[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 119 (Thursday, June 24, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33215-33217]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-13429]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Census Bureau


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; American Community Survey (ACS) Methods Panel Tests

    The Department of Commerce will submit the following information 
collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. We invite the 
general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and 
continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of 
our information collection requirements and minimize the public's 
reporting burden. Public comments were previously requested via the 
Federal Register on February 9, 2021 during a 60-day comment period. 
This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau, Commerce.
    Title: American Community Survey Methods Panel Testing.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0936.
    Form Number(s): ACS-1, ACS-1(GQ), ACS-1(PR)SP, ACS CAPI(HU), and 
ACS RI(HU).
    Type of Request: Regular submission, Request for a Revision of a 
Currently Approved Collection.
    Number of Respondents:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Test                   Estimated number of respondents
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Self-Response Mail Messaging and         Test A-60,000.
 Contact Strategies Testing.
                                         Test B-60,000.
                                         Test C-60,000.
                                         Test D-60,000.
                                         Test E-60,000.
                                         Test F-60,000.
Respondent Feedback Pilot..............  100,000.
Use of Administrative Data Test........  100,000.
Group Quarters Testing.................  2,000 administrators.
                                         30,000 residents.
Content Testing........................  Test A-70,000.
                                         Test B-70,000.
Content Testing Followup Interview.....  Test A-40,000.
                                         Test B-40,000.
Internet Instrument Testing............  Test A-60,000.
                                         Test B-60,000.
                                         Test C-60,000.
                                         Test D-60,000.
                                         Test E-60,000.
                                         Test F-60,000.
Respondent Help Testing................  40,000.
Nonresponse Followup Data Collection     100,000.
 Testing.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Average Hours per Response:

[[Page 33216]]



------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         Estimated time per response (in
                  Test                               minutes)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Self-Response Mail Messaging and         40.
 Contact Strategies Testing.
Respondent Feedback Pilot..............  42 (40 minutes for the
                                          production ACS interview and 2
                                          minutes for the optional
                                          followup questions).
Use of Administrative Data Test........  40.
Group Quarters Testing.................  15 for the administrator
                                          interview 25 for the resident
                                          interview.
Content Testing........................  40.
Content Testing Followup Interview.....  40.
Internet Instrument Testing............  40.
Respondent Help Testing................  10.
Nonresponse Followup Data Collection     40.
 Testing.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Burden Hours:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      Estimated time
                  Test                        Estimated number of      per response       Total burden hours
                                                  respondents          (in minutes)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Self-Response Mail Messaging and Contact  Test A-60,000.............              40  Test A-40,000.
 Strategies Testing.
                                          Test B-60,000.............  ..............  Test B-40,000.
                                          Test C-60,000.............  ..............  Test C-40,000.
                                          Test D-60,000.............  ..............  Test D-40,000.
                                          Test E-60,000.............  ..............  Test E-40,000.
                                          Test F-60,000.............  ..............  Test F-40,000.
Respondent Feedback Pilot...............  100,000...................              42  70,000.
Use of Administrative Data Test.........  100,000...................              40  66,667.
Group Quarters Testing..................  2,000 facility                          15  13,000.
                                           administrators.
                                          30,000 residents..........              25  ..........................
Content Testing.........................  Test A-70,000.............              40  Test A-46,667.
                                          Test B-70,000.............  ..............  Test B-46,667.
Content Testing Followup Interview......  Test A-40,000.............              40  Test A-26,667.
                                          Test B-40,000.............  ..............  Test B -26,667.
Internet Instrument Testing.............  Test A-60,000.............              40  Test A-40,000.
                                          Test B-60,000.............  ..............  Test B-40,000.
                                          Test C-60,000.............  ..............  Test C-40,000.
                                          Test D-60,000.............  ..............  Test D-40,000.
                                          Test E-60,000.............  ..............  Test E-40,000.
                                          Test F-60,000.............  ..............  Test F-40,000.
Respondent Help Testing.................  40,000....................              10  6,667.
Nonresponse Followup Data Collection      100,000...................              40  66,667.
 Testing.
    Total (over 3 years) *..............  1,312,000.................  ..............  849,667.
    Average per year....................  437,333...................  ..............  283,222.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Note: This is the maximum burden requested for these tests. Every effort is taken to use existing production
  sample for testing when the tests do not involve content changes.

