Notice2021-13429
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
Primary source
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Published
June 24, 2021
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentCensus Bureau
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 119 (Thursday, June 24, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 119 (Thursday, June 24, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33215-33217]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[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.
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* 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
<a href="http://www.reginfo.gov">www.reginfo.gov</a>. 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 <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>.
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
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