The Context of Employment

Abstract

The analysis in the previous chapter (as in our earlier book) has been concerned solely with individual level characteristics. However we were aware that for a fuller understanding, particularly of involvement in representative associations, it would be necessary to be able to set information on individuals within the broader context of the kinds of establishments within which they were employed, the types of representation, if any, available to them, and the behaviour of other workers. Thus, in addition to the interviews with individuals, we collected information from a representative of the management in each establishment and, where there were any, from officials of representative bodies. As we shall describe, we also created some variables relating to aggregates, the establishment or the occupational group, out of the responses of individuals.