[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 7, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13532-13533]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-5507]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Census Bureau


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; 2012 National 
Census Test

AGENCY: U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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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: To ensure consideration, written comments must be submitted on 
or before May 7, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Jennifer Jessup, Departmental 
Paperwork Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 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 Jason Machowski, Bureau of the Census, HQ-3H468F, 
Washington, DC 20233; (301) 763-4173 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    The Census Bureau must conduct a series of research projects and 
tests throughout this decade to fulfill its commitment to provide the 
public with an option to complete their 2020 Decennial Census 
questionnaire on the Internet. One of the first tests to support this 
planning effort is the 2012 National Census Test. It has two primary 
objectives.
    The main objective is to test new, dynamic approaches for 
collecting the number of people in a household, which are not feasible 
on a paper questionnaire. The standard paper questionnaire used in the 
census typically begins with a set of instructions or residence rules 
to guide the respondent on whom to include as members of the household 
as of a set reference date. Furthermore, the questionnaire later poses 
questions to the respondent that ask about people who the respondent 
may have missed (undercounted) or included by mistake (overcounted). An 
Internet data collection mode, on the other hand, allows the Census 
Bureau to guide the respondent through the residence rules using a 
series of questions and conditional probes, to better understand who 
was living in the household on the reference day.
    For the 2012 National Census Test, the Census Bureau aims to 
optimize the presentation of its residence rules on an Internet data 
collection instrument and to identify validated methods for determining 
the appropriate number of people in a household in accordance with its 
residence rules. To fully assess the validity of the new approaches, a 
real-time, targeted, probing, coverage reinterview will be conducted by 
telephone with a sample of households that respond by Internet. The 
purpose of this reinterview is to evaluate the accuracy of within-
household coverage by comparing the final household population roster 
collected via each Internet coverage approach to the final roster 
collected via telephone. The goal is to obtain a ``truth'' measure for 
who was living in the household on the reference day. This is the main 
goal of the test and other objectives will be secondary. These 
secondary objectives will not drive the sample size of the 2012 
National Census Test.
    A secondary objective of the 2012 National Census Test is to obtain 
response rate indicators. The Census Bureau will study the relative 
response rates associated with various contact strategies under a Push 
Internet methodology. Under a Push Internet methodology, households do 
not receive a questionnaire in the initial mailing. Questionnaires will 
be sent to households who have failed to respond on the Internet by a 
pre-determined date. Planned contact strategies build off previous 
Census and American Community Survey research and include alternate 
reminder and/or replacement questionnaire approaches as well as varying 
the timing of the replacement questionnaire. The key analytical 
measures expected from this data collection include response rates, 
return rates, percent of Internet returns, and speed of returns. More 
discussion on contact strategies under consideration appears in the 
following section, Method of Collection.
    Without impact to sample size, the 2012 National Census Test offers 
the opportunity to gain knowledge about how to optimize the 
presentation of the race and Hispanic origin questions, as well as age 
and date of birth for the Internet mode.
    Based on preliminary results from the 2010 Alternative 
Questionnaire Experiment, the combined race and Hispanic origin 
question approach appears to be a promising strategy for collecting 
these data items. The Census Bureau plans to further this research by 
implementing two versions of a combined race and Hispanic origin 
question as part of the 2012 National Census Test. In addition, this 
data collection will incorporate the use of predictive text (that is, 
the open-ended text boxes in the race and Hispanic origin questions 
will produce a dynamic drop-down list of suggested options based on the 
initial text string entered in the box). The use of predictive text 
will automate and streamline the race and Hispanic origin coding 
process. This component allows for near-real-time data processing by 
increasing the speed of automated coding, thus reducing and/or 
eliminating back-end processing.
    Results from recent Census Bureau Internet studies suggest that 
vast improvements can be made in the presentation of age and date of 
birth questions in the self-response Internet mode. The Census Bureau 
plans to test one or two new approaches for optimizing age and date of 
birth presentation on the Internet. Plans include reducing the lengthy 
edits associated with the questions and/or using drop down menus for 
month, day, and year.
    The results from the 2012 National Census Test will inform internal 
planning decisions that will guide the design of additional 2020 
Decennial Census Internet testing later this decade. The results from 
this test will inform planning for both the next decennial census as 
well as the American Community Survey.

II. Method of Collection

    The Census Bureau will conduct the 2012 National Census Test with a 
national sample of 80,000 households. The Census Bureau estimates a 45% 
response rate overall and a 25% Internet response rate. About one-half 
of Internet respondents will fall into the reinterview sample.
    All contact strategy approaches tested in this data collection will 
be implemented using a Push Internet methodology. That is, households 
will receive a paper questionnaire only if they fail to respond by a 
predetermined date. To optimize the implementation of a Push Internet 
methodology, the Census Bureau will test alternatives to the standard 
full implementation contact strategy typically used in the decennial 
census (advance letter, initial mailing, reminder postcard, replacement 
mailing). Census Bureau

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analysts will study response rates across these varying strategies with 
the goal of identifying the best options for use with a Push Internet 
methodology, which will undergo additional validation in future mid-
decade census tests. Census Bureau planners have not yet finalized the 
contact strategy approaches for this test. The proposed plan, however, 
is to contact sampled households using one of six contact strategies. 
In addition to a control panel that uses the standard full 
implementation contact strategy, the experimental treatments currently 
under consideration are, in brief:
     Eliminating the advance letter mailing
     Adding another reminder before mailing a paper 
questionnaire
     Mailing the questionnaire on an accelerated schedule
     A reminder to be sent after the questionnaire mailing
     Modified wording for all mailing pieces
    The Census Bureau plans to conduct the 2012 National Census Test 
data collection in late summer or early fall 2012. The specific data 
collection start and end dates along with the duration of the data 
collection period are still under consideration. The Census Bureau, 
however, expects that the duration of the data collection period will 
be between one and two months. This includes both the collection of 
self-response interviews via the Internet and paper questionnaires 
(returned by mail) and the real-time telephone reinterview following 
the Internet data collection.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: None.
    Form Number: TBD.
    Type of Review: Regular submission.
    Affected Public: Individuals or Households.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 92,000 (80,000 initial response + 
12,000 reinterview).
    Estimated Time per Response: 10 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 15,334.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: There is no cost to the respondent 
other than his or her time.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C. 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: March 2, 2012.
Glenna Mickelson,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2012-5507 Filed 3-6-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P