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pay rate to recognize their experience and proficiency levels and to compensate for potential
periods of low hours. Each TFI was asked to commit to at least two 12-day trips each quarter.
TFI teams were used to fill the unmet needs in areas with staffing shortfalls or where special
needs arose (such as covering long-term illnesses in the staff). In addition, several TFIs were
certified bilingual interviewers and were assigned to areas where no bilingual interviewer was
available.
Exhibit 3.3 displays a flow chart that presents all of the steps in the FI recruiting and
hiring process.
During the entire data collection period, a total of 818 FIs completed training and worked
on the study. The following are demographic characteristics of the interviewing staff:
• Of the total 818 FIs, 650 (79.5 percent) were veteran interviewers who had worked on
the 2002 NSDUH, while 168 (20.5 percent) were newly hired and trained during
2003.
• Of the total 818 FIs, 102 (12.5 percent) were Black or African-American and 46 (5.6
percent) identified themselves as "Other" (including Asian, American Indian, Pacific
Islander, etc); 91 (11.1 percent) were bilingual in Spanish.
Table 3.1 provides a distribution of interviewers by race and gender for the veteran
interviewers; Table 3.2 for the interviewers hired and trained during 2003; and Table 3.3 for the
total. Table 3.4 provides a distribution of veteran interviewers by bilingual skill and gender;
Table 3.5 for the newly trained staff; and Table 3.6 for the total.
3.5 Problems Encountered
3.5.1 Continued Staffing Shortfall in Certain Areas
In certain areas, the number of staff working continued to be less than the targeted
number of interviewers needed. This targeted number was based on:
• the allocation of the sample across the FI Regions each quarter;
• the number of hours that an average FI would work each week, based on recent
experience;
• the average length of time to complete each screening;
• the average length of time to complete each interview; and
• the number of weeks that the interviewing staff would work in the quarter based on
recent experience.
As each quarter's sample was provided by the statisticians, the process to estimate the
number of needed interviewers was repeated. The assumptions were refined based on the most
recent experience, including the cash incentive's effect on the flow of work. Staff needed from
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