2020 Census Part A_EAE_final
2020 Census Part A_EAE_final.docx
2020 Census
OMB: 0607-1006
Department of Commerce United States Census Bureau
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Paperwork Reduction Act Program
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Information Collection Request 2020 Census – Evaluations and Experiments OMB Control Number 0607-1006 |
Department of Commerce
United States Census Bureau
OMB Information Collection Request
2020 Census
OMB Control Number 0607-1006
Part A. Justification
1. Necessity of the Information Collection
The Census Bureau requests authorization from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to collect information from the public for the 2020 Census.
The taking of a decennial census is mandated by Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. Title 13, United States Code (U.S.C), Section 141 directs the Secretary to take a decennial census of population and housing, determining its form and content, and further authorizes the collection of such other census information in relation to the decennial census, as necessary. These authorities are delegated to the Director of the Census Bureau under Department of Commerce Organization Order 35-2A. The Census Bureau is required to conduct the 2020 Census to collect the person and housing data that will be used for reapportionment, redistricting, and various statistical data products, under Title 13, U.S. Code. Additionally, the Census Bureau is authorized under Title 13 Section 193 to conduct surveys and collect information before, during, and after the decennial census to assist in the conduct of the decennial census.
In addition to the reapportionment of the U.S. Congress, census data are used to draw legislative district boundaries within states. Census data also are used by numerous agencies to determine funding allocations for the distribution of an estimated $675 billion of federal funds each year, as of Fiscal Year 2015. This estimate includes decennial census data, American Community Survey data, and geographic program data, as well as data that use any one of these data sources as a critical input. The current distribution of funds estimate includes federal programs that distribute funds for one of the following: selection and/or restriction of recipients of funds, award or allocation of funds, and monitoring and assessment of program performance.
The Census Bureau plans to conduct the most automated, modern, and dynamic decennial census in U.S. history. Compared to the 2010 Census, the 2020 Census includes design changes in four key areas, discussed below:
New methodologies to conduct the Address Canvassing operation.
Innovative ways of optimizing self-response.
The use of administrative records and third-party data to reduce the Nonresponse Followup (NRFU) operation workload.
The use of technology to reduce the manual effort and improve the productivity of field operations, while decreasing the amount of physical space required to perform the field operations.
These innovations have been developed throughout the decade, using insight from 2010 Census lessons learned, stakeholder input, and ongoing technological development. Multiple tests have been performed throughout the decade to provide data for decisions and refine ongoing operational planning. These tests and the OMB control numbers that apply are:
Generic Clearance for Questionnaire Pretesting Research: 0607-0725
Generic Clearance for Census Bureau Field Tests and Evaluations: 0607-0971
Federal Statistical System Public Opinion Survey: 0607-0969
2012 National Census Test: 0607-0970
2013 National Census Contact Test: 0607-0972
2013 Census Test: 0607-0975
2014 Census Test: 0607-0979
Address Validation Test: 0607-0809
2015 Optimizing Self-Response Test and 2015 Census Test: 0607-0981
2015 National Content Test: 0607-0985
2015 Group Quarters Electronic Capability Test Survey: 0607-0725
2016 Census Test: 0607-0989
Address Canvassing Testing: 0607-0992
2016 Service-Based Enumeration Census Test: 0607-0971
2017 Census Test: 0607-0996
2017 eResponse Data Transfer Test: 0607-0971
2018 End-to-End Census Test Address Canvassing Operation: 0607-0997
2018 End-to-End Census Test – Peak Operations: 0607-0999
Census Barriers, Attitudes, Motivators Study (Generic Clearance for Internet Nonprobability Panel Pretesting): 0607-0978
(1) Reengineering Address Canvassing
An accurate address list is the cornerstone of a successful census. In order to manage the work for decennial census operations, the Census Bureau uses the address and physical location of each place where someone is, or could be, living. The Census Bureau maintains this address list and spatial data for the United States and Puerto Rico in its Master Address File (MAF)/Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (TIGER) System database.
This database was created using the address files from the 1990 Census and has been subsequently and regularly updated using:
Information collected from decennial census operation updates, including address and spatial updates.
The Delivery Sequence File of addresses from the United States Postal Service (USPS).
Input from tribal, state, and local governments and third parties, including address and boundary updates from various programs conducted over the decade, such as the Local Update of Census Addresses operation (OMB control #0607-0994) and Geographic Partnership Programs (OMB control #0607-0795).
Information collected in other Census Bureau programs, such as the American Community Survey (OMB control #0607-0836).
The purpose of Address Canvassing is (1) to deliver a complete and accurate address list and spatial database for enumeration and tabulation, and (2) to determine the type and address characteristics for each living quarter.
Prior to a field Address Canvassing data collection, the Census Bureau delineates the entire land area of the United States, Puerto Rico, and Island Areas into Type of Enumeration Areas (TEAs) that indicate a combination of address list updating and enumeration strategies. In the 2020 Census approximately 95 percent of the stateside United States living quarters were delineated into the self-response area, where the address list is updated before the census, census materials are provided in the mail, and self-response is supported and promoted. Other areas are designated for Update Leave, Update Enumerate, Remote Alaska, or Island Areas Enumeration.
