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pdfIntroduction
Thank you for helping the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) collect critical feedback
regarding the Consumer Price Index (CPI) program.
The CPI program produces monthly data on changes in the prices paid by urban
consumers for a representative basket of goods and services. Your responses to this
survey will help us improve our existing services.
Even if you are not a frequent user of CPI products, any feedback you can provide would
be appreciated. Your participation in this survey is voluntary. We estimate that it will take
approximately 10 minutes to complete. We are collecting this information under OMB
Number 1225-0059. Without this currently approved number, BLS could not conduct this
survey (Expiration Date: November 30, 2020).
The survey questions are based on broad user experience and responses will be
aggregated for analysis. Your responses will remain anonymous and confidential.
If you have any questions about this survey, please email [email protected] or call 202691-7000.
Click Next below to begin the survey.
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.
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1. How do you use Consumer Price Index (CPI) data? (Check all that apply)
Contract escalation (Escalate or increase a payment, for example, rent, salary, contractual amount)
Deflate or adjust an economic time series
Educational uses
Economic research/analysis
Financial research/analysis
Forecasting/projections
Legislative requirement
Personal interest
Policy research/analysis
Price change for specific items or item categories
Reporting
Research
School assignments
Do not use CPI data
Other (please specify)
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2. How useful are CPI data to you?
Extremely useful
Very useful
Moderately useful
Slightly useful
Not at all useful
Please feel free to explain your response above (optional)
3
3. How did you first learn about the CPI? (Check all that apply)
Blog
Conference
Coworker or colleague
Internet search
Media or press
Research paper
Teacher or professor
Do not recall
Other (please specify)
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4. How long have you used CPI data?
Less than 1 year
1 to 5 years
6 to 10 years
More than 10 years
Don’t know
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5. Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each of the following statements about the CPI.
Strongly
agree
Agree
Neither agree
nor disagree
Disagree
Strongly
disagree
I understand what the CPI measures
CPI data are of high quality
I understand the difference between seasonally
adjusted data and unadjusted data
I believe that the CPI methodology measures price
change as accurately as possible
I can find the data that I need
I know how to get help if I have questions about
CPI data
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Disagreed with statement
6. Statements from the preceding question that you either disagreed with or strongly disagreed with are
listed below. Please explain the reason for your rating in the space provided. (You can leave an item
blank if you do not care to explain your rating.)
I understand what the CPI measures
CPI data are of high quality
I understand the difference between seasonally adjusted data and unadjusted data
I believe that the CPI methodology measures price change as accurately as possible
I can find the data that I need
I know how to get help if I have questions about CPI data
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7. Please indicate by checking yes or no in the table below, if you have used the following types of CPI
data in the past 12 months.
Yes
No
Not sure/
Not familiar with
this
CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U)
CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W)
Chained CPI for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U)
CPI for Older Americans (CPI-E)
CPI Research Series Using Current Methods (CPI-U-RS)
Seasonally adjusted historical data
Index value
1-month percent change
12-month percent change
National data
Regional or local data (such as for the Northeast Region or Boston)
Data for the all items index
Data for a specific item category (such as transportation)
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Yes, used CPI data in past 12 months
8. How often have you used each of the following types of CPI data in the past 12 months?
More than
12 times
6-12 times
1-5 times
Never/
0 Times
CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U)
CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers
(CPI-W)
Chained CPI for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U)
CPI for Older Americans (CPI-E)
CPI Research Series Using Current Methods (CPIU-RS)
Seasonally adjusted historical data
Index value
1-month percent change
12-month percent change
National data
Regional or local data (such as for the Northeast
Region or Boston)
Data for the all items index
Data for a specific item category (such as
transportation)
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Usefulness
9. How useful are each of the following tools/sources for obtaining CPI data?
Extremely
useful
Very
useful
Moderately
useful
Slightly
useful
Not at
all useful
Do not use/
Not familiar
with this
One-screen search (tool on BLS website that uses
a pop-up data browser)
Multi-screen search (tool on BLS website that uses
multiple search screens)
Text files from BLS website
News release or tables
Supplemental tables
Regional websites
BLS staff
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Timeliness
10. How timely are the following CPI data?
Extremely
timely
Very
timely
Moderately Slightly
timely
timely
Not at
all timely
Not
familiar
with/
Do not
use
CPI Data (including CPI-U, All Urban Consumers; CPI-W, Urban
Wage Earners and Clerical Workers; and Average price data)
Chained CPI for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U): Initial
(preliminary) numbers
Chained CPI for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U): Final numbers
Annual seasonal adjustment revisions
Relative importance data
Response rates
Variance estimates
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Other sources of Price data
11. There are other sources of price data. Have you ever used price data from any of the following
sources?
