[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 203 (Monday, October 20, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62247-62248]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-24915]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of 
information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 
U.S.C. chapter 35).
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
    Title: Generic Clearance for 2010 Census Communications Campaign 
Testing Activities.
    Form Number(s): None.
    OMB Control Number: None.
    Type of Request: New collection.
    Burden Hours: 13,000.
    Number of Respondents: 8,000.
    Average Hours per Response: 1 hour and 38 minutes.
    Needs and Uses: Every ten years, the U.S. Census Bureau is 
congressionally mandated to count everyone (citizens and non-citizens) 
residing in the United States. An accurate count is critical for many 
reasons including but not limited to:
     Congressional reapportionment;
     Redistricting congressional boundaries;
     Community planning; and
     Distribution of public funds and program development.
    To facilitate the data collection effort for the 2010 Census, the 
Census Bureau is developing an Integrated Communications Campaign 
(ICC). The role of the ICC is to increase public awareness and motivate 
people to respond to the census promptly, saving millions of taxpayer 
dollars. The specific objectives of the ICC are:
     Increase mail response;
     Improve cooperation with enumerators; and
     Improve overall accuracy and reduce differential 
undercount.
    From 1970--the first year questionnaires were mailed to 
households--to 1990, the mail response rate declined from 78 percent to 
65 percent. To help halt the declining mail response rate, the Census 
Bureau ran a paid advertising campaign to support data collection 
activities for the 2000 Census. The resulting mail response rate in 
2000 was 67 percent--two percentage points above 1990. This campaign 
was considered a very successful initiative and one of several reasons 
cited with helping to reverse declining mail response rates.
    In order to support the aforementioned objectives, the ICC will be 
based on behavioral learning during the 2000 Census as well as 
information that will come from new research. All messaging and 
communications that will be developed as part of the 2010 Census 
integrated communications will be supported by primary research among a 
wide range of target audiences. The research will serve to support 
campaign direction and decisions made at each stage of message and 
communications development, such research commenced in late 2007 and in 
2008 (covered as part of Generic Clearance OMB Control No. 0607-0725). 
That research covered the development of a unifying idea (Only You Can 
Make the Census Ours) and creative expression (It's in Our Hands), 
which will be reflected across all communications under the campaign.
    This research provided valuable guidance for the next stages of 
development. Going forward, additional research must be conducted in 
order to support these next stages. At this time, the Census Bureau is 
seeking a generic clearance for conducting research to gain respondent 
feedback to specific messaging, a variety of creative executions, and 
to track the campaign progress once launched. This will enable the 
Census Bureau to continue providing support for research activities as 
part of the Census 2010 ICC.
    The proposed quantitative and qualitative methods are: One-on-one 
interviews; focus groups; online quantitative surveys; telephone 
quantitative surveys; and in-person quantitative surveys.
    Since the types of studies included under the umbrella of the 
clearance are so varied, it is impossible to specify at this point what 
kinds of activities would be involved in any particular activity. But 
at a minimum, Census expect to use in-person group interviews, focus 
groups, usability tests, and tracking surveys.
    OMB will be provided a copy of questionnaires, moderator guides, 
creative materials, and debriefing materials in advance of any testing 
activity. Depending on the stage of creative development, this may be 
rough mock-ups of printed materials or story boards. A brief 
description of the planned field activity will also be provided. The 
Census Bureau will send OMB an annual report at the end of each year 
summarizing the number of hours used, as well as the nature and results 
of the activities completed under this clearance.
    The information collected in this program will be used by staff 
from the Census Bureau and its contractors to evaluate and improve the 
quality of the communications, advertising, and messages that are 
produced as part of

[[Page 62248]]

the campaign. None of the data collected under this clearance will be 
published for its own sake.
    Data from the research will be included in research reports 
prepared for sponsors inside and outside of the Census Bureau. The 
results may also be prepared for presentations before Census advisory 
committees, at professional meetings or in publications in professional 
journals.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C. Sections 141 and 193.
    OMB Desk Officer: Brian Harris-Kojetin, (202) 395-7314.
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by calling or writing Diana Hynek, Departmental Paperwork Clearance 
Officer, (202) 482-0266, Department of Commerce, Room 6625, 14th and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet at 
[email protected]).
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to Brian Harris-Kojetin, OMB Desk Officer either by fax (202-395-7245) 
or e-mail ([email protected]).

    Dated: October 15, 2008.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
 [FR Doc. E8-24915 Filed 10-17-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P