Summary of Changes to the 2017 CFS

Attachment B

Major Collection Changes:

2017 CFS Questionnaire

Item A: Verification of Name and Shipping Address

The shipping address will be preprinted in a textbox below Item A. If the name and/or shipping address are incorrect, the respondent will enter the changes in the space provided.

In 2012, the respondent was asked to make updates in the label area.

Item B: Verification of Mailing Address

The respondent will have the option to choose either the shipping address or enter a new mailing address.

We have added a field for the attention line in the mailing address.

Item D2: Total value of shipments for the week listed

The respondent will enter the value in dollar amount.

Item D3: Did you enter 41 or more shipments?

This item is similar to the 2012 Item D2. However, changes to the wording of this item have been made.

If the respondent enters more than 40 shipments in Item D1, s/he will proceed to Item E. Otherwise, the respondent will proceed to Item F (skipping Item E). A “No” response to Item D3 will indicate that the respondent will report for all outbound shipments in Item F.

Item E: Sampling Instructions

We will collect the respondent’s selection for the table presented in Item E.

This table has been updated with smaller ranges (and more rows) of outbound shipments.

We have deleted the first row (“0-40 outbound shipments”) as it is considered in the skip pattern in Item D3, as described above.

Item F: Shipment Characteristics

The number of outbound shipments in sample will not exceed 80 shipments.

In 2012, the maximum number of outbound shipments to report was 40 shipments.

Item G: Verification of Primary Industry Activity

This is a new Y/N question where the respondent will describe his/her industry if the preprinted industry activity is not correct. We will capture the text description of the primary activity if the respondent describes his/her industry in the space provided, regardless of his/her response to Item G.

We have deleted the 2012 Item G: Rush Deliveries from our questionnaire.

Item H: Time to Complete Survey

This is a new question where the respondent will report the time in hours and minutes dedicated to complete the questionnaire.

Item I: Contact Information Regarding This Report

We have deleted the space provided for the respondent’s signature.

We have added three more spaces in the extension field for a total of seven digits allowed. In 2012, the extension field consisted of only four digits.

General Changes

The Census Bureau replaced the word “establishment” used throughout the 2012 questionnaire with “location” on the 2017 questionnaire. The purpose of this change was to use a word more relevant to the respondent than the word used by the U.S. Census Bureau staff for sampling.