Office of Publications and Special Studies (OPUBSS) News Release Survey

Questionnaire for External Users of BLS News Releases

Introductory Page

Thank you for your interest in providing feedback about BLS news releases, which are issued to the public on a regular basis (for example, monthly, quarterly).

We are considering changes to these news releases, and would like your honest opinions about how you use them and how we might improve their effectiveness.

This brief survey is voluntary and will take on average only 3 minutes to complete.

Thank you for your time.

We are collecting this information under OMB Number 1225-0059. Without this currently-approved number, we could not conduct this survey. (Expiration: January 31, 2016). This survey is being administered by Surveymonkey.com and resides on a server outside of the BLS Domain. BLS cannot guarantee the protection of survey responses and advises against the inclusion of sensitive personal information in any response.

1. How often have you read any BLS news releases in the past three months?

• 6 or more times

• 2-5 times

• This is my first time

• Never (skip to 12)

• Other – please explain (skip to 12)

2. Which news releases do you use? (Select all that apply)

• National news releases (from Washington, DC)

• Regional news releases (from a Regional Information Office)

• Don’t know

3. How do you use the news releases? (Select all that apply)

• Simply as a reminder that new data are available

• For a high-level overview (identify key “take away” points)

• For detailed information (for example, for smaller geographic areas, a limited number of industries or occupations, etc.)

• For distributing the information to others

• For internal purposes

• Other – please explain

4. How do you use the explanatory, descriptive text provided with each news release? (Select all that apply)

• I read the news release from beginning to end

• I read the top paragraph and scan for information that is of interest to me.

• I read the top paragraph only

• I copy and paste the text into other documents

• I tend not to read the news release text

• Other, please describe

5. Please choose the statement that best describes how you use the charts or maps embedded in the news release. (Select all that apply)

• I copy and paste the charts to share with others or for my own purposes

• I look at the charts, but tend to pull data to make my own charts

• I look at the charts and they help me understand the news release

• I tend to ignore the charts because they do NOT help me understand the data

• I didn’t know there were charts

• Other, please describe (OPEN)

6. How do you use the tables in news releases (Select all that apply)

• I have a script that I run to scrape the data from the tables (skip to 8)

• I have particular data that I’m interested in and look for those specific data points (skip to 8)

• I scan the tables to evaluate what is interesting or relevant (skip to 8)

• I tend to ignore the tables (go to 7)

• Other, please describe (OPEN) (skip to 8)

7. Why do you tend to ignore the tables? (Select all that apply)

• They are too difficult to work with

• I don’t need the information in them

• They are poorly formatted

• Other – please explain

8. Please choose the statement that best describes how you use technical notes in news releases

• I read these thoroughly with every release

• I’ve read them at some point, and may refer to them from time to time

• I’ve never read them

• I didn’t know technical notes existed

• Other, please describe (OPEN)

9. How do you usually access BLS news releases?

• PC/laptop

• Tablet (or phablet)

• Smartphone

• Paper

• Other – please describe

10. Which of the following best describes you?

• Journalist (including social media)

• Other

10. As BLS considers making changes to news releases, what features would you like to see?

• None, news releases are fine as is (exit survey)

Open ended comment box

Exit Survey

12. This survey is designed for people who have used, or currently use, BLS news releases. Please select the appropriate response below.

• I have used, or currently use, BLS news releases (skip to 2)

• I have never used BLS news releases (exit survey)

Exit Survey