Respondent Load Strategy

Action	Implementation date
Information to respondents	June 2007 (completed)
Implement better management of respondent details	June 2008
Develop Māori language capability for collection	September 2008
Improve management of respondents in existing surveys	December 2008
Increase choices for mode of response	December 2009
Investigate integration with standardised reporting systems	June 2010

Strategy

The time and effort required of respondents to complete surveys are valuable commodities and therefore the collection of data should be as efficient as possible. This includes introducing options for how respondents can respond to a particular survey, matching questions to readily understood concepts that are easily recalled/retrieved, and ensuring that information requests are not duplicated.

To make it easy to respond, the strategy is to improve information technology (IT) systems and processes to:

• offer respondents increased choices for the completion of surveys (for example, Internet, telephone)
• work towards improved electronic information exchange systems that enable surveys to be filled out at the push of a button.

The best supplier principle is well established at Statistics NZ. While this element is closely linked with the use of administrative sources and reuse of other survey data, it is also related to targeting surveys at the right respondents.

Better maintenance of contact details improves the management of respondents in existing surveys and is another way of ensuring that we direct our surveys to the people in the household or organisation who can provide the information.

We must also ensure that frontline collection areas are responsive to Māori issues and have Māori language capability where appropriate.

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Implementing actions

Information to respondents

While the Respondent Load Strategy was being written, we implemented a system to give business respondents information about the survey obligations currently required of them. This information includes advance notice of when they can expect to receive surveys.

Respondents are able to access this information via the Internet or ask us to send it to them in a letter. We update the information as soon as a business is selected for a new survey. We implemented this system in June 2007.

Implement better management of respondent details

We will consolidate and maintain respondent records and contact information in one place. This will enable us to manage respondents on an individual basis, as opposed to a per survey basis, and allow our management of individuals across surveys to be more effective.

Develop Māori language capability for collection activity

We have interviewers in both Field Collections and the Contact Centre who are proficient speakers of te reo Māori and we are committed to maintaining that capability. Respondents may request a Māori interviewer for language or cultural reasons.

The Census of Population and Dwellings is the only survey for which we have offered Māori language questionnaires (both paper and Internet), although we expect that the Māori Survey 2011 will also be bilingual. Some social surveys do have Māori language information pamphlets available for respondents and we will continue to develop resources like these as appropriate.

Improve management of respondents in existing surveys

Because of the nature and size of New Zealand's economy and population, it is inevitable that some businesses and individuals will receive multiple surveys from us. Most of those businesses surveyed many times will be larger enterprises.

To improve the management of multi-survey respondents, we will:

• identify those who are receiving multiple surveys
• examine the options for managing the largest businesses that may inevitably be surveyed many times
• examine ways to improve the management of those responding to multiple surveys, including improvements in sample selection.

This work could produce a range of options for reducing multi-survey respondent load. In particular, it is likely to look at improved sample selection, options for granting relief to respondents with high loads, and avoiding having multi-survey respondents answering similar questions in different surveys. We will complete this work by December 2008.

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Increased choices for mode of response

The revamp of our IT collection infrastructure will enable us to offer additional modes for data collection that supplement traditional methods. This will include the wider application of telephone interviewing and the deployment of Internet-based questionnaires like those used for the 2006 Census.

It is important to note that the extent to which we offer different response modes for a survey will depend on an assessment of how practical they are to use without compromising the quality of data. It should also be noted that providers completing paper questionnaires will still be a major part of the collection process for at least the short- to medium-term.

Investigate integration with standardised reporting systems

Currently, businesses provide financial information to many government agencies, but have limited opportunities to provide it directly from reporting systems as there have been no common electronic reporting standards. In recent years, XBRL has emerged as a standard that could facilitate the transfer of financial information in electronic format, as well as offering the flexibility to extend the scope of the standard to non-financial information.

The opportunities for electronic information exchange that XBRL offers could benefit Statistics NZ by:

• reducing respondents' time and effort
• enabling multi-survey respondents to fill out information once only
• allowing better alignment with financial reporting concepts
• improving the quality of information from respondents.

There is also potential for integration with other reporting packages like booking systems for accommodation providers, payroll and HR systems, and accounting packages for small businesses.

We will continue to monitor developments as technology evolves.