Advances in Business Statistics, Methods and Data Collection

21A Creative Approach to Promoting Survey Response¹

Charles F. Brady Jr. and Kari L. Klinedinst

US Census Bureau, Washington, DC, USA

21.1 Introduction

Every five years, the US Census Bureau collects extensive statistics about nearly four million businesses that are essential to understanding the American economy. This official count, better known as the Economic Census, serves as the foundation for the measurement of US businesses and their economic impact. As part of the Census Bureau's mission to provide timely information on the health of the US economy, this business census serves as the most extensive collection of data related to business activity.

Foundational to our efforts is understanding how businesses respond to surveys. The primary purpose of the Economic Census is to provide economic benchmarks. In general, business populations are highly skewed, with a small number of businesses contributing the majority of data to the published totals. Obtaining quality response data from the largest companies is crucial and is generally the primary focus of the published research on collection methods and contact strategies (Thompson et al. 2015; Thompson et al. 2018). Using qualitative research findings from a study of 30 large companies, Sudman et al. (2000) present a hybrid establishment survey response process model, reinforced by additional findings (Willimack and Nichols 2010). This model recognizes the organizational behavioral steps that make establishment survey response ...