ESRA 2027 sessions by theme

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Session Details

A key objective of labour market and occupational research is to understand how work and employment change. Working conditions, job quality, skills, occupational structures, and em-ployment trajectories are routinely compared across time, countries, social groups and organizations.But these comparisons are based on a fundamental assumption, namely that survey measures are comparable across the contexts in which they are used. Without evidence of measurement invariance, observed differences and trends may reflect changes in the meas-urement process, such as Differential Item Functioning (DIF), rather than changes in the underlying constructs. A range of methodological approaches can be used to assess measure-ment comparability, including multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MG-CFA), structural equation modelling (SEM), item response theory (IRT), and DIF analyses.
This session focuses on methodological approaches and tools for assessing and improving the comparability of survey measures in work and employment research. We invite contributions that address topics such as measurement invariance, differential item functioning, item response theory, structural equation modelling, questionnaire harmonisation, mode effects, translation issues and other approaches to evaluating the quality of measurements across repeated cross-sectional surveys, panel studies, cross-national surveys or linked data infrastructures. Contributions may address concepts such as working conditions, job quality, occupational skills, psychosocial work characteristics, job satisfaction, work-related health, em-ployment insecurity or other dimensions of work and occupations.
The session aims to bring together researchers specialising in survey methodology, labour market research, sociology and psychology. By encouraging dialogue between these disciplines, the session will seek to improve the standards of methodology used to produce valid and comparable evidence on work and employment trends in an increasingly complex survey and data environment.