Structural survey in the service sector (service statistics)
What does the structural survey in the service sector describe?
In the structural survey in the service sector, the structural data of enterprises or organisations engaged in free-lance activities of the branches of (usually business) services have annually been collected since reference year 2000 as part of a consistent overall concept. With the survey, the economic core data in the selected service branches are collected and shown mainly in a breakdown by Land, economic branch and size class (amount of turnover or number of persons employed). The purpose of the survey is to obtain reliable official data providing a basis to show the structural change in that highly heterogeneous economic sector and contributing to an improvement of value-added calculations at the federal and Land levels.
From reference year 2008, the list of variables and the coverage of the structural survey in the service sector have been extended when compared with previous reference periods, which is due to European data requirements. The coverage of the structural survey currently includes the following service branches of the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community (NACE, Revision 2):
Section H:Transportation and storage
Section J:Information and communication
Section L:Real estate activities
Section M:Professional, scientific and technical activities
Section N:Administrative and support service activities
Division 95:Repair of computers and personal and household goods
The legal basis of the structural survey in the service sector is the Services Statistics Act (DlStatG) of 19 December 2000 (Federal Law Gazette I, page 1765), last amended by Section 5 of the Act of 17 March 2008 (Federal Law Gazette I, page 399). The survey provides results on the following sets of variables:
General data characterising the survey unit
Main activity
Legal form
Number of branch establishments
Persons employed and personnel costs
Number of persons employed by status in employment, full-time and part-time activity as well as sex
Number of persons employed in full-time equivalents
Gross remuneration
Employer’s statutory and other social benefits for the persons employed
Income, intermediate consumption as well as taxes and subsidies
Turnover by domestic and foreign turnover and other operating income
Expenditure on goods, material and services by type
Value of stocks (initial and final stock) of goods and material by type
Expenditure on rents and leasing
Taxes, charges and subsidies
Investments
Value of tangible fixed assets by type
Value of tangible fixed assets produced on own account
Value of intangible fixed assets.
How are the data of the structural survey in the service sector obtained?
The structural survey in the service sector is an annual decentralised and compulsory sample survey conducted among a maximum of 15% of all survey units (sampling population). The survey units and units of analysis are the enterprises and organisations engaged in free-lance activities. Based on the variable values collected on the basis of the sample enterprises questioned, overall figures are obtained by expansion.
The sampling population of all survey units is defined by means of the business register maintained at the statistical offices of the Federation and the Länder. That business register contains data on the clear identification, on the allocation in terms of classification of economic activities, on the commencement or cessation of the economic activity, and on the size (taxable turnover, number of persons employed subject to social insurance contributions) of the units covered. Using mathematical-statistical methods, the survey units obliged to provide information are selected from the sampling population of the business register according to a sampling plan, applying the method of stratified random sampling. A sampling unit is an individual enterprise or organisation engaged in free-lanced activities.
In accordance with the purpose of the structural survey in the service sector, the sampling population was stratified before sampling. This means that the sampling population of the business register was hierarchically subdivided by Land, economic branch and 12 size classes of turnover or of the number of persons employed. In each of those strata, a separate random sample is drawn. In strata with a high number of units, a representative sample of enterprises is drawn, taking account of the maximum sampling fraction given. Strata with a very low number of units are covered as overall strata, which means that each enterprise contained there is obliged to provide information. Also, very big enterprises in terms of turnover are considered as overall strata. As a consequence, in Länder or economic branches which have a small number of enterprises in the sampling population, a relatively large number of enterprises were drawn and questioned to obtain a representative result after expansion. Correspondingly, the sampling fraction is lower in Länder and economic branches with a high number of enterprises in the sampling population.
The enterprises selected by the statistical offices of the Länder according to a uniform sampling plan, which are obliged to provide information, receive the survey documents from the relevant Land statistical office, complete them and supply the required data to the statistical office within the deadline. Data capture, editing, evaluation and processing are done using an IT program standardised for the whole of Germany. At the statistical offices of the Länder, the collected data undergo a plausibility check before they are tabulated to form Land results and are transmitted in an aggregated form to the Federal Statistical Office. There the federal result is produced and the data are transmitted to Eurostat.
To reduce the effort required at enterprises and organisations obliged to provide information, the list of variables has been limited to what is absolutely necessary. Also, the burden on small enterprises and organisations with a turnover of less than Euro 250,000 in the reference year has markedly been lessened by reducing the list of variables. Apart from general information, those units must answer just 13 questions. Any other data can be obtained from the business records.
When are the results of the structural survey in the service sector released?
The results of the structural survey in the service sector are available 18 months after the end of the reference period (e. g. reference year 2008 – result available at the end of June 2010). The federal result is released 19 months after the end of the reference period. Individual Land results may be released before that deadline.
How accurate are the results?
The structural survey in the service sector is a sample survey. Any sample survey involves some inaccuracy which, in statistics, is referred to as the standard error. The reliability of the results decreases along with a growing level of detail of the result in terms of economic branch, enterprise size class, regional allocation or breakdown of variables. Generally, as data become more detailed, there is an increase in both sampling errors (random sampling errors) and the dependence of the correctness of the data provided by individual major units (non-sampling systematic errors).
Based on scientifically recognised methods of sampling theory, the sample design has been selected in a way so that the statistical results provide maximum precision for the given sample size. With a legally required sample size of a maximum of 15%, the accuracy is ensured in terms of quality by stratification and the creation of overall strata.
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