For the 2020 Census there will be a full Address Canvassing of the country, but the major design change from the 2010 Census is that Address Canvassing consists of In-Office Address Canvassing complemented with In-Field Address Canvassing instead of full in-field address canvassing. In-Office Address Canvassing is the process of using empirical geographic evidence (e.g., imagery, comparison of the Census Bureau’s address list to partner-provided lists) to assess the current address list and make changes where necessary. This component also detects and captures areas of change from high-quality administrative records and third-party data. Advancements in technology have enabled continual address and spatial updates to occur throughout the decade as part of the In-Office Address Canvassing effort, which began in 2015 and ended March 29, 2019. Also address list updates have been provided by the United States Postal Service and address and map updates provided by geographic program partners. Since 2015, satellite imagery has been used in the address frame development process for the identification of areas where there are changes in living quarters. Where the necessary updates can be captured from electronic sources and are deemed to be sufficiently accurate, In-Office Address Canvassing completed the update process prior to the census. Otherwise, the block becomes eligible to be sent to In-Field Address Canvassing for updating on the ground by field staff.
In-Field Address Canvassing covers approximately 35 percent of the housing units in the United States. Additional details about these processes are provided in the 2020 Census Address Canvassing Detailed Operational Plan. History of the address list development process begins on page 34 of the detailed operational plan.
(2) Optimizing Self-Response
The goal of this innovation area is to make it as easy and efficient as possible for people to respond to the 2020 Census by offering new response options through the internet and telephone, in addition to the traditional mailback paper questionnaire option. Self-response reduces the need to conduct in-person follow-up operations to complete the enumeration, by far the most expensive method of data collection. To that end, the Census Bureau will motivate people to respond. In addition, the Census Bureau plans to make it easy for people to respond, from any location at any time, even if they do not have the Census Bureau’s preassigned ID for the address.
The importance of responding to the 2020 Census will be communicated in a variety of ways, including through mailings, questionnaire delivery, advertising, and partnership efforts. In particular, the Integrated Partnership and Communications operation is responsible for communicating the importance of responding to the 2020 Census. Preparatory work for this effort has been completed. Reports are available at the links below:
Internet response represents a substantial innovation for the Census Bureau’s use in a decennial census. The internet was not a response option in the 2010 Census. The internet response option has been included in multiple tests leading up to the 2020 Census: the 2014 Census Test; all three census tests performed in 2015; the 2016 Census Test; the 2017 Census Test; and the 2018 End-to-End Census Test. It has also been used in production for the American Community Survey since 2013.
Response by telephone is also being encouraged for the first time in the decennial census. Telephone response was available but not encouraged in both Census 2000 and the 2010 Census. This decade the telephone response option was included in the 2012 National Census Test, the 2014 Census Test, the 2015 Census Test, the 2015 National Content Test, the 2015 Optimizing Self-Response Test, the 2016 Census Test, the 2017 Census Test, and the 2018 End-to-End Census Test. The telephone response option will be operationalized through Census Questionnaire Assistance.
(3) Utilizing Administrative Records and Third-Party Data
For the 2020 Census, “administrative records” and “third-party data” are terms used to describe microdata records contained in files collected and maintained by federal, state, and local government agencies (“administrative records”) and commercial entities (“third-party data”) for administering programs and providing services. For many decades, the Census Bureau has successfully and securely used administrative records and third-party data for statistical purposes. For the 2020 Census, the Census Bureau intends to use administrative records from both internal sources, such as data from previous decennial censuses and the American Community Survey, and from a range of other federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Social Security Administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Indian Health Service, the Selective Service, and the U.S. Postal Service. The Census Bureau is also working to acquire state government administrative records from enrollment in federal block grant programs, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.
Throughout the decade, the Census Bureau continuously conducted analyses and assessments to verify that the proposed uses of administrative records and third-party data sources in the 2020 Census were appropriate in each instance. Based on the research, testing, and analyses, the Census Bureau announced its plans in November 2015 to utilize administrative records and third-party data in the 2020 Census. The 2020 Census Operational Plan calls for employing this information for the following purposes:
Consistent with previous decennial censuses, the Census Bureau will utilize administrative records from federal and state government agencies and third-party data to refine contact strategies and build and update the residential address list.
Also consistent with previous decennial censuses, the Census Bureau will utilize federal and state administrative records to edit or impute invalid, inconsistent, or missing responses to the decennial census.
The new use of administrative records for the 2020 Census is to use data exclusively from federal administrative records to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the NRFU operation by:
Reducing follow-up on vacant housing units and nonresidential addresses, as designated by administrative records.
Enumerating households that do not self-respond and whom we were unable to contact after six mailings and one in-person field visit.
For each of the purposes listed in items II, III.a., and III.b., the Census Bureau will use or plans to use administrative data only when it can confirm empirically across multiple sources that the data are consistent, of high quality, and can be accurately applied to the addresses and households in question. The Census Bureau plans to enumerate households utilizing administrative records only from federal government agencies, such as the IRS. Each of the nonresponding addresses will be evaluated under a strict set of Census Bureau rules throughout the process to ensure completeness and accuracy.
