Letter to OMB - Household Pulse Survey Nonsubstantive Change

April 30, 2020

TO:

Desk Officer for the U.S. Census Bureau
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs/OMB

FROM:

Victoria Velkoff, Associate Director for Demographic Programs, U.S. Census Bureau

SUBJECT:

Request for Approval for Non-Substantive Change: Household Pulse Survey

VICTORIA VELKOFF

The Census Bureau is writing to request approval of a Non-Substantive Change to the Household Pulse
Survey protocol approved on April 19, 2020 (OMB No. 0607-1013). This notice is in keeping with the
Census Bureau’s commitment to foster transparency in its efforts to produce new, relevant and timely
data on the social and economic experiences individuals are having during this period of the Covid-19
pandemic.
The non-substantive changes are as follows:
1) Introduction of a Spanish language version of the Household Pulse Questionnaire in
production. The first week of data collection, which started April 23, 2020, was administered
only in English to allow a thorough review of the Spanish language instrument by cognitive
experts and certified translators. The Spanish language questionnaire is attached (Attachment
NSC-1.1).
2) Change in Production for the First Week. The Census Bureau will extend the first week of
production into the second week. This will enable us to address a limitation in the initial week
with the online data collection platform. Specifically, the platform could not support the need to
send survey invitations to more than one email per sampled household, despite the fact that in
many cases there are multiple emails associated with a household. This technical issue has been
resolved and, in keeping with our proposed methodology, we are now able to reach households
with alternative email addresses that were otherwise unreachable when the initial email address
on record was not successful.
Consequently, we will be extending data collection for the first week of sample for an additional week to
improve our ability to make effective contact with survey participants. With this extension, we will be
delaying by one week the planned first release of the data. The first release of data will include this first
wave of sample (with the adjusted collection period of two weeks, from April 23-May 6, 2020) and the
second wave of sample (from May 7 - May 13, 2020).
The launch of the Household Pulse Survey represents a significant paradigm shift for the Census Bureau
and the other federal statistical agencies collaborating with us on this project. While we take a more

Digitally signed by
VICTORIA VELKOFF
Date: 2020.04.30 12:48:55
-04'00'

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agile approach towards the production these data, we are mindful of preserving the system’s reputation
for data quality, integrity and objectivity. In this vein, we seek to ensure that changes to these efforts as
planned are communicated clearly and in a timely manner.
Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.