Consulting Services Price Index (COSPI)

Detailed information for second quarter 2013

The Consulting Services Price Index collects information on the prices of several consulting services such as management, human resources, environmental, and scientific and technical consulting services. From these data, price indexes are constructed measuring changes in these prices over time.

Data release - This is a pilot survey. Data from a pilot survey will not be released.

• Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s)
• Description
• Data sources and methodology
• Data accuracy

Description

The Consulting Services Price Index (MCSPI) collects information on the prices of several consulting services such as management, human resources, environmental, and scientific and technical consulting services. From these data, price indexes are constructed measuring changes in these prices over time.

The MCSPI series is a useful indicator of economic activity in the consulting services industry, and can also prove helpful as a supplementary tool for performance evaluation, cost monitoring, contract assessment and benchmark comparisons. In addition, the indexes are used by the Canadian System of National Accounts to arrive at estimates of real value-added for the industry and to measure changes in productivity.

In order to follow the price of a constant-quality service over time, this survey adopts the model-pricing approach: the survey respondent will select a consulting contract that the firm has completed in the recent past. This contract is referred to as the selected contract. In future quarters, the respondent will provide the price that the firm would charge if it were to provide a price estimate for the selected contract to the same client. In other words, the respondent will apply the firm's current prices to the specifications of the selected contract.

Statistical activity

These indexes are a part of the Services Producer Price Index program (SPPI) at Statistics Canada.

The SPPI program develops and produces price indexes for a wide range of business service categories. This initiative fills an important data gap in the area of economic statistics and has resulted in a more comprehensive set of service price indexes. It also allows Statistics Canada to produce more accurate estimates of real value added of the Gross Domestic Product and changes in productivity.

Subjects

• Business, consumer and property services
• Prices and price indexes
• Professional, scientific and technical services
• Service price indexes

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The survey population consists of all establishments classified on Statistics Canada's Business Register to the NAICS industry 5416 - Management, Scientific and Technical Consulting Services. The target population differs from the survey population in the following ways:

- The businesses comprising the bottom 15-percentile of the revenue of the NAICS 5416 industry are no included in the target population. This is done in an effort to reduce respondent burden on smaller firms.
- Because certain firms that are classified on the Business Register to the Accounting Services Industry also tend to be important players in the consulting services industry, a select number of these businesses have been included in the target population. In order to ensure that none of the large players within the consulting industry are missing from the target population, the survey frame was cross-reference with supplementary information provided by the Canadian Association of Management Consultants (CMC-Canada).

• Additional documentation

Instrument design

The questionnaire was developed and tested in consultation with several consulting firms and the Canadian Association of Management Consultants (CMC-Canada). Focus-group testing of the questionnaire was performed by Statistics Canada's Questionnaire Design Resource Center in Ottawa and Montreal in the fall of 2011. Industry consultations were conducted with CMC-Canada in the summer and fall of 2011. The survey was presented in winter 2012 to Statistics Canada's Business Response Management Committee, with the purpose of assessing the survey's burden on smaller businesses.

Sampling

This is a sample survey with a cross-sectional design and a longitudinal follow-up.

The sample size is approximately 350 establishments. The current sample was drawn from those establishments comprising the target population (see target population above) as of March 2012. The probability of an establishment being selected into the sample is proportional to its revenue.

Four different geographical groups were selected during the sampling: West, Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic. Whether price indexes are published according to each region will depend on the quality and response rates associated with the regional data.

Data sources

Responding to this survey is mandatory.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents.

The survey uses a mail-out/mail-back questionnaire that is completed on a quarterly basis. When the respondent completes the questionnaire for the first time, he/she will select a consulting contract that the business has completed in the recent past. The respondent will report certain characteristics of the contract as well as its pricing information. During subsequent quarters, the respondent will report the price that the business would charge if it were to provide the selected contract, to the same client, during the current reporting period. In other words, the respondent is to report the prices that would apply if the selected contract were priced out and performed during the current reporting period (i.e. the current quarter).

During the collection process, interviewers contact the respondents by phone to indicate that a questionnaire will be mailed. Subsequent contacts with the respondent take place when questionnaires are late or the responses provided require clarification. In the case of late respondents, several follow-up contacts can be made including sending out a reminder letter in order to obtain a response.

The weights are established on the basis of information obtained from Statistics Canada's Business Register.

View the Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s) .

Quality evaluation

The data is subject to collection and processing validations on all key variables and most non-essential data. Analysis is also performed at the index level at various aggregation stages. Quality evaluation is achieved using an internationally developed services producer price framework that considers aspects such as the type of price being used, timeliness and relevance.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects which could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential. If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data.

Collected data are converted to price indexes and data are released as such, so that it is not possible to identify the suppliers of raw prices.

Data accuracy

The survey achieves a response rate of approximately 80% and uses a methodology designed to control for errors and reduce their potential effects on estimates. However, the survey results remain subject to both sampling and non-sampling errors. Sampling error results when observations are made only on a sample and not on the entire population. All other errors arising from the various phases of a survey are referred to as non-sampling errors. For example, these type of errors can occur when a respondent provides incorrect information or does not answer certain questions; when a unit in the target population is omitted or covered more than once; when an out of scope unit is included by mistake or when errors occur in data processing, such as coding or capture errors.