Justification for nonmaterial change

Introduction: The purpose of this written justification is to announce a revision of the
following United States Census Bureaus’ Quarterly Services Survey (QSS) forms:
•
•
•
•
•
•

QSS-1(A)
QSS-2(A)
QSS-3(A)
QSS-4(A)
QSS-5(A)
QSS-1A-PEO

QSS-1(E)
QSS-2(E)
QSS-3(E)
QSS-4(E)
QSS-5(E)
QSS-1E-PEO

This process will consist of revising the “Acquisition or Merger” question of the QSS1.
Summary: Since year 2003, the QSS has requested all acquisition or merger activity for the
most recent quarter from respondents. However, based on the design and layout of the current
question, responses have been difficult to interpret whether a company is stating they have been
“acquired” or have “merged” with another company. Such a discrepancy has provided a lack of
efficiency with analytical work of the QSS, primarily in terms of status changes and recent
company organizational changes.
Action : To alleviate this discrepancy, the Services Indicators Branch will revise question 6 of all
QSS survey forms. The revision will request the following:
•
•
•

an indicator that an acquisition has occurred during the prior quarter
an indicator that a merger has occurred during the prior quarter
an indicator that a sale has occurred during the prior quarter

To supplement this information, the respondent will be asked to continue to provide the name
and address of the company; the date of the change; and the employee identification number,
(EIN) if applicable.
This question will be generic on all QSS survey form images.
QSS sample/mailout: The revision will not cause any adjustment to the current sample size.
Response Burden : The revision will not affect public reporting burden which is approximately
15 minutes per response.
Effective : June 29th, 20072

1

The “Acquisition or Merger” question is question 6 located on page 3 of all forms

2

Mailout date for the 2nd quarter of year 2007.