[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 249 (Wednesday, December 28, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 81473-81474]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-33268]


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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: Federal Statistical System Public Opinion Survey.
    OMB Control Number: None.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: New collection.
    Burden Hours: 11.667.
    Number of Respondents: 70,000.
    Average Hours Per Response: 10 minutes.
    Needs and Uses: The Census Bureau is seeking ways to reverse the 
decline in response rates for its ongoing surveys to avoid both 
increasing operational costs and potential declines in data quality. We 
hypothesize that members of the public would voluntarily cooperate more 
extensively with federal surveys if they trust the federal statistical 
system and the resulting federal statistics. Therefore, we propose to 
collect information about public awareness and attitudes towards 
federal statistics and the federal statistical system. The information 
collected will assist the Census Bureau in addressing attitudes, 
beliefs, and concerns the public may have regarding its trust 
(confidence) in federal statistics and in the collection of statistical 
information by the federal government from the public, as well as 
attitudes toward and knowledge of the statistical uses of 
administrative records. The data will also allow us to understand how 
current events influence public perception towards federal statistics.
    From February 2012 through September 2013, the Census Bureau will 
add 25 questions nightly onto an ongoing data collection by the Gallup 
organization. Approximately nineteen of the 25 questions will be core 
questions and approximately 6 will be available for rotation. Core 
questions will focus on awareness of and attitudes towards federal 
statistics and federal statistical agencies. There will be 1-2 core 
questions on attitudes towards the statistical use of administrative 
records. Core questions will be used to explore relationships among the 
concepts, develop a time series and measure any ``shocks'' to the 
system. Shocks could include any current events that may impact 
awareness or attitudes towards topics being measured. They may include 
things like data breaches (public or private sector), elections, or any 
unanticipated news event that may alter public perception. By having a 
continual data collection, we will be able to look for changes in 
public perception after any of these types of events occur or look for 
underlying causes when we see a change in the time series.
    Up to 20 times during the data collection, roughly monthly, up to 6 
questions may be rotated in the survey. Rotating questions will be used 
for three distinct purposes:
     First, experiments will be planned for questions 
surrounding public opinion of statistical uses of administrative 
records. Topics of experiments will include public perception of the 
quality of such records, public perception of privacy and 
confidentiality implications of such use, and differentiation between 
types of administrative records and types of statistical uses. These 
experiments will be conducted using different frames around questions, 
varying the types of records mentioned and the methods of use in the 
question, willingness-to-pay/stated preference questions, and so on. 
These types of questions would use up to 6 questions in the nightly 
interview and would be fielded for a pre-specified amount of time. 
These experimental questions will be submitted to OMB at a later date 
as an addendum to this submission, although some examples are provided 
as illustrative examples in Attachment B.
     Second, rotating questions will be used around known, 
planned events to gage awareness of those events and opinions about the 
relationship (if any) between those events and the federal statistical 
system. Examples of planned events are the presidential election, 
release of particular statistics, and any pre-planned public awareness 
activities. These types of questions would add up to 3 questions in the 
nightly interview and would be fielded for a limited amount of time 
surrounding the particular event. The particular questions will be 
submitted to OMB at a later date as an addendum to this submission, but 
would ask things like awareness of the event, and opinions about the 
relationship (if any) between those events and the federal statistical 
system.
     Third, we may wish to add rotating questions very quickly 
after an unanticipated event to gage awareness of those events and 
opinions about the relationship (if any) between those events and the 
federal statistical system. These could be events like a data breach 
(public or private sector), political scandal, or any other 
unanticipated news event that may alter public perceptions. Gallup can 
add questions with as little as 48 hours notice. These types of 
questions would add up to 3 questions in the nightly interview and 
would be fielded for a limited amount of time surrounding the 
particular event. These questions would be submitted to OMB for a 
quick-turn-around approval and would be very limited in scope to 
address the particular unanticipated event.
    These public opinion data will enable the Census Bureau to better 
understand public perceptions, which will provide guidance for 
communicating with the public and for future planning of data 
collection that reflects a good understanding of public perceptions and 
concerns. Because all federal statistical agencies are also facing 
these issues of declining response rates and increasing costs in a time 
of constrained budgets, the Census Bureau will share

[[Page 81474]]

the results of these surveys with other federal statistical agencies, 
to maximize the utility of this information collection and ultimately, 
the quality and efficiency of federal statistics. Specifically, the 
member agencies of the Interagency Council on Statistical Policy (ICSP) 
have expressed an interest in this effort. A subgroup of ICSP member 
agencies have been particularly helpful in developing this proposal. 
They include the National Agricultural Statistics Service, the National 
Center of Health Statistics, the Economic Research Service, Statistics 
of Income Division (IRS), and the Statistical and Science Policy 
Office, Office of Management and Budget. We refer to this working group 
as the Federal Statistical System (FSS) Team. The ICSP agencies will 
use results from this data collection to inform public communication 
and for future planning of data collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Frequency: One time.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C. Chapter 5.
    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 6616, 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 email ([email protected]).

    Dated: December 22, 2011.
Glenna Mickelson,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011-33268 Filed 12-27-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P