TECHNICAL NOTE DATA QUALITY
NON-SAMPLING ERROR
1 Non-sampling errors may arise as a result of errors in the reporting, recording or processing of data. These errors can be introduced through inadequacies in the questionnaire, treatment of non-response, inaccurate reporting by data providers, errors in the application of survey procedures, incorrect recording of answers and errors in data capture and processing.
2 The extent to which non-sampling error affects the results is difficult to measure. Every effort is made to minimise non-sampling error by careful design and testing of the collection instrument, the use of efficient operating procedures and systems, and the use of appropriate methodologies.
Reliability of statistics
3 When interpreting the statistics in this release, the reliability and comparability of the estimates may be affected by the following specific non-sampling errors:
- Many organisations provided estimates due to a lack of separately recorded data on R&D activity.
- Data were self-classified by organisations to Type of activity, Field of research and Socio-economic objective at the time of reporting. Some organisations may have experienced difficulty in classifying their R&D projects. The ABS makes every effort to ensure correct and consistent interpretation and reporting of these data by applying consistent processing methodologies.
- The estimation method for R&D related overhead costs varied across organisations and reference periods.
REVISIONS
4 In processing 2008-09 data, revisions to 2006-07 data were applied across all sectors. For further information on Revisions for each sector, see the Technical Note in the respective sector releases:
Quality Declaration 
Print Page
Print All