Based on the research and tests conducted, the Census Bureau estimates that federal administrative records will be used to enumerate up to 7.9 million households of the projected total of approximately 62.9 million addresses that are expected to be in the NRFU workload for the 2020 Census. The number 7.9 million is the Census Bureau’s estimate of administrative record occupied addresses that we will identify for reduced contacts. We estimate about 1.7 million would be enumerated during the first visit and the remaining 6.2 million would be enumerated through administrative records. These 7.9 million households represent slightly more than 5 percent of the approximately 147 million addresses in the Census Bureau’s census address file. Where the Census Bureau does not have confidence in the administrative data, such as when the data are inconsistent or missing in the federal administrative records, the household will remain in the NRFU workload for further in-person efforts to collect the information.
The Census Bureau is assembling documentation of the various uses of administrative records within the 2020 Census. This documentation will appear on the 2020 Census website in the 2020 Census Memo Series.
(4) Reengineering Field Operations
The final innovation area, “Reengineering Field Operations,” has a goal of using technology to manage the 2020 Census fieldwork efficiently and effectively, and as a result, reduce the staffing, infrastructure, and brick and mortar footprint for the 2020 Census. The Census Bureau plans to provide most listers and enumerators with the capability to work completely remotely and perform all administrative and data collection tasks directly from a mobile device. Supervisors will also be able to work remotely from the field and communicate with their staff through these devices. These enhanced capabilities significantly reduce the number of offices required to support 2020 Census fieldwork. In the 2010 Census, the Census Bureau established 12 regional census centers and nearly 500 area census offices. The agency hired more than 516,000 enumerators to conduct NRFU activities. The new design for the 2020 Census field operations includes six regional census centers with 248 area census offices.
In addition, automation enables significant changes to how cases are assigned and the supervision of field staff. By making it easier for supervisors to monitor and manage their workers, the ratio of workers to supervisor can be increased, reducing the number of supervisors required. This streamlines the staffing structure. Other design changes include optimized case assignment and routing.
All administrative functions associated with most field staff will be automated, including recruiting, hiring, training, time and attendance, and payroll. Finally, the new capabilities allow for quality to be infused into the process through alerts to supervisors when there is an anomaly in an enumerator’s performance and real-time edits on data collection. Accordingly, the quality assurance process used in the 2010 Census has been reengineered to account for changes in technology.
Supporting Documents about the 2020 Census Design and the 2020 Census Objectives
The Census Bureau is submitting with this package links to a number of official Census Bureau documents that provide background on the plans for the 2020 Census. This list includes in particular the 2020 Census Operational Plan v4.0, which documents at a high level the major findings of the census tests performed this decade. Moreover, the Operational Plan shows the planned design of the 2020 Census as of October 2018 and identifies design decisions made, as well as remaining decisions to be made using census test results. Test objectives and high-level outcomes are discussed in Chapter 4. Key design components for the 2020 Census for every operation are discussed in Chapter 5. Appendix B of the Operational Plan describes the various efforts to enumerate the population considered to be Hard-to-Count. This version of the operational plan is the last version that will be released prior to the 2020 Census. Appendix B of this document provides a graphic of all the operations included in the 2020 Census organized by a standard Work Breakdown Structure, as represented in the 2020 Census Operational Plan.
For most of the 2020 Census operations, the Census Bureau is developing a detailed operational plan to document objectives and procedures of the operation, major tasks involved in implementation, the overall workflow, and the overall resources required. See Appendix C of this document for a list of the detailed operational plans completed to date or soon to be completed and links to these plans within the 2020 Census Memorandum Series.
Only the operations scoped for the 2020 Census that involve direct contact with the public to collect data, are involved in collecting and processing the collected data, or represent content that the population will see or experience will be discussed in this document. The geographic areas discussed below will refer only to the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, unless otherwise noted. The 2020 Census also includes the Island Areas (U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands). The operational plan and detailed operational plans can be referenced for more details about the tasks performed in each operation.
Documentation about the 2020 Census has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget in phases. The first phase entailed approval of only the Address Canvassing operation and creation of the OMB number for the entire 2020 Census. The results from Address Canvassing are used to create the address frame for the entire enumeration phase of the census. As such, this operation occurs earlier than enumeration operations and requires earlier clearance. OMB concluded on the Address Canvassing submission on November 30, 2018. The second phase of approval encompassed the operations where all enumeration data are collected and processed. OMB concluded on the second phase – Enumeration Operations – on July 12, 2019. This third phase of approval encompasses the Evaluations and Experiments, as well as provides a number of program and operation updates. Since the publication of the Federal Register Notice for Evaluations and Experiments, a new program has been defined that will require an additional revision to the 2020 Census. This program is Mobile Questionnaire Assistance, which creates additional opportunities for the public to respond to the 2020 Census in key locations where we are experiencing low self-response rates. The Mobile Response Initiative builds on and improves the model for the 2010 Census Questionnaire Assistance Centers, incorporating the use of technology to provide readily accessible ways for people to respond to the census. Instead of being tied to static locations as in the 2010 Census, Mobile Questionnaire Assistance can be deployed to areas experiencing low self-response rates across the country. In addition, respondents can receive assistance from trained staff, and they can answer the 2020 Census utilizing Census Bureau staff’s iPads to access the Internet Self-Response instrument.
