Navy-wide Personnel Survey (NPS) 1990-1995: Summary of Trends.

Abstract : The responses on six Navy-wide personnel surveys have been compared and charted in this report. Items with consistent wording were analyzed, and the results are depicted in graphs. Only those items that remained the same during those years were included in the comparisons. When interpreting results, only items that show two consecutive downturns or upturns should be considered trends. The statistical significance of each directional shift on the graph is purposefully omitted in favor of letting the reader decide the practical significance of each trend. The reason for this decision is that the large number of cases in the surveys causes even small differences in trends to be statistically significant, although many of those differences may not be practically meaningful. In interpreting the trends, a conservative estimate of error (+3% to -3%) should be applied. A 3 percent fluctuation around the actual percentage should be considered as no change. For example, if a 50 percent agreement with a statement changed from 1 year to another, such change should not be considered a change unless it fell below 47 percent or above 53 percent. Between 47 percent and 53 percent is considered the same as 50 percent. The results of the trend analysis are depicted in the graphs.