The Census Bureau has been engaged in the integration of seven annual economic surveys. This major redesign has presented an opportunity to engage establishment survey respondents in new and innovative ways, but primarily, to use a survey design paradigm that centers on respondent needs. In this presentation, we will outline the myriad of research efforts aimed to keep the respondent at the center of our survey design, including: Record-keeping study to understand how companies keep their data internally; Data accessibility study to learn about what data are most accessible; Cognitive testing of harmonized survey questions; A multi-phase multi-method pilot of the survey instrument; Three rounds of usability research to tailor and refine the survey design; and Systematic review of respondent communications. Attention is paid to the ways that we engaged respondents in design decisions, with the goal of lowering response burden and increasing data quality. We will conclude with thoughts on applicability of these methods for wider establishment survey research, including lessons learned and next steps.

Based on a presentation at the 2023 Joint Statistical Meeting, Toronto, Canada