8169.0 - Experimental Estimates for Australian Industry adjusted for Off-June Year Reporting, 2008-09 and 2009-10  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 30/11/2011  First Issue
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SAMPLING ERROR

Both the EAS and QBIS use a sample of businesses, rather than a full enumeration (that is, a census), and are thus subject to sampling error. The resultant estimates are likely to differ from those that would have been produced had data been obtained from every business.

One measure of sampling error is the standard error, which indicates the extent to which an estimate might have varied by chance because only a sample of businesses was included. There are about two chances in three that a sample estimate will differ by less than one standard error from the figure that would have been obtained if a census were conducted, and about nineteen chances in twenty (i.e. a confidence interval of 95%) that the difference will be less than two standard errors. Sampling error can also be measured by the relative standard error (RSE) which is obtained by expressing the standard error as a percentage of the estimate to which it refers. RSEs for the four published data items are shown in Table 5 below.

TABLE 5. RELATIVE STANDARD ERRORS
Wages and salaries
Total expenses
Total income
Industry value added
%
%
%
%
Industry Division
Mining
1.3
0.9
0.5
0.9
Manufacturing
0.6
0.4
0.5
1.0
Electricity, gas, water and waste services
0.5
0.5
0.4
0.7
Construction
2.0
2.0
1.8
3.5
Wholesale trade
2.7
2.4
2.3
2.9
Retail trade
1.8
1.7
1.6
2.9
Accommodation and food services
2.1
1.9
1.7
2.3
Transport, postal and warehousing
1.2
1.1
1.1
1.8
Information media and telecommunications
1.1
0.9
0.8
0.9
Rental, hiring and real estate services
2.9
3.1
2.5
2.9
Professional, scientific and technical services
1.9
2.7
2.2
2.8
Administrative and support services
2.0
3.0
5.2
2.4
Education and training
1.4
2.1
2.9
2.4
Health care and social assistance
1.6
1.2
1.1
1.3
Arts and recreation services
2.9
1.9
1.6
3.0
Other services
2.3
2.2
2.7
3.9
Total selected industries(a)
0.5
0.6
0.6
0.6
(a) Excludes Division A Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing, K Financial and Insurance Services and O Public Administration and safety




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