Type of Enumeration Areas
Prior to the census, it is necessary to delineate all geographic areas into Type of Enumeration Areas (TEAs), which describe what methodology will be used for census material delivery and household enumeration in order to achieve maximum accuracy and completeness using the most cost-effective enumeration approach. The TEA designations also identify what methodology will be used for updating the address frame. For the United States and Puerto Rico, TEAs are delineated at the block level based on the address and spatial data in the MAF/TIGER database. The MAF/TIGER database does not contain data for the Island Areas, so a separate TEA is designated for these areas.
The TEAs designated for the 2020 Census are:
* TEA 1 = Self-Response.
* TEA 2 = Update Enumerate.
* TEA 3 = Island Areas.
* TEA 4 = Remote Alaska.
* TEA 6 = Update Leave.
The most common enumeration method by percentage of households is self-response (TEA 1), where materials will be delivered to each address through the mail, and enumeration data is expected to be returned or submitted by a respondent. Self-response can occur when households mail back a 2020 Census paper questionnaire, submit the data on the 2020 Census internet questionnaire, or call the telephone number for Census Questionnaire Assistance and submit the data during the phone call. After the initial self-response phase, nonresponding households will be enumerated in the NRFU operation. In Update Enumerate (TEA 2), Census Bureau enumerators visit an address, update the address list, and attempt household enumeration at the same time. This TEA will be used for a very small portion of the addresses in the country, such as those with access problems or minimal mail service. The Island Areas are not currently included in MAF/TIGER. With no existing address list for these areas, the address list will be created and enumeration will be attempted at the same time. Remote Alaska uses the Update Enumerate methodology but in remote areas of Alaska. These areas have unique challenges associated with the accessibility to communities where the population ranges from several hundred people to just a few people. Communities are widely scattered and rarely linked by roads. Most are accessible only by small-engine airplane, snowmobile, four-wheel-drive vehicles, dogsled, or some combination thereof. This operation occurs earlier than other enumeration operations (starting in January) due to seasonal availability of the population, who disperse when warmer weather arrives. During Update Leave (TEA 6), Census Bureau visit an address, update the address list, and leave a questionnaire package at each individual housing unit. The household is expected to return the questionnaire by mail or submit their data online or by telephone. Puerto Rico is designated as entirely Update Leave in order to create a current address list at the time of the census, in response to changes that may have occurred due to recent natural disasters. Nonresponding units in Update Leave areas are included in the NRFU workload. A map of the areas designated for the various TEAs is shown at the embedded link: TEA Viewer
Operations that contribute to the respondent experience of the 2020 Census will be described in detail below. The 2020 Census Operational Plan and detailed operational plans, available at https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/2020-census/planning-management/memo-series.html, provide additional design details about these operations.
A. Content and Forms Design
The Content and Forms Design (CFD) operation is responsible for identifying and finalizing the content and design of questionnaires and associated nonquestionnaire materials. To support the 2020 Census, the CFD operation ensures content consistency across data collection modes and operations, as question wording varies depending on mode of data collection. The CFD operation is responsible for creating, refining, and finalizing instrument specifications for all data collection modes—internet, phone, paper, and field enumeration. This is a significant departure from the 2010 Census, which relied on paper for virtually all data collection.
As required by law (Title 13, United States Code) the subjects planned for the 2020 Census were submitted to Congress on March 28, 2017, and the questions planned for the 2020 Census were submitted to Congress on March 29, 2018. The questions proposed for the 2020 Census questionnaire in the March 29, 2018, submission included age, citizenship, Hispanic origin, race, relationship, sex and tenure. On June 27, 2019, the Supreme Court ruled in Department of Commerce v. New York, that the Secretary’s decision to include a citizenship question on the 2020 Census did not meet Administrative Procedure Act standards for reasoned decision-making, and remanded the case to the Department for further action. On July 11, 2019, the President issued an Executive Order that found that the Court’s ruling has made it impossible, as a practical matter, to include a citizenship question in the 2020 Census.
B. Language Services
The Language Services operation provides questionnaires and related materials in non-English materials for respondents of Limited English Proficiency. For the 2020 Census, the internet instrument and Census Questionnaire Assistance will be available in 13 languages: Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Russian, Arabic, Tagalog, Polish, French, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, and Japanese, in addition to English. The bilingual paper questionnaire, enumerator instrument, and field enumeration materials will be available in Spanish. In addition, language guides and language identification cards will be available in the following 59 languages: Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Bengali, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Burmese, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Farsi, French, German, Gujarati, Greek, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Hindi, Hmong, Hungarian, Igbo, Ilocano, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Lithuanian, Malayalam, Marathi, Navajo, Nepali, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, Slovak, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Tigrinya, Turkish, Twi, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, Yiddish, and Yoruba.
Languages were selected using American Community Survey data and definition of a “limited-English-speaking household” to identify the languages used in households where no member 14 years old and over speaks only English or speaks a language other than English at home and speaks English “very well.” More details about this process are available at the following link:
C. Address Canvassing
Address Canvassing, as described above, consists of two major components: In-Office Address Canvassing and In-Field Address Canvassing. In-Office Address Canvassing is the process of using empirical geographic evidence (e.g., imagery, comparison of the Census Bureau’s address list to partner-provided lists) to assess the current address list and make changes where necessary. This component detects and captures areas of change from high-quality administrative records and third-party data. Advancements in technology have enabled continual address and spatial updates to occur throughout the decade as part of the In-Office Address Canvassing effort.
