Census of Governments - Survey of Public Employment & Payroll Pretesting Plan

The Census Bureau plans to conduct additional research under the generic clearance for questionnaire pretesting research (OMB number 0607-0725). We will be conducting usability testing for the electronic version of the 2012 Census of Governments Survey of Public Employment and Payroll. The survey, which will be fielded in April of 2012, collects information on the number of full-time and part-time employees and payroll amounts for various types of governments. There are 8 different forms: E-1 state agencies, E-2 state institutions of higher education, E-3 special districts and local agencies, E-4 municipalities, counties, townships, E-5 municipalities, townships, E-6 school systems, E-7 major special districts and agencies and E-9 police protection agencies.

In February of 2012, staff from the Response Improvement Research Staff (RIRS) within the Census Bureau’s Office of Economic Planning and Innovation will be working with the Governments Division (GOVS) to conduct usability testing. For this testing, we will interview 8-12 respondents from local government entities in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area. GOVS will provide us with a list of local governments from which we will recruit. The interviews will take place at the government site. They will focus on respondents’ reactions to the layout of and ability to navigate the electronic survey. We will try to determine if the change to the way passwords are handled is helpful to respondents. Additionally, the layout of the electronic instrument has been changed, from a look similar to the paper form to one which is hopefully easier to view and more user friendly. We will also determine if respondents understand how they are to submit data and whether they are aware they have the ability to attach files to send to us. Subject area specialists from GOVS will accompany the researcher on most, if not all, of the interviews. They will assist with respondent debriefing, especially in cases where additional clarification of the subject matter is required.

We will record the interviews with the participants’ permission, to aid researchers in accurately reporting findings and recommendations. Before beginning the interviews, we will inform participants that their response is voluntary. We also will inform the participants that the information they provide is confidential. We will not be providing respondents monetary incentives to participate in this study.

We estimate that it will be necessary to interview only one participant at each government entity. We estimate the length of the interviews will average 1 hour. Therefore, the maximum estimated burden for this research is 12 hours.

Enclosed are draft screen shots of the electronic instrument and a sample protocol we will be using for the usability testing.

The contact person for questions regarding this research is:

Kristin Stettler

Response Improvement Research Staff

7K032A

U.S. Census Bureau

Washington, D.C. 20233

(301) 763-7596

[email protected]