ECS 2013 – Quality assurance and quality control

To ensure the high-quality of the 3^rd ECS, Eurofound undertook strict quality assurance and control measures, and will benefit from an external quality assessment.

The 3^rd ECS relied on a predefined quality assurance framework specifying the survey design and implementation steps and the quality control activities associated with them. The quality assurance framework of the 3^rd ECS is a core element of Eurofound Surveys Management Guidelines and refers to the quality assurance framework of the European Statistical System (ESS) and the criteria of relevance, accuracy, coherence, comparability, timeliness and punctuality, and accessibility, specifically adapted to the needs of the ECS.

Every step in the 3^rd ECS was subject to detailed planning, monitoring and control, and aimed at real-time and post-factum documentation and evaluation. Striving towards continuous quality improvement, the recommendations outlined in the Quality Assessment Report of the 2^nd ECS and Eurofound’s experience with previous surveys were also taken into consideration.

A Quality Assurance and Control Report, providing a detailed overview of the quality assurance and control measures employed during the survey, has been developed by the contractor for the 3^rd ECS. These measures covered sampling, translation, pre-testing and piloting, interviewer’s selection and training, fieldwork implementation, data processing and storage. The quality assurance and control measures were outlined in the technical specification of the survey and developed and employed by the fieldwork contractor through a quality control plan, aimed to ensure the high quality of the 3^rd ECS cycle.

An external Quality assessment of the third European Company Survey has evaluated the survey process and its outputs against the predefined standards; it identified the survey strengths and weaknesses, and addressed recommendations and actions for improvement.