Areas not resolved by In-Office Address Canvassing become the universe of geographic areas potentially worked during In-Field Address Canvassing, where some areas are resolved in other field operations. Only the In-Field component of Address Canvassing involves in-person collection of information from residents at their living quarters. This process and other significant details are described in the Address Canvassing Detailed Operational Plan.
For In-Field Address Canvassing, an extract of addresses from the MAF is created, and this address list is verified and updated in the field, as needed. In addition, living quarters are classified as housing units or group quarters. Group quarters are living quarters where people who are typically unrelated have group living arrangements and frequently are receiving some type of service. College/university student housing and nursing/skilled-nursing facilities are examples of group quarters. Entire households will be enumerated at housing units. Residents of group quarters will be enumerated individually.
The MAF also has geographic data for transitory locations, which include recreational vehicle parks, campgrounds, racetracks, circuses, carnivals, marinas, hotels, and motels. People residing at transitory locations during the census are recorded as living in housing units located at transitory locations.
During In-Field Address Canvassing, listers knock on doors at every structure in the assignment in an attempt to locate living quarters and classify each living quarter as a housing unit, group quarter, or transitory location. If someone answers, the lister will provide a Confidentiality Notice and ask about the address in order to verify or update the information, as appropriate. The listers will then ask if there are any additional living quarters in the structure or on the property. If there are additional living quarters, the listers will collect or update that information, as appropriate. In addition, there will be a check on the quality of the address listing work on approximately 10 percent of the housing unit workload. The QC lister (who must be different from the original person who listed the block) locates and travels to an assignment and compares what is on the ground to the address list. The QC lister will then validate or update the address list as needed until they complete their QC sample, which includes a sample of addresses that were deleted by the original lister. In cases where the QC sample fails, the QC lister will rework the remainder of the block, including all remaining living quarters within the block or basic collection unit. All listing and listing check work is performed on an automated instrument.
The results of Address Canvassing are processed with MAF/TIGER and then used as input into the creation of the census address list for enumeration. This address list, in turn, is used in conjunction with the TEA delineation to determine which materials should be printed for use in the operation(s) designated for each area of the country.
Additional details are provided in the 2020 Census Address Canvassing Detailed Operational Plan.
D. Forms Printing and Distribution
The Forms Printing and Distribution operation prints and distributes paper forms to support the 2020 Census mailing strategy and enumeration of the population. The Forms Printing and Distribution operation is responsible for the printing and distribution of mailed internet invitations, reminder cards or letters, and questionnaire mail packages where materials are mailed, in multiple languages as determined by the Language Services operation. The letters, reminder cards, and questionnaires are delivered according to the mailing contact strategy, which is part of the Internet Self-Response operation (discussed below).
Every address record will be identified by an assigned ID, which will be printed on questionnaires and letters and used for tracking responses. Paper questionnaires and responses from field operations will be linked to the ID in data capture. Internet and telephone respondents will be requested but not required to provide the ID. When an ID is not provided, the response will be considered a Non-ID response. The Non-ID Processing operation is discussed below. Questionnaire data captured through paper data capture of mailed forms, as well as electronic data from internet and telephone responses, will be delivered to the Response Processing operation. The Paper Data Capture and Response Processing operations are described below.
E. Internet Self-Response
The Internet Self-Response (ISR) operation performs the following functions:
Maximize online response to the 2020 Census through contact strategies and improved access for respondents, described below.
Collect response data via the internet to reduce paper and the NRFU universe.
Contact Strategies for Mailing Materials
“Contact strategies for mailing materials” refers to attempts by the Census Bureau to make direct contact with individual households by mail. Types of contact strategies include invitation letters, postcards, and questionnaires mailed to households.
A primary objective of the 2020 Census is for a majority of self-respondents to complete their census questionnaire online. An approach called “Internet First,” in which the first mailing includes an invitation to respond to the census online, has been developed for TEA 1 areas to encourage respondents to use the internet. Subsequent mailings will be reminders to respond to the census online, until all remaining nonresponding households in the Internet First areas receive a paper questionnaire in the fourth mailing. In TEA 1 areas with low internet coverage or connectivity or other characteristics that may make it less likely the respondents will complete the census questionnaire online, the “Internet Choice” contact strategy will be designated for use instead. This strategy includes both an invitation to complete the census online and a paper questionnaire as part of the first mailing. The Census Bureau anticipates that 22 percent of the households in the self-response TEA (1) will receive the Internet Choice treatment.
In summary, the contact strategies for mailing materials in TEA 1 including mailing date are outlined in the table below:
* Targeted only to nonrespondents.
Internet Self-Response Instrument
The internet application and all related support systems are designed to handle the volume of responses that are expected to be received by internet in the 2020 Census. It is imperative that the application and systems service the scale of the operation in order to ensure that users do not experience delays while completing the survey or unavailability of the application. The internet application and other associated systems were developed to adhere to the highest standards of data security in order to ensure that all respondent data are secure and confidential.
