Memo

The Census Bureau plans to conduct additional research under the generic clearance for questionnaire pretesting research (OMB number 0607-0725). The purpose of this research is to conduct cognitive interviews with respondents from the American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) population on the topic of a separate and specific tribal enrollment question. The research is sponsored by the Census Bureau’s Population Division (POP) and Decennial Census Management Division (DCMD).

This cognitive interview research is the second phase of qualitative research on the development of a separate and specific tribal enrollment question. The first phase consisted of 11 focus groups the Census Bureau conducted with AIAN participants in January and February of 2016. Results from the focus groups informed the development of three tribal enrollment question formats. These formats were then revised after incorporating feedback from various AIAN tribal leaders and the Census Bureau’s National Advisory Committee on Race, Ethnic, and Other Populations.

The goal of this research is to further refine the three experimental enrollment question formats by investigating how AIAN respondents react to elements of each format, including the question stem and response options. The research will also assess format navigation and respondents’ preferences between the three formats. The results of this research will help inform the wording of two formats that will be included in the upcoming 2017 Decennial Census Test.

The first experimental format is a streamlined, one-question format that asks for American Indian tribe or Alaska Native tribe, village, and corporation enrollment in a single question (see Enclosure 1). The second experimental format is a two-question format that asks for enrollment in an American Indian tribe or Alaska Native council, association, or community in its first question, and then asks about Alaska Native regional or village corporation shareholder status in its second question (see Enclosure 2). The third experimental format is a three-question format that asks for AIAN tribe and village enrollment status in its first question, the name of the enrolled tribe or village in its second question, and Alaska Native corporation shareholder status (without mentioning “enrollment”) in its third question (see Enclosure 3).

From June – August 2016, staff from the Center for Survey Measurement (CSM) will conduct 63 cognitive interviews with respondents from the following five subgroups:

(1) American Indians in federally-recognized tribes (n = 15);

(2) American Indians in state-recognized tribes (n = 15);

(3) American Indians in tribes not recognized by either the federal government or any state government (n = 15);

(4) Alaska Natives with tribe, village, corporation, or similar identities (n = 12); and

(5) Indigenous Mexican, Central, and South American groups (n = 6)

For the first three subgroups, we plan to conduct interviews by tribe recognition status because respondents from tribes of different recognition statuses will likely have different perspectives on a tribal enrollment question administered by the federal government. For the fourth subgroup, interviews will be conducted with Alaska Native people because of their unique and complex relationships to tribes, villages, corporations, and similar entities in Alaska. For the last subgroup, interviews will be conducted with respondents from Indigenous Mexican, Central, and South American groups because although these groups are located outside of the United States, they are defined as AIAN, according to the OMB definition of the AIAN race category.

To achieve geographic diversity in tribe heritage and cognitive interview location, the cognitive interviews will be conducted in several regions identified by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, as shown in Table 1 below.

Table 1. Cognitive Interview Sites

Number	City	BIA Region
1	Fairbanks, AK	Alaska
2	Rapid City, SD	Great Plains
3	Detroit, MI	Midwest
4	Phoenix, AZ	Western
5	Kansas City, KS	Southern Plains
6	Window Rock, AZ	Navajo

Regarding respondent recruitment, we will use a recruitment contractor who has the expertise to recruit specifically from the AIAN population. This contractor will coordinate with contacts from their AIAN networks to screen and recruit AIAN respondents. The contractor will use the attached recruitment flyers, tribal publication ads, and Craigslist ads to recruit respondents (see Enclosure 4). The Census Bureau will provide the recruitment contractor staff with the attached screener questionnaires to screen potential respondents during recruitment. One screener questionnaire will be used for Alaska Natives, and another will be used for American Indians and Indigenous Mexican, Central, and South American Indians (see Enclosure 5 and Enclosure 6). Census Bureau researchers will select the final respondents, for each cognitive interview.

For all cognitive interviews, we plan to recruit respondents who are not employed by the Federal Government. They will be screened on and vary by:

• race (alone or in combination)

• tribe(s)

• tribal enrollment status

• whether living on or off an American Indian reservation

• level of tribal engagement

• education level

• age

• gender

Attached to this letter are mock-ups of the three experimental enrollment question formats previously described, as well as three versions of the cognitive interview protocol (see Enclosure 7, Enclosure 8, and Enclosure 9).

In each cognitive interview, respondents will complete all three experimental enrollment question formats. Interviewers will probe respondents on their experiences of completing each form, as well as their interpretations of each question stem and write-in line instructions. In addition, interviewers will probe respondents on how they navigated the formats, and their preference among the three formats. Presentation order effects will be reduced by systematically varying the order in which the forms are presented to the respondent across the three protocols. All interviews with Indigenous Mexican, Central, and South Americans will be conducted in Spanish. Thus, the test protocols and questionnaires for these respondents will be translated into Spanish.

All cognitive interviews will be audio-recorded to facilitate a summary of the results. The respondents will be asked to sign consent forms (see Enclosure 10) in English or Spanish and give permission to be audio-recorded. All respondents will be informed that their responses are voluntary and that the information they provide is confidential. After the cognitive interview concludes, respondents will receive a $40 incentive to offset the cost of participation, such as transportation or childcare costs.

For this project, we expect to screen up to 315 people to arrive at 63 respondents to invite to the cognitive interviews. Screening takes approximately five minutes per person. Thus, the maximum burden is 90 hours total: 63 hours for the cognitive interviews (one hour × 63 respondents), and 27 hours (five minutes × 315 people) for recruiting.

Below is a list of materials to be used in this study.

1. Mock-up of enrollment question format 1 (Enclosure 1)

2. Mock-up of enrollment question format 2 (Enclosure 2)

3. Mock-up of enrollment question format 3 (Enclosure 3)

4. Draft recruitment flyers and tribal publication ads (Enclosure 4)

5. Draft AIAN recruitment screener for Alaska Natives (Enclosure 5)

6. Draft AIAN recruitment screener for American Indians and Indigenous Mexican, Central, and South American groups (Enclosure 6)

7. Draft AIAN enrollment question cognitive interview protocol 1 (Enclosure 7)

8. Draft AIAN enrollment question cognitive interview protocol 2 (Enclosure 8)

9. Draft AIAN enrollment question cognitive interview protocol 3 (Enclosure 9)

10. Draft consent form for cognitive interview participation (Enclosure 10)

The contact person for questions regarding data collection and study design is:

Rodney L. Terry

Center for Survey Measurement

U.S. Census Bureau

Room 5K022E

Washington, D.C. 20233

(301) 763-5479

[email protected]

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