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WBA Helps Census Bureau Increase Awareness among Data Users

The U.S. Census Bureau serves as the leading source of official data about the nation’s people and economy. It is the largest statistical agency in the United States. The Census Bureau’s mission is built around large-scale surveys and censuses. The Decennial Census is conducted every ten years while the Economic Census—the U.S. Government’s official five-year measure of American business and the economy—is conducted every five years. In addition, the Census Bureau conducts numerous other population and business surveys on a regular basis. WBA has been working with the Census Bureau on an ongoing basis for 25 years in support of their mission.

In 2023, as collection for the Economic Census concluded, communications shifted to users of the wide range of data from the Census Bureau. Two phases of focus group research were conducted to support this transition. With the success of and insights gleaned from an initial exploratory round of focus group research, a subsequent phase of research was conducted among data users to explore in more detail methods by which to communicate the data the Census Bureau makes available.

With OMB approval, WBA executed a plan for twenty (20) focus group sessions (ten per phase) among business professionals who are users of data as part of their jobs. Focus groups were held in cities across the United States (Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Miami, Dallas, and Houston) to get a broad representation. Groups included participants from a wide range of businesses, but all were required to use a variety of data types and use or analyze statistics or data as part of their jobs. These data users were asked to provide feedback on a range of communications vehicles including messages, URLs, an ad campaign, web site, social media posts and printed material. The feedback is being used by the Census Bureau and their communications agency (GRAFIK) to promote the Census Bureau.