Additional details about this operation are provided in the Internet Self-Response Detailed Operational Plan.
F. Census Questionnaire Assistance
The Census Questionnaire Assistance (CQA) operation has three primary functions:
Provide questionnaire assistance by answering questions about specific items on the census questionnaire or other frequently asked questions about the census.
Provide an option for respondents to complete a census interview over the telephone.
Provide outbound calling in support of Coverage Improvement (discussed in the NRFU section below).
Respondents using the internet instrument will have the ability to contact CQA by telephone when web-based self-service help tools cannot answer their questions. Each of the 13 supported languages, including English, will have its own toll-free number for callers. The CQA toll-free numbers will be provided on mailing materials and on a variety of Integrated Partnership and Communications materials. Respondents calling the English and Spanish language lines will initially be presented with a self-service Interactive Voice Response system, offering an assortment of automated responses to frequently asked questions. At any time, respondents may opt to transfer to a customer service representative, who is prepared to further assist and, if desired by the caller, enumerate them. All callers who need assistance in one of the 12 non-English languages will be connected directly to an appropriately skilled customer service representative fluent in the language, based on the toll-free number called.
Additional details about this operation are provided in the Census Questionnaire Assistance Detailed Operational Plan.
G. Update Leave
The Update Leave (UL) operation is designed for areas where the majority of housing units either do not have mail delivered to the physical location of the housing unit or the mail delivery information for the housing unit cannot be verified. Designated during TEA delineation using data present on the MAF/TIGER database, UL can occur in geographic areas that:
Do not have city-style addresses, such as 123 Main Street.
Do not receive mail through city-style addresses, such as when mail is delivered to a post office rather than at housing units.
Receive mail at post office boxes.
Have been affected by major disasters.
The purpose of the UL operation is to update the address and feature data for the area assigned and to leave an Internet Choice questionnaire package at every housing unit identified to allow the household to self-respond. Enumerators do not attempt to enumerate the household in person at this point.
Occupants can respond online, using the ID printed on the questionnaire, or they can fill out and mail back the paper questionnaire. If they have questions or wish to respond on the telephone, they can call the CQA number, which is provided in the package.
The UL operation includes mailing a reminder letter and a reminder postcard to addresses that are capable of receiving mail within the areas designated for UL. These mailed materials include the ID for the given address and the website address for the household to use in order to respond online. As in TEA 1, where all materials are mailed to housing units, any households that do not self-respond will be contacted during the NRFU operation. Finally, the UL operation performs a check on the quality of the address listing work (quality control [QC]) on approximately 10 percent of the production workload. Similarly to Address Canvassing listing QC, UL listing QC is a three-phase process. The first two phases check a sample of each production enumerator’s work, and the third phase is the recanvassing of the entire block or basic collection unit. The third phase is only conducted if one of the previous phases fails. During the first phase, the QC enumerator is given a random location at which to start the QC. The QC enumerator then follows the normal listing rules— list to the right, for example—and updates the address list for each unit they encounter on-the ground. The listing instrument instructs them to stop when the sample size, as specified during sampling, is reached. If the sample passes the first phase, it moves on to the second phase. If the sample fails the first phase, it moves directly to the third phase.
During the second phase (or delete check), the listing instrument instructs the QC enumerator to check a sample of deleted units in the block or basic collection unit, if there are deleted units. If the sample of deleted units is found to have errors, the listing instrument instructs the QC enumerator to conduct the third phase, and to recanvas the entire basic collection unit. If the sample passes the delete check, the QC enumerator is finished with the basic collection unit.
If the QC sample fails to meet data quality standards, the QC enumerator will conduct the third phase and recanvas the entire basic collection unit. Additional details about this operation are provided in the Update Leave Detailed Operational Plan.
H. Update Enumerate
The Update Enumerate (UE) operation is designated for areas where the initial visit requires enumerating at the living quarters while updating the address list. The majority of the operation will occur in remote geographic areas that have unique challenges associated with accessibility. UE can occur in the following geographic areas:
Remote Alaska.
Areas that were a part of the 2010 Census Remote UE operation, such as northern parts of Maine and southeast Alaska.
Select American Indian areas that request to be enumerated in person during the initial visit.
Note that the areas included in the 2010 Census Remote Update Enumerate operation might be delineated into TEA 1 or TEA 6 for the 2020 Census, based on changes in address type or mailability.
In the UE operation, field staff update the address and feature data and enumerate respondents in person. The address and feature data are updated on paper address registers and paper maps. The enumeration is collected on paper questionnaires. Field staff conducting UE follow a specific contact strategy for the remote locations and conduct any needed follow-up. The UE operation will promote the quality of the address work and of the enumeration data by having staff work in pairs and by supervisors reviewing all data collected for completion and any anomalies. Supervisors will rework an area by recollecting geographic and/or enumeration data when necessary to improve the quality of the collected data. Rework is expected on no more than 10 percent of the total workload of cases. Additional details about this operation are provided in the Update Enumerate Detailed Operational Plan.
