Abstract #300576

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JSM 2003 Abstract #300576
Activity Number: 172
Type: Contributed
Date/Time: Monday, August 4, 2003 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
Sponsor: Section on Survey Research Methods
Abstract - #300576
Title: Efforts to Improve Response Rates in the Current Employment Statistics Program: Results from Two Experiments
Author(s): Richard J. Rosen*+ and Louis J. Harrell and Ralf Hertwig and Tony M. Gomes
Companies: Bureau of Labor Statistics and Bureau of Labor Statistics and Bureau of Labor Statistics and Bureau of Labor Statistics
Address: Ste 4860, Washington, DC, 20212,
Keywords: nonresponse ; incentive ; business survey
Abstract:

Achieving desired response rates in a timely and cost-effective manner is a top priority in the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program. CES is a monthly survey of about 300,000 business establishments that provides estimates of employment, payroll, and hours, for the nation, states and metropolitan areas. CES uses a number of collection methods with Touchtone Data Entry (TDE) the predominant method. Under TDE, delinquent respondents receive a nonresponse prompting (NRP) "reminder" call or fax message when it's time to report their data. This paper reviews two methodological tests to improve response rates: 1) use of incentives, and 2) an alternative NRP script. For the incentives test, the test sample received a small gift (a pocket size calculator or a mouse pad). For the alternative NRP method test, rather than an NRP reminder call or fax message, the test sample received a call and were asked to provide the data while on the phone. The paper analyzes response rates and discusses factors that may impact them. Overall, the results do not appear to show any significant impact on response.

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