[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 65 (Monday, April 6, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18374-18375]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-07862]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Census Bureau


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: American Community Survey (ACS) Methods Panel Envelope 
Mandatory Messaging Test.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0936.
    Form Number(s): ACS-1, ACS-1 (Spanish), ACS CATI, ACS CAPI, ACS 
Internet.
    Type of Request: Emergency review.
    Number of Respondents: 24,000.
    Average Hours Per Response: 40 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 16,000.
    Needs and Uses:
    The American Community Survey collects detailed socioeconomic data 
from about 3.5 million households in the United States and 36,000 in 
Puerto Rico each year. The ACS also collects detailed socioeconomic 
data from about 195,000 residents living in Group Quarter (GQ) 
facilities. An ongoing data collection effort with an annual sample of 
this magnitude requires that the ACS continue research, testing and 
evaluations aimed at improving data quality, achieving survey cost 
efficiencies, and improving ACS questionnaire content and related data 
collection materials. The ACS Methods Panel is a research program that 
is designed to address and respond to issues and survey needs. One of 
those issues relates to respondent concerns about the tone of the 
mandatory message on the ACS mail materials.
    The outside of the envelopes that contain the instructions to 
respond online and the paper ACS questionnaire display the bold 
message, ``YOUR RESPONSE IS REQUIRED BY LAW.'' The prominent references 
to the mandatory participation in the ACS are concerning to many 
respondents. The Census Bureau developed the current presentation of 
the mandatory nature of participation based on previous research that 
identified a significant positive impact of these messages in 
encouraging high self-response rates and reducing the need for follow-
up by phone or personal visits by Census Bureau interviewers. In order 
to be responsive to respondent concern with the prominence of the 
mandatory message on the envelopes, we are conducting the Envelope 
Mandatory Messaging Test.
    This test will measure the impact of removing the phrase ``YOUR 
RESPONSE IS REQUIRED BY LAW'' from the envelopes (Attachment C) used to 
mail the initial package (second mailing) as well as the replacement 
package (fourth mailing). This phrase

[[Page 18375]]

does not appear on other envelopes. We will continue to examine other 
possible revisions to the presentation of the mandatory nature of 
participation in the ACS, and will make future recommendations for 
additional testing.
    We have divided the monthly production sample of 295,000 addresses 
in 24 nationally representative groups of approximately 12,000 
addresses each. For this test, planned for the May 2015 ACS panel, we 
will use two randomly assigned groups for the experimental treatment 
group. The total sample size for the experimental treatment group is 
approximately 24,000 addresses. The remaining cases in the May 2015 
panel will comprise the control and receive all standard ACS mailings 
(envelopes with the mandatory language still included). As we are using 
production cases for the test, the test will run through the complete 
three-month data collection period.
    Our primary evaluation measure for this test is the self-response 
rate. Comparing the self-response rates between the two treatments 
allows us to detect at least a 1.0 percentage point difference with 80% 
power and [alpha]=0.1; this calculation assumes a 50% self-response 
rate. Additional metrics of interest include total response rate, cost 
analysis and the impact on ACS estimates.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households,
    Frequency: One-time test as part of the monthly American Community 
Survey,
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13, United States Code, Sections 141, 193, 
and 221.
    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view Department of Commerce 
collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 16 days of publication of this notice 
to [email protected] or fax to (202) 395-5806.

    Dated: April 1, 2015.
Sarah Brabson,
NOAA PRA Clearance Officer, submitting for Census.
[FR Doc. 2015-07862 Filed 4-3-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P