F-71 & F-73 Pretesting Plan

The Census Bureau plans to conduct additional research under the generic clearance for questionnaire pretesting research (OMB number 0607-0725). We will conduct usability testing for the electronic versions of two of the three Quarterly Summary of State and Local Government Tax Revenue (Q-Tax) questionnaires. The Quarterly Survey of Property Tax Collections: (F-71) collects information on property taxes while the Quarterly Survey of Selected Non-Property Taxes: (F-73) collects information on sales tax, individual income tax, and corporate net income taxes.

Interviews will focus on respondents’ reactions to the layout and navigation. Draft copies of the available screen shots and protocol are enclosed, along with the paper copies of the questionnaires.

During late July and August 2013 the Response Improvement Research Staff (RIRS) will conduct one round of usability interviews with up to 10 respondents from government entities throughout the United States. These interviews will be conducted by the RIRS staff remotely using the web-based conferencing tool, WebEx. Governments Division (GOVS) staff will provide us with a list of government entities from which we will recruit. We will attempt to obtain interviews with governments that vary in size and complexity. Findings will be used to revise the Q-Tax electronic instrument before it is released in September 2013.

After government entities are recruited, participants will receive follow-up reminders about their appointments and instructions on how to access the WebEx meeting via email. Participants will be informed that their response is voluntary and that the information they provide is confidential and will be seen only by Census Bureau or special sworn employees involved in the research project. We will not be providing monetary incentives to participants in this study.

Subject area specialists from GOVS will join the WebEx meeting during most, if not all, of the interviews. They will assist with respondent debriefing, especially in cases where additional clarification of the subject matter is required. To aid in accurately reporting findings and recommendations, images of the respondents computer screen will be video-recorded with the participants’ permission. These recordings will not include images of the respondent being interviewed.

We estimate that it will be necessary to interview only one respondent at each government entity. We estimate the length of the interviews will average 1 hour. Thus, the estimated burden for this project is 10 hours.

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

Heidi Butler

Response Improvement Research Staff

U.S. Census Bureau

Washington, D.C. 20233

(301) 763-3322

Heidi.Butler@census.gov