OMB Memo for Decennial Language Research

OMB memo for Decennial language research

The Census Bureau plans to conduct research under the generic clearance for questionnaire pretesting research (OMB number 0607-0725).

The overall goal of the proposed research is to develop and test both English language and non-English language materials for various modes in preparation for various 2015, 2016 and 2017 Census Tests. The research is sponsored by the Decennial Management Division (DMD) at the Census Bureau and the ultimate goal is preparation for the 2020 Census.

The larger study consists of one focus group project and four cognitive interview projects, three of which include iterative rounds of testing.

This is the fifth OMB submission based on the larger research project. We received approval in November, 2014 for Round 1 of NRFU (CAPI) testing and Round 1 of paper testing and in December, 2014 for Round 1 of internet testing. We received approval in February, 2015 for Round 2 of paper testing. We received approval for Round 1 of cognitive testing in five languages in March, 2015. Those parts of the project are completed or currently underway.

This letter seeks clearance for conducting 30 focus groups in seven languages: four focus groups each will be conducted in Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Russian, Arabic and English; six focus groups will be conducted in Spanish with two of the Spanish groups to be conducted with Puerto Rican participants who have lived stateside for fewer than five years. Each group will comprise around 8-10 participants.

This research is being done to meet the Census Bureau’s pretesting requirements to ensure that Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Russian, Arabic, Spanish, and English-language materials that will be used in future Census Tests are tested with respondents prior to going into the field.

The goal of the focus groups is to identify and improve verbal and written messages, for use with respondents in written communications and at the doorstep, which may be incorrect, culturally inappropriate or difficult to understand if translated literally. The research is qualitative and preliminary in nature.

Methodology: Half of the focus groups for each language will cover verbal and written messages for NRFU, including messages for advertising/outreach and communication with respondents at the doorstep. The other half of the focus groups for each language will cover messages to use in written materials for internet/self-administered modes.

In addition, although no PII will be collected, both sets of focus groups will be asked to discuss key terms and concepts from Census forms. The English versions of the Census forms that will be shown to participants are attached. Form DY-1(CT4B), attached as Enclosure 15, is the flip style version (English and Spanish) and will be used in the focus groups conducted in Spanish because it is the last tested version for Spanish in Project 2, R2. Form DY-2N, attached as Enclosure 16, will be used for focus groups in Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Russian and Arabic because it is the last tested version for these languages in ongoing Project 4.1.

• NRFU version: two focus groups per language (and one of the two Puerto Rican groups) will cover verbal messages for NRFU, Language Identification Flashcard (for context only, content will not be discussed), Notice of Visit, Confidentiality Notice, and Census form questions on relationship, race, tenure, and language-specific issues.

• Self-Administered version: two focus groups per language (and one of the two Puerto Rican groups) will cover messages to be used in written materials for internet/self-administered forms, including multilingual brochures (DD-12 & DD-14, including images), internet Webpage landing page (including images), internet security statement, and Census form questions on relationship, race, tenure, and language-specific issues.

As part of this study, some of the focus group participants will look at videos (to examine draft verbal messages) and all will look at printed materials such as brochures, letters and census forms. They will be asked to interpret or explain their understanding of key terms, questions and concepts as part of the group discussion.

Screening: We will use the previously approved respondent screener from the NRFU and paper testing segments of the project with a few minor modifications. A new version is attached. We are looking to include individuals from a variety of national origins, educational backgrounds, and number of years living in the US, as well as with varying household compositions.

We expect to screen up to 150 respondents in Spanish and up to 100 respondents in each of the other 6 languages to arrive at up to 10 participants per focus group, and the burden for the screening is estimated to be about 6 minutes.

Focus groups are expected to last 2 hours on average and participants will be paid $75 for their participation.

Language	Number of Focus Groups	Number of Respondents Screened	Burden Hours For Screening	Number of Focus Group Participants	Burden Hours for Focus Groups
Chinese	4	100	10	40	80
Korean	4	100	10	40	80
Vietnamese	4	100	10	40	80
Russian	4	100	10	40	80
Arabic	4	100	10	40	80
English	4	100	10	40	80
Spanish	6	150	15	60	120
Total	30	750	75	300	600

We are requesting a total of 675 burden hours for this project (75 for screening + 600 for conducting focus groups.)

Below is a list of draft materials to be used in the current study. All materials are in the process of being translated into the target languages.

1. Language Identification Flashcard (Enclosure 2)

2. Draft focus group protocol for NRFU materials (Enclosure 3)

3. Draft focus group protocol for self-administered materials (Enclosure 4)

4. Notice of Visit (Enclosure 5)

5. Confidentiality Notice (Enclosure 6)

6. Multilingual brochure “DD-12” (Enclosure 7)

7. Multilingual brochure “DD-14” (Enclosure 8)

8. Internet landing page mock-up (Enclosure 9)

9. Recruitment screener (Enclosure 10)

10. Consent form (Enclosure 11)

11. Participant information sheet (collected at the end of the focus group) (Enclosure 12)

12. Security statement (Enclosure 13)

13. English language video transcripts (Enclosure 14)

14. Fillable Census form DY-1 (CT4B) (Enclosure 15)

15. Fillable Census form DY-2N (Enclosure 16)

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

Leticia Fernandez

Center for Survey Measurement

U.S. Census Bureau

Washington, D.C. 20233

(301) 763-2406

[email protected]

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