Volunteering in the United States, 2007 Technical Note
- 4 - Technical Note The data in this release were collected through a supplement to the September 2007 Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS-- a monthly survey of about 60,000 households conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics--focuses on ob- taining information on employment and unemployment among the nation's civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over. The purpose of this supplement to the CPS was to obtain informa- tion on the incidence of volunteering and the characteristics of volunteers in the United States. Reliability of the estimates Statistics based on the CPS are subject to both sampling and nonsampling error. When a sample, rather than the entire popu- lation, is surveyed, there is a chance that the sample estimates may differ from the "true" population values they represent. The exact difference, or sampling error, varies depending on the par- ticular sample selected, and this variability is measured by the standard error of the estimate. There is about a 90-percent chance, or level of confidence, that an estimate based on a sample will dif- fer by no more than 1.6 standard errors from the "true" population value because of sampling error. BLS analyses are generally con- ducted at the 90-percent level of confidence. The CPS data also are affected by nonsampling error. Nonsam- pling error can occur for many reasons, including the failure to sample a segment of the population, inability to obtain informa- tion for all respondents in the sample, inability or unwillingness of respondents to provide correct information, and errors made in the collection or processing of the data. For a full discussion of the reliability of data from the CPS and for information on estimating standard errors, see the House- hold Data Section of "Explanatory Notes and Estimates of Error" at http://www.bls.gov/cps/eetech_methods.pdf. The Census Bureau introduces adjustments to the population controls for the CPS as part of its annual update of population estimates. The 2003 adjustment resulted in an increase to the estimates for all population categories. This increase was partly offset by downward adjustments in 2004, 2005, and 2006. The 2007 adjustment was in the upward direction. Consequently, estimated levels of volunteers for September 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 are not strictly comparable with one another, or with esti- mated levels for September 2002. These adjustments to the levels, however, should have had only negligible effects on the volunteer rates. In addition to the population control adjustments, new questions on race and ethnicity were introduced into the CPS in January 2003. For a discussion of the changes introduced into the CPS in January 2003, see "Revisions to the Current Population Survey Effective in January 2003," in the February 2003 issue of Employment and Earnings, available at http://www.bls.gov/cps/ rvcps03.pdf on the BLS Web site. For a discussion of the changes introduced in January 2004, see "Adjustments to Household Survey Population Estimates in January 2004," in the February 2004 issue of Employment and Earnings, available on the BLS Web site at http: //www.bls.gov/cps/cps04adj.pdf. For a discussion of the changes introduced in January 2005, see "Adjustments to Household Survey Population Estimates in January 2005," in the February 2005 issue of Employment and Earnings, available on the BLS Web site at http: //www.bls.gov/cps/cps05adj.pdf. For a discussion of the changes introduced in January 2006, see "Adjustments to Household Survey Population Estimates in January 2006," in the February 2006 issue of Employment and Earnings, available on the BLS Web site at http: //www.bls.gov/cps/cps06adj.pdf. For a discussion of the changes introduced in January 2007, see "Adjustments to Household Survey Population Estimates in January 2007," in the February 2007 issue of Employment and Earnings, available on the BLS Web site at http: //www.bls.gov/cps/cps07adj.pdf. Information in this release will be made available to sensory- impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339. - 5 - Volunteer questions and concepts In the September 2007 supplement, questions on volunteer activ- ities were asked of all households. Efforts were made to have household members answer the volunteer questions for themselves. (Generally, one member of the household answers all the questions in the CPS on behalf of the entire household.) Self-response was considered important for the volunteer supplement because research indicated that self-respondents could more easily answer questions on the characteristics of the volunteer activity. About 72 percent of the responses were self-reports. The survey was introduced as follows: "This month, we are inter- ested in volunteer activities, that is, activities for which people are not paid, except perhaps expenses. We only want you to include volunteer activities that you did through or for an organization, even if you only did them once in a while." Following this introduction, respondents were asked the first supplement question: "Since September 1st of last year, have you done any volunteer activities through or for an organization?" If respondents did not answer "yes" to the first question, they were asked the following question: "Sometimes people don't think of activities they do infrequently or activities they do for chil- dren's schools or youth organizations as volunteer activities. Since September 1st of last year, have you done any of these types of vol- unteer activities?" Respondents were considered volunteers if they answered "yes" to either of these questions. This is the same method of identifying volunteers as was used in each of the five prior supplements. Respondents classified as volunteers were asked further questions about the number and type of organizations for which they volunteered, total hours spent volunteering, how they became involved with the main organization for which they volunteered, the type of activities they performed for the main organization, and what their main activity was. The reference period for the questions on volunteering was about 1 year, from September 1, 2006, through the survey week in September 2007. The reference period for other characteristics, such as labor force status, educational attainment, and marital status, refer to the survey reference week in September 2007. It is possible that these characteristics were different at the time volunteer activities were performed. Several new questions were added to the 2007 survey. A question was added to determine if volunteers had done any of their volunteering at a distance of 120 miles or more from home but still within the United States and its territories. Those who had were then asked what share of their volunteering it constituted and in what state or states it took place. The question in the 2006 supplement that asked about time spent volunteering abroad was changed to ask about the share of volunteering that was done abroad in 2007. The answer categories for the questions on the share of volunteering done abroad or 120 miles or more from home were made consistent by this change. Definitions Volunteers are persons who performed unpaid volunteer activities at any point from September 1, 2006, through the survey period in September 2007. The count of volunteers only includes persons who volunteered through or for an organization; the figures do not include persons who volunteered in a more informal manner. For example, a woman who taught acting to children through a local theater would be considered a volunteer. However, a woman who, on her own, organized softball games for the children in her neighbor- hood would not be counted as a volunteer for the purpose of this survey. - 6 - Organizations are associations, societies, or groups of people who share a common interest. Examples include churches, youth groups, and civic organiz- ations. For the purpose of this study, organizations are grouped into eight major categories, including religious, youth, and social or community service organizations. (See table 4.) In the 2005 survey, one organization category, immigrant/refugee assistance, was added to the questionnaire as a possible response. Responses that were collected in this category may have been distributed over at least six of the major organization categories in previous years. For this reason, the addition of the new response category created a break in the comparability of organiza- tions between 2005 and prior years. Because few people reported volunteering for immigrant/refugee assistance organizations and because the group was not a definite subset of any of the major organization categories, those persons who did report that they volunteered for immigrant/refugee assistance organizations were placed in the "other" group. The main organization is the organization for which the volunteer worked the most hours during the year. If a respondent volunteered for only one organiza- tion, it was considered the main organization, even if exact hours were not obtained. In order to identify the type of main organization, respondents had to pro- vide information about the organization and, for those who volunteered for more than one organization, annual hours worked for each. Some respondents did not provide the information necessary to determine the main organization. For these respondents, the follow-up questions on activities and how they became involved with the main organization asked them to report on the organization for which they think they spent the most time volunteering. Activities are the specific tasks the volunteer did for an organization. Examples include tutoring, fundraising, and serving food. The activity cate- gories were modified in 2005; thus creating a break in the comparability of activities between 2005 and prior years. In 2006, a question was added that asks respondents on which of the activi- ties they mentioned they spent the most time. Previously, respondents reported all of the activities they did for their main organization. The new question identified which of them was the main activity for the main organization.
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Last Modified Date: February 08, 2008