Cognitive Interviewing Plan

The Census Bureau plans to conduct research under the generic clearance for questionnaire pretesting research (OMB number 0607-0725). Cognitive interviews will be conducted to evaluate segments of the 2009 Spanish language version of the American Housing Survey (AHS), sponsored by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. We will also conduct a small number of English-language interviews on the same segments of the English version of the AHS. This study is not designed to formally test the English language version, but English interviews will be used as a baseline to examine whether the respondents are interpreting the terms and questions in a parallel manner across the two languages.

The research will have several aims:

• to evaluate the quality of the Spanish language translation of the American Housing Survey (AHS);

• To ensure consistency between English and Spanish versions of the 2009 AHS questionnaire;

• To make sure the Spanish translation is accurate, culturally appropriate, and conveys the intended meaning of the English language on the AHS questionnaire;

• To identify the Spanish language words, phrases, and concepts respondents don’t understand and determine how the translated Spanish language text can be modified in order to achieve equivalence between the English and Spanish versions of the questionnaires;

• To determine if respondents feel that the translation sounds natural in their language or whether it sounds foreign; and

• To identify possible solutions to address deficiencies, if any, encountered in the Spanish language translation of the AHS questionnaire.

The cognitive interview results will inform possible revisions to the Spanish version of the American Housing Survey.

From May through September, 2008, a contractor will carry out a maximum of 116 interviews and Census Bureau staff will conduct a maximum of 12 interviews in Illinois, North Carolina, Florida and Washington, DC. Segments for testing have been selected from the 2009 American Housing Survey questionnaire and the project will be comprised of two phases. Copies of the English and Spanish questionnaires for Phase 1 are enclosed. The questionnaires for Phase 2 will be submitted when they are finalized. Each phase will contain two rounds of testing on one of the two segments of questions.

Phase 1: The first 32 interviews (24 Spanish and 8 English) will be conducted based on the first group of AHS questions. The contractor and the Census Bureau researcher will propose revisions based on the round one findings and the second round of testing will be conducted using revised versions of the same questions. We will again do 32 interviews (24 Spanish and 8 English) on the revised versions of the Phase 1 questions. Final recommendations will come out of the second round of testing.

Phase 2: The first 32 interviews (24 Spanish and 8 English) will be conducted based on the second segment of AHS questions. The contractor and the Census Bureau researcher will propose revisions based on the round one findings and the second round of testing will be conducted using revised versions of the same questions. We will again do 32 interviews (24 Spanish and 8 English) on the revised versions of the Phase 2 questions. Final recommendations will come out of the second round of testing.

Recruiting for the Spanish-language interviews will focus on monolingual Spanish-speaking respondents and Spanish-speaking respondents with limited English language proficiency. Recruiting for the English-language interviews will focus on monolingual English speakers. Spanish-speaking respondents will be from a variety of national origins and diverse geographical areas. All respondents will be recruited with varying educational levels and by age and gender. Housing characteristics relevant to the questions to be tested will also guide the recruitment process.

The cognitive interviews will be conducted using concurrent and retrospective cognitive interview probes and techniques. All interviews will be tape-recorded with the respondents’ permission, to facilitate summarization of results. Participants will be informed that their response is voluntary and that the information they provide is confidential and will be seen only by employees involved in the research project. Respondents will be paid an honorarium of $40 for each interview.

We estimate the length of each interview session will average between 60 and 90 minutes. Thus, the maximum estimated burden for the 128 interviews is 192 hours.

The contact person for questions regarding data collection and study design is:

George Carter

American Housing Survey Branch

Household and Household Economic Statistics Division

U.S. Census Bureau

4600 Silver Hill Road

Washington, DC 20233

(301) 763-1774

George.R.Carter.lll@census.gov