Initial OMB Memo for previosly approved package

Generic Information Collection Request: Pretesting Questionnaires and Definitions Used to Classify Health Care Group Quarters

Request: The Census Bureau plans to conduct additional research under the generic clearance for questionnaire pretesting research (OMB number 0607-0725). We plan to conduct cognitive interviews to evaluate questionnaires and definitions used to classify group quarters (GQs). GQs are places where people live or stay in a group living arrangement and which are owned or managed by an entity or organization that provides housing and may also provide services to its residents or clients. GQs include places like hospitals, nursing homes, student and worker housing, correctional facilities. Group Quarters Operation is an operation within the Decennial Census that enumerates residents of GQs. During an early stage of this operation, Census Bureau field staff will administer questionnaires to administrators of GQs to classify the GQs according to the GQ type definitions. The focus of this study is on the questionnaires and definitions used to classify health care facilities.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate updated questionnaires and GQ type definitions for health-care related GQs through cognitive interviews. The interviews will be conducted by staff from the Census Bureau’s Center for Behavioral Science Methods. The results of the cognitive interviews will be used to inform revisions to the questionnaires and GQ type definitions.

Population of Interest: This study will focus on health care facilities in two categories:

1. General Hospital (with or without Psychiatric or Hospice unit), Psychiatric Hospital, or Stand-alone In-Patient Hospice Facility

2. Nursing or Skilled-Nursing Facility, Independent or Assisted Living Facility, or Continuing Care Facility

Timeline: The interviews will be conducted from May through June 2023.

Language: The interviews will be conducted in English only.

Method: The interviews will be conducted using a protocol that combines exploratory and cognitive interview questions. The exploratory questions are intended to elicit participants’ descriptions of their facilities, the health care services they provide, the organizations that operate their facilities, and similar information about the facility. After the initial set of exploratory questions, interviewers will verbally administer the GQ-type classification questionnaires. Participants will be instructed to think aloud as they complete the questionnaires. Interviewers will administer follow-up probes to gather more information about how participants interpret specific questions and terms, and about their processes for answering them. Next, participants will be asked to review and comment on the current GQ type definitions related to their facilities, followed by some additional exploratory questions as time permits.

Sample: We will conduct interviews with 10 of each type of facility for a total of 20 interviews. We will select one or two facilities from each of the six Census Bureau regions of the United States to obtain a degree of geographic diversity. In addition, we will select facilities based on whether they are in rural or urban settings, and based on their complexity in terms of having one or more GQ types in the same facility.

Recruitment: We will contact GQ administrators by telephone using the contact information they provided during the 2020 Census and ask if they would be willing to participate in a virtual interview via Teams. We will attempt to schedule the interview for a time that is convenient for participants, but we will conduct interviews during the initial call if they prefer to do so. Once they agree to participate in the study, participants will be sent a calendar invitation containing a Teams meeting link.

Informed Consent: Prospective participants will be informed that their participation is voluntary and that any information they provide during the interview will be confidential and will only be accessible to the researchers conducting the study. Participants will be sent a link to an online consent form and asked to review and sign it prior to or at the start of the interview. The consent form is attached (see Enclosure 2).

Protocol: The protocol to be used in this study contains two sections, one for each of the two GQ categories. The questions in each section are tailored to the specific GQ types. Each interview will be conducted using one of the two sections, not both. The protocol is attached (see Enclosure 1).

Questionnaires: The interviewer-administered questionnaires and GQ type definitions to be evaluated in this study are included in the protocol.

Use of Incentive: We will not offer an incentive to participants in this study.

Length of interview: We estimate that the interviews will last 90 minutes per participant on average, and that the telephone recruitment contacts to take up to five minutes each on average. We expect that we will have to contact up to three GQ administrators in order to find one willing interview participants. Thus, the total estimated respondent burden for this request is 35 hours (recruiting calls: 60 GQ administrators X 5 minutes = 300 minutes = 5 hours; cognitive interviews: 20 participants X 90 minutes = 1800 minutes = 30 hours).

Category	Number of Participants	Participation Time	Burden
Recruiting calls	60	5 minutes	5 hours
Cognitive interviews	20	90 minutes	30 hours
Total			35 hours

The following documents are attached to this letter:

Enclosure 1 – Interview protocol and testing materials

Enclosure 2 – Consent form

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

Eric Stone

Center for Behavioral Science Methods

U.S. Census Bureau

Washington, D.C. 20233

(301) 763-7356

eric.a.stone@census.gov

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