[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 123 (Monday, June 28, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34631-34633]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-16403]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Census Bureau
Census 2000 Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation--Housing Unit and
Person Activities
ACTION: Proposed collection; comment request.
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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 August 27, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Linda Engelmeier,
Departmental Forms Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room
5033, 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 Magdalena Ramos, Bureau of the Census, Room
2126A/SFC2, Washington, DC 20233, (301) 457-4295.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The Bureau of the Census developed the Accuracy and Coverage
Evaluation approach for measuring coverage of the population in the
decennial census. In the Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation, we
independently count a sample of housing units and the people living in
those units, then compare those results to the census. We then use this
comparative information to produce final estimates of the coverage for
Census 2000. The Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation approach was tested
during the Census 2000 Dress Rehearsal in Columbia, South Carolina. The
Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation was formerly referred to as the Post-
[[Page 34632]]
Enumeration Survey in the Census 2000 Dress Rehearsal.
The Independent Listing Operation is the first step in the Accuracy
and Coverage Evaluation process. During the Independent Listing, the
Bureau of the Census will obtain a complete housing inventory of all
addresses within the Census 2000 Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation
sample of block clusters before the Census 2000 enumeration commences.
The materials for the Independent Listing have been submitted to the
Office of Management and Budget and are awaiting approval.
The address listings will be matched to the address list used in
the census; the unmatched cases will be sent to the field for
reconciliation during the Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation Housing Unit
Follow-up Operation using the Housing Unit Follow-up Questionnaires,
Forms D-1303 and D-1303 PR. The D-1303 is the English language version
and will be used in the Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation sample areas
in the 50 states and the District of Columbia; the D-1303 PR is the
Spanish language version of the follow-up form and will be used only in
sample areas in Puerto Rico. For quality assurance purposes, a sample
of the housing unit follow-up cases will be verified to ensure that the
follow-up enumerators visit the block clusters, resolve the cases, and
correctly follow procedures. The information obtained using the D-1303
and D-1303 PR will be used to resolve match status for unmatched cases
and to assign final match codes. The results from the matching will be
used to identify clusters for the Targeted Extended Search (TES)
Operation.
The TES attempts to correct erroneous enumerations and nonmatches
caused by census geocoding errors. A geocoding error occurs when a
housing unit is counted in the wrong Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation
sample cluster. Because of geocoding errors, the people in the housing
units can be counted in the incorrect block and, as a result, may be
counted more than once. The housing units in the TES clusters are sent
to the field for resolution using the Targeted Extended Search Field
Followup Questionnaires, Forms D-1360 and D-1360 PR. The D-1360 is the
English language version and will be used in the Accuracy and Coverage
Evaluation sample areas in the 50 states and the District of Columbia;
the D-1360 PR is the Spanish language version and will be used only in
sample areas in Puerto Rico. The goal of the TES field follow-up is to
determine the correct geographic location of the housing units in the
cluster. The results of TES field follow-up will be used during person
matching to allow the clerical matchers to correctly code the people in
the TES clusters. The TES will be conducted during the same time period
as the Person Interview. The resultant address listing from the Housing
Unit Follow-up Operation will be used in the Person Interview.
The Person Interview will be conducted using a Computer Assisted
Personal Interviewing (CAPI) instrument. During the initial phase of
this operation, the Census Bureau will target sample cases for
telephone interviews. This is done to allow interviewing to start since
personal visits cannot be done until Nonresponse Follow-up for Census
is 90 percent complete. Telephone cases will be city style addresses
selected from households that returned their census questionnaires and
provided their telephone numbers. After the conclusion of the
Nonresponse Follow-up Operation for a sample block cluster, all
remaining sample cases will be interviewed using a person-to-person
approach. Telephone interviews may also be used later in the process
for hard to enumerate areas or situations.
