<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The U.S. Census Bureau is investigating adaptive Nonresponse Follow-Up (NRFU) strategies for single unit businesses in the 2017 Economic Census. These collection protocols require a suite of viable alternative procedures that can be implemented. With business surveys, the majority of cognitive research and nonresponse follow-up procedures focus on collection methods that obtain valid response data from the larger businesses, and there is relatively little quantitative or qualitative research for small businesses. Moreover, the contact methods for small businesses are often constrained by budget limitations. Business programs at the U.S. Census Bureau rely on mailed reminder letters and supplemental promotional materials, with options for certified and bulk mailings. To explore the benefits and disadvantages of the proposed alternative nonresponse follow-up procedures for small businesses, we conducted a field experiment embedded in the 2014 Annual Survey of Manufactures, an annual program that has similar data collection procedures and sampling units as the Economic Census. This article describes the study and presents the results, then discusses how the recommended nonresponse follow-up procedures are implemented in an adaptive collection design test presently being conducted in the 2015 Annual Survey of Manufactures.</p></abstract>

The U.S. Census Bureau is investigating adaptive Nonresponse Follow-Up (NRFU) strategies for single unit businesses in the 2017 Economic Census. These collection protocols require a suite of viable alternative procedures that can be implemented. With business surveys, the majority of cognitive research and nonresponse follow-up procedures focus on collection methods that obtain valid response data from the larger businesses, and there is relatively little quantitative or qualitative research for small businesses. Moreover, the contact methods for small businesses are often constrained by budget limitations. Business programs at the U.S. Census Bureau rely on mailed reminder letters and supplemental promotional materials, with options for certified and bulk mailings. To explore the benefits and disadvantages of the proposed alternative nonresponse follow-up procedures for small businesses, we conducted a field experiment embedded in the 2014 Annual Survey of Manufactures, an annual program that has similar data collection procedures and sampling units as the Economic Census. This article describes the study and presents the results, then discusses how the recommended nonresponse follow-up procedures are implemented in an adaptive collection design test presently being conducted in the 2015 Annual Survey of Manufactures.

Investigating Adaptive Nonresponse Follow-up Strategies for Small Businesses through Embedded Experiments

Journal of Official Statistics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The U.S. Census Bureau is investigating adaptive Nonresponse Follow-Up (NRFU) strategies for single unit businesses in the 2017 Economic Census. These...

Investigating Adaptive Nonresponse Follow-up Strategies for Small Businesses through Embedded Experiments

Published Online: Sep 09, 2017

Page range: 835 - 856

Received: Jan 01, 2016

Accepted: Mar 01, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/jos-2017-0038

Keywords
Split panels, business surveys, adaptive collection design

© 2017 Katherine Jenny Thompson et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Investigating Adaptive Nonresponse Follow-up Strategies for Small Businesses through Embedded Experiments

Published Online: Sep 09, 2017

Page range: 835 - 856

Received: Jan 01, 2016

Accepted: Mar 01, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/jos-2017-0038

KeywordsSplit panels, business surveys, adaptive collection design

© 2017 Katherine Jenny Thompson et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Split panels, business surveys, adaptive collection design