anyone need a JOB? Westat is starting in 221 cities...But do you really wanna work there?

www.westat.com...
QUOTE:
Field Interviewers: Field interviewers conduct in-person interviews with selected respondents. These interviews will be conducted using computer-assisted or paper questionnaires, depending on study requirements. Field interviewers are responsible for contacting respondents at homes, businesses, or schools to conduct the interviews. They transmit the interview data back to the home office.
Listers: Listers may record addresses for residential structures such as houses, apartment buildings, and mobile homes for household surveys, or they may record addresses and short descriptions for commercial structures such as shopping centers, office buildings, restaurants, and other nonresidential buildings.

Assessors: Assessors administer standardized tests, most frequently to children in schools, though other settings and respondents may be included.

Medical Records Abstractors: Abstractors review medical records and record information from the files as specified by the study protocol. Medical abstractors usually conduct their work at hospitals and doctors' offices.

Other Data Collectors: These positions range from performing clerical work, to observing behavior (e.g., observing seat belt use), to health professionals conducting medical examinations. END QUOTE:

From what I heard the targets of the surveys will be home schoolers, smokers with kids, people with prescription pain killers and own guns, and any other targets deemed appropriate like kids on a farm who help dad with the chores etc etc... This is what was on ground Zero as told by a caller....

Anyone know about this program? I would assume they would use social workers but maybe that is not the case.

If everything else is B.S. and you need a job you might want to check Westat out..... at least we could get a report back from the inside....There is so much going on with the new medical insurance procedures that some of this stuff sounds about par for the course.

reply to post by 727Sky


So basically, what I've learned from this is not to answer any questions, or give deliberately vague information and leave things out, if these people show up. Thanks.

Thank God I haven't got any kids.

Thanks for sharing. While I haven't heard of the program named as such or in specific details, I have heard of in the past plans for such a way to chart information about people. At this point, can't expect any less. It would just be the next step of invasiveness from e-mail, to net use, to phone calls, etc to the cameras turned on in electronics watching all you do in the name of advertising...more. Also, thanks for a good warning to people in case it shows up to them locally.

reply to post by 727Sky


Good to know so can share with people who are job searching. This is profiling at its best and its very sad. Never give out medical information (prescriptions; histories) or other non public info to anyone ever unless its also under a protected law to not disclose (life insurance as an example would be safe). I hope they have a disclosure of how this information becomes unprotected once shared. Maybe someone should go under investigation to check it out (if all done by phone or email wouldn't be hard).

reply to post by 727Sky


One more vote for "thanks for the warning." I was recently stalked by door-hangers, e-mail, and phone calls by a couple of "researchers" from UC Berkeley (ostensibly) wanting to ask questions about neighborhoods that don't have a supermarket. I consigned them to spam, blocked their number, and tossed the door-hangers. Anyone who wants to talk to me that badly (and presumably other people in the 'hood) are probably up to something else entirely.

Nothing is an innocent survey anymore. Anyone can walk the street and put up door-hangers, but I'm curious (and infuriated) at how they got my e-mail and phone number....

reply to post by Ex_CT2


Yea how do they get all of that info. We know our email addresses can be sold but what's up with the phone numbers. My cell isn't listed. I get that stuff all the time - surveys, etc. I now can at least shop at albertsons without having to swipe my card to get a decent price. They dropped this unless you want gas rewards so I can only hope the NSA thing triggered that move (hoping it was done for ethical reasons). I try to avoid stores where they track you using this sort of bait. Technology has made privacy a thing of the past clearly (have to have it to live and to live have to sacrifice).

This job finding scheme is more of the same. Sadly - businesses can sign on - if lots do people are forced to do it to work. This will encourage lying and other crime. Someone brilliant money making scheme. It just gets worse each day.

doesn't sound like much of a job to me. Citizen spy basically

I can't speak for the pay or quality of the many jobs, but there are 4 full pages of help wanted here Right Now. Jackson Wyoming. Housing costs are high, some commute from 2 nearby areas, and I'm just posting this in case someone is in real need of work. Google the area. The newspaper is the Jackson Hole News and Guide if you can find it online.

I believe this is the same program. Unbelievable power grab!

Obamacare Provision: “Forced” Home Inspections

Although the Obama administration would claim the provision applies only to Medicaid families, the new statute, by its own definition, has no such limitation. Intervention may be with any family for any reason. It may also result in the child or children being required to go to certain schools or taking certain medications and vaccines and even having more limited – or no – interaction with parents. The federal government will now set the standards for raising children and will enforce them by home visits.

Notice "no such limitation" and "any reason"! So it could be used for anything!

Part of the program will require massive data collecting of private information including all sources of income and the amount gathered from each source.

Doesn't the IRS already have this info? Why collect it again? And if the info does not match?

And oh so much more!

reply to post by Dianec


Westat is a social science research firm. All studies are legit. Confidentiality is mandated by law and participation is voluntary. According to the law (and FCC) research is exempt from the national Do Not Call List. Do not be paranoid....a process called Random Digit Dialing is often used to create a sample for the study and everyone has an equal opportunity to participate. Any legit research firm will make it clear who the sponsor of the study is and offer contact information for validity purposes. The information gathered by researchers is completely confidential and any names or identifying information is not associated with any data gathered--it's stripped and only statistical data is submitted. Always remember that you can skip any question you are uncomfortable with. Would you rather government agencies, social institutions and any other agency trying to make sure that the money and efforts they spend to help those who can have access to services to be thrown out the window? In this economy I think it's best that all resources are being used effectively and to benefit the most in need. The best way to know what people think and how they feel their needs could be met is by asking them. What else needs addressed??

reply to post by Dianec


All phone numbers are selected randomly from all possible landline/cell combinations in the study area and are selected by a computer process. No lists or phone books are used.

reply to post by Ex_CT2


All identifying information such as name is stripped from the info collected and maintained in purely statistical format. Any questions?

reply to post by spartacus699


Telemarketers are the ones who buy lists of telephone numbers and emails. Scientific research firms work very hard to create the surveys they use and to maintain good statistical sampling. Research RDD sampling or social science research methods.