[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]
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