Memo

The Census Bureau plans to conduct research under the generic clearance for questionnaire pretesting research (OMB number 0607-0725). We will be conducting cognitive interviews in Spanish using the NYCHVS questionnaire, which was recently translated into Spanish. The research is sponsored by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and the ultimate goal is to cognitively test this newly developed Spanish translation in preparation for fielding it in 2017. We need OMB approval by June 24, 2016.

The cognitive interviews will test the interviewer-administered Spanish questionnaire, and will be carried out by CSM staff and contractors under contract in July of 2016. There will be 20 respondents interviewed in New York City.

This research is being done to meet the Census Bureau’s pretesting requirements to ensure that the Spanish-language translation of the questionnaire is cognitively tested prior to going into the field. The goal of this cognitive testing study is to uncover any translations that are incorrect, difficult for respondents to understand, or culturally inappropriate.

Methodology: Cognitive interviews will be conducted using think aloud, concurrent and retrospective probing. Concurrent probes will be administered after groups of related questions have been administered to respondents. Cognitive interviewers will administer the Spanish survey to respondents, followed by discussion of key terms, questions and concepts as part of a debriefing. The draft protocols are attached (Enclosures 2, 3, and 4 for owner-occupied, renter-occupied, and vacant units).

Screening: A draft screener is attached (Enclosure 5). Respondents will be recruited from a variety of national origins, educational backgrounds, number of years living in the US, income levels, and household compositions. In addition, respondents will be screened based on whether they live in an owner-occupied or renter-occupied unit. Some respondents will be selected to respond as a proxy to questions about vacant units. This will ensure that all skip patterns in the questionnaire are cognitively tested.

Testing will take place at locations convenient for participants in New York City. We expect to screen around 80-100 respondents to arrive at 20 completed cases. Screening takes approximately 6 minutes per case. Thus, the maximum burden for the 20 cases is 40 hours total, 30 hours for interviewing (1.5 hours per completed interview) and 10 hours (6 minutes X 100) for recruiting.

Respondents will be offered incentives of $60 to offset the cost of their participation in the 90-minute interview, such as transportation costs or childcare costs. Participants will be recruited using a combination of word-of-mouth, flyers, online and paper advertisements.

Below is a list of materials to be used in the current study.

1. NYCHVS questionnaire (Enclosure 1)

2. Draft owner-occupied protocol (Enclosure 2)

3. Draft renter-occupied protocol (Enclosure 3)

4. Draft vacant unit protocol (Enclosure 4)

5. Recruitment screener (Enclose 5)

6. Payment voucher (Enclosure 6)

7. Consent form (Enclosure 7)

8. Flash cards (Enclosure 8)

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

Mikelyn Meyers

Center for Survey Methods Research

U.S. Census Bureau

Washington, D.C. 20233

(301) 763-9008

mikelyn.v.meyers@census.gov

CC: P. Goerman (CSM), G. Morales (CSM), R. Callis (SEHSD)