Using a multi-organization database: Research methods, strengths, and limitations

This paper describes the WFD Consulting multi-organization database and the methodology used by the five quantitative studies in this special issue to examine workplace flexibility (Hill & Civian, 2008). The database includes 72,161 responses representing 312,459 employees from 25 US organizations in five industries gathered from 1996 to 2006. These studies have an average response rate of 45%. First, an overview of the research questions is presented. Next, definitions and psychometric properties of several commonly used measures and indexes are explained. After this, analytic strategies for hierarchical linear modeling including handling of missing data, protocols for model building, and accommodating clustered data structures are described. Finally, the strengths and limitations of using this kind of dataset for academic research are discussed.