Since 2005, Professor Schieman has collected data from more than 55,000 workers in Canada, the United States, and South Korea. He uses diverse methodologies–including nationally representative surveys, in-depth interviews, focus groups, and free-text designs–to understand what people think and feel about work and its effects on the self, status, and well-being. His research has been supported by more than $5.5 million in grant awards from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Social Science and Humanities Research Council, the National Institute on Aging, the University of Toronto COVID-19 Action Initiative, and the Ontario Mental Health Foundation. He has published more than 120 papers in peer-reviewed journals including American Sociological Review, Social Forces, Work & Occupations, Journal of Marriage and Family, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Social Psychology Quarterly, Social Problems, Work & Stress, and others.

Studying the Quality of Work and Economic Life

The Canadian Quality of Work and Economic Life Study (known as the C-QWELS)

In this landmark study, Professor Schieman has partnered with Angus Reid Global (ARG) to conduct nationally representative surveys of 23,603 Canadian workers annually from 2019 to 2025. One objective is to investigate how Canadians perceive work and economic conditions, and how these factors shape the self-concept, status, and well-being. The longitudinal component has 15 waves of data that began in September 2019 with follow-ups into 2025 (extending to 2030). This offers a unique in-depth portrait of how Canadians have experienced the turbulence and fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, cost of living, shifting trade policies, and other macro-level events.

The Measuring Employment Sentiments and Social Inequality Study (MESSI)

In 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026, Professor Schieman partnered with YouGov and ARG to conduct four nationally representative surveys of American workers (Total N = 11,500). These surveys provide a unique portrait of workers’ attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs. The MESSI measures not only workers’ perceptions about their own personal job conditions and qualities, but also their perceptions of their fellow American workers’ job conditions and qualities. The MESSI contains novel measures of “perception glitches” and a range of job values, self-concepts, and well-being.

In 2024, 2025, & 2026, Professor Schieman fielded the MESSI in Canada with ARG (N = 8,828). And in 2026, Professor Schieman collaborated with Professor Jong Hyun Jung (Sungkyunkwan University) and Heeyoung Lee (University at Albany, SUNY) to field the MESSI in South Korea (N = 2,000).

Quality of Employment Survey – Updated (QES-UP)

In 2022 and 2023, Professor Schieman partnered with ARG to field two nationally representative surveys of American workers and one nationally representative sample of Canadian workers (N = 6,928). One main objective was to provide a 50-year snapshot of change from 1970 to the present in the quality of worklife. His research excavated some of the classic questions from the 1972/1973 and 1977 Quality of Employment Survey (hence the name Quality of Employment Survey – Updated).

American Quality of Work & Economic Life Study (A-QWELS)

In 2020 and 2021, as a parallel to the Canadian Quality of Work and Economic Life Study, Professor Schieman collected data on more than 6,500 American workers (with the assistance of ARG). Like the C-QWELS, one objective was to investigate how Americans perceive work and economic conditions, and the ways these factors shape status, satisfaction, and well-being.

The Canadian Work Stress and Health Study (CAN-WSH)

In 2011, Professor Schieman fielded a national survey of 6,000 working Canadians and followed up every two years until 2019 (with the assistance of the research firm Malatest). One objective is to track changes in demands and resources that workers experience in their roles, with an emphasis on the work-family interface, after-hours contact, multitasking, and work-life culture.

The American Work, Stress and Health Study (A-WSH)

In 2005, Professor Schieman fielded a nationally representative sample of 1,800 working American adults and followed up two years later on the eve of the Great Recession. One objective was to document the emotional effects of work stress, especially interpersonal conflict in the workplace.