Response Burden Management for Establishment Surveys at Four National Statistical Institutes

Managing response burden is key to ensuring an ongoing and efficient supply of fit-forpurpose data. While statistical organizations use multi-faceted approaches to achieve this, response burden management has become an essential element of the strategy used by the U.S. Census Bureau, Statistics New Zealand, Statistics Canada, and Statistics Netherlands. Working in collaboration with respondents, with internal resources dedicated to provide customized approaches for large respondents and with other stakeholders (constituency representatives, associations, etc.) response burden management endeavors to minimize burden and educate stakeholders on the benefit of official statistics. The role continues to evolve with important initiatives regarding the compilation of burden metrics, improvements to existing tracking tools, and an expanded communication role.