Various Economic Area Pretesting Activities

2012 Economic Census Evaluation – Respondent/Nonrespondent Debriefing Protocol

Draft 12/17/13

Introduction: We are reaching out to businesses that received the 2012 Economic Census to learn about their experiences with the census and factors that affected their participation. Our goal is to understand the challenges that businesses face when they receive requests like the census, and to find ways to make it easier for businesses to complete the census in the future.

Questions for respondents

1. Were you responsible for completing or overseeing the completion of the 2012 Economic Census form(s) for your company?

2. What was your role in completing the census?

_ Completed all items yourself

_ Completed some items yourself and got help for others

_ Only coordinated completion of form(s) by others in the company

3. How many people contributed to preparation of the Economic Census?

   1. What parts of the company are they in?

4. How did you communicate with people to collect data for the form?

   1. (If more than one way) Which was the primary way?

5. Did you have any issues in meeting the February 12 deadline for the forms?

   1. (If yes) What were some of the challenges you faced in completing the Economic Census in the requested time frame?

6. Do you remember what some of your competing work/projects were when the EC was being collected? What were they?

7. Do you remember receiving any advance notice about the survey?

   1. Would you say it was helpful or not helpful?

   2. What information would have been important to have prior to receiving the survey?

8. (ONLY FOR AM COMPANIES) Did having an account manager make any difference in getting your forms completed? If so, how?

9. Do you remember using any of the online self-service features on our website? If so, which ones?

   1. Did you find it/them helpful or not helpful?

   2. What types of tools or other features would you like to see on our website?

10. Did you hear about the Economic Census from other sources, for example trade associations, news media, etc.? Which ones?

11. Did you look at any economic data available on the Census Bureau’s website?

    1. What did you look at?

    2. Did you refer the economic data on to anyone else in your organization? If so, what role are they in?

12. Are you responsible for completing any other government surveys? If yes, which ones?

Questions for nonrespondents

1. What contributed to your decision not to participate in the economic census?

2. Do you remember receiving the economic census form?

   1. (If yes) Do you recall whether you reviewed the form before deciding not to complete it?

3. What other Census Bureau surveys have you completed in the past?