Census Digital Function Testing Plan

Census Digital Function Testing Research

OMB Control Number: 0607-0950

ICR Reference Number: 200809-0607-005

Background

The Census Bureau has asked DraftFCB to oversee and conduct website research under the generic clearance. As part of the strategic development process, DraftFCB is interested in understanding the wants, needs and expectations of key groups, related to the 2010 Census online strategy. Key questions to be addressed include:

The specific marketing campaign goals are:

• Increase mail response

• Improve overall accuracy and reduce the differential undercount

• Improve cooperation with enumerators

The specific research objectives are:

• Identify what digital specific opportunities exist to engage users across a variety of digital content.

• Determine which types of digital content are perceived as most compelling.

• Determine which types of digital content offerings are more likely to impact behavior.

• Understand how users respond to early examples (wireframes, screenshots, etc.) of a variety of digital content concepts.

• Understand how the preceding issues vary by the constituent group.

Methodology

Given these objectives, it is clear that an exploratory qualitative approach would be most appropriate. In this instance, mini-groups consisting of three or four participants would be conducted. These types of sessions allow for a full understanding of each participant’s individual attitudes, expectations and reactions, in addition to providing an environment that encourages creative thinking and idea generation.

Target Audience

A total of 15 sessions would be divided among five key Personas that have been identified by DraftFCB:

• Leading Edge

  • Largest group in the population

  • All-around average: middle class, middle income

  • Slightly less tech-savvy

  • Slight female skew

  • Aged 30 – 49

  • Familiar with the census

  • Generally positive towards the Census

• Cynical

  • Second largest group in the population

  • Upper-middle income

  • Relatively successful career

  • Married with family

  • Slightly more tech-savvy

  • Slight male skew

  • Aged 30 – 44

  • Familiar with the Census

  • Personally skeptical of the Census and government

• Culturally Insulated

  • Non-Caucasian skew

  • Middle income

  • More likely to speak a language in addition to / instead of English

  • Less tech-savvy

  • Aged 50-65

  • Familiar with the census

  • Cultural / community skepticism towards the census

• Older Unacquainted

  • Non-Caucasian skew

  • More likely to be an immigrant

  • Less tech-savvy

  • Lower education

  • Lower income

  • Aged 45-59

  • Not familiar with the Census

• Younger Unacquainted

  • Likely to be unmarried

  • Lower-middle income

  • Less likely to be a homeowner

  • Social

  • Enjoy humor

  • Very tech-savvy

  • Aged 18 – 25

  • Not familiar with the Census

Research and Sample Details

As previously mentioned, a total of 15 sessions would be conducted, as follows

Persona	Number of Groups
Leading Edge	3
Cynical	3
Culturally Insulated	3
Older Unacquainted	3
Younger Unacquainted	3
TOTAL	15

Individual questions and quotas would be set to define each of these Personas based on the highlights listed within the Research Overview (i.e., age, income, education, culture / ethnicity, family status, key attitudes, etc.). In addition to these, the following screening criteria are anticipated for all participants:

• Personal use of the Internet (degree of sophistication would vary by segment)

• Not employed in a “sensitive” industry

• Have not participated in any market research project within the past six months

Participants for the research will be located using local recruiters’ databases. Because these databases are largely developed by referral and personal contact, they usually provide access to people who might otherwise be hard to reach.

Each group should include three to four participants. Assuming each group includes the maximum of four participants, with 15 sessions we’d have a total of 60 participants. For the purposes of ‘back-up’ an additional 15 participants will be recruited (one per group) but these back-up recruits would never actually participate in the group unless one of the original 60 dropped out. 60 participants would be the maximum number of participants tested in any scenario.

We plan to pay participants $75. These payments are similar to those approved by OMB for focus groups research in a request dated July, 2008.

Timing and Locations

The 15 groups would be completed in four days, as follows:

• February 11 (Market 1) – three groups (one moderator)

• February 12 (Market 1) – six groups (two moderators)

• February 23 (Market 2) – three groups (one moderator)

• February 24 (Market 2) – three groups (one moderator)

As noted above, these sessions would be divided across two distinct locations. The selection of these locations is key because they must provide access to each of the five Personas and a culturally, socio-economically diverse audience. We would recommend one big market (such as New York City or Los Angeles) plus one smaller market (such as Albuquerque, Birmingham, Little Rock, etc.).

Screening Burden

We expect to screen approximately 2,625 potential participants in order to get 75 qualified participants.

The total amount of screening burden hours, based upon all contacts made whether qualified and unqualified, is estimated at 220 based on 5 minutes of screening time.

Survey Burden

For the main survey portion of this research, the estimated burden hours for participants who qualify (60 people) would be 90 based on 1.5 hours of research time.

Recruitment costs for qualified respondents would be $4,500, based upon payment of approximately $75 per participant.

Total Burden

The total burden hours for all participants regardless of qualification: 310

The total burden cost: From $4,500

All participants will be informed that their participation is voluntary, and that their thoughts and opinions will not be revealed in an identifiable manner to anyone outside of the research organization conducting the research and Census Bureau staff involved in the project.

The contact person for questions regarding the design of this research as follows:

Tasha Boone

4600 Silver Hill Road, Room 8H479

Suitland, MD 20746

301-763-3977

tasha.r.boone@census.gov

4