1. Washington City Group on Disability Statistics February 18-20, 2002 1 LANGUAGE AND CULTURAL ISSUES IN SURVEYS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION H. Van Oyen, Scientific Institute of Public Health, Brussels S. Van Buuren, TNO Prevention and Health, Leiden J. van den Berg, Statistics on Health and Safety, Eurostat J. Bonte, Statistics on Health and Safety, Eurostat

2. Washington City Group on Disability Statistics February 18-20, 2002 2 EUROPEAN UNION 15 member states 11-plus languages 15-plus cultures and traditions

3. Washington City Group on Disability Statistics February 18-20, 2002 3 CONCEPT AND OPERATIONALISATION EU - input Concept Reference standard instruments Member state - input Reference standard instruments National Operational standard instruments EU / Member state - output Conversion techniques

4. Washington City Group on Disability Statistics February 18-20, 2002 4 LABOUR FORCE SURVEY (LFS) Harmonised EU wide survey Monitor labour force development Based on regulations : compulsary for MS 2002 module : disability Agreement on the content Standard list of items – variables and codes (EU-regulation) Agreement on:description of variables coding instructions standard questionnaire

5. Washington City Group on Disability Statistics February 18-20, 2002 5 LFS: content and structure of module

6. Washington City Group on Disability Statistics February 18-20, 2002 6 LFS: Specification of the 2002 ad hoc module on employment of disabled people

7. Washington City Group on Disability Statistics February 18-20, 2002 7 LFS: Explanatory notes - description of variable The first variable introduces the topic of a health problem and it is this variable along with its impact which are used as the statistic for setting clear goals and targets for the employment of disabled people. Thus one can look at the distribution of disabled people according to their economic activity by age, sex and, where appropriate, type of employment.

8. Washington City Group on Disability Statistics February 18-20, 2002 8 LFS: Explanatory notes - instructions Interviewing :Longstanding Coverage of health problems Coding : Single event, continuous health problem Recurrent or episodic conditions Terminal illness or outcome dependent on treatment

9. Washington City Group on Disability Statistics February 18-20, 2002 9 LFS: Reference questionnaire Introductory text to be read out by interviewer: ‘The following few questions are about your health in relation to work. What people can do at work is often dependent on their health. Some people may have physical health problems or disabilities such as heart problems, respiratory problems, or difficulties in walking; others may have sight or hearing problems even wearing glasses or hearing aids, whereas others may have psychological or emotional problems. Health problems also include such illnesses as diabetes, dyslexia, epilepsy, problems with digestion as well as skin complaints’. Variable 1, Column 220. Do you have any longstanding health problem or disability? Interviewer: by longstanding we mean anything that has affected R over the past 6 months, or that is likely to affect R for at least 6 months. (If no: end module)

10. Washington City Group on Disability Statistics February 18-20, 2002 10 LFS NATIONAL OPERATIONAL STANDARD At national level the operational questionnaires needs some adapation in order to reflect the real concept and meaning of the agreed reference questionnaire

11. Washington City Group on Disability Statistics February 18-20, 2002 11 RESPONSE CONVERSION Comparing data in several circumstances Items on same topic having different formulation New items replacing old one, causing trend gap Items with identical formulation but subject to cultural response biases

12. Washington City Group on Disability Statistics February 18-20, 2002 12 STEPS IN RESPONSE CONVERSION Define measure of interest Estimate conversion key Convert to common scale repeatedly 123 once

13. Washington City Group on Disability Statistics February 18-20, 2002 13 WHY RESPONSE CONVERSION? Works on existing data Cost-effective Assumptions can be tested Well-established mathematical framework Indicators on interval scale Activities can be separated into routines

14. Washington City Group on Disability Statistics February 18-20, 2002 14 CONCLUSION Developmental work both at the input and output –Input : content / items (conceptual description) reference instrument operational instrument –Output : statistical tools e.g. response conversion