Yes
No
Producer Price Index (PPI)
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), for example, Personal Consumption
Expenditures (PCE) or Regional Price Parities (RPP)
MIT Billion prices project
Other - Please describe in box below
Please list the other sources of Price data that you have used
12
Use of CPI Publications
12. Do you use any CPI publications such as technical information, factsheets, frequently asked questions,
seasonal factors, relative importance tables, variance and response rate tables, etc.?
Yes
No
Don’t know
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Use CPI Publications
13. Please indicate how satisfied you are with the following CPI publications.
Extremely
satisfied
Very
satisfied
Moderately
satisfied
Slightly
satisfied
Not at
all satisfied No opinion
Technical information (for example, the CPI section
of the Handbook of Methods)
Factsheets
Questions and Answers (FAQs)
Seasonal Factors
Relative Importance tables
Variances tables
Response Rate tables
Other - please explain in box below
Other (please specify)
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CPI News Release
14. Based on your experiences using CPI products, please indicate how much you agree or disagree with
the following statements about the CPI news release.
Strongly
agree
Agree
Neither agree
nor disagree
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
The news release provides useful information
The news release is easy to understand
The news release contains the right amount of data
The news release contains the right amount of
charts and table
Please feel free to provide an additional explanation for any of your previous responses (optional)
15
Visit Website
15. Have you ever visited the CPI website? (https://www.bls.gov/cpi/)
Yes
No
Don't know
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Website
16. We recently redesigned the CPI website. Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with the
following statements about the CPI website.
Strongly
agree
Agree
Neither agree
nor disagree
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
Not familiar
with website
The CPI news release is easy to find
CPI data are easy to find
Information on CPI Methodology is easy to find
Contact information for CPI staff is easy to find
I think the website was designed for people like me
with my skills and background
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Recommend
17. How likely is it that you would recommend the CPI website to a friend or colleague?
Not at all likely
0
Extremely likely
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
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Failed search
18. Have you looked for CPI information on the website but were unable to find it?
Yes – please describe what you were looking for in the space below
No
What information were you looking for?
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CPI Notices
19. Are you familiar with CPI notices placed on the CPI website?
Yes
No
Not sure
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Familiar with CPI Notices
20. Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with the following statements about the CPI notices.
Strongly
agree
Agree
Neither agree
nor disagree
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
Current notices are easy to find
Archived notices are easy to find
Notices are published in a timely fashion
Notices provide the right amount of details
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Comments about Notices
21. Do you have any additional thoughts or comments about the notices?
Yes – please list them in the space below
No
Please enter comments below
22
Not familiar with CPI Notices
22. Do you have any positive comments about the CPI website?
Yes - please list comments in the space below
No
Please enter comments below
23
23. Do you have any negative comments about the CPI website?
Yes - please list comments in the space below
No
Please enter comments below
24
Customer Service
24. Have you ever contacted BLS staff with questions about CPI data?
Yes
No
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Have contacted BLS
25. How would you describe the service that you received?
Excellent
Good
Average
Fair
Poor
26. We are interested in any comments, positive or negative, you might have about our service.
I have no comments
Please enter your comments below
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Potential changes
27. The CPI program is considering a variety of potential changes. How helpful would the following
potential changes in the CPI be to you?
