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Developing A Quality Assurance Program For The US Census Bureau’s

Business Register

David. D. Chapman US CENSUS BUREAU

 

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What I Want to Talk About

Overview Business Register Quality Team Team Projects Recommendations Lessons Learned

OVERVIEW

US Census Bureau

Economic Area

Business Register

Business Register Purpose

“to served as a comprehensive central source of list frames for the business censuses and surveys”

Secondary Purposes

Central Administrative Record Repository

Central facility (data and services) Data Source for County Business Pattern and Nonemployer Tabulations Source of Data for Economic Research and Custom Tabulations

Statistical Universes

Employer Identification Number (EIN) Social Security Number (SSN) Employer Units Survey Units

Business Register Quality Team

Purpose Membership Oversight Projects

Team Purpose

“… to develop a plan that ensures the continuous quality, reliability, and integrity of all business register processes, information, and products.”

Team Membership

BR Designers/Managers BR Programmers BR Users Quality and Process Improvement Staff

Team Oversight Team Leader ADC Research and Methodology Chief, Economic Planning and

Coordination Division Steering Group Census Managers

Team Projects

Transition to New Business Register Administrative Records Processing How Surveys Use Business Register Identify Customer Problems Recommend Changes

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Transition To New Business Register

Coverage Compare Data ValuesAnecdotal CommentsCritical Variables

Team Projects

Transition to New Business Register Administrative Records Processing How Surveys Use Business Register Identify Customer Problems Recommend Changes

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Admin Records Processing

Team examined the current system for administrative records processing and recommended changes

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Admin Records Sub-teamRecommendations

Create Centralized Admin Record Tracking System

Systematic Review of Post-Processing Admin Record QA

Increase Focus on Key Business Register Variables

Standardize and Automate QA Reports

Team Projects

Transition to New Business Register Administrative Records Processing How Surveys Use Business Register Identify Customer Problems Recommend Changes

Current Survey Use of Business Register

What do programs need from BR? Looked at three(3) Surveys

Business Sample Revision (BSR) Annual Capital Expenditures (ACES) Industrial Research and Development

(IRDS)

Current Survey Requirements

Each survey documented use Purpose to identify similarities and

differences in use of BR Great differences in detail, definitions,

and terminology Difficulty in consolidating information

Team Projects

Transition to New Business Register Administrative Records Processing How Surveys Use Business Register Identify Customer Problems Recommend Changes

Identify Customer Problems

Focus Group versus Questionnaire Focus Groups with BR Users Different Surveys – Different Jobs Focus Group – 12 people – two hours

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Focus Group Comments

Two Types of Comments

Quality

Management

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Comments on Quality

More Accurate and Timely Contact Information

Add 2002 Economic Census and Current Survey Data to Business Register

Mergers and Acquisition / Company Structure

“BAD” data

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Comments on Management

Communication Documentation Training Interactive Use of the Business

Register Management

Team Projects

Transition to New Business Register Administrative Records Processing How Surveys Use Business Register Identify Customer Problems Make Recommendations

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DeterminingFinal Recommendations

Reviewed Individual RecommendationsConsolidate RecommendationsAdded New RecommendationsCreated Final ListRanked Entries on Final List By:

ImportanceDifficulty

Final Set of Recommendations

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RecommendationsShort Term (Next 6 Months)

Administrative Records

Administrative Record Repository

“Wrap-Up” Edit

Business Register Quality Checks

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RecommendationsLong Term (Over 6 Months)

Identify a clear list of activities associated with Business Register QA plan

Problem / Issues LogAnnual Meeting with CustomersPeriodic Audit of Business Register

Processes and QA planMonitor Quality of key variablesMonthly Analytical Tables

Identify Current State of Business RegisterDetermine Trends and emerging problems

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Lessons Learned

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Lessons Learned

1. Project was too “BIG”

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Lessons Learned

2. “You can get a lot done when you don’t care who gets the credit.”

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Lessons Learned

3. All quality problems are management problems.

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Lessons Learned

4. Introducing a “Quality” approach is a wearing experience.

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Lessons Learned

5. Team members should be accountable for their work.

The team should be blend of junior staff and enlightened senior staff

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Lessons Learned

6. Need for both Technical Documentation

and Management Documentation

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Lessons Learned

7. Focus Groups are worth the effort

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Lessons Learned

8. Similar processes in different programs should be documented with common format and common definitions

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Questions?

David.d.chapman@census.gov