The Census Bureau plans to conduct additional research under the generic clearance for questionnaire pretesting research (OMB number 0607-0725). The objective of this research is to conduct cognitive testing of experimental questions to be field tested in a sample of cases parallel to the Coverage Followup (CFU) operation during the 2010 Census. These experimental questions are a part of the Census Program Evaluations and Experiments (CPEX). The experimental questions will gather data on a sample of households where a potential duplicate was identified in the 2010 census data using computer matching.
In order to test respondents who fit these very particular criteria, we will use several methods of recruiting. Our goal is to recruit respondents who could feasibly be duplicated in the census. These groups include college students, people in the military, children in joint custody, people who have recently moved, and people who have a vacation or seasonal home. One method of recruiting will be through word of mouth - if people working on this project know non-government employees in these types of situations, we will ask them if they are willing to participate in the interview. We also plan to place a series of ads in Facebook to recruit for these types of people. Responders will be asked to call in for a screening interview to see if they are eligible. Eligibility is based on having an alternate address where a person could have been counted this year (had this been the year of the census).
Respondents in the cognitive interview will be provided with one of several possible series of questions based on the particular situation identified (e.g., if the whole household was duplicated, if only a partial household was duplicated, if the duplicates are children, young adults or older adults, and whether or not the telephone numbers match at the two identified addresses). All of the possible question series are attached, along with titles of each series that indicate who will receive each of the sets of questions. Both the introduction questions and the “middle” series of questions will differ depending on the criteria for selection. Notice that there are sections for housing-unit-to-housing-unit duplicates as well as housing-unit-to-group-quarters-unit duplicates. Only questions appropriate for the household will be printed on the form.
In September and October, staff from the Center for Survey Methods Research (CSMR) will conduct a maximum of 30 interviews, with a goal of at least 5 college student households, 5 joint custody households, 5 mover households, 5 military households and 5 seasonal households. These test interviews will be conducted in person either at the Census Bureau or at a location more convenient to the respondent, such as a private room in a library, church, or community center.
During the interview, the respondent will be administered the questions applicable to his or her particular household situation, followed by a semi-scripted retrospective debriefing which will include vignettes or hypothetical situations surrounding the housing-unit-to-group-quarters match situations (because we are unsure that we will be able to identify matches of this kind for cognitive testing). The draft protocol is attached - please note that the individual probes may be tailored to the respondent’s particular household situation and we will alternate the particular group quarters questions that appear at the end so that some respondents are exposed to each set of questions.
The production interview will be a telephone interview. However, the test will use a paper-and-pencil mockup of these questions and will be tested in person.
Cognitive interviews will be tape-recorded, with the participants' permission, to facilitate summary of the results. All participants will be informed that their response is voluntary and that the information they provide is confidential. Respondents will receive $40 for their participation.
The estimated time for completion of each of the cognitive interviews is an hour. Thus, the estimated burden for this research is 30 hours.
The contact person for questions regarding data collection and study design is:
Jennifer Hunter Childs
Center for Survey Methods Research
U.S. Census Bureau
Room 5K112F
Washington, D.C. 20233
(301) 763-4927
jennifer.hunter.childs@census.gov
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| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 0000-00-00 |