Innovation in Survey Collection and Sources

Getting the best quality data from respondents and other data providers ensures our data accurately reflect the world around us. Innovation in data collection is paramount as response rates decline.

Much of our data relies on survey respondents. We carefully design our survey samples to represent the people and businesses in the United States. Innovation on how we ask questions and administer surveys ensures we get sound data as efficiently as possible.

We adapt to changing conditions, like the COVID-19 pandemic. Traditional collection methods were no longer feasible, so we quickly moved to video data collection, a cost-effective method that we continue to use. It helps save time for respondents and travel costs for our data-collection staff, while ensuring we collect the important data we need to publish reliable estimates.

In the early 2000s, mail was still a primary mode of collection. Now we collect most of the data electronically. As nontraditional data sources improve and become more suitable for statistical use, BLS programs continue researching alternative data sources. These sources may replace traditional collection methods or supplement them.

BLS also has explored ways of capturing information without burdening respondents at all. In some cases, we can use web scraping to obtain needed data. We are also exploring supplemental data sources, such as data aggregators and crowd-sourcing websites. These efforts will ensure BLS data products remain of high quality with enough detail for stakeholders, while lessening respondent burden.

We still collect data in person and use those interactions to build relationships with survey respondents, who often are also users of BLS data. But we continue to advance innovations to make data collection more efficient. Here are recent examples of research on innovation in new sources of data:

• Incorporating AI impacts in BLS employment projections: occupational case studies
• A framework for the evaluation and use of alternative data in the Consumer Expenditure Surveys
• Alternative data sources for high-tech products in the CPI
• Automated coding of injury and illness data
• Change to data source for Import and Export Price Indexes
• Adding skills data to employment projections

BLS partners with the Committee on National Statistics of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to gather insights into statistical innovations. In 2022, the committee published a report on Modernizing the Consumer Price Index for the 21st Century. The report included detailed recommendations for using alternative data sources.

Last modified date: August 28, 2026