2010 Report of Organization Plan

The Census Bureau plans to conduct additional research under the generic clearance for questionnaire pretesting research (OMB number 0607-0725). We will be conducting a pilot test of questions for the Enterprise Statistics Program which are being added to the 2010 Report of Organization (NC-99001), along with follow-up debriefings of pilot test respondents. The NC-99001 (OMB number 0607-0444) is an annual survey, sponsored by the Census Bureau, which is used to obtain current organization and operational information in order to maintain and update the Business Register.

The pilot study will focus on gathering statistics at the enterprise level in three new subject areas: sales/receipts, types of manufacturing activities, and royalties and license fees for the use of intellectual property. Cognitive pretesting of the new questions was conducted in accordance with a request submitted to OMB on December 31, 2009. A copy of the pilot questionnaire is enclosed; please note that items 3B-3D are the pilot questions.

When the 2010 Report of Organization is mailed out December 14, 2010, a subset of approximately 200 companies in the survey sample will receive the pilot questionnaire containing the three new questions added to the questionnaire. The pilot questionnaire will be mailed out with the regular production survey and will maintain the same reference period.

The 200 companies have been purposively selected to receive the pilot questionnaire on the basis of the following criteria:

• Companies reporting contract manufacturing in the 2007 Economic Census;

• Large companies known in their respective trades to be involved in contract manufacturing, intellectual property, outsourcing of manufacturing, or franchise licensing (franchisors);

• Companies not having one or more of the above criteria (for the purpose of evaluating how out-of-scope companies will respond);

• Multinational companies;

• Companies located in selected interview areas including Washington, D.C., New Jersey-New York, Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco-San Jose, and Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan areas; and

• Large tax-exempt organizations.

From March to September, 2011, staff from the Response Improvement Research Staff within the Census Bureau’s Office of Economic Planning and Innovation plan to conduct post-collection respondent debriefings (unstructured interviews) with up to 40 of these 200 companies.

Pilot study companies will be recruited for in-person respondent debriefings in the Washington, D.C., New Jersey-New York, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Chicago, Detroit, and San Francisco-San Jose metropolitan areas. These in-person interviews will take place at the respondents’ sites. A smaller number of debriefings will be conducted by telephone, in cases where the returned surveys do not coincide within the same time frames or geographic locations, or respondents are unable to meet while we are in their areas. Companies interviewed over the telephone may be located anywhere throughout the United States. Census Bureau subject area specialists will accompany the researcher on most, if not all, of the interviews. They will assist with respondent debriefing, especially in cases where additional clarification of the subject matter is required.

The respondent debriefings will focus on 3 topics. First, we will determine respondents’ ability to gather and accurately report figures for each of the proposed items. Second, we will examine the language and terminology used in the survey questions, to ensure that it is consistent with respondents’ records and to determine where adjustments may be needed. Finally, we will determine whether the data necessary for answering these items can be found at the establishment level of the company, the enterprise level, or somewhere in between. The results of the interviews will be used to revise and finalize the questionnaire. If other company personnel are involved in the collection of these data in addition to the respondents, we will request that these people be invited to the meeting. A copy of the respondent debriefing questionnaire is enclosed.

After participants are recruited for the respondent debriefings, they will receive follow-up reminders about their appointments. Participants will be informed that their response to the respondent debriefings is voluntary and that the information they provide is confidential and will be seen only by employees involved in the research project. Interviews will be audio-recorded, with the participants’ permission, to aid researchers in accurately reporting findings and recommendations. We will not be providing monetary incentives to participants in the study.

The time to complete the additional questions in the pilot questionnaire version of the 2010 Report of Organization is estimated to average 1 hour. We estimate that it will be necessary to interview on average two respondents at each company. We estimate the length of the interview will average 45 minutes. Thus, the maximum estimated burden for this research is 260 hours (1 hour X 200 companies receiving the pilot questionnaire + .75 hours X 40 companies in debriefings X two respondents per company.

The contact person for questions regarding data collection and statistical aspects of the design of the research is:

Alfred D. Tuttle

Response Improvement Research Staff

U.S. Census Bureau

4600 Silver Hill Road, Room 7K132B

Washington, D.C. 20233

(301) 763-7809

[email protected]