The primary objective of the content evaluation was to measure the accuracy of census data tabulated from respondents to the 1982 Census of Wholesale Trade. Wholesale petroleum distributors, Standard Industrial Classifications (SIC’s) 5171 and 5172, were chosen for the study because they were known to have serious reporting problems.

Intensive personal visit interviews were conducted for a sample of establishments, during which highly accurate data (reinterview) were collected for three census items: total dollar volume of business (sales), operating expenses, and sales by commodity line. The reinterview data were compared to data tabulated in the census for sample establishments using ratio estimators. The table below shows the ratios for total sales and operating expenses.