.9 | 45.5 | 15.8 | 7.9 | 1.9 |
| Employed part time (15–34 hours a week) | 14.1 | 45.3 | 31.3 | 9.4 | 0.0 |
| Employed less than 15 hours a week | 9.1 | 45.5 | 27.3 | 4.5 | 13.6 |
Note: Cases weighted (see annex).
Source: ISSP, WO III
Job is useful to society
It is also possible to analyse what workers think about their job in terms of its usefulness to society. The data show that even more respondents believe that their work is useful to society than those who consider their job interesting. Nevertheless, these figures had a similar performance between 1997 and 2005. The proportion of those deeming their job useful to society declined from 88% in 1997 to 77.6% in 2005, with a notable decrease in the share of those strongly agreeing with the usefulness of their job to society – from almost 63% to 36% (Figure 6).
‘My job is useful to society’, 1997 and 2005 (%)
According to the findings for 2005 (Table 8), the proportion of men considering their job as useful to society is higher than that for women (81.1% and 73.9% respectively). Almost 90% of survey respondents holding a university degree believe that their job is useful to society, and over one half of this group (55.3%) strongly agree that this is the case. The group with no formal education also presents a high proportion; however, this result should be treated with caution due to the small number of cases.
In general, people working less than 15 hours a week find their job more useful to society (85.7%) than do full-time workers (78%) or part-time workers (66.7%). Nonetheless, the proportion of those strongly agreeing that their job is useful to society is significantly higher among full-time workers (36.3%) and part-time workers (39.7%) than among those working less than 15 hours a week (14.3%).
Table 8: ‘My job is useful to society’, by sex, education and employment status, 2005 (%)| | Strongly agree | Agree | Neither agree nor disagree | Disagree | Strongly disagree |
|---|
| Men | 37.4 | 43.7 | 14.4 | 2.6 | 1.9 |
|---|
| Women | 34.5 | 39.4 | 19.2 | 5.4 | 1.4 |
|---|
| Highest education level |
|---|
| No formal qualification | 25.0 | 65.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 |
| Lowest formal qualification (nine years of education) | 31.6 | 42.9 | 18.7 | 5.4 | 1.3 |
| Above lowest qualification | 42.0 | 35.7 | 17.9 | 3.6 | 0.9 |
| Higher secondary level completed (12 years of education) | 33.1 | 43.4 | 17.2 | 0.7 | 5.5 |
| Above higher secondary level | 40.4 | 42.1 | 14.0 | 3.5 | 0.0 |
| University degree completed | 55.3 | 34.1 | 9.8 | 0.8 | 0.0 |
| Current employment status |
|---|
| Employed full time (35 or more hours a week) | 36.3 | 41.7 | 16.3 | 4.1 | 1.6 |
| Employed part time (15–34 hours a week) | 39.7 | 27.0 | 27.0 | 4.8 | 1.6 |
| Employed less than 15 hours a week | 14.3 | 71.4 | 14.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Note: Cases weighted (see annex).
Source: ISSP, WO III
Satisfaction with main job
According to the ISSP work orientation modules of 1997 and 2005, a large majority (over 70%) of Portuguese workers are satisfied with their main job. In fact, this proportion increased between the two surveys, from 71.4% in 1997 to 78.3% in 2005. However, the share of people expressing complete satisfaction declined from 17.7% to 13.7% (Figure 7).
Satisfaction with main job, 1997 and 2005 (%)
Looking at the 2005 module results (Table 9), the sex of the worker plays a role regarding the level of job satisfaction: men are more satisfied in their work than women are (83.2% and 73.5% respectively). Most of this disparity results from the much higher proportion of women stating that they are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied in their job (21.3%, compared with 13.7% for men).
In terms of educational level, respondents who have attained a university degree take the lead again with the highest proportion of satisfied respondents (87.1%, including completely satisfied, very satisfied and fairly satisfied workers). The groups with the lowest formal qualification and above it are more satisfied with their main job than respondents who have completed higher secondary education or a third-level qualification other than a university degree. It is worth underlining that respondents with higher secondary level education have one of the highest proportions of people stating that they are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied (23.6%). The group with no formal education has the highest share in this regard (33.3%); however, this result is supported in only a few cases, which raises doubts about its validity.
Taking employment status into account, full-time workers and those working less than part time are most satisfied with their jobs. Almost 80% of full-time workers are fairly, very and completely satisfied with their job, opinions shared by 77.2% of those working less than part time. The share of part-time workers expressing the same feelings is significantly lower (61.5%), especially among those stating that they are completely satisfied: only 6.2% of part-time workers express complete job satisfaction, which amounts to less than half the percentage in the other two groups.
