OT: US Census & Statistics

[dogged1]

This is way OT but if anyone out there with a statistics background can enlighten me I would appreciate it.

The company I work for was recently required to complete a US manufacturers census. 58 pages of questions on our labor force, sales and costs. It took over 6 hours of my time to gather and input the info. For a business of my size we have a better than average accounting system, but the GL doesn't drill down to the level they wanted. We had to research it manually.

As much as the wasting of my time angered me, my question is, to those who understand statistics better than I do; how useful can the information I gave really be? We are a very small company. We do 2.5 million per year in total sales. The US economy is 20.4 Trillion or there abouts. My industrial sector (Plastics) is 427 Billion. Against that size how can my information be meaningful at all? Or is it just a charade?

 

[Vowelguy]

It is incredibly useful and I thank you for participating!

How do you know that your sector does $427B in sales? The root of that number is probably based on the last Economic Census and then estimated to today using other information.

Yes your company is one small piece, but if every company didn't respond we'd have no information. And if only big firms responded, yes, we'd cover much of the sales of the industry, but we would know less about plastics manufacturing in your city or county. You may represent 5% of the industry in your geography.

Also, small firms are often not like large firms, and we would like to have details on all firm sizes. There may be important differences to understand.

In 2020, the Population Census will occur. You are only 1 of 300+ million, but it is also very important to fill that out so that the US can get a proper count of who we are and where we are.

So YES, this is important.
Thank you again!

 

[Bigboote]

Individually it's not important.

But in my county, I think there are several thousand small businesses. The Census Bureau is part of the Department of Commerce. I assume they're taking a sampling of statistics from small businesses.

It's like the Census Bureau sending the long form to several per cent of households. No individual response to the long form is important, but the aggregate is.

 

[MilfordHusky]

As someone who produced and consumed data, I agree totally with Vowelguy. These data can be critical to knowledge of our economy for policy purposes, business decisions, and personal decisions. The form is cleared by the Office of Management and Budget. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, there is an estimate of the reporting burden on the form. If you think it is grossly inaccurate, you should tell Census. Also, if you think there are better ways to request or report the info, tell Census. Finally, someone at your company probably provided the same info 5 or so years ago, so there should be some company history of it.

 

[dogged1]

It is incredibly useful and I thank you for participating!

How do you know that your sector does $427B in sales? The root of that number is probably based on the last Economic Census and then estimated to today using other information.

Yes your company is one small piece, but if every company didn't respond we'd have no information. And if only big firms responded, yes, we'd cover much of the sales of the industry, but we would know less about plastics manufacturing in your city or county. You may represent 5% of the industry in your geography.

Also, small firms are often not like large firms, and we would like to have details on all firm sizes. There may be important differences to understand.

In 2020, the Population Census will occur. You are only 1 of 300+ million, but it is also very important to fill that out so that the US can get a proper count of who we are and where we are.

So YES, this is important.
Thank you again!

Thank you all for replying, your answers have given me some insight.
Vowelguy your response in particular seems to be based on personal knowledge of the process and purpose. Apologies if this is prying, do you by chance work for the Department?
Just to explain myself a little further, I do understand the need of the government to understand a constantly changing economy. I just didn't/don't believe that even in the aggregate the information you get from small businesses like mine is statistically significant. And the burden the report places on small businesses is proportionally unfair. I don't have a 5, 10 or 15 man accounting department, it's me. And Milford your right. It does reoccur on a regular basis, it seems like once every 3 to 4 years. It's not random, I get the big questionnaire every time.

OK, Rant over, I feel better for venting. And again thank you all for your insight. It does help.

 

[Vowelguy]

Apologies if this is prying, do you by chance work for the Department?

No. But I am economist and we use government data heavily, so I understand the value in all these different surveys and censuses.

 

[SVCBeercats]

Perhaps statistically speaking individual companies of your company's size are insignificant. Taken as a whole they are more than significant. Companies of fewer than 500 employees make up over 99% of the 27 million USA companies. These companies represented 46% of the USA's GDP in 2002 according tho the SBA.

This is way OT but if anyone out there with a statistics background can enlighten me I would appreciate it.

The company I work for was recently required to complete a US manufacturers census. 58 pages of questions on our labor force, sales and costs. It took over 6 hours of my time to gather and input the info. For a business of my size we have a better than average accounting system, but the GL doesn't drill down to the level they wanted. We had to research it manually.

As much as the wasting of my time angered me, my question is, to those who understand statistics better than I do; how useful can the information I gave really be? We are a very small company. We do 2.5 million per year in total sales. The US economy is 20.4 Trillion or there abouts. My industrial sector (Plastics) is 427 Billion. Against that size how can my information be meaningful at all? Or is it just a charade?

 

[Gus Mahler]

Think of it like calculus. A calculus infinitesimal is an infinitely small nothing burger. But when you integrate over a function, all those nothing burgers add up to something, the area under a curve.

Having said that, I'm completely and enormously sympathetic to your plight of not having the staff to complete the task required. It's no fun at all. It is, however, helpful to a wide variety of endeavors across many disciplines.

Know that you have my empathy and sympathy, and ultimately, my gratitude. And if you want to vent or rant, you know how to reach me.

 

[dogged1]

Think of it like calculus. A calculus infinitesimal is an infinitely small nothing burger. But when you integrate over a function, all those nothing burgers add up to something, the area under a curve.

Having said that, I'm completely and enormously sympathetic to your plight of not having the staff to complete the task required. It's no fun at all. It is, however, helpful to a wide variety of endeavors across many disciplines.

Know that you have my empathy and sympathy, and ultimately, my gratitude. And if you want to vent or rant, you know how to reach me.

Higher math was not my forte. I enjoyed algebra. Got through trig and and endured calculus. Guess I'm just to linear. Your metaphor actually worked for me. So the data is actually useful, not just a wink and a nod to small business. Who would of thought? Thanks.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

I work for a credit union and one of my regular projects involves pre-approval campaigns for loan products. The statistics gathered help me make more effective campaigns and focus on what is most successful. I love statistics!

 

[dogged1]

I work for a credit union and one of my regular projects involves pre-approval campaigns for loan products. The statistics gathered help me make more effective campaigns and focus on what is most successful. I love statistics!

Can't say I share your enthusiasm or love, but you guys are slowly convincing me one infinitesimal at a time.

 

[j66kicker]

As a career marketing person let me say we LOVE data. Identifying, segmenting and targeting your market based on real data and stats beats hip-shot hunches every time.