I. Non-ID Processing
For the 2020 Census, respondents will be encouraged, but not required, to use the Census Bureau’s preassigned ID that was listed on the mailing materials for the living quarters. Within the internet instrument, and, consequently, within CQA, it will be possible for respondents to submit their census response without the preassigned ID. Non-ID Processing is the effort to associate census responses that lack a Census ID with records included on the Census Bureau’s 2020 Census address frame. This processing can occur through automated or clerical procedures. With the ISR instrument collecting the response and address data, it will be possible to perform automated processing to determine whether the address was already included on the address frame and extracted from the MAF. For those Non-ID responses not matched during automated processing, a clerical operation will make a further attempt to match the address to the 2020 Census address frame and validate nonmatching addresses. Some of the clerical work may require contacting the respondent to help determine a match or to verify the existence and location of the address; this is known as Non-ID Processing Phone Followup. Any nonmatching address whose existence and location cannot be verified by the clerical Non-ID operation will become a Field Verification assignment, handled as a component of the NRFU operation. Notably, Field Verification is only an address verification effort and does not include collection of the census questionnaire data.
Additional details about this operation are provided in the Non-ID Processing Detailed Operational Plan.
J. Nonresponse Followup
The NRFU operation serves two primary purposes:
Determines or resolves housing unit status for addresses included in the NRFU workload.
Enumerates housing units that are determined to have a housing unit status of occupied.
The NRFU workload is comprised of addresses from a number of sources, including:
Nonresponding addresses in TEAs 1 and 6.
Blank mail returns or mail returns otherwise deemed to be insufficient.
Addresses identified by the spring 2020 USPS Delivery Sequence File and other special efforts undertaken to identify new housing around the time of the census — New Construction and Housing Unit Count Review; addresses upheld in the Local Update of Census Addresses appeals process; and potentially other addresses determined to require follow-up after the initial enumeration universe is established.
Addresses with a vacant status (reported as 0 occupants) from Internet Self-Response.
Field Verification cases.
Coverage Improvement cases.
Self-Response Quality Assurance cases.
The 2020 Census NRFU operation will be different from the NRFU operation conducted in the 2010 Census. The Census Bureau will implement a NRFU operational design that utilizes a combination of the following:
Automation to facilitate data collection.
Administrative records and third-party data usage to reduce the workload.
Reengineering of staffing and management of field operations.
A best-time-to-contact model to increase the likelihood of making contact attempts when an enumerator will find people at home.
After giving the population in the United States and Puerto Rico an opportunity to self-respond to the 2020 Census, the Census Bureau will use the most cost-effective strategy for contacting and counting people to ensure an accurate count.
During the NRFU operation, enumerators will visit each housing unit designated for follow-up and determine whether the unit exists and then the occupancy status of the unit on April 1, 2020. If the unit exists, they will attempt to complete an interview using an automated application on a smartphone. The devices will use a secure Census Bureau-provided enumeration application solution for conducting the NRFU field data collection. Enumeration data and workload updates will be transmitted between the NRFU instruments and response processing systems on a regular basis. Data will be encrypted at all times, both at rest and in transmission. Various techniques will be used during NRFU to make the data collection as efficient as possible. The number of allowed attempts to contact will be controlled within the automated instrument, and best-time-to-contact modeling will be used in the creation of the daily assignments. Every case in the NRFU workload will initially have a maximum of six unique contact days. (During the Closeout phase of the operation, cases may receive additional attempts, as necessary, to resolve incomplete cases.) After a third attempt to contact a household does not yield a respondent, a case will become proxy-eligible. A proxy is a neighbor, landlord, real estate agent, or other knowledgeable person who can provide information about the unit and the people who live there. An enumerator should attempt three proxies after each noninterview for a proxy-eligible case.
In addition to the initial in-person contact attempt, these addresses will also receive a final mailing that encourages occupants to self-respond to the 2020 Census. If the initial in-person contact attempt is unsuccessful, the Census Bureau will use administrative records for the unit status or as the household response data when it has high-quality administrative records from multiple trusted sources. Undeliverable-As-Addressed information from the USPS will serve as the primary administrative records source for the identification of vacant addresses and addresses that do not exist. Examples of sources of administrative records used to enumerate occupied housing units include IRS Individual Tax Returns, IRS Information Returns, and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Statistics Medicare Enrollment Database.
Addresses will also be removed from the workload throughout the course of the NRFU operation as self-responses continue to be received.
Early NRFU
Early NRFU occurs in areas where there are high concentrations of college students living in off-campus housing who are unlikely to be present during the scheduled dates for regular NRFU. The enumeration procedures for early NRFU are the same as regular NRFU but just conducted at an earlier time to accommodate the schedules of select colleges and universities. Any early NRFU addresses that are unresolved by the start of NRFU will receive additional field attempts during regular NRFU.
NRFU Reinterview
The NRFU Reinterview program will check the quality of the work done by enumerators in NRFU. A sample of approximately 5 percent of NRFU interviews will be selected for verification through NRFU Reinterview. The NRFU Reinterview program involves conducting an independent field reinterview for selected cases to verify that an enumerator conducted the interview and followed procedures. The NRFU Reinterview interviewer/enumerator always attempts to contact the respondent from the original interview, which may be a household member, neighbor, or some other proxy. If the original respondent confirms that he/she was contacted and an enumerator conducted the original interview, the NRFU Reinterview interviewer/enumerator collects roster names and ends the interview. If the respondent was not contacted or does not know if an enumerator conducted the original interview, the NRFU Reinterview interviewer/enumerator conducts a full interview with the respondent.
