Research Methodology

Read the summary below or download the entire Chapter One from the printed report.

The green jobs research used Minnesota’s ongoing statewide Job Vacancy Survey (JVS), follow-up telephone survey, in-depth interviews, and secondary research to study green jobs throughout the state.

Research Timeline
Data was collected over four JVS survey rounds: October to December 2009; April to June 2010; October to December 2010; and April to June 2011.    

Job Vacancy Survey 
The JVS sample was increased to 12,000 for each of the four rounds, with an over-sample in pre-identified potentially green industries. The survey instrument was changed to include the five green categories. Each position that was identified as potentially green either by the employer on the survey or because it fell into a potentially green industry, was selected for follow-up.

Follow-up Phone Survey
Analysts conducted follow-up telephone interviews with employers to confirm the environmental activities of each position and to gather qualitative information on education level, skill and knowledge requirements, and to learn whether employers faced difficulties finding qualified candidates for the position. The response rate for the follow-up interviews was 76 percent.

In-Depth Employer Interviews
These were used to fill out areas where the information from the phone survey was determined to be insufficiently detailed or complete. Key employers who were willing to be interviewed were identified through the phone survey and other means.

Determining the Greenness of Particular Positions 
To determine the degree to which jobs were directly or essentially related to a green product, green service, or green process, the following factors were considered:

• Job title
• Job duties
• Degree to which duties fell within green subcategories
• Percentage of time spent in green activities
• Employer perspective
• Organizational context

Data Analysis
Data from each survey round were aggregated and scaled to produce estimates representative of Minnesota's labor market by planning region. Interview data were passed through a series of quality reviews and coded according to categories that emerged from field data collection in an ongoing iterative process. Finally, qualitative survey data were linked to corresponding quantitative survey data and comprehensively analyzed.