Statistical Clearing House

Tables

• Table 1: Completed Reviews, Impact of Statistical Clearing House Review Process
• Table A1: Annualised Respondent hours
• Table A2: Completed Reviews

Introduction

1    This report describes the impact the Statistical Clearing House review process has had on the quality of Australian Government surveys and on respondent burden during the period 1 July 2003 to 30 June 2004.

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Purpose of the Statistical Clearing House Process

2    The Statistical Clearing House is responsible for reviewing all surveys involving 50 or more businesses conducted by or on behalf of Australian Government departments and agencies. The primary purpose of the Statistical Clearing House is to reduce the burden of Australian Government surveys on businesses by ensuring such surveys do not duplicate existing collections and are of sufficient quality to warrant the burden imposed.

3     A summary of the business surveys the Statistical Clearing House reviewed during the 2003-04 financial year is included in Appendix 1, and Appendix 2 summarises the business surveys specific to your agency, which were reviewed during this period.

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Impact of Statistical Clearing House review process

4    The Statistical Clearing House review process assesses surveys for potential improvements that would assist in reducing the burden on businesses and/or raising the quality of surveys being conducted. Where quality improvements will impact directly on the fitness for purpose of the data, the Statistical Clearing House requires that changes be made to the survey methodology. The Statistical Clearing House review also highlights where changes can be made to improve data quality incrementally.

5    Table 1 summarises the number of completed reviews where the Statistical Clearing House review process has impacted on surveys. Reviews completed in 2003-04 have resulted in the largest reduction in respondent load recorded in surveys to date, with reductions recorded in 23 surveys. This shows that for every 5 surveys reviewed by the SCH during this period 1 was redesigned to effect a reduction in respondent load. In this period improvements were:

• made to 58 surveys, an increase to 48%
• suggested to 59 surveys, an increase to 49%

6    Not unlike previous periods, this increased impact is due largely to the higher numbers of Once Only Public Interest surveys and Program or Product Evaluation surveys being reviewed. Often these types of surveys benefit most from the review process as they tend to have been developed with the assistance of less experienced survey managers.

Table 1: Completed Reviews, Impact of Statistical Clearing House Review Process

Impact of Review	1999-00	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
Respondent Load Reduced	10	19	6	19	23
Improvements Made	35	45	44	64	58
Improvements Suggested	35	61	51	78	59
Total number of reviews	119	126	122	169	120




7    Considerable effort is expended to ensure that the review process provides a learning opportunity for survey managers who are less experienced with survey design and development. The Statistical Clearing House assists survey managers to identify when and how to use qualitative research methods appropriately. This ensures Agencies' research resources are efficiently and effectively directed towards achieving the required information outcome, without placing unnecessary burden on businesses.


8    The Statistical Clearing House provides information to survey managers to enable them to implement recommended changes based on best practice survey design. Accordingly, interest in the SCH seminar series continues to grow. Four seminars were conducted during 2003/04. Strong repeat attendance by survey managers underscores the contribution these seminars make to improving knowledge of best practice in survey design and methodology.


10    In 2003-04, changes made to sample design or questionnaire content saved 3,469 hours of businesses time. The most common reason for this saving is generally due to either a reduction in sample size or the adoption of a sampling approach. Common quality improvements made as a result of the Statistical Clearing House review process have included:

• undertaking questionnaire testing
• increasing follow-up procedures to improve response rates
• Layout & design changes to questionnaires
• changes to sample design methodology
• reporting data quality information to improve useability of data
• addressing duplication with other surveys
  

11    Respondent burden has also been reduced indirectly through changes made to questionnaires during the review process which simplify the respondents' task. These include changes to question order which improve the flow, improvements to the format which make questionnaires easier to use and clarification of question wording and response categories.


12    During 2003-04, the Statistical Clearing House has maintained and developed relationships with the network of Survey Liaison Officers (SLO's). SCH review officers have met with a number of SLO's to discuss issues of common interest, and plans are in place to continue with these meetings during the 2004/2005 financial year. SLO's are a primary communication link between the Statistical Clearing House and survey managers.


13    Survey Liaison Officers encourage survey managers to notify the Statistical Clearing House early in the survey development phase. As a result, there has been an increase in early involvement of the statistical Clearing House in the survey development process. These early discussions with Statistical Clearing House staff have resulted in most survey managers adopting best practice in survey design, without disrupting the survey schedule.


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Australian Government Business Surveys Register

14    The Statistical Clearing House has continued to maintain the Australian Government Business Surveys Register on the Statistical Clearing House website. The Australian Government Business Surveys Register is provided for survey managers and researchers as a resource tool to increase awareness of the range of statistical data generated by these surveys, and to reduce the likelihood of survey duplication. It also acts as an accessible reference guide to existing survey designs. There are currently metadata relating to 809 surveys on the register. For each of these surveys there is a description of the survey design and contact details for the survey manager.


15    The Statistical Clearing House has introduced a new procedures which allows more timely access to information about Australian Government surveys. Immediately a survey is notified to the SCH the title and contact details are posted on the web site. Once the survey has completed the review process, approval from the survey manager is then sought to release more detailed meta data.


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Contact for Further Information

16    If you have any queries about this report or wish to advise the Statistical Clearing House of business surveys please contact the Statistical Clearing House by phone on 02 6252 5285 or by email at: statistical.clearing.house@abs.gov.au. Further information about the Statistical Clearing House can also be found on the Statistical Clearing House website.


Statistical Clearing House
July 2003


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PDF File

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Summary of Australian Government Business Surveys in 2003-04

Annualised Respondent Load
Table A1 shows that whilst the number of surveys being notified to the Statistical Clearing House has increased, the respondent burden placed on businesses as a result of these surveys have decreased. This is in large part due to a 17% reduction in respondent load of surveys conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This has contributed to over 88% (335,631 hours) of total annualised respondent load, (377,203 hours). Conversely, the respondent load attributable to surveys conducted by other Agencies has increased by 11% in the last year from 37,335 hours to 41,572 hours.

Number of Surveys by Agency by Financial Year (a)

Year	Number of ABS (b) surveys	Respondent load ABS surveys	Number of surveys all Agencies, excluding ABS	Respondent load all Agencies, excluding ABS	Total number of surveys	Total respondent load
1998-99	65	285,802	46	16,179	111	301,981
1999-00	81	382,710	75	25,832	156	408,542
2000-01	84	440,748	88	27,040	172	467,788
2001-02	75	281,378	79	27,124	154	308,502
2002-03	78	405,985	123	37,335	201	443,320
2003-04	92	335,631	116	41,572	208	377,203

(a) Annualised load is an estimate provided by survey managers of the number of hours imposed on providers by surveys notified to the SCH in the year of data collection, regardless of the year in which the SCH reviewed the survey.
(b) Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Types of surveys reviewed.
Table A2 below shows the types of surveys reviewed by the Statistical Clearing House over a five year period. Of particular note is that after a period of steady growth the number of Once Only Public Interest surveys reviewed appears to have peaked last financial year and are now consistent with previous levels.

By Type of Survey by Financial Year

Type of survey	1999-00	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
Large Repeating Public Interest Survey (a)	16	14	12	19	15
Small Repeating Public Interest Survey (b)	52	39	55	53	30
Once Only Public Interest Survey	30	33	37	53	37
Pilot Test or Post Enumeration Study	2	3	0	3	8
Program or Product Evaluation	35	22	18	41	30
Total	135	111	122	169	120

(a) Large surveys are surveys which planned to involve 2,000 or more respondents.
(b) Small surveys are surveys which planned to involve fewer than 2,000 respondents.


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