Business data collection methodology: Current state and future outlook

Abstract

Collecting data from businesses faces ever-larger challenges, some of them calling for an overhaul of underlying methodology, e.g. motivation for participating is low; technology is shaping data collection processes; response processes within businesses are imperfectly understood while alternative data sources originating from digitalization processes push the response process (thus also response quality) further out of our sight. The paper reviews these challenges, discusses them in light of new developments in the field, and proposes directions for future research. This review may help those that collect data from businesses (e.g. national statistical institutes, academia, and private statistical agencies) to reconsider their current approaches in light of what promises to work (or not) in today’s environment and to build their toolkit of business data collection methods.