September 2007 Staff Opinion Survey Report

Interpretive Guidelines

At the commencement of surveys, respondents will normally give their lowest ratings and ratings gradually improve over a number of years. Hence, results from early surveys generally represent a "low water mark" against which future results can be compared.

Response rates of 30% or higher are considered to be a reliable sample of a survey group. Data from specific work groups or occupational streams that have not achieved a response rate of 30% should be interpreted with caution.

In order to maintain the consistency of reporting, for districts/divisions that did not attain a 30% response rate, a confidence interval of the mean scores of measures from the September 2007 survey is reported (Response rate = 29%). Confidence interval represents the range within which the mean of the opinion of the staff in question will likely fall (population). Specifically, we reported the range that we are 95% confident that the population mean will lie in.

The nature of aggregate results means that the lowest scores that an organisation can expect to see are about 20%, and the highest are about 80%. When interpreting results it is often better to consider the range in which they fall.

Results are reported in the following range format:

Detailed results for specific work units and occupational streams are only available if more than 10 staff members from the specific group completed the survey. This helps to ensure survey results remain anonymous.