Béguin Jean-Marc Business statistics director (Insee) 13/09/2013 Redesigning French Internet Business data collection at Insee: the Coltrane project 4th International Workshop on Internet survey methods (Daejeon)

09/13/2012 4th International Workshop on Internet survey methods 2 Outline of the presentation  Thanks and context 1.The existing system in France 1.Surveys 2.Tools 2.The Coltrane project (four work packages ) 1.Authentication 2.Contacts management 3.Portal of customized services 4.Data collection platform

09/13/2012 4th International Workshop on Internet survey methods Business surveys and National Statistical Authorities (NSA)  NSA : Insee and 5 or 6 ministerial statistical Offices (MSO) (In 2010 Sessi, the MSO for industry, & Insee have merged)  80 Business surveys (of many kinds) -30 Insee and 50 MSO (+ others) -About 500,000 enterprises (in over 3,5 millions) receive at least one questionnaire -The sum of all the samples sizes is  700,000 -Taking into account the periodicity of the surveys ( 12 questionnaires for a monthly survey), 1 800,000 forms are sent each year by the NSA.  "sent" can be -By mail for paper forms -Through a website for dematerialized forms

09/13/2012 4th International Workshop on Internet survey methods The present situation regarding Internet Usage  So far, put surveys on the web has not been a priority  2012 situation: InseeMSOs Number of surveys 3047 Web surveys 2216 Ratio of Internet usage 73.3%34% Sum of the samples sizes 380,000305,000 Web surveys 178,00080,000 Ratio of Internet usage 46.8%26,2% Number of questionnaires (weighted by periodicity) 895,000875,000 Web surveys 654,000253,000 Ratio of Internet usage 73,1%28.9%

09/13/2012 4th International Workshop on Internet survey methods Factors explaning the ratio of Internet answers  Heterogeneous from one office to another  Heterogeneous from one survey to another  Possible factors -The age of the process -The type of variables collected -The number of variables and the length of the questionnaire -The frequency of the survey -The size of the responding firms -The renewal of the samples -The ergonomics of the human interface -the efforts made by Insee staff -...

09/13/2012 4th International Workshop on Internet survey methods The tools to implement Internet Surveys  First Internet survey : 2000 (Sessi) -Presently a second-generation application (ASP) -Now Insee took over the portal (since 2010)  Beginning at Insee : 2004 (application called CRPI) -This application is now 8 years old (JAVA) -Designed for repetitive short term surveys  For specific purposes, new ways of collecting dematerialized data have been developed recently: -Upload / download application (eg EXCEL sheets)(2009) -Blaise IS (Dutch software) (2009) -Voozanoo (a free PHP software from Epiconcept) (2008)  Conclusion: many tools ! Complex for us and for enterprises (e.g. one portal for each tool)

09/13/2012 4th International Workshop on Internet survey methods An analysis grid to compare the tools (2010)  Originally based on the GSBPM  Within the sub-processes we have defined 23 functions such as : -Build data collection instrument (create the form) - Create a form on one web page………………………… - Create a form on several web pages or screens …….. - Create simple filters (from one question to another)…. - Create complex filters (from page to page)……………. -Build or enhance process components - Generate both login & password………………………. - Take into account the campaign dates ……………….. - Customize the questionnaire (e.g. with previous answers of the same enterprise)  This grid helped us to analyse the pros & the cons of the tools and of the whole system

09/13/2012 4th International Workshop on Internet survey methods There is a need for a new project  CRPI is the best; but -old (9 years) -based on a proprietary software (to implement java) -its maintenance is costly; -Not designed for big annual surveys  No common directory nor common governance nor common portal  Technically complex  moreover: in april 2011, the government requested that all statistical surveys should be put on the web; existing tools couldn’t allow it (specially for the SBS survey)

09/13/2012 4th International Workshop on Internet survey methods 9 2 The Coltrane project  Platform offering a range of technical & business services  Four independent work packages: -Authentication -Contact management -Portal of customized services (for contacts) -Data collection platform (divided into 4 blocks)  Each WP is composed of several functions accessible through services  A specific batch is planned to transform the SBS- survey into a web-based survey -Innovative because forms should be generated from their DDI description

09/13/2012 4th International Workshop on Internet survey methods The Coltrane project: authentication  Independent from the collection itself  We do not think about using PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) but a LDAP directory to authenticate all the contacts  Any « contact » in an enterprise should have a unique login & password  We shall offer the possibility of using this service to all the MSOs -Enterprises do not make any difference whether the survey is carried out by Insee or a MSO -They receive questionnaires from both  But each ministry has its own Internet policy and have already built something for their own web-sites  we are not sure to be successfull !

09/13/2012 4th International Workshop on Internet survey methods The Coltrane project: contact management  Independent from the collection itself, but linked to the authentication service (to exchange credentials)  Can be used to manage all kinds of contacts (for example, people buying data)  Insee staff will be able to: -Create or delete a contact and its respective characteristics -Renew credentials -Display the list of contacts of a given enterprise -Display the list of the surveys of a given contact -Assist the web respondents and inform them about the coming surveys -Communicate with all the contacts of a given survey -…..

09/13/2012 4th International Workshop on Internet survey methods The Coltrane project: portal of customized services  A unique Internet portal will present all the surveys (different from today)  Including the MSO surveys (as far as they have accepted to use our portal)  The portal will be customized for each contact so that, once authenticated, he can: -only see the surveys he is interested in -modify his own personal parameters (phone number, e- mail, address, etc.) -transfer his “answering power” to a colleague -display his previous answers -look at the remaining surveys he still has to answer as well as their deadlines

09/13/2012 4th International Workshop on Internet survey methods The Coltrane project: Data collection platform  Main part of the project  Block 1: offering different collection modes -Classical web form -Paper form (exchanged by mail) -Electronic data Interchange (EDI) -Upload / download service If several collection modes exist, the questionnaires should be generated from the same metadata flow  Block 2: running the collection (eg building management tools) -Opening/closing a campaign -Edit statistics for the collection -Organize reminders -Start litigations with non respondents

09/13/2012 4th International Workshop on Internet survey methods The Coltrane project: Data collection platform  Block 3: generating questionnaires -Aims at maintaining the coherence between a questionnaire & its description (metadata) -We will use a DDI model to model the questionnaire -Then the form should be generated from its DDI description -We are testing some softwares helping either the generation or the DDI description -This could allow us to put the SBS survey on the web  Block 4: managing the collected data -In our view, centralizing all the collected data (whatever the data collection mode) is of utmost importance -The following functions will be developed : retrieve and control the data, adapt the formats of data flows, keep an image of the enterprise answer

09/13/2012 4th International Workshop on Internet survey methods The Coltrane project: Some specific issues  Give the possibility for one enterprise to keep a copy of its answer and for several respondents in the same firm to fill up a single form  Find the best trade-off between -Sending back quickly new credentials to a contact (when he has lost them) -Keeping a good level of security  Use the dialogue possibilities of Internet -to help firms to answer to questions with hundreds of possible codes -to implement dynamic controls (eg with previous answers) or explanations (in case of “peculiar” answers)  Make a proof an enterprise has received a web form and has not replied (for mandatory surveys, to impose fines) -Legal and technical issue

Thanks for your attention ! Contact M. Jean-Marc Béguin Tél. : Courriel : Insee 18 bd Adolphe-Pinard Paris Cedex 14 Informations statistiques : / Contacter l’Insee (coût d’un appel local) du lundi au vendredi de 9h00 à 17h00 The Coltrane project is still in a conceptual phase and should be completed by 2014 or 2015.