Description of Changes to AGQ Evaluation

Census 2010 Alternative Group Quarters (GQ) Evaluation

Individual Request for Clearance

July 15, 2009

The Census Bureau plans to conduct the Census 2010 Alternative Group Quarters (GQ) Evaluation under the 2010 Census Program for Evaluations and Experiments (CPEX) generic clearance (OMB approval number 0607-0952). The purpose of this research is to test if it is possible to collect enough information on the Individual Census Report (ICR), the data collection instrument used in GQ enumeration, to determine true residence status and avoid doing an additional followup. By collecting an alternative address for all GQ respondents, this evaluation will assess coverage and examine additional ways of correcting duplicates in the Census without a costly followup operation.

The GQ Individual Census Report (ICR) experimental form will be collecting an additional address for all respondents regardless if they live or stay in the group quarters. The address on the regular (non-experimental) ICR is asked only of respondents in GQs that, according to Census’ residence rules, are allowed to claim a “usual home elsewhere”. Research has shown that there is some amount of duplication between persons in GQs not allowed to claim a “usual home elsewhere” and persons in housing units.

This test is part of a larger evaluation of the 2010 Census Group Quarters operations. The sample design for this test samples entire Local Census Offices (LCOs), with three LCOs being chosen to receive the alternative form (D-20X1). Initially, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated a combined sample size of 60,000 for the three LCOs. The week of May 10^th, 2009, the Census Bureau chose the actual LCOs to be used in the test. The LCOs were chosen in conjunction with Field, based on demographics and 2010 geography. The selection of these LCOs resulted in a higher sample size than was previously estimated. The sample size is now estimated to be 125,000. As a result, a modification to the existing print contract is necessary to increase the print quantities from 150,000 to 300,000. This increase will result in an additional $25,000 cost, but will be absorbed into the existing print budget. Data capture will also be increased, with the number of forms captured increasing from 60,000 to 125,000. This increase in data capture has no cost impact due to the relatively small increase compared to the rest of the data capture workload. Since the remaining details of the 2010 Alternative GQ Evaluation were provided in the CPEX generic clearance, they are not repeated here.

Estimate of Burden Hours

Most respondent burden (10,417 hours) is already accounted for in the 2010 Census. The additional burden hours for this evaluation are described below.

Experiment/Evaluation	Total # of Respondents	Estimated Response Time	Estimated Burden Hours
GQ	125,000	5 min., 30 sec.	1042 (10,417 already accounted for)

Since the approval of the CPEX generic clearance and initial individual clearance for this evaluation, the number of respondents has increased by 65,000. The estimated burden has also increased by 542 hours.

The burden hours were calculated based on the following information. All residents living within group quarters (GQs) are required to fill out a questionnaire. For most, there is no increase in burden hours beyond the amount already accounted for in the 2010 Census. Residents who were previously unable to claim a “usual home elsewhere,” are now directed on the GQ ICR experimental form to fill out the address fields, increasing burden by 30 seconds.

Project Schedule

Data collection will take place between April 1, 2010 and May 14, 2010.

The report is currently scheduled for completion on September 6, 2012.

Costs To Federal Government

The preliminary estimated cost to the Federal Government for the GQ Evaluation is $800,000. The Census Bureau is the only agency bearing this cost.

Contact(s) for Statistical Aspects and Data Collection

For questions on statistical methods or the data collection described above, please contact Jason Machowski of the Decennial Management Division at the Census Bureau (Phone: 301-763-4173 or email jason.d.machowski@census.gov.

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