Survey of Innovation, Advanced Technologies and Practices in the Construction and Related Industries

Detailed information for 1999

Status:

Inactive

Frequency:

One Time

Record number:

4224

The objective of the survey is to provide information on innovation, advanced technology and advanced practices being used in the construction and related industries.

Data release - October 26, 1999

Description

The objective of the survey is to provide information on innovation, advanced technology and advanced practices being used in the construction and related industries.

The information in the survey can be used by businesses for market analysis, by trade associations to study performance and other characteristics for their industries, and by government to develop national and regional economic policies.

Statistical activity

Science and technology (S&T) and the information society are changing the way we live, learn and work. The concepts are closely intertwined: science generates new understanding of the way the world works, technology applies it to develop innovative products and services and the information society is one of the results of the innovations.

People are looking to Statistics Canada to measure and explain the social and economic impacts of these changes.

The purpose of this Program is to develop useful indicators of S&T activity in Canada based on a framework that ties them together in a coherent picture.

Subjects

  • Construction
  • Innovation
  • Science and technology

Data sources and methodology

Target population

Businesses classified to construction industries with revenues over $50,000.

Instrument design

The questionnaire was designed jointly by a joint working group formed by the Science innovation and Electronic Information Division of Statistics Canada and the Institute for Research in Construction of the National Research Council of Canada. It was developed with input of industry experts in the working group as well as from input from industrial associations with whom consultations were held and round tables were organized. Testing of the questionnaire was carried out to ensure that the questions were well understood by industry respondents.

Sampling

This is a sample survey.

The sample was randombly drawn from the population of pseudo enterprises that was stratified by province and industry size class. Fourteen industry categories based on NAICS codes were used. A sample of roughly 2,500 units was drawn.

Data sources

Responding to this survey is voluntary.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents.

Suppliers of materials, supplies, machinery and equipment are the source of information on advanced technologies and advanced practices for the largest percentage of businesses, three quarters of the businesses indicating this source. Trade journals and newsletters were the source of information for one half of the businesses, followed by clients which were the source of infoamtion for 44%. Consulting engineers and general contractors were the source of information for 4 o 10 of the businesses.

Questionnaires were mailed out to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of businesses. Mail, telephone and fax follow-ups were then carried out for non-respondents.

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

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects that 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.

In order to prevent any data disclosure, confidentiality analysis is done using the Statistics Canada Generalized Disclosure Control System (G-Confid). G-Confid is used for primary suppression (direct disclosure) as well as for secondary suppression (residual disclosure). Direct disclosure occurs when the value in a tabulation cell is composed of or dominated by few enterprises while residual disclosure occurs when confidential information can be derived indirectly by piecing together information from different sources or data series.

Data accuracy

The overall response rate for the survey was 75% for a total of 1,800 completed questionnaires.

The reliability of the data has been assessed using the following convention.

A= Very good - less than 2.5%
B= Good - more than 2.5% and less than 7.5%
C= Good to poor (use with caution) - more than 7.5 % and less than 15%
D= Very poor - may not be acceptable - greater than or equal to 15%.

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