Change Worksheet

PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT

CHANGE WORKSHEET

Agency/Subagency: Commerce/Census/ACSO		OMB Control Number 0607-0936
Enter only items that change Current Record New Record
Agency form numbers(s)
Annual reporting and recordkeeping hour burden
Number of respondents
Total annual responses
Percent of these responses collected electronically	%	%
Total annual hours	46,000	44,000
Difference		(2,000)
Explanation of difference Program change Adjustment		(2,000)
Annual reporting and recordkeeping cost burden (in thousands of dollars)
Total annualized Capital/Startup costs
Total annual costs (O&M)
Total annualized cost requested
Difference
Explanation of difference Program change Adjustment
Other Change**
Signature of Senior Official or designee:	Date:	For OIRA Use __________________________ __________________________

**This form cannot be used to extend an expiration date.

OMB 83-C 10/95

Justification

1. Changes to Approved 2007 ACS Methods Test Data Collection

The U.S. Census Bureau requests authorization from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to modify the approved American Community Survey 2007 Methods Panel Test, OMB Control Number 0607-0936, dated 10/12/06.

The Census Bureau no longer plans to conduct a test of standard vs. first class postage for the advance letter mailing due to recent increases in U.S. Postal Service rates. This option is no longer a cost-saving option.

We are planning a test in the 2007 Methods Panel that addresses an aspect of ACS data collection relative to the census. This test will compare the sequential person and grid formats for collecting the basic demographic information to measure the impact on data quality, specifically unit and item non-response rates, response distributions, and within household coverage. The changes to this test are a reduction in sample size from 40,000 to 30,000 and also that this test will include an evaluation of the forms design without any new content tested for evaluation within the forms.

A 2007 Methods Panel test that was contingent upon funding allocations in the President’s budget for 2007 is now possible for the Census Bureau to conduct. This test will measure and compare the data quality between two versions of new content proposed by the National Science Foundation for inclusion on the ACS. The proposed content asks about the major field in which a person received his or her bachelor’s degree. In this test, half the sample will answer an open-ended question reporting the actual degree he or she received. The other half of the sample will provide their field of degree information by answering a series of yes/no questions. The test will assess which, if either, version results in data of sufficient quality for inclusion on the ACS. The sample size for this testing is 30,000 households. It was previously included with the sample for the grid vs. sequential test, but will now be conducted as a separate test with its own sample. The Content Reinterview (RI) operation includes contacting all responding households for whom we have a phone number. The estimated sample size and burden hours have changed for the Content RI since we now plan to conduct a separate new content test. We expect to have a phone number for about 80% of the 30,000 sample households for the new content test.

2. Changes to the Estimate of Hour Burden

The total number of respondent burden hours approved in the OMB clearance for the 2007 ACS Methods Panel test was 46,000. The elimination of the postage test, changes to sample sizes, and burden hour estimates by test objective are provided in Table 1.

Table 1. Overall Changes to Approved 2007 ACS Methods Panel Sample and Burden Hour Estimate

Test or Test Component	Previous Sample	New Sample	Previous Burden Hours	New Burden Hours
Standard vs. First Class Postage	20,000	0	12,666	0
Grid vs. Sequential	40,000	30,000	25,333	19,000
New Content	Included Grid vs. Seq. Test	30,000	Included Grid vs. Seq. Test	19,000
Content Follow-up	32,000	24,000	8,000	6,000
Totals	40,000	60,000	46,000	44,000

3. Reason for Change in Burden

The change is due to late approval of FY07 funding for additional 2007 ACS Methods Panel testing. Changes to the approved OMB clearance are based on Census Bureau test objectives and available resources to conduct and analyze the results of the test plan, as modified in this document.

4. Changes to the Test Project Schedule

The change to the schedule for the planned test to assess the quality of the data for the proposed field of degree question will use the same timing for the mailing pieces as the test of questionnaire format, but will take place during the July 2007 panel rather than the February panel. See table 2 for the anticipated start dates for each phase of data collection.

Table 2. Start dates for each phase of data collection for the new content test.

Contact Method	Date
Prenotice letter	06/21/07
Initial questionnaire packet	06/25/07
Reminder postcard	06/28/07
Replacement questionnaire packet	07/19/07
Content Follow-up Reinterview	07/17/07 – 10/17/07
CATI data collection	08/01/07 - 08/25/07
CAPI data collection	09/01/07 - 10/01/07