1504.0 - Methodological News, Sep 2003  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 27/02/2004   
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SAMPLE AND FRAME MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES MANUAL

Imperfect frames are a well known and inevitable source of non-sampling error in surveys. The aim of Sample and Frame Maintenance Procedures is to minimise the amount of non-sampling error caused by imperfect frames in ABS business surveys. Sample and Frame Maintenance Procedures (SFMP) are a set of standard rules which are followed when a difference is found between a business in the real world and its representation on the survey frame. Some of these differences if not correctly treated will result in large errors in survey estimates. SFMP are not only used to minimise these errors but to ensure that these situations are treated correctly and consistently across the entire range of ABS business surveys.

Changes to SFMP are usually driven by major changes that affect the ABS Business Register or its source, the Australian Business Register (ABR). Businesses who register for an Australian Business Number are included on the ABR which is maintained by the Australian Taxation Office. The ABR provides a complete register of operating businesses, and this register is available to the ABS as the main source of information for our statistical frames.

With the reform of business taxation in Australia, changes were imposed on SFMP which led to a revision of the ABS standard business rules. Subsequently, the new edition of the SFMP manual was released recently and documents the revised SFMP.

For more information, please contact Rosslyn Starick on (03) 9615 7689.

Email: rosslyn.starick@abs.gov.au.