THE EFFECT OF DATA COLLECTING AND DATA QUALITY

This section includes five papers about the effect of data collection methods on data quality. The main focus of the papers is the impact of electronic data reporting on the design of the editing strategy. The paper by Nichols et al. presents the United States Census Bureau’s experience with data editing strategies used in business surveys. It describes the interactive editing approach currently incorporated into Computerized Self-Administered Questionnaires (CSAQs), which are delivered to the respondent by downloadable files or transmitted electronically over the Internet. The paper by Paula Weir presents changes in electronic data reporting options and usage for the U.S. Energy Information Administration. She examines in detail one fully Web-based survey that recently implemented an editing module to better understand the respondents ’ views and use of the edit feature. Respondents were asked how they used the edit function and how clear and useful they found the information provided for edit failures. The responses regarding the edit function for this survey are then compared to a study of the edit log that records information each time the edit function is invoked. The paper by Gonzalez et al. explores the possibilities of Web questionnaires to improve editing. It discusses the possibilities and challenges that Web questionnaires offer to the editing tasks, i