1992 CENSUS OF RETAIL TRADE

Coverage and Methodology

=>STRUCTURE AND METHOD OF ENUMERATION

Firms in the 1992 Census of Retail Trade were divided into the
nonmail universe and mail universe.  The coverage and the method
of obtaining census information from each follow:

The nonmail universe consists of firms which were not required to
file a regular census return and includes:

All nonemployers, i.e., all firms with no paid employment during
1992.  Sales information for these firms was obtained from
administrative records of other Federal agencies.  Although
consisting of many firms, nonemployers account for less than 5
percent of total retail sales.  The census included only those
retail nonemployer firms which reported a sales volume of $1,000
or more during 1992.  Data on nonemployers are provided in
subsequent 1992 Census of Retail Trade reports; Nonemployer
Statistics and Selected Statistics.

Selected small employers, i.e., single-establishment firms with
payroll below a specified cutoff.  (The term "employers" refers
to all business firms with one or more paid employees at any time
during 1992 as shown in the active administrative records of
other Federal agencies.) Although the payroll cutoff varied by
kind of business, small employers generally included firms with
one to four employees and represented about 10 percent of total
retail sales of establishments covered in the census.  Data on
sales, payroll, and employment for employer firms below the
payroll cutoff were derived or estimated from administrative
records of other Federal agencies except for a sample of small
employer firms.  This sample was included in the mail universe.

The mail universe consists of firms for which information was
obtained by means of a mail canvass and includes:

Large employers; i.e., all multiestablishment firms and all
employer firms above the payroll size cutoff referred to in the
nonmail universe section above.  Within this category, a report
of company organization is conducted periodically to identify
firms which operated establishments at more than one location and
to obtain information on payroll and mid-March employment at each
location.  The 1991 Report of Company Organization was used as a
coverage check in the census.  In the 1992 census, all
multiestablishment firms were asked to notify the Census Bureau
of any establishments for which a form was not received.  Report
forms were subsequently provided to the firms for these
establishments. 

A sample of small employer firms referred to in the nonmail
universe section above.  These firms were sent the census mailing
packages containing the appropriate 1992 questionnaire.  For the
retail trade sector, the overall sample of small employer firms
was 20.6 percent which varied by kind of business.

=>METHOD OF CLASSIFYING KINDS OF BUSINESS

The retail trade classifications for all establishments were
based on the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Manual
(Standard Industrial Classification Manual:  1987.  For sale by
Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office,
Washington, DC 20402.  Stock No. 041-001-00314-2).  However, the
method of assigning these classifications, and the level of
detail at which establishments were classified, differed between
the nonmail and mail universe as follows:

Nonemployers were classified on the basis of information obtained
from administrative records of other Federal agencies.

Selected small employers were classified on the basis of the most
current census kind-of-business classification available from one
of the Census Bureau's current sample surveys or the 1987 census. 
Otherwise, the classification was obtained from administrative
records of other Federal agencies.  If the census or
administrative record classifications proved inadequate (none
corresponded to a 1992 census classification in the detail
required for employers), the firm was sent a brief inquiry
requesting information necessary to assign a 1992 census
kind-of-business code.

Establishments in the mail universe were classified on the basis
of their self-designation, answers to questions on sales by
merchandise line, and other special inquiries.

=>COMPARABILITY OF THE 1987 AND 1992 CENSUSES

The 1987 and 1992 censuses were conducted under similar
conditions and procedures except for the following:

The boundaries of a number of areas for which data are shown in
the 1992 census are not the same as in the 1987 census because of
annexations; other boundary changes; and redefinitions of
metropolitan statistical areas (MSA's), primary metropolitan
statistical areas (PMSA's), and consolidated metropolitan
statistical areas (CMSA's) (Newly defined metropolitan areas
(MA's) were announced by the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) effective June 30, 1993).  In addition, data for
consolidated cities are included in the 1992 census.

Data for special economic urban areas (SEUA's) with 10,000
inhabitants or more in Michigan, Minnesota, New York, and
Wisconsin qualified for publication in the 1992 census.  This
included townships in Michigan and Minnesota and towns in New
York and Wisconsin.  However, Minnesota did not have any
townships that met the publication criteria.