Memo

Test for Calling Managers of Multi-Unit Structures

As a part of

The Generic Clearance for MAF and TIGER Update Activities

OMB Number 0607-0809

September 2015

The U.S. Census Bureau is submitting this request to OMB for its review and approval to conduct a test of the effectiveness of calling managers of multi-unit structures to obtain information previously obtained in person. This test is to be included with data collection under the Generic Clearance for MAF and TIGER Update Activities that OMB approved on May 15, 2013. The test involves contacting managers over the phone to obtain unit information, which will be used to assess the capability to obtain necessary information to update apartment unit addresses and mobile home park unit addresses in the Master Address File (MAF). The purpose of the test is to validate a cost-efficient method to capture internal unit information for multi-unit residential buildings and mobile home parks.

Background

The purpose of the Test for Calling Managers of Multi-Unit Structures is to assess our ability to use in-office staff to verify and update unit addresses as opposed to sending a census worker to canvass every multi-unit building and mobile home park in the United States. The method being tested has the potential to reduce field costs associated with current address listing procedures where a census worker visits multi-unit structures and mobile home parks in person to verify address information for current surveys and the Decennial Census. The cost savings will result from reduced travel, time and staff costs.

Sample Design

The Test for Calling Managers of Multi-Unit Structures will be conducted by attempting to contact managers of 100 multi-family structures and mobile home parks selected in a random sample from those that were canvassed in the field during the MAF Model Validation Test (MMVT) conducted in 2014. In the test, we will evaluate the effectiveness of contacting managers by phone to locate, update, add, or delete multi-unit and mobile home park unit addresses. The information collected from the phone calls will be compared against the 2014 MMVT test results to determine if similar unit information can be verified and updated via phone.

During the test, we will also collect operational data to help estimate the cost of calling multi-unit managers and compare this estimate against address canvassing costs in the field.

Procedures for Data Collection

Similar to the MMVT Test, we will use the current general procedures of the Demographic Area Address Listing (DAAL) program to conduct phone calls. The DAAL program is a dependent address listing operation that verifies updates, adds or deletes addresses in selected blocks in the MAF for demographic surveys that the Census Bureau conducts. The difference for this test is that contact will be made over the phone as opposed to contact in the field and data will be collected in the office on paper. In-Office staff will attempt to identify a phone number and call each of the managers of sampled building and mobile home parks and ask a similar series of questions used for DAAL during in-person listing.

We will maximize, to the extent possible, experienced staff from Census Headquarters in Suitland Maryland and the National Processing Center (NPC) in Jeffersonville, Indiana to conduct the test. Callers will follow the same general procedures currently used in the DAAL program for contacting managers, with slight modifications for phone versus in-person contact. The callers will also provide the option for managers to fax unit lists as an alternative to collecting paper lists in the field.

Estimate of Burden Hours

FY 2016
Sample Size	100
Avg. Response time (minutes)	5
Total Minutes	500
Total Hours	8.33

Project Schedule

Operation	Start Date	Finish Date
Test of Calling Managers of Multi-Unit Structures	December 1, 2015	February 1, 2015

Contacts for Data Collection

For questions on the design or implementation of the Test for Calling Managers of Multi-Unit Structures in this document, please contact Lee Wentela at 301.763.7270 or lee.r.wentela@census.gov.