Memo

Supplemental Civic Engagement and Volunteerism Survey (CEV) Cognitive Interviews

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 research on the Supplemental Civic Engagement and Volunteerism Survey (CEV), part of the Current Population Survey (CPS), and sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service. The purpose of this cognitive research is to (1) evaluate the effectiveness of combining two previously separate supplements, for each Civic Engagement and Volunteerism, into a single supplement, (2) design such a combined supplement that removes redundancies and addresses specific indicators and sub-indicators of civic health, and (3) assess the possibility that these questions could be answered accurately by proxy respondents. The CEV instrument has been completely revised for the 2017 data collection; therefore, all questions need to be cognitively tested. The survey questions are asked of each household member that is 18 years or older. Below is an overview of the survey content.

• Civic Engagement Questions (Q1 to Q6, Q8 to Q14): These questions assess the frequency, type, and content of eligible household members’ communication with their friends, family, and neighbors, whether they and these individuals help one another; and whether they interact with people from other cultural backgrounds. These questions also ask whether the eligible household member shares their opinions on social media, follows news, participates in local elections, attends public meetings, and contacts public officials, and whether or not they buy or boycott products based on the social or political values of the company.

• Volunteerism Questions (Q7, Q15 to Q18): These questions assess whether eligible household members help to solve problems around the neighborhood, are members of groups, organizations, or associations, and if so, the number of such groups, and whether participation tends to be mainly in person or online. The questions in this section also explore whether they have volunteered over the past year, the frequency of and hours spent volunteering, and whether they have donated to a political or charitable organization.

The full questionnaire is attached and includes core questions from the CPS used to roster the household members in order to determine household member eligibility for the CEV instrument. The roster will be conducted according to standard CPS interviewing protocols including the use of flashcards to present responses for some questions (see Attachment I: CEV Questionnaire Attachment II: CPS Roster Questionnaire).

Because the CEV instrument has been re-organized, and most of the questions are either new or revised, we plan to cognitively test all items in the instrument using specific probes designed as part of the cognitive test (see Attachment III: CEV Protocol). The cognitive testing will also evaluate the feasibility of eligible household members (either related or unrelated) to accurately provide a proxy response for all items in the survey questionnaire. We will do this by recruiting two household members from the same household (we call these paired respondents) and independently interviewing them. By comparing the answers between each interview, we can assess the level of inconsistent answers the sponsor may expect when allowing proxy responses within a household. However, we will not question either household member about the discrepancy between responses. The results of the cognitive testing will inform the final revised CEV instrument content that will be used in data collection in September 2017.

From August 2016 to November 2016, staff from the Center for Survey Measurement will conduct two rounds of cognitive interviews. We will conduct the interviews with a total of 48 respondents (16 non-paired respondents and 32 paired respondents) using a paper version of the interviewer-administered instrument. In the event that there are any outstanding issues in the questionnaire that have not been addressed by the first two rounds of interviewing, we will reserve the possibility to conduct an optional third round of cognitive interviews in January and February of 2017 with 10 respondents.

Our recruiting efforts will target respondents with the following characteristics related to civic engagement and volunteerism who would be eligible for the survey supplement:

 

• Ages 18 years old or older

• Living in households with related adult household members with 1 or more eligible respondents, or living in households with  unrelated adult household members with 1 or more eligible respondents

• Known volunteer experience

• Participation in any of the following types of groups: school groups, sport or recreation group, religious organizations, service or civic association. 

Respondents will be recruited through fliers posted at local community organizations where individuals may volunteer or engage with the community such as churches, hospitals, and recreation centers; advertisements on Craigslist.com; and broadcast messages distributed through the Census Bureau’s daily online newsletter. Two sets of recruitment materials have been developed to recruit for paired and non-paired interviews. All recruiting materials are attached (see Attachments IVa: Non-Paired Recruitment Advertisements and IVb: Paired Recruitment Advertisements).

Interviews will be conducted at the Census Bureau’s Response Research Laboratory and at locations convenient to interviewees. The interviews will be conducted in-person in the local metropolitan area (DC, Maryland, Virginia), as well as in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and West Virginia.

We will conduct our cognitive interviews using retrospective methods which allow the respondent to hear the questionnaire in its entirety and respond for all eligible household members before being asked probes about particular questions of interest.

We will inform participants that their response is voluntary and that the information they provide is confidential and will be accessed only by employees involved in the research project. The consent form will also indicate that the respondent agrees that the interview can be audio-taped to facilitate analysis of the results. Participants who do not consent to be audio-taped will still be allowed to participate. Participants will receive $40 for their participation in this research. A copy of the standard consent form is attached (see Attachment V: Consent Form).

For the first two rounds of interviews, we estimate that each interview (48 interviews) will take approximately one hour (48 hours total). The pre-approved generic screening questionnaire will take approximately ten minutes per person, and the additional screening questions specific to this research will take five minutes per person (see Attachment VI: Recruitment Eligibility Screeners).

We estimate that we will screen three people for each successful recruit for each of the 16 non-paired interviews. We estimate we will screen five people for each of the 16 sets of paired interviews. Therefore, for the first two rounds of interviewing, we estimate a total of 128 people screened (32 hours). Thus, the total estimated burden for the first two rounds of this research is 80 hours.

For the optional third round of interviewing, each interview (10 interviews) will also take approximately one hour (10 hours total). The pre-approved generic screening questionnaire will take approximately ten minutes per person, and the additional screening questions specific to this research will take five minutes per person. We estimate we will screen three people to find each of the 10 respondents. Therefore, for the optional third round of interviewing, we estimate a total of 30 people screened (7.5 hours). Thus, the total estimated burden for the optional third round of this research is 17.5 hours.

The total estimated burden for all three rounds of this research is 97.5 hours (80 hours for Rounds 1 and 2 combined plus 17.5 for Round 3).

The following documents are included as attachments:

Attachment I: CEV Questionnaire

Attachment II: CPS Roster Questionnaire

Attachment III: CEV Protocol

Attachment IVa: Non-paired Recruitment Advertisements

Attachment IVb: Paired Recruitment Advertisements

Attachment V: Consent Form

Attachment VI: Recruitment Eligibility Screeners

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

Jenna Fulton

Center for Survey Measurement

U.S. Census Bureau

Room 5K321C

Washington, D.C. 20233

(301) 763-6193

Jenna.Fulton@census.gov

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