[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 97 (Tuesday, May 19, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29924-29925]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-10655]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Census Bureau


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Survey of 
Income and Program Participation (SIPP)

AGENCY: U.S. Census Bureau, 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 a 
proposed revision of the Survey of Income and Program Participation 
(SIPP), as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: To ensure consideration, written comments must be submitted on 
or before July 20, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Hyon B. Shin, U.S. Census 
Bureau, SEHSD, 4600 Silver Hill Road, Office 7H596, Washington, DC 
20233-8500 (or via the internet at [email protected]). You may also 
submit comments, identified by Docket Number USBC-2020-0010, to the 
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. All comments 
received are part of the public record. No comments will be posted to 
http://www.regulations.gov for public viewing until after the comment 
period has closed. Comments will generally be posted without change. 
All Personally Identifiable Information (for example, name and address) 
voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do 
not submit Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or 
protected information. You may submit attachments to electronic 
comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF file formats.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument(s) and instructions 
should be directed to Hyon B. Shin, U.S. Census Bureau, SEHSD, 4600 
Silver Hill Road, Office 7H596, Washington, DC 20233-8500 (or via the 
internet at [email protected]).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The Census Bureau plans to request clearance from the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for the collection of data concerning the 
Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). The SIPP is a 
household-based survey designed as a continuous series of national 
panels.
    The SIPP represents the primary source of information about annual 
and sub-annual dynamics of income, family and household content, 
movement into and out of government programs, and interactions of these 
topics in a single, unified dataset allowing for in-depth, informed 
analyses. Government domestic policy formulators and evaluators depend 
heavily upon the information collected in the SIPP in their analyses of 
the distribution of income received either directly as money or 
indirectly as in-kind benefits and the effect of tax and transfer 
programs on that distribution. They also rely on the SIPP data to 
provide improved and expanded information on the dynamics of income and 
the general economic and financial situation of the U.S. population, in 
the context of the household situation, which the SIPP has provided on 
a continuing basis since 1983. The SIPP has measured levels of economic 
well-being and permitted measurement of sub-annual and annual changes 
in these levels over time.
    The SIPP is a household-based survey designed as a continuous 
series of national panels. Each panel features a nationally 
representative sample of addresses whose household members are 
interviewed over a multi-year period lasting approximately four years. 
Starting with the 2019 survey year, the Census Bureau introduced a 
sample design scenario of overlapping panels where new representative 
addresses are sampled and added to the workload each year. This means 
that there will be a new household sample introduced each year whose 
occupants will be re-interviewed over the subsequent three years, 
creating the overlapping sample design.
    The 2021 SIPP Panel Wave 1 cases will be interviewed about the 
previous calendar year, 2020, as the reference period, and will proceed 
with annual interviewing going forward. Calendar year 2021 SIPP will 
also have returning Wave 4 cases from sample year 2018 and Wave 2 cases 
from sample year 2020, each being interviewed about their experience 
during calendar year 2020. There will be no Wave 3 cases from sample 
year 2019 due to collection issues stemming from the lapse in 
Department of Commerce funding in early 2019. Those issues resulted in 
too few 2019 sample cases being collected in 2019, and those households 
were then dropped and not included in 2020 data collection activities.
    The overlapping panel model will provide approximately 33,600 
interviewed housing units every year to

[[Page 29925]]

give the best design for both cross-sectional and longitudinal 
estimates. We will continue to provide monthly and longitudinal weights 
where monthly weights will incorporate all the panels in the field at 
that time and longitudinal weights will depend on individual panels. We 
estimate that each household contains 2.1 people age 15 and above, 
yielding approximately 70,560 person-level interviews per calendar 
year. Completing the SIPP interview will take approximately 60 minutes 
per adult on average, consequently the total annual burden for 2021 
SIPP interviews will be 70,560 hours.
    The 2021 SIPP will continue to use the same interviewing method as 
previous SIPP Panels, in which adults (age 15 years and older) who move 
from the prior wave household will be followed. Consequently, future 
waves will incorporate data collected from the prior wave interview 
brought forward to the current interview as a way to reduce respondent 
burden and improve data quality.
    The Census Bureau also plans to continue to use Computer Audio-
Recorded Interview (CARI) technology as part of the SIPP interviewing 
process. CARI is a tool used during data collection to capture audio 
along with response data. After an introduction that notifies 
respondents that the interview may be recorded for quality assurance, a 
portion of each interview is recorded unobtrusively and both the sound 
file and screen images are returned with the response data to Census 
Headquarters for evaluation. Census staff may review the recorded 
portions of the interview to improve questionnaire design and for 
quality assurance purposes.
    The SIPP questionnaire uses an Event History Calendar (EHC) that 
facilitates the collection of dates of events and spells of coverage. 
The EHC is a tool to assist the respondent's ability to recall events 
accurately to the beginning of the reference period and provide 
increased data quality and inter-topic consistency for dates reported 
by respondents. The EHC is intended to help respondents recall 
information in a more natural ``autobiographical'' manner by using 
events from one topic as triggers to recall additional details and the 
timing in other topics.

II. Method of Collection

    The SIPP uses Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) method 
of data collection. The household interview collects one interview per 
person per year. Each interview will reference a period that begins 
with the beginning of the reference period and extends to the interview 
month of the current year. A field representative will conduct the 
interview in person with all household members 15 years old or over, 
using regular proxy-respondent rules. Children under 15 years old have 
information collected by proxy interviews with the household 
respondent. In the instances where the residence is not accessible or 
the respondent makes a request, the field representative will conduct 
the interview by telephone.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0607-1000.
    Form Number: SIPP/CAPI Automated Instrument.
    Type of Review: Regular submission.
    Affected Public: Individuals or Households.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 70,560.
    Estimated Time per Response: 63 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 74,088.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0. There are no costs to 
the respondents other than their time.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13, United States Code, Sections 141 and 
182.

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.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2020-10655 Filed 5-18-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3511-07-P