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5. Field Staff Training
Training for all levels of project field staff occurred both prior to the start of data
collection and throughout the year. Having experienced staff allowed training programs to go
beyond the basic steps and focus on enhancing and improving necessary project skills.
5.1 Management Training Programs
To share information and better equip all regional directors (RDs), regional supervisors
(RSs), field supervisors (FSs), and survey specialists for their roles for the upcoming year, the
2003 NSDUH management session was held November 24, 2002, in Cincinnati, OH. Topics
covered during this session included:
• results of data collection efforts on other related work such as Special Analysis
projects and field verification;
• data quality discussions, citing field observation findings and answers to common
data quality–related questions;
• resource management and managing interviewer workloads;
• recognizing and considering personality types when managing staff; and
• specific items of interest for each RD region.
Earlier during the session, management staff heard the results of previous data collection
efforts as presented by Dr. Goldstone of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration
(SAMHSA).
5.2 New-to-Project Field Interviewer Training Sessions
5.2.1 Design
Training sessions were held prior to the start of each new quarter throughout the year to
train newly hired new-to-project field interviewers (FIs). These sessions helped maintain a
sufficient staff size to complete screening/interviewing within the quarterly timeframes. For each
session, there were multiple training rooms staffed by teams of three or sometimes four trainers.
Occurring in March, June, and September, a total of 168 new FIs were trained during these
replacement sessions. Table 5.1 summarizes the interviewer training sessions held for the 2003
National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH).
The new-to-project training program consisted of six full days and one half day of
training covering the general techniques of interviewing, screening using the Newton handheld
computer, conducting NSDUH interviews on the laptop computer, and general NSDUH
protocols and technical support. Spanish-speaking FIs attended an additional one-day session to
review the Spanish translations of the questionnaire and the Newton screening program.
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