475 – Recent Advances in Sample and Survey Design
Sample Improvement for the Quarterly Financial Report
Forest Krueger
US Census Bureau
Since 1947, the Quarterly Financial Report (QFR) has collected and published quarterly aggregate statistics on the financial results and position of U.S. corporations. The QFR is based on a stratified simple random sample. Historically, noncertainty and certainty sample stratum boundaries have been fixed and tied directly to publication tables. Because of economic growth over time, the fixed boundaries resulted in ever-increasing unsustainable sample sizes referred to as sample creep. Using simulation and other techniques, QFR staff researched a multi-pronged approach to tackle creep and improve the sample. The approach included evaluation of the smallest corporations, introduction of a new noncertainty stratum, introduction of a dynamic method to reevaluate and adjust the certainty boundary on a regular basis, and other techniques.