    Needs and Uses: The U.S. Census Bureau requests authorization from 
OMB for the American Community Survey (ACS) Methods Panel Tests.
    The ACS is an ongoing monthly survey that collects detailed housing 
and socioeconomic data from about 3.5 million addresses in the United 
States and about 36,000 addresses in Puerto Rico each year. The ACS 
also collects detailed socioeconomic data from about 195,000 residents 
living in group quarters (GQ) facilities in the United States and 
Puerto Rico. Resulting tabulations from this data collection are 
provided on a yearly basis. The ACS allows the Census Bureau to provide 
timely and relevant housing and socioeconomic statistics, even for low 
levels of geography.
    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, reducing data collection 
costs, and improving the ACS questionnaire content and related data 
collection materials. The ACS Methods Panel is a research program 
designed to address and respond to survey issues and needs. As part of 
the Decennial Census Program, the ACS also provides an opportunity to 
research and test elements of survey data collection that relate to the 
decennial census. As such, the ACS Methods Panel can serve as a testbed 
for the decennial census. From 2021 to 2024, the ACS Methods Panel may 
test ACS and decennial census methods for reducing survey cost, 
addressing respondent burden, and improving survey response, data 
quality, and survey efficiencies. Testing may also include revising 
content or testing new questions. The ACS Methods Panel may also 
address other emerging needs of the programs. Currently, plans are in 
place to propose several tests:
    Self-Response Mail Messaging and Contact StrategiesTesting are 
focused on studying methods to increase self-response. The proposed 
tests would evaluate changes to the mailings, such as using plain 
language to improve communication, changing the look and feel of the 
materials, updating messages to motivate response, and adding or 
removing materials included in the mailings. Changes to the contact 
method, the number of contacts, and the timing of the contacts may also 
be tested. The Strategic Framework Field Test will be conducted in the 
fall of 2021 to test new mail materials that were developed building on 
research

[[Page 33217]]

into best practices in messages. The test will identify which set of 
new mail materials is most successful at increasing self-response.
    The Respondent Feedback Pilot is designed to collect respondent 
feedback at the time of the interview, with the pilot focusing on 
internet respondents. Respondents will not be required to answer the 
feedback question.
    The Use of Administrative Data to reduce burden of existing 
questions by allowing for modification of the questions will be tested. 
A field test is proposed for questions that may need to remain on the 
questionnaire but be modified in conjunction with the use of 
administrative records.
    Group Quarters Testing will focus on evaluating an internet version 
of the ACS available to non-institutional group quarters residents, 
especially in college dorms, military barracks, and group homes.
    Content Testing is conducted by the Census Bureau periodically to 
improve data quality. The current proposal includes changes to the 
following questions: Household roster, educational attainment, health 
insurance, disability, means of transportation to work, income, weeks 
worked, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), condominium 
fees, and home heating fuel. Additionally, three new questions on solar 
panels, electric vehicles, and sewage disposal were proposed. The 
objective of content testing is to determine the impact of changing 
question wording and response categories, as well as redefining 
underlying constructs, on the quality of the data collected.
    Internet Instrument Testing is proposed to test and evaluate 
revised features of the internet instrument.
    Respondent Help Testing will focus on methods to answer respondent 
questions about the survey and improve operational efficiency, 
specifically testing updates to the Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) 
system as well as exploring the use of other methods such as online 
chat.
    Nonresponse Followup Data Collection Testing is proposed to 
evaluate the use of adaptive survey design techniques for the ACS 
Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) Nonresponse Followup 
operation.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Frequency: Multiple one-time tests over a 3-year period.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C. Sections 141, 193, and 221.
    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view the Department of 
Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of 
this notice on the following website www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 
Find this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently 
under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search 
function and entering either the title of the collection or the OMB 
Control Number 0607-0936.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2021-13429 Filed 6-23-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P