Large Company Reporting Practices Program: Company Visits Project
Round 1: Initiation Visits – Meeting Agenda and Interview Protocol
Prepared by Dave Tuttle and Diane Willimack, RIRS/OEPI
Agenda
Introduction of LCRPP Company Visits Project and personnel
Solicitation of respondents’ experiences with Census Bureau surveys, the processes by which they respond to surveys, challenges they face in survey response, and recommendations for tools and services that may reduce the time and effort involved in survey response
Presentation of the Economic Directorate’s findings from prior research with respondents and tools, services, and other changes the Directorate has implemented in the attempt to improve survey responses and reduce associated difficulties for companies
Solicitation of feedback on the tools and services presented
Discussion of organizational changes to companies and how the Economic Directorate can obtain up-to-date information about such changes
Description of company panel and request for respondents to participate in the panel
Interview Topics and Questions
Reporting practices and survey experiences
Please describe the typical process by which you complete government surveys.
What are the most problematic parts of completing a survey, and why?
What are the least problematic parts, and why?
What parts of the process work well, and why?
Multiple respondents
Thinking across the surveys you have been responsible for, how often do you have to obtain assistance from others in your company? (Response options? None, One, A few, Some, Half, Most, All...)
How easy or difficult is it to get help from others? What is easiest/most difficult about this?
How do you go about finding appropriate people to help you and obtaining assistance?
Do you have access to a listing of all company personnel and their contact information? If not, how do you go about finding people you don’t already know?
Do you ever have to rely on managers or others in positions of authority to help you find help?
For what kinds of information have you needed help from other people?
Have there been times when you could not find and/or get help from appropriate people? Please describe.
How do you communicate with other people about survey requests? How do you communicate what is being requested – In person? Telephone? In email message? In an email attachment? Create spreadsheets? Deliver paper copy? Other ways?
How do those helping you return their data?
Do you have discussions about the survey request? Please describe these discussions.
Do you ever go back to your sources with questions about the data they provided?
Contacting the Census Bureau for assistance
Have you ever contacted the Census Bureau for assistance? Please describe your interactions with Bureau personnel. Would you say your problems have been addressed, or not addressed? In your opinion, what have Census Bureau personnel done well when you have called? What do they need to improve?
Census Bureau tools and services – respondents’ feedback
Have you ever used any of the tools/services we mentioned?
(for each) How were your experiences with them? Did they meet or not meet your expectations? What would you improve about them, if anything?
(If did not use) Were there any particular reasons you did not use this tools/service?
Organizational changes
How do you generally become aware of changes to your company like acquisitions, spin-offs, etc.? How soon after these kinds of changes happen are they known to you?
Currently we rely on the Report of Organization, form NC-99001, which is mailed annually, to gather information on changes to companies and update our master company list. Can you think of any suggestions for the Census Bureau to obtain better and up-to-date information on changes to companies?
How do organizational changes affect your ability to report on government surveys in general?
Please describe a typical experience with integrating an organizational change into your day-to-day work.
Please describe a typical experience with integrating an organizational change into government reporting.
(Offer possibilities for comment?)
Special types of companies
What kinds of management reports do your finance, tax, or accounting areas create and use?
Are there any external reports your company routinely provides to any parties?
Future protocols
Do you keep any documentation on file after completing a survey? Please describe. What types of documents? Paper/electronic?
How long do you hold on to survey documentation?
With regard to personnel changes and knowledge transfer relevant for government reporting, is there any way we can help?
Does your email application provide a directory of all company email addresses?
How do you communicate with people in your company?
When do you prefer to communicate by email, that is, for what types of communications? When do you prefer to communicate by other means?
As part of your normal duties, do you communicate with people outside your company? For what purposes? What communication modes do you use in these instances?
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | tuttl004 |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-02-02 |