2010 CFU SUPPORTING STATEMENT - Part A

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

2010 COVERAGE FOLLOWUP TELEPHONE OPERATION

OMB CONTROL NUMBER 0607-0946

Part A. Justification

1. Necessity of the Information Collection

The U.S. Census Bureau (Census Bureau) requests authorization from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to collect respondent data during the 2010 Coverage Followup (CFU) telephone operation.

The 2010 CFU telephone operation will serve to clarify initial enumeration responses in an effort to improve within-household counts. Historically, the decennial census has been affected by undercounts that affect certain demographic groups (e.g. babies and minorities), and people in certain living situations, such as renters who move often, and people whose residences are complicated or ambiguous. In Census 2000, we learned that the census was affected by a much higher rate of erroneous enumeration (overcount) than had been anticipated. Erroneous enumerations were more likely to occur for certain demographic groups and in certain living situations (e.g. college students and nursing home residents).

The Census Bureau previously completed four related studies designed to evaluate the efficacy of modified CFU procedures for improving coverage of the population and housing: (1) the 2004 Census Test Coverage Research Followup (OMB Approval Number 0607-0910); (2) the 2005 National Census Test Coverage Followup (OMB Approval Number 0607-0916); (3) the 2006 Census Test Coverage Followup (OMB Approval Number 0607-0923); and (4) the 2008 Census Dress Rehearsal (OMB Approval Number 0607-0946).

Coverage interviews in the decennial censuses traditionally involve a second interview with the respondent to determine if changes should be made to their household roster as reported on their initial census return. The questions in the CFU interview attempt to determine if people were missed, and/or incorrectly counted. Corrections to the roster are made, if necessary, based on the 2010 Residence Rule.

Title 13, United States Code, Section 141 authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to conduct a decennial census of the population.

2. Needs and Uses

The CFU operation, which will be conducted April 26, 2010 through August 13, 2010, will be administered using computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI). Approximately 8,010,000 households will be included in the 2010 CFU telephone universe. This universe is selected based on the following criteria:

• initial census housing unit returns that responded “yes” to either coverage question (i.e. Were there any additional people staying here on May 1, 2010 that you did not include in Question 1?, or Does person 1 sometimes live or stay somewhere else?)

• initial census returns that have a count discrepancy between the reported household population count and the actual number of persons recorded on the census form

• initial census returns containing more than six persons (eight persons for the bilingual questionnaire)

• initial returns that are matched against an administrative records database containing demographic data from the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Indian Health Service and the Selective Service System to identify potential undercounted persons

• initial census returns for which computer matching has determined possible duplicate person links

The 2010 CFU telephone operation will be conducted in commercial call centers throughout the country.

The CFU interview includes probes about:

• types of missing people

• where college students live

• where children in custody arrangements spend most of their time

• where those who vacation spend most of their time

• if anyone else in the household stays anywhere else any part of the time

• if anyone stayed in a facility where groups of people stay

Probes are used to identify:

• people that are not included on a mailback questionnaire or Non-Response Follow-Up (NRFU) return

• cases where the number of valid persons listed on the form was greater or less than the respondent provided population count

• at least one person was identified as a potential duplicate of another person in the census

• at least one person was identified as being potentially missed from the census

When a person is identified as potentially counted or omitted in error, the Census Bureau will then ask questions to establish the appropriate census residence of that person according to our residence rule in effect for the 2010 Census (the 2010 residence rule will be available pending approval).

The Census Bureau will contact respondents using telephone numbers provided by respondents on the initial census questionnaire. These interviews will be conducted at a commercial call center using computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). The CATI instrument will be in both English and Spanish (interviewers will have job aids for the additional four languages – Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Russian). The Census Bureau will not conduct field interviews during this operation, so when telephone interviews are unsuccessful, the case will be classified as a non-interview.

Information quality is an integral part of the pre-dissemination review of the information disseminated by the Census Bureau (fully described in the Census Bureau's Information Quality Guidelines). Information quality is also integral to the information collections conducted by the Census Bureau and is incorporated into the clearance process required by the Paperwork Reduction Act.

3. Use of Information Technology

The CATI instrument will display the interview questions on the computer screen. Interviewers will ask respondents questions and record the responses directly into the CATI instrument. We estimate the response time to be approximately 10 minutes per household.

4. Efforts to Identify Duplication

The 2010 CFU telephone operation does not duplicate information collected by any other agency.

5. Minimizing Burden

In order to minimize burden placed on the selected households, we will attempt to obtain the required information about all members of the household from only one person.

The Census Bureau estimates the response time to be approximately ten minutes per household. The total annual response burden will be approximately 1,335,000 hours for approximately 8,010,000 households that will be contacted during this operation.

6. Consequences of Less Frequent Collection

The proposed 2010 CFU telephone operation is a one-time data collection effort that must be conducted as part of the once-a-decade census.

7. Special Circumstances

No special circumstances exist.

8. Consultations Outside the Agency

The Census Bureau consulted with a variety of data users including, but not limited to, academicians, national researchers, and the Census Bureau’s Advisory Committees. They include the Race and Ethnic Advisory Committees, the Decennial Census Advisory Committee, and the Census Advisory Committee of Professional Associations. In addition, the Census Bureau consulted with outside experts, including Dr. Donald Dillman of Washington State University and the National Academy of Science Panel on Residence Rules.

The Census Bureau published a notice in the Federal Register in order to inform the public of our intent to conduct the 2010 CFU and to invite public comment. See Federal Register dated September 24, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 186, pp. 55034-55035), 2010 Coverage Followup Operation. The Census Bureau received one public comment from the Federal Register generally opposing the collection.

9. Paying Respondents

Respondents participating in this survey will not receive any form of compensation for their participation.

10. Assurances of Confidentiality

All respondents will be informed that their participation in the 2010 CFU telephone operation is required by law, their responses are confidential, and all information that could identify individuals will be held in the strictest confidence as required by law, Title 13, Section 9, United States Code. Respondents will be informed of confidentiality verbally by the interviewers.

11. Justification for Sensitive Questions

The Census Bureau perceives no question in this operation as being sensitive.

12. Estimate of Hour Burden

Approximately 8,010,000 housing units will be contacted to participate in the 2010 CFU telephone operation. To calculate the burden hours, we assume a theoretical 100 percent response rate. Based on the results from cognitive studies, we estimate the telephone questionnaire will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. The estimated total annual respondent burden for this operation is 1,335,000 hours.

13. Estimate of Cost Burden

There is no cost to respondents except for the time it takes to respond to the questions.

14. Cost to Federal Government

The cost of the operation is covered under funding for the 2010 Census program. An interdivisional team developed the data collection methodologies. The Census Bureau’s Decennial Management Division allocated resources for the operation.

15. Reason for Change in Burden

This was a new data collection effort in 2008, and is being reinstated for 2010 to accommodate a larger workload due to a wider application of the operation.

16. Project Schedule

These dates are planned dates.

Milestone Description	Begin Date	End Date
2010 Census Day	4/1/10	4/1/10
Conduct Telephone Interviewing Training	4/11/10	4/25/10
Conduct Telephone Interviewing	4/26/10	8/13/10
Residence Coding of CFU Collected Data as part of Data Integration	8/31/10	9/29/10

17. Request to Not Display Expiration Date

No exemption is requested.

18. Exceptions to the Certification

There are no exceptions to the certification.