Intensive probing techniques will be used to reconstruct a roster
of the sample housing unit. The interviewer will attempt to determine
the status of the sample units and their occupants on Census Day, April
1, 2000. For households where the Census Day residents have moved out,
we will obtain a proxy interview from the current residents or another
reliable proxy. When combined with our efforts to match responses to
the results of the census count, the interview data will identify
persons missed or incorrectly included in the census as well as persons
correctly enumerated. For quality assurance, a sample of respondents in
the Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation sample will be reinterviewed using
the CAPI instrument. There will be a Spanish language version of the
instrument that will be available for use in the 50 states, District of
Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
After the person interview, person matching for input into dual
system estimation (DSE) processing will be conducted. The estimation is
called DSE because two independent sources of information or systems
are used. The people enumerated during the Person Interview Operation
will be matched to the people enumerated in the census for the same
addresses. Unresolved cases will be reconciled in the field during the
Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation Person Follow-up Interview using the
Person Follow-up Questionnaires, Forms D-1301, D-1301(S), and D-1301
PR. The D-1301 is the English language version and will be used in the
sample areas in the 50 states and the District of Columbia except in
selected areas; the D-1301(S) and D-1301 PR are Spanish language
versions of the follow-up form. The D-1301(S) will be used in sample
areas, where needed, in the 50 states and the District of Columbia; the
D-1301 PR will be used only in sample areas in Puerto Rico. The
completed follow-up interview files will be reviewed and used to
resolve a person's residence status and match status. The person
follow-up interview will undergo a quality assurance operation to
ensure that the interviewer contacted the household and conducted an
interview. The information from the person interview will be used in
the Census 2000 coverage estimates.
Because the initial housing unit operations (matching and field
follow-up) are conducted before the inventory of census housing units
is final, a final housing unit match and field reconciliation are
needed for selected cases that were not followed up during the original
housing unit operations. The field reconciliation will be conducted
using the Final Housing Unit Follow-up Questionnaires, Forms D-1340 and
D-1340 PR. The D-1340 is the English language version and will be used
in the Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation sample areas in the 50 states
and the District of Columbia; the D-1340 PR is the Spanish language
version of the follow-up form and will be used only in sample areas in
Puerto Rico. As in the initial Housing Unit operation, a sample of the
housing unit follow-up cases will be verified to ensure that the
follow-up enumerators visit the block clusters, resolve the cases, and
correctly follow procedures. The results of the final housing match are
needed to produce housing unit coverage estimates.
II. Method of Collection
Telephone and person to person interview.
III. Data
OMB Number: Not available.
Form Number:
Housing Unit Follow-up Interview--D-1303, D-1303 PR
Housing Unit Follow-up Quality Assurance Interview--D-1303, D-1303 PR
CAPI Person Interview--No form number
CAPI Nonresponse Conversion--No form number
CAPI Person Quality Assurance
Interview--No form number
[[Page 34633]]
Targeted Extended Search--D-1360, D-1360 PR
Person Follow-up Interview--D-1301, D-1301(S), D-1301 PR
Person Follow-up Quality Assurance Interview--D-1301, D-1301(S)
Final Housing Unit Follow-up Interview D-1340, D-1340 PR
Final Housing Unit Follow-up
Quality Assurance Interview--D-1340, D-1340 PR
Type of Review: Regular.
Affected Public: Individuals or households.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 325,486 Housing units (HUs)
Estimated Time Per Response:
Housing Unit Follow-up Interview--3 minutes
Housing Unit Follow-up Quality Assurance Interview--3 minutes
CAPI Person Interview--20 minutes
CAPI Nonresponse Conversion--20 minutes
CAPI Person Quality Assurance Interview--10 minutes
Targeted Extended Search--2 minutes
Person Follow-up Interview--15 minutes
Person Follow-up Quality Assurance Interview--15 minutes
Final Housing Unit Follow-up Interview--3 minutes
Final Housing Unit Follow-up Quality Assurance Interview--3 minutes
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: Total = 195,042 Hours.
Housing Unit Follow-up Interview=13,983 Hours (279,664 HUs x 3 minutes)
Housing Unit Follow-up Quality Assurance Interview=2,331 Hours (46,610
HUs x 3 minutes)
CAPI Person Interview=108,495 Hours (325,486 HUs x 20 minutes)
CAPI Nonresponse Conversion=21,699 Hours (65,097 HUs x 20 minutes)
CAPI Person Quality Assurance Interview=6,781 Hours (40,686 HUs x 10
minutes)
Targeted Extended Search=1,460 Hours (43,800 HUs x 2 minutes)
Person Follow-up Interview=32,549 Hours (130,194 HUs x 15 minutes)
Person Follow-up Quality Assurance Interview=5,425 Hours (21,699
HUs x 15 minutes)
Final Housing Unit Follow-up Interview=1,988 Hours (39,758 HUs x 3
minutes)
Final Housing Unit Follow-up Quality Assurance Interview=331 Hours
(6,626 HUs x 3 minutes)
Estimated Total Annual Cost: No cost to the respondents except for
their time to respond.
Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
Legal Authority: Title 13, United States Code, Sections 141,
193, and 221.
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 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: June 23, 1999.
Linda Engelmeier,
Departmental Forms Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information
Officer.
[FR Doc. 99-16403 Filed 6-25-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P