SHIELDING PERSONAL DATA Each QP Salary Survey reportis the result of very fine data slicing and dicing. Inreviewing recent years’ surveys, we realized some individual salaries were presented in ways that could be ‘ated with individual respondents, atleast bby someone who knew a respondent ‘and other information about that person, For example, let's say thatin a small ‘orgnanization in New Brunswick, Canada, 2 few people talk in the break room and all say they're going to take the QP salary ‘survey. The survey results don't usually Contain a lot of responses from New Brunswick. So when that year's results are revealed, the geography section cof the report might contain a cell that ‘shows only one respondent from that province with the ttle of auditor and ives the average salary for New Bruns Wick auditors of $79,230. of course, that average isthe exact salary ofthe one auditor. Now there may be a calibration ‘technician from that same company who knows his boss's salary, Giving away personally identifiable information in this way obviously isn’t Cesirable, so there's been a slight acjust- ‘ment in how limited data lke this are presented. We sil want to deeply dissect. ‘the data because those tables that break ut salarias by many variables contain ‘many nuggets of value. This year anc in the future, we will continue to publish most of the same tables, but hide any indWvidual salaries. There are three ways todo this 1.m= 1: Many of the tables provide an average salaty and the number of respondents in that cell If te latter ‘number s one, of course the salary is ‘hat one person’s exact salary. in these ceases, we shield the data by replacing it with the notation “n = 1." 2.n.< 3: We provide some tables that give minimum and maximum salaries for a category, as well as the count of re spondents and other statistics. n these ceases, ifthe count is two, the minimum and the maximum are the exact salaries ‘of the only two people in the category. {the count is one, the minimum and maximum are both the salary of that ‘one person. Either way a person can be matched to a salary. On the other hand, if there are atleast three in a category, although the minimum and maximum are the salaries of two individuals, they are part of an aggregate in which i's difficult to match a person to a salary. So ‘we shield the data in a row represent: ing only one or two respondents, and display “n < 3.7in all other rows, we display the data ‘3. Row removal: In some cases, al the cell in @ row may be shielded. In ‘these cases, the entire row is removed {rom the table, and the metadata box for ‘that table will note that some rows have been removed for this reason. Likewise, in the minimum-maximum type tables, if all the rows in a larger aggregation are shielded, the entire aggregation is removed, andthe metadata box wil note that, Mic, Continued from p18) 26 online at www qualityprogress comisalarysurvey: How qualifications affect satisfaction—Last yay, the culture and satisfaction analysis was again conducted In fact, this analysis has become a regular feature of the annual survey, appearing in section 30 of this year's report ‘This year, the data have been beefed up, Realizing the questions about satisfaction had been optional in 201, many respondents didnt provide answers. In 2015, those questions were made integral tothe survey, aiving usa larger, more robust data sot Although the analysis performed in 2015 was simi- lar to that from the prior year, one new discovery was salient in the opening analysis: Holders of advanced ogres and some certifications were likelier to be happy if they were in positions where those degrees fr certifications were formal requirements of their Job (See Table 7, p. 19, containing 2016 data for US. 20 QP + wwwsqualityprogress.com respondents), Ths is a fitting corollary to the finding related to certifications mentioned earlier The payoff for any qualification is best i it fits the work actually being done, The overqualified are somewhat less likely to_be happy in their work lives than those whose jobs make the most use of their kills and education, axon tase aaa Poor Pree ea ear aat Pree Sa eked res aye