Extremely
helpful
Very
helpful
Moderately
helpful
Slightly
helpful
Not at all
helpful
Do not
know/
No opinion
Create a CPI for specific demographic groups
(such as full-time workers or social security
recipient/contributor status)
Create a CPI for specific income groups
Create a CPI that includes owner-occupied housing
and property taxes {as an alternative to Owners’
equivalent rent (OER)}
Use current year data for seasonal adjustment
(concurrent adjustment)
Shorten the length of the news release and tables
Create CPIs at the State level
Publish average offer price data, rather than
average transaction price data
Other - Please describe below
What other changes would you like the CPI to consider? (Enter suggested changes below)
28. Please feel free to provide an additional explanation for any of your responses in the preceding table.
(Optional)
I have no additional comments
Other (please specify)
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Rebasing
29. The CPI is based on prices in the 1982-84 time period, called the “base period.” Prices are set to 100
for that base period. We are considering changing the base period to some other time, for example,
December 2017. This process is known as rebasing. How helpful would the following changes be to you?
Extremely
helpful
Very
helpful
Moderately
helpful
Slightly
helpful
Not at all
helpful
Do not
know/
No opinion
Rebase the CPI to a single month period
Rebase the CPI all at once (items and areas)
Rebase the CPI gradually
Only rebase items that have extreme high or low
values (for example, 1010.345 or 5.6)
Other change - Please describe in the space below
What other changes would you like the CPI to consider? (Enter suggested changes below)
30. Please feel free to provide additional comments about any of your responses from the preceding table.
I have no additional comments
Enter comments below
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Changes to the Item Structure
31. We are considering changing the item structure of the CPI (the set of categories in the CPI and the way
they are grouped and combined).
Some of the changes being considered are shown in the table below. How helpful would the following
potential item structure changes be to you?
Extremely
helpful
Very
helpful
Moderately
helpful
Slightly
helpful
Not at all
helpful
Do not
know/
No opinion
Change the item structure to be more comparable
to international price index structures (HICP,
COICOP)
Streamline the structure so there are fewer item
classification options
Expand the structure so there are more options
Leave the item structure as it currently exists
Please feel free to provide additional explanations for any of your responses in the preceding table. (Optional)
29
Other Changes to Item Structure
32. Are there other changes to the item structure that you would like to see?
Yes – please enter your suggested changes in the space below
No
Enter your suggested changes below
30
Changes to Items
33. We are considering making changes to the items for which we calculate and publish average price
data. How often have you accessed average price data in the past 12 months?
0 times
1-5 times
6-12 times
More than 12 times
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34. What changes, if any, should be made to the Average Price series? (Check all that apply)
Add additional types of average prices or specific items (please provide specifics below)
Reduce the set of average prices to only the most important (please describe the items you think we should continue to produce)
Eliminate Average Prices entirely
Keep the current set as is
No opinion
Other (please specify)
35. Please feel free to provide an additional explanation for any of your previous responses.
I have no additional explanations to enter
Enter your explanation below
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Affiliation
36. Which category best describes the primary organization at which you work or study?
Industry or trade association
Federal government
State government
Local government
Student at School/University
Education professional at School/University
Research organization
Financial institution
News media
Nongovernmental organization
Consulting institution
Blog
Private citizen
Other (please specify)
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Do Not Use CPI Data
37. Why haven’t you used CPI data? (Check all that apply):
Not familiar to me
Do not have the data I need
Data are difficult to use
Data are difficult to find on the website
Not applicable to my needs
Not timely enough
Other BLS data available
Similar to data available from a non-BLS source
Other (please specify)
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Other BLS Data
38. What other BLS data do you use? (Check all that apply)
Consumer spending
Employment
Import/export prices
Pay and benefits
Producer prices
Productivity
Spending
Time use
Unemployment
Workplace injuries
Other (please specify)
35
Price Data Other than from BLS
39. Do you use price data other than from BLS?
Yes
No
36
Use Price Data from Other Sources
40. What other sources of price data do you use? (Check all that apply)
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), for example, Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE)
MIT Billion prices project
Other (please specify)
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Wrap-up
41. Any other comments that you care to make about the CPI program, or suggestions for new products or
improvements to the program, are welcome. Thank you for your time. We appreciate your input.
If you would like to learn more about BLS price data, please visit ourwebsite.
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| File Type | application/pdf |
| File Title | View Survey |
| File Modified | 2019-12-02 |
| File Created | 2019-11-05 |