[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 160 (Tuesday, August 18, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50804-50805]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-18041]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

[Docket No. 200813-0218]
RIN 0660-XC048


NTIA Internet Use Survey Questionnaire Development

AGENCY: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice, request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: The National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
(NTIA) is seeking comments and recommendations for possible revisions 
to questions asked on the NTIA internet Use Survey. This long-running 
survey of individuals and households covers a range of topics related 
to digital inclusion and other internet policy issues, including the 
adoption of different types of devices and internet access 
technologies, locations of internet use, online activities, and 
challenges preventing some Americans from taking full advantage of the 
internet. This Notice and Request for Public Comments is an opportunity 
for members of the public to provide input as to what question 
additions, revisions, or deletions NTIA should consider in updating the 
survey instrument.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
September 17, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted by email to [email protected]. 
Please reference Docket No. 200813-0218 in the subject line of your 
comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rafi Goldberg, National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Room 4725, Washington, DC 20230; 
Telephone: (202) 482-4375; Email: [email protected]. For media 
inquiries: Stephen Yusko, Office of Public Affairs, National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Room 4897, Washington, DC 20230; 
Telephone: (202) 482-7002; Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Since 1994, NTIA has partnered with the U.S. 
Census Bureau to produce the NTIA internet Use Survey (approved by the 
Office of Management and Budget under control number 0060-0021), an 
important source of data for informing solutions to digital inclusion 
and other internet-related public policy challenges. This long-running 
survey of individuals and households covers a range of topics related 
to digital inclusion and other internet policy issues, including the 
adoption of different types of devices and internet access 
technologies, locations of internet use, online activities, and 
challenges preventing some Americans from taking full advantage of the 
internet. The survey is administered as a periodic supplement to the 
Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey that includes 
approximately 50,000 households across all fifty states and the 
District of Columbia. The CPS is the source of certain national labor 
force statistics, including the unemployment rate. The Census Bureau 
uses a combination of in-person and live telephone interviews to gather 
data on every individual living in each surveyed household, including 
both demographic and labor force information. By contracting with the 
Census Bureau to field the NTIA internet Use Survey as a CPS 
Supplement, NTIA benefits from the CPS's existing infrastructure and 
sophisticated design, as well as the Census Bureau's considerable 
expertise.
    The main goal of the NTIA internet Use Survey is to inform 
evidence-based analysis and development of internet policy generally, 
and particularly to support solutions that increase digital inclusion 
and bridge the digital divide. NTIA staff use the resulting data 
internally and in publications to help inform policymakers; relevant 
NTIA publications can be found at https://www.ntia.gov/data. 
Additionally, much of the value of the NTIA internet Use Survey comes 
from research and analysis performed by members of the public. The 
academic studies and other work produced externally using NTIA internet 
Use Survey datasets, which are publicly released following Census 
Bureau measures to protect respondent confidentiality, contribute 
substantially to the state of knowledge in internet policy and further 
advance discourse among policymakers, researchers, and advocates.
    Over the last 25 years, NTIA has continually sought to update the 
questions asked on the NTIA internet Use Survey as the technologies 
Americans use to communicate, learn, work, and participate in the 
digital economy--and the terms used to describe those technologies--
evolve, and as new policy challenges emerge. NTIA and many external 
data users also value the ability to track changes in internet use and 
related metrics over

[[Page 50805]]

time, necessitating some level of consistency between surveys. Further, 
against the backdrop of these sometimes competing interests, NTIA must 
also be mindful of the burden on respondents and the potential that an 
excessively long or complex survey could lead to reductions on response 
rates. With those constraints in mind, NTIA last redesigned the survey 
instrument in collaboration with our Census Bureau partners prior to 
the 2015 edition of the survey, implemented additional improvements for 
the 2017 survey, and redeployed that same questionnaire for the most 
recent survey in 2019. In an effort to explore further refinements to 
the survey instrument ahead of future data collections, NTIA is 
contracting with the Census Bureau to conduct cognitive testing of 
current and proposed questions beginning late 2020. Prior to 
implementing any substantive changes to the survey questions, Census 
Bureau staff test the draft survey instrument with members of the 
public, and use the results to recommend changes that improve the 
performance of individual questions and the survey instrument overall.
    Before submitting a draft survey instrument for testing, NTIA is 
soliciting feedback from the public as to how it might further improve 
the questions asked in the survey--including, but not limited to, 
anyone who has used the survey data or is interested in doing so. NTIA 
intends to build on previous work by adding, deleting, or modifying 
questions asked in the 2019 NTIA internet Use Survey, preserving where 
possible the ability to track changes over time while also improving 
the efficacy and utility of the survey instrument. Interested parties 
can find the most recent survey instrument at https://www.ntia.gov/files/ntia/blogimages/november_2019_cps_supplement_-_final.pdf, and 
previous versions of the questionnaire can be found in the technical 
documentation accompanying each public use dataset, available from 
https://www.ntia.gov/page/download-digital-nation-datasets.
    NTIA invites all suggestions of possible survey instrument changes 
to submit for cognitive testing. The following questions serve as a 
non-exhaustive guide to some of the survey design issues commenters may 
wish to address:
    1. Should NTIA be aware of any past or future planned uses of data 
from the NTIA internet Use Survey? If so, which survey questions or 
topics were or would be most important to accomplishing this work?
    2. What questions, if any, should NTIA propose adding to the NTIA 
internet Use Survey? New questions could either expand on an existing 
topic, e.g., an additional type of computing device or online activity 
not currently tracked, or address an entirely new topic in computer or 
internet use. Commenters may wish to discuss the desired response 
format (yes or no, multiple choice, etc.), unit of measurement 
(individuals, households, or a subset of either), and other details of 
the data to be collected. Further, parties proposing new questions may 
consider commenting on how NTIA should address any resulting increase 
in respondent burden, including time needed to administer the survey.
    3. Which existing questions, if any, should NTIA consider modifying 
for future editions of the NTIA internet Use Survey? NTIA may modify 
the text of an existing survey question in a range of situations, 
including when recent developments suggest a need for new terminology 
or answer choices, or when a different question structure may reduce 
respondent burden or improve the resulting data. Commenters may suggest 
changes in general terms or by proposing specific question text. If 
desired, parties may also comment on any potential impacts to time-
series comparisons.
    4. Which existing questions, if any, should NTIA consider removing 
from the NTIA internet Use Survey? Reasons NTIA may consider removing a 
question include, but are not limited to, lack of practical utility (or 
lesser utility compared with potential new questions), challenges to 
collecting accurate data through a household survey, or events 
obviating the continued need for a previously important question. 
Please comment on any challenges that may result from question removal, 
including the loss of time-series comparisons.
    5. In addition to questions discussed above, are there any 
questions or general issues related to the NTIA internet Use Survey 
that should be of particular focus during the cognitive testing 
process? The Census Bureau will test the entire draft survey 
instrument, creating an opportunity to assess the performance of all 
questions individually and collectively.
    Instructions for Commenters: Commenters are encouraged to address 
any or all of the questions in this Notice and Request for Public 
Comments. Comments that contain references to studies, research, and 
other empirical data that are not widely published should include 
copies of the referenced materials with the submitted comments. 
Comments submitted by email should be machine-readable and should not 
be copy-protected. Commenters should include the name of the person or 
organization filing the comment, as well as a page number on each page 
of their submissions. All personal identifying information (for 
example, name, address) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be 
publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential business information or 
otherwise sensitive or protected information.

    Dated: August 13, 2020.
Kathy Smith,
Chief Counsel, National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2020-18041 Filed 8-17-20; 8:45 am]
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