The usage of a data capture tool in statistical surveys on enterprises

1. The usage of a data capture tool in statistical surveys on enterprises Rossana Balestrino, Patrizia Larese Istat - Via C. Balbo 16 - 00184 Roma - Italy UNECE/Eurostat OECD meeting on Management of Statistical Information Systems (MSIS) Geneva 17-19 May 2004

2. Enterprises Households Classes of respondents Total surveys Web and Internet Adequate technological equipment Known profile Institutions Sampling surveys Heterogeneous technological equipment Information systems not homogeneous Unknown and changeable profile Self-interviewing Sampling surveys Limited coverage of technological equipment and access to the Net Face-to-face and CATI/CAPI techniques UNECE/Eurostat OECD meeting on Management of Statistical Information Systems (MSIS) Geneva 17-19 May 2004

3. Multi-technique approach to data collection • lets us introduce innovation in the processes without forcing the respondent environment; • overcomes population coverage problems in selecting sample units; • favours the respondent who can select the way he prefers; • provides the advantages of CASIC techniques (timeliness, cost, quality) but implies a higher management cost; UNECE/Eurostat OECD meeting on Management of Statistical Information Systems (MSIS) Geneva 17-19 May 2004

4. Teleform - (VERITY U.S.A.) • Teleform product is a bridge between paper forms and electronic forms; • It turns paper into digital forms treated through OCR engines; • It can generate electronic forms HTML or PDF, which can be administered by web or by e-mail; • It allows the fax-server use for mailing and receiving paper forms; • At ISTAT Teleform was selected in 2000 because of the positive relation between quality and price; UNECE/Eurostat OECD meeting on Management of Statistical Information Systems (MSIS) Geneva 17-19 May 2004

5. Verifier Designer Mail server cgi/ASP Web Server Reader Directory Control Center Directory img Fax Server Fax Database Image Storage Scanner Posta Teleform architecture UNECE/Eurostat OECD meeting on Management of Statistical Information Systems (MSIS) Geneva 17-19 May 2004

6. Surveys list • Survey on retail sales (monthly - 2 forms for three pages - 2,700 respondents); • Survey on Telecommunications (annual – 3 forms for nine pages – 534 respondents); • Survey on employment, working time and salary (monthly – 2 forms for three pages – 1,500 respondents); • Survey on vacancies and worked hours (quarterly – 1 form for four pages – 8,000 respondents); UNECE/Eurostat OECD meeting on Management of Statistical Information Systems (MSIS) Geneva 17-19 May 2004

7. Perception of the statistical users Positive perceptions: • Reduction of time and costs; • Increase in productivity; • Instant storage and retrieval of data immediately available in the production data base; Negative perceptions: • Lack of product experts for assistance during the collection procedures; • Long response time using the Verifier moduleto fix data coming from paper forms; • Impossibility for respondents of saving partial versions of PDF forms; UNECE/Eurostat OECD meeting on Management of Statistical Information Systems (MSIS) Geneva 17-19 May 2004

8. Central IT Directorate Evaluation • Teleform is an effective data capture software to deal with simple forms; • It’s necessary to support costs for installation and maintenance of more adequate infrastructures (100Mbps network); • It’s crucial to get tools for monitoring and managing service levels of involved servers and network; • Teleform is not the only possibility: let’s analyze the survey process peculiarities to choose the right solution. UNECE/Eurostat OECD meeting on Management of Statistical Information Systems (MSIS) Geneva 17-19 May 2004