The 1996-1997 NOS consists of data on 1,002 United States work establishments and was conducted from June 10, 1996, to June 13, 1997, using a stratified random sample from approximately 15 million work establishments in Dun and Bradstreet's Information Services data file. The study concentrated on United States work establishments' employment contracts, applying an interorganizational network perspective to explain two basic human resource practices: how employers interact with other organizations to obtain and train new workers. Topics covered the use of contingent employees and relationships with organizational providers of contingent employees, staffing methods, internal job ladders and promotion chains, high performance work organization, job training programs, and employee benefits and incentives. Additional items gathered basic information about each organization's formal structure, social demography, environmental situation, and productivity and performance.

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ICPSR adheres to the principles of the Data Seal of Approval, which, in part, require the data consumer to comply with access regulations imposed both by law and by the data repository; and to conform to codes of conduct that are generally accepted in higher education and scientific research for the exchange of knowledge and information.

These data are distributed under the following terms of use, which are governed by ICPSR. By continuing past this point to the data retrieval process, you signify your agreement to comply with the below-stated requirements:

Privacy of RESEARCH SUBJECTS

Any intentional identification or disclosure of a RESEARCH SUBJECT (whether an individual or an organization) violates the PROMISE OF CONFIDENTIALITY given to the providers of the information. Therefore, users of data agree:

• To use these datasets solely for statistical analysis and reporting of aggregated information, and not for investigation of specific RESEARCH SUBJECTS, except when identification is authorized in writing by ICPSR (netmail@icpsr.umich.edu )

• To make no use of the identity of any RESEARCH SUBJECT discovered inadvertently, and to advise ICPSR of any such discovery (netmail@icpsr.umich.edu )

Redistribution of Data

You agree not to redistribute data or other materials without the written agreement of ICPSR, unless:

1. You serve as the OFFICIAL or DESIGNATED REPRESENTATIVE at an ICPSR MEMBER INSTITUTION and are assisting AUTHORIZED USERS with obtaining data, or

2. You are collaborating with other AUTHORIZED USERS to analyze the data for research or instructional purposes.

When sharing data or other materials in these approved ways, you must include all accompanying files with the data, including terms of use. More information on permission to redistribute data can be found on the ICPSR Web site.

Citing Data

You agree to reference the recommended bibliographic citation in any publication that employs resources provided by ICPSR. Authors of publications based on ICPSR data are required to send citations of their published works to ICPSR for inclusion in a database of related publications (bibliography@icpsr.umich.edu) .

Disclaimer

You acknowledge that the original collector of the data, ICPSR, and the relevant funding agency bear no responsibility for use of the data or for interpretations or inferences based upon such uses.

Violations

If ICPSR determines that the terms of this use agreement has been violated, ICPSR will act according to our policy on terms of use violations. Sanctions can include:

• ICPSR may revoke the existing agreement, demand the return of the data in question, and deny all future access to ICPSR data.

• The violation may be reported to the Research Integrity Officer, Institutional Review Board, or Human Subjects Review Committee of the user's institution. A range of sanctions are available to institutions including revocation of tenure and termination.

• If the confidentiality of human subjects has been violated, the case may be reported to the Federal Office for Human Research Protections. This may result in an investigation of the user's institution, which can result in institution-wide sanctions including the suspension of all research grants.

• A court may award the payment of damages to any individual(s)/organization(s) harmed by the breach of the agreement.

Definitions

authorized user

A faculty member, staff member, or student at a member institution

ICPSR

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research

member institution

An institutional member of ICPSR

Official/Designated Representative

An individual appointed to represent a university's interests in ICPSR. This individual is also charged with providing user support to campus users.

promise of confidentiality

A promise to a respondent or research participant that the information the respondent provides will not be disseminated without the permission of the respondent; that the fact that the respondent participated in the study will not be disclosed; and that disseminated information will include no linkages to the identity of the respondent. Such a promise encompasses traditional notions of both confidentiality and anonymity. Names and other identifying information regarding respondents, proxies, or other persons on whom the respondent or proxy provides information, are presumed to be confidential.

research subject

A person or organization observed for purposes of research. Also called a respondent. A respondent is generally a survey respondent or informant, experimental or observational subject, focus group participant, or any other person providing information to a study or on whose behalf a proxy provides information.

AVAILABLE. This study is freely available to ICPSR member institutions.