Recent Experience with Problems of Labor Force Measurement

Different uses for labor force data often require different concepts and definitions which are sometimes difficult to reconcile. It is important to develop, as a part of measurement, procedures that will provide data which are suitable for the various uses and also comparable over time. The experience of the Census Bureau in the operation of its monthly sample survey during the last few years has revealed many of the problems attendant upon putting into actual practice the agreed upon concepts. In a recurring enumeration of a sample of households, questions on which classifications are based must be such that they can be asked repeatedly. They must be simple and objective and not place too great a strain on the respondent's memory. The basic classifications finally set up must be large enough to be determined fairly reliable by the sample.