Table 9: Satisfaction with main job, by sex, education and employment status, 2005 (%)| | Completely satisfied | Very satisfied | Fairly satisfied | Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied | Fairly dissatisfied | Very dissatisfied | Completely dissatisfied |
|---|
| Men | 14.7 | 26.5 | 41.9 | 13.7 | 2.9 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
|---|
| Women | 12.7 | 28.1 | 32.6 | 21.3 | 2.9 | 2.0 | 0.4 |
|---|
| Highest education level |
|---|
| No formal qualification | 9.5 | 14.3 | 42.9 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Lowest formal qualification (nine years of education) | 14.3 | 25.4 | 39.0 | 17.6 | 2.7 | 0.6 | 0.3 |
| Above lowest qualification | 14.2 | 28.3 | 36.3 | 16.8 | 2.7 | 1.8 | 0.0 |
| Higher secondary level completed (12 years of education) | 11.8 | 30.6 | 29.2 | 23.6 | 2.8 | 2.1 | 0.0 |
| Above higher secondary level | 7.0 | 26.3 | 36.8 | 17.5 | 12.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| University degree completed | 15.2 | 34.8 | 37.1 | 8.3 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 0.0 |
| Current employment status |
|---|
| Employed full time (35 or more hours a week) | 14.3 | 28.5 | 36.7 | 16.3 | 2.9 | 1.2 | 0.2 |
| Employed part time (15–34 hours a week) | 6.2 | 13.8 | 41.5 | 35.4 | 3.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Employed less than 15 hours a week | 13.6 | 13.6 | 50.0 | 18.2 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Note: Cases weighted (see annex).
Source: ISSP, WO III
Commentary
The comparison between figures from the 1997 and 2005 ISSP Work Orientation surveys seem to indicate, at least to some extent, an improvement in working conditions during that period. Fewer workers perceive their income as very low, more workers are satisfied with their job and more workers consider that they have opportunities for career advancement in 2005 than in 1997. However, fewer individuals are certain that their job is secure, believe that their work is useful to society and perceive their job as being interesting.
Taking into account the 2005 data only, male workers can be clearly distinguished from their female counterparts in all of the issues analysed, confirming the persisting gap between men and women in the Portuguese labour market – not only in terms of pay but also in terms of working conditions in general. In fact, the figures show that fewer women feel secure in their job, are satisfied with it and believe that they have prospects in terms of promotion opportunities.
Finally, it seems that having a higher education degree and working full time increases the probabilities of workers being satisfied with their jobs, being more optimistic about their opportunities for career advancement, and finding their work interesting and useful to society.
References
Authority for Working Conditions (Autoridade para as Condições do Trabalho, ACT), Estratégia Nacional para a Segurança e Saúde no Trabalho [National Strategy for Safety and Health at Work], Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity (Ministério do Trabalho e da Solidariedade Social, MTSS), Lisbon, 2008, available online (in Portuguese) at: http://www.igt.gov.pt/downloads/content/EN_SST_2008-2012.pdf
Commission for Equality in Labour and Employment (Comissão para a Igualdade no Trabalho e no Emprego, CITE), Annual progress report on equal opportunities for men and women at work, in employment and vocational training – 2005, MTSS, Lisbon, 2007, available online at: http://www.cite.gov.pt/cite/destaques/CITE_Annual_Progress_Report_2005.pdf
Harkness, J., Langfeldt, B. and Scholz, E., ISSP study monitoring 1996–1998, Centre for Survey Research and Methodology (Zentrum für Umfragen, Methoden, Analysen, ZUMA), Germany, 2000, available online at: http://www.za.uni-koeln.de/data/en/issp/codebooks/ZA3090_mr.pdf
Scholz, E., Harkness, J. and Faaβ, T., ISSP study monitoring 2005, German Social Science Infrastructure Services (Gesellschaft sozialwissenschaftlicher Infrastruktureinrichtungen, GESIS)-ZUMA, Mannheim, Germany, 2008, available online at: http://www.gesis.org/fileadmin/upload/forschung/publikationen/gesis_reihen/gesis_methodenberichte/2008/gesis_mb_08_04.pdf
Annex: Survey methodology
The Work Orientation modules of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) are described as ‘a continuing annual programme of cross-national collaboration on surveys covering topics important for social science research’. The surveys have taken place three times – in 1989, 1997 and 2005; Portugal participated in the second and third editions, in 1997 and 2005. The main objective of these modules is to measure cross-national changes in work orientation including elements such as job values, organisational loyalty, work commitment, job satisfaction and work experience.
The Portuguese sample was designed to be representative of adults living in private accommodation and therefore the lower age threshold was set at 18 years of age. The data collection method comprised face-to-face interviews both in 1997 and 2005. In 1997, the fieldwork took place during September of that year while, in 2005, the ISSP 2005 module was conducted at the same time as the ISSP 2006 Role of Government module and a Portuguese module on labour relations. Therefore, the ISSP 2005 module was carried out over three months at the end of 2006 and beginning of 2007.
The Work Orientation II module in 1997 used a sample of 1,914 individuals, which resulted in a total of 1,637 valid cases, representing a completion rate of 86%. The Work Orientation III module in 2005 covered a total of 1,837 respondents, representing about 66.5% of the initial sample of 2,761 eligible cases. For the purposes of this report, the figures presented only refer to respondents who answered that they were working for pay at the time of the interview (888 workers in 1997 and 1,085 workers in 2005).
It should be noted that the data were weighted in the 2005 module but not in the 1997 survey. All of the results presented in this report for 2005 were weighted with the weighting factor provided by the social science data portal ZACAT, which is not available for 1997.
Heloísa Perista and Jorge Cabrita, Centro de Estudos para a Intervenção Social (CESIS)
