[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 53 (Thursday, March 19, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 13390]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-7073]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of the Census
[Docket No. 980310058-8058-1]


Advertising, Marketing, and Partnership Efforts Evaluation

AGENCY: Bureau of the Census, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of new survey.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with Title 13, United States Code, Sections 141 
and 193, the Bureau of the Census will conduct a new survey called the 
Advertising, Marketing, and Partnership Efforts (AMPE) Evaluation. This 
survey was submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on 
February 5, 1998 for review on an emergency basis. Approval was granted 
on February 12, 1998. The survey was given OMB Control Number 0607-
0852. The emergency circumstances surrounding this survey prevented us 
from making prior notice in the Federal Register and from allowing 
public comment on the proposed survey prior to its submission to OMB. 
This notice describes the AMPE Evaluation, as approved by OMB.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the data collection instrument and the request 
that was submitted to OMB for clearance of the survey may be obtained 
from Solomona Aoelua, Census 2000 Publicity Office, Census Bureau, 
Washington, DC 20233-0001. When requesting information on this survey, 
please refer to the AMPE Evaluation.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Solomona Aoelua, (301) 457-2988.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Census Bureau has contracted with an 
advertising company to provide a national advertising and awareness 
campaign for Census 2000. This campaign will be implemented on a test 
basis for the Census 2000 Dress Rehearsal, which will take place this 
year in the following locations: Sacramento, California; Columbia, 
South Carolina and the surrounding eleven counties; and the Menominee 
Indian Reservation and the surrounding areas of Menominee County, 
Wisconsin.
    The AMPE Evaluation will measure the public's knowledge and 
awareness of the census before the start and after the completion of 
the paid advertising campaign. Our purpose is to learn about what 
factors affect the likelihood of people responding by mail in the 
Census 2000 Dress Rehearsal, barriers to participation, knowledge and 
awareness of the dress rehearsal, and sources of knowledge and the 
relative effectiveness of the various promotional activities. This 
knowledge will assist the Census Bureau in improving its plans for 
Census 2000.
    The Census Bureau has hired a contractor to conduct telephone 
interviews with a sample of residents in two of the three Census 2000 
Dress Rehearsal sites before and after the advertising campaign. Due to 
the small population of Menominee County, this site will be excluded 
from the evaluation. Respondents will be selected at random through a 
process called random digit dialing. Postadvertising interviews will be 
conducted using computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). Due to 
the short time frame for developing the evaluation instruments, CATI 
will not be used in the preadvertising interviews.
    Census Day for the Census 2000 Dress Rehearsal is April 18, 1998. 
The paid advertising began on March 1, 1998. To ensure that we obtained 
a sufficient number of interviews for the preadvertising period, we 
began our field data collection on February 13, 1998 immediately 
following OMB approval and concluded by the end of February. We 
completed approximately 2,000 interviews (1,000 per site) in the 
Sacramento, California and Columbia, South Carolina sites.
    For the postadvertising period, we plan to complete approximately 
3,000 interviews (1,500 per site) from mid-April to early June 1998. We 
estimate that it will take approximately 15 minutes to complete each 
interview. The total estimated burden to be imposed is 1,250 hours.
    Due to the recent continuing resolutions, we were unable to fully 
define and finalize our marketing plans for the Census 2000 Dress 
Rehearsal until late January 1998. The evaluation mechanism could not 
be developed until the advertising program was finalized. This 
circumstance prevented us from following normal clearance processes and 
necessitated an emergency clearance.

Conclusion

    The AMPE Evaluation is critical to the Census Bureau's mission, 
especially in regard to the objectives of Census 2000. The Census 2000 
Dress Rehearsal is the Bureau's last major opportunity to test its 
advertising, marketing, and partnership plans. I, therefore, conclude 
that this important evaluation should be conducted.

    Dated: March 11, 1998.
James F. Holmes,
Acting Director, Bureau of the Census.
[FR Doc. 98-7073 Filed 3-18-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P