[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 83 (Friday, April 30, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23267-23269]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-10905]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of the Census


Census 2000 Partnership and Marketing Program Evaluation (PMPE)

ACTION: Proposed collection; comment request.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort 
to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public 
and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on 
proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506 (c) 
(2) (A)).

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before June 29, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Linda Engelmeier, 
Departmental Forms Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 
5327, 14th and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument(s) and instructions 
should be directed to Sherri Norris, Bureau of

[[Page 23268]]

the Census, Room BH-120-2, Washington, DC 20233; (301) 457-8081.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    As part of Census 2000, the Census Bureau is conducting a 
comprehensive program of evaluations designed to measure how well our 
programs, operations, and procedures perform. The Census 2000 
Partnership and Marketing Program is included in this evaluation 
program. This evaluation will focus attention on the paid advertising 
and partnership components.
    The promotional advertising strategy will be implemented in three 
phases. The first will occur in November 1999-January 2000 and is 
referred to as the Educational Phase. The intent is to familiarize the 
public with the census and educate them about its purposes. The 
Educational Phase will include national television, radio, and magazine 
advertising aimed at the least likely to respond segment of the general 
public. This phase will also contain extra efforts concentrated on 
educating four targeted audiences (African Americans, Hispanics, 
Asians, and American Indians) through television, radio, magazine and 
newspaper advertising.
    The second phase will be launched in January 2000. This is the 
largest component of the advertising strategy and is known as the 
Motivational Phase. The advertising will again utilize a variety of 
media (English and non-English) including national television, local 
targeted television, local radio, magazines, newspapers, out-of-home 
advertisements, and the Internet. This phase will address both the 
general public and targeted populations. It also will include some non-
traditional media (e.g., posters in convenience stores). The primary 
message of the Motivational Phase is to participate in the Census by 
mailing back a census form. This phase will conclude in April 2000.
    The final advertising phase will commence shortly before the Census 
Bureau begins its Nonresponse Follow-up operation. The advertising 
messages during this phase will stress the importance of cooperating 
with personal visit enumerators for those who failed to return a census 
form. This phase will last until June 2000 and will address both the 
general public and targeted audiences through radio and television 
advertising.
    The Partnership Program will build partnerships with state, local, 
and tribal governments, community-based organizations, and the private 
sector. The Program has both a national and regional focus to develop 
awareness about Census 2000. On the national level, the Program is 
designed to implement promotional activities that may be sponsored by 
national umbrella government and nongovernmental organizations. In 
addition, the Census Bureau is partnering with Fortune 500 companies to 
promote the importance of the census through the services and products 
they provide.
    The Census 2000 Partnership and Marketing Program has two goals: 
(1) To increase the awareness of the census, and (2) to increase 
mailback response rates, especially among historically undercounted 
populations. The program combines public awareness, promotion, and 
outreach activities to generate clear, consistent, repeated messages 
about the importance of participating in Census 2000.
    To evaluate these goals, the Census Bureau plans to hire a 
contractor to conduct an impact assessment of the marketing and 
advertising campaign using before and after research design. This 
design will allow the Census Bureau to measure change in awareness to 
the decennial census by conducting a survey before the marketing 
campaign has begun and then again after the campaign has been launched. 
In all, the contractor will develop three survey instruments 
implemented in three waves. The contractor will increase the sample in 
the last wave to perform additional analysis of the Partnership 
Program. Even though the Partnership evaluation will be based upon the 
last wave, the questionnaires for waves 1 and 2 will contain 
partnership-related questions to avoid possible context effects and 
bias across the different data collections.
    The questionnaires will consist of different sections including 
questions related to: media use, awareness of government agencies and 
programs, awareness of community agencies and programs, free recall of 
exposure to the paid advertising, free recall of exposure to 
partnership-sponsored activities, aided recall about source of 
information, knowledge and attitudes about the census, aided recall of 
specific advertising, aided recall of specific partnership activities, 
and census form receipt, handling, mailback behavior, and demographic 
information.
    The first wave of interviews will be conducted in September-October 
1999 before the Educational Phase of advertising is launched. A total 
of 2500 interviews will be completed nationally. The sample will be 
drawn so that it is sufficient to yield statistically reliable results 
for the total population and for the four targeted populations(African 
Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and American Indians). These interviews 
will reflect a selected oversampling of the four subpopulations. The 
second wave of interviews will be conducted in February-mid-March 2000. 
A total of 2500 interviews will be conducted with similar oversampling. 
The final wave of interviews will be conducted during April 9-May 9, 
2000. This survey will contain the larger number of questions for the 
assessment of census form mailback behavior and the Partnership Program 
to measure recall and exposure to partnership-related events and 
activities. A total of 4000 interviews with oversampling of the four 
targeted groups will be completed. Both Computer-Assisted Telephone 
Interviewing (CATI) and personal visit interviewing will be conducted 
in all three waves. Where valid phone numbers cannot be obtained for a 
sample case, a personal visit interview will be conducted.
    The survey instruments will be modeled after previous Census Bureau 
surveys of a similar nature. In order to carry out historical 
comparisons to the 1990 publicity campaign, the instrument will 
replicate, at least in part, questions from the 1990 Outreach 
Evaluation Survey.

II. Method of Collection

    The collection methodology for all three waves of the Census 2000 
Partnership and Marketing Program Evaluation (PMPE) will consist of 
CATI with follow-up by personal interview using a paper form.

III. Data

    OMB Number: Not available.
    Form Number: Forthcoming.
    Type of Review: Regular submission.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Estimated Number of Respondents:

     WAVE 1 = 2,500
     WAVE 2 = 2,500
     WAVE 3 = 4,000
     Total = 9,000 respondents

    Estimated Time Per Response:
Wave 1
     15 minutes for the telephone interview with a human 
operator.
     20 minutes for the personal follow-up interview completion 
of a paper questionnaire.
Wave 2
     15 minutes for the telephone interview with a human 
operator.
     20 minutes for the personal follow-up interview completion 
of a paper questionnaire

[[Page 23269]]

Wave 3
     20 minutes for the telephone interview with a human 
operator.
     25 minutes for the personal follow-up interview completion 
of a paper questionnaire.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours:

     Wave 1 = 730 hours
     Wave 2 = 730 hours
     Wave 3 = 1,500 hours
     Total = 2,960 annual burden hours

    Estimated Total Annual Cost: There is no cost to the respondent 
other than the time to complete the information requested.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13, United States Code, Sections 141 and 
193.

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have a practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden 
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; 
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents; including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology. Comments submitted in response to this notice will be 
summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this 
information collection; they also will become a matter of public 
record.

    Dated: April 20, 1999.
Linda Engelmeier,
Departmental Forms Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer.
[FR Doc. 99-10905 Filed 4-29-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P