Federal Statistical System Public Opinion Monitoring Survey Supplemental Pretesting Plan

The Census Bureau, in collaboration with the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 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 on a supplement set of draft questions for the Federal Statistical System Public Opinion Monitoring Survey (FSS POMS). This survey is being fielded as a joint effort among Federal Statistical Agencies and will attempt to monitor the public’s trust in official statistics and attitudes towards the statistical use of administrative recrods.

In February and March of 2012, staff from the Census Bureau, NCHS and IRS will conduct a maximum of 45 cognitive interviews with respondents in the Washington, DC and Salt Lake City, UT metro areas. In order to test respondents from the general public, both those who are favorable towards and not favorable towards the government, we plan to conduct interviews in neutral locations, for example, non-profit service providers, libraries, and churches. We will recruit a diverse set of respondents, varying on demographics such as age, education, income and race.

The FSS POMS questions will be embedded into an ongoing omnibus survey fielded by the Gallup organization when they are fielded. For purposes of this round of cognitive testing, we will only probe new questions, which are highlighted in the attached protocol; however, we will ask the respondents to take the full FSS POMS production survey in order to maintain order effects. The FSS POMS survey is being fielded in a CATI interview, but for cognitive testing, it will be conducted in person using a paper script. Three different versions of the protocol will be used: each agency will present three administrative data sets in different orders. Census Bureau interviewers will present R1a through R7a first, R1b through R7b second, and R1c through R7c third. IRS interviewers will present R1b through R7b first, R1c through R7c second, and R1a through R7a third. NCHS interviewers will present R1c through R7c first, R1a through R7a second, and R1b through R7b third. Attached are drafts of the protocol to be used for testing.

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 45 hours.

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

Jennifer Hunter Childs

Center for Survey Measurement

U.S. Census Bureau

Room 5K020A

Washington, D.C. 20233

(301) 763-4927

jennifer.hunter.childs@census.gov