[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 158 (Wednesday, August 17, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48371-48372]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-16250]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Census Bureau


2006 Census Test Coverage Followup Operation

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 October 17, 
2005.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Diana Hynek, Departmental 
Paperwork Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 6625, 14th 
and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet 
at [email protected]).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument(s) and instructions 
should be directed to Frank Vitrano, U.S. Census Bureau, Building 2, 
Room 2012, Washington, DC 20233-9200, 301-763-3961.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    Improving coverage, or how well the Census Bureau counts people and 
housing units in the census, is one of the major goals for the 2010 
Census. The U.S. Census Bureau has designed a series of tests intended 
to examine new methods for improving overall coverage of the population 
and housing. Favorable results will be implemented in the 2010 
Decennial Census Program. In preparation for the 2010 Census, the 
Census Bureau has conducted two previous operations designed to 
evaluate the effectiveness of new procedures for improving coverage and 
reducing duplication. These coverage measurement operations are the 
2004 Census Test Coverage Research Followup (OMB Approval Number 0607-
0910) and the 2005 National Census Test Coverage Followup (OMB Approval 
Number 0607-0916.)
    The 2006 Census Test is part of the cycle of tests leading up to 
the 2010 Census. Like other tests, the primary goals of this test are 
designed to evaluate new methods and systems intended to improve 
accuracy, provide more timely and relevant data, reduce risks, and/or 
contain costs. In support of these goals, the 2006 Coverage Followup 
(CFU) operation is designed to study a method to improve coverage that 
collects additional information from households that might have 
coverage problems. This includes households where persons might have 
been counted more than once (e.g., students who are counted at their 
parents' home but also counted where they reside while they are 
attending school) and persons who might not have been included in the 
household count (e.g., newborn babies or roommates). This operation 
also will contact large households (those with more than six persons 
listed on their mail-back questionnaires) in order to ensure that 
everyone is included in the census. Another category of households that 
we will attempt to contact are those that contain persons identified 
through the StARS database (an administrative records database built 
from six national level data files) but who were not included on the 
appropriate census questionnaire. Finally, this operation will include 
households where the count of persons does not equal the number of 
persons for which census data were provided during enumeration

II. Method of Collection

    The 2006 Census Test CFU operation will be conducted in selected 
locations in Travis County, Texas and the Cheyenne River Reservation 
and Off Reservation Trust Land, South Dakota in two phases: telephone 
and personal visit.
    The telephone operation will be conducted April 21, 2006, through 
August 31, 2006, with an expected workload of approximately 25,000 
housing units in Travis County and approximately 400 housing units in 
the Cheyenne River Reservation. During this operation, the CFU 
interviewers will attempt to contact, via telephone, a portion of the 
households that fall within the CFU sample that provided a telephone 
number on the questionnaire. The followup interviews will be conducted 
by U.S. Census Bureau staff at two of the U.S. Census Bureau's 
telephone call centers, located in Jeffersonville, IN and Tucson, AZ. 
These interviews will be conducted by computer-assisted telephone 
interviewing (CATI). The CATI instrument will be in English, or in 
Spanish for those respondents who wish to report their information in 
the Spanish language. We expect an approximately 60% response rate for 
the telephone operation. Nonrespondents during this operation will be 
sent for personal visit followup.
    The personal visit operation will be conducted July 21, 2006, 
through August 31, 2006, with an expected workload of approximately 
28,000 housing units in Travis County and approximately 400 housing 
units in the Cheyenne River Reservation, including those nonrespondents 
from the telephone operation. During this operation, enumerators will 
attempt to enumerate respondents using a paper questionnaire. We expect 
an approximately 90% response rate for the personal visit operation.
    The purpose of the CFU telephone and personal visit contact is to 
identify those persons who may have been counted in more than one 
household or erroneously excluded from any household. The items 
included in the 2006 CFU questionnaire are probes that are intended to 
indicate whether

[[Page 48372]]

respondents understood and properly applied the residence rules 
instructions on the 2006 Census Test questionnaire.

III. Data

    OMB Number: Not available.
    Form Number:
    Type of Review: Regular.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: Approximately 53,800 housing 
units.
    Estimated Time Per Response: The personal visit operation and the 
telephone operation will each require approximately 10 minutes for 
response.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: Approximately 8,967 hours for 
the total CFU workload.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: There is no cost to respondents except 
for their time to respond.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 of the 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 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: August 11, 2005.
Madeleine Clayton,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 05-16250 Filed 8-16-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P