620 – Sampling and Survey Methods
Email Solicitation for a Business Establishment Survey - Results from the 2015 Annual Refiling Survey
Sharon Stang
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Emily Thomas
Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) is a federal/state cooperative program that publishes (on a quarterly frequency) a count of monthly employment and total quarterly wages reported by employers covering 98 percent of U.S. jobs, available at the county, MSA, state and national levels by industry. The Annual Refiling Survey (ARS) is a business establishment survey that asks businesses to update their industry classification and geographic information. In an effort to reduce survey costs associated with printing and mailing envelopes and forms for the ARS, QCEW began soliciting respondents via email in 2015. ARS online data collection began with the 2012 survey. Online respondents to the 2012 ARS provided their email addresses when they reported their data. The ARS is conducted over a three-year cycle and businesses surveyed in 2012 were again eligible for selection in 2015. Businesses that responded online in 2012 were contacted initially via email and asked to participate in the 2015 survey. This paper summarizes the procedures, response results, and cost savings associated with the email solicitation of businesses in the 2015 ARS.