ASPEP Pretesting Plan

The Census Bureau plans to conduct additional research under the generic clearance for questionnaire pretesting research (OMB number 0607-0725). We will be conducting cognitive interviews for the Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll (ASPEP). The ASPEP survey collects information about the dollar amount of payroll and the frequency of pay for employees across a variety of government entities, including schools, special districts, and towns and municipalities.

The E-6 form collects employment and payroll information from schools with three different types of educational programs: elementary/secondary schools, post-secondary schools, and school systems that have both elementary/secondary and post-secondary education programs. The form targets these three different types of schools and Part 2 of the form -- the section in which respondents report the detailed payroll information -- contains multiple subparts that correspond to each type of school system. Respondents from schools with only one type of educational program have to locate the applicable sections of the form and leave the inapplicable sections blank. Not only does this structure lengthen the form, it also leads to respondents filling out the form incorrectly, increasing both respondent burden and production resources to correct the errors.

In an effort to reduce the length of the form and prevent response errors, a revised format has been developed that splits the E-6 form into three separate forms. The current E-6 form, which contains items that apply to both elementary/secondary and post-secondary educational programs will remain and be sent out to those schools that have both types of educational programs. We will test this form on these types of educational programs. Two new forms that contain only the Part 2 sections of the form relevant to one type of school will be created. For elementary/secondary education schools, Part 2 would contain only section A. We will test this new form on these For post-secondary schools, Part 2 would only contain section B. All other items would remain the same across the three different versions. We will test these new forms on these two types of educational programs.

This submission is to test the current version of the form. We will test the two new forms, which are still being developed, under later submissions. Enclosed is a copy of the current E-6 questionnaire and the protocol.

Enclosed is the current E-6 form, which we will use in our testing with schools that offer both types of education. The other two forms we will be testing are still under development and are unavailable to include with this letter. However, because the new forms will only entail a deletion of a section in Part 2, they will not be significantly different from the current E-6, and therefore, this form can serve as an example of how the new forms will look.

During the week of September 10, 2012, staff from the Response Improvement Research Staff will conduct cognitive interviews with up to 12 respondents from schools that receive the current versions of the E-6 form. The interviews will take place in the metropolitan Philadelphia, PA area. In our recruiting, we will target schools that have one of the three different types of educational programs. Once we have successfully recruited respondents, we will send them an email confirming our meeting. During interviews, we will inform participants that their response is voluntary, that the information they provide is confidential, and that only employees involved in the research project will see or hear any of the information in the interview. We also will audio-record the interviews with the respondents’ permission, to ensure that we are able to report our findings and recommendations accurately. We will not be providing monetary incentives to participants in the study.

Specialists from the ASPEP staff will accompany us on the interviews.

We estimate that it will be necessary to interview only one respondent at each school. We estimate the length of the interview will average 45 minutes. Thus, the maximum estimated burden for this research is 9 hours.

The contact person for questions regarding data collection and statistical aspects of the design of the research is:

Jennifer Beck

Response Improvement Research Staff

U.S. Census Bureau

Washington, D.C. 20233

(301) 763-1736

jennifer.l.beck@census.gov