During the early weeks of NRFU, enumerators will conduct interviews with multiunit structure managers to determine the occupancy status of nonresponding units within the multiunit structure. This Manager Visit (MV) allows enumerators to identify several units as vacants or deletes without having to attempt each unit individually. Enumerators have a maximum of two unique contact days to complete the MV cases. The MV Reinterview program will check the quality of work done by enumerators during the MV and will target MVs with high numbers of vacant and delete unit statuses. During the MV Reinterview, the enumerator will ask to speak to the manager from the original MV interview. If the respondent confirms that he/she was contacted and an enumerator conducted the original interview, the MV Reinterview enumerator asks about a subset of the list checked during the MV. If the respondent was not contacted or does not know if an enumerator conducted the original MV interview, the MV Reinterview enumerator conducts a full interview and asks about the entire list during the MV.
The NRFU universe also includes cases from Non-ID Processing that were not able to be matched to the address frame. As discussed in the Non-ID section, these are Field Verification (FV) cases, where the enumerators attempt to locate the address in question and collect its Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates. A sample of the FV cases is selected for verification through FV QC. Since FV cases only require an enumerator to determine the existence of an address and will not require an interview with a respondent, the FV QC program will consist of an independent check of the production enumerators where the FV QC enumerator will conduct the same procedures as the FV enumerator. FV cases, along with their QC component, have a maximum of one field contact day.
Coverage Improvement resolves categories of erroneous enumerations (people counted in the wrong place or counted more than once) and omissions (people who were missed) identified through collected enumeration data. Coverage Improvement will attempt to resolve these issues from both self-response and NRFU responses. All cases that are selected for Coverage Improvement with a valid phone number will be subject to an interview attempt by a CQA Customer Service Representative. The workload identified for Coverage Improvement will be responses where a household enumeration shows a difference between the answer for the number of people within the household and the number of people enumerated, and answers to coverage questions in the initial enumeration that reflect potential coverage errors. Automation and the internet self-response option should reduce the prevalence of these types of respondent errors as compared to the 2010 Census, which was completed almost entirely on paper questionnaires.
Self-Response Quality Assurance cases are generated as part of the quality assurance efforts for self-response. This re-collection of the enumeration data will also be worked within NRFU.
Additional details about this operation are provided in the Nonresponse Followup Detailed Operational Plan.
K. Group Quarters
The 2020 Census Group Quarters (GQ) operation will enumerate people living or staying in GQs and will provide an opportunity for people experiencing homelessness and receiving service at a service-based location, such as a soup kitchen, to be counted in the census. GQs are assigned different categories or type codes, and field procedures sometimes differ by categories or because of GQ facility privacy concerns. For example, procedures or data collections for colleges may differ from those for prisons or skilled nursing homes.
The 2020 Census GQ operation consists of the following components:
GQ Frame Update.
GQ Advance Contact.
GQ Enumeration.
Service-Based Enumeration.
Military Enumeration.
Maritime Vessel (Shipboard) Enumeration.
GQ Frame Update
The 2020 Census GQ Frame Update program supports the 2020 Census enumeration frame development for the 2020 Census Group Quarters Enumeration. Building from the 2010 Census, the GQ frame incorporates updates from the 2020 Census Local Update of Census Addresses, Address Canvassing, and New Construction operations, as well as the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Local Update of Census Addresses is described in Federal Register Notice “Local Update of Census Addresses Operation,” November 7, 2016, (Vol. 81, No. 215, pp 78109-78110, FR Doc. 2016-26778), while New Construction is described in Federal Register Notice “2020 Census New Construction Program,” October 5, 2018, (Vol. 83, No. 194, pp 50332-50334, FR Doc. 2018-21698). The Address Canvassing operation is part of the 2020 Census package.
In addition, the Count Review operation contributes addresses to the frame in advance of and during the census. This operation does not create burden due to the relationship with the Federal-State Cooperative for Population Estimates representatives under which these updates are provided. It is mentioned in order to provide a complete picture of the frame development and enumeration activities for GQs.
GQ Advance Contact
The GQ Advance Contact has both in-office and in-field activities. The in-office GQ Advance Contact is an area census office activity through which Census Bureau staff call GQs identified in prior frame update phases to collect preferred contact dates, times, and methods of enumeration as well as expected population on Census Day. Census Bureau staff also discuss any special instructions from the GQ or concerns related to privacy, confidentiality, and security. For cases that staff are unable to contact or resolve during the in-office advance contact, field supervisors make an in-field visit to the GQs to collect this data.
GQ Enumeration
The GQ Enumeration will cover all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. An additional late GQ enumeration phase allows for the stakeholder identification and enumeration of group quarters that may have been missed during the earlier time frame. The primary method of conducting in-person enumeration of people residing in group quarters will be by using the Individual Census Questionnaire as the paper data collection instrument. In-person interviewing is planned for all group quarter types that are part of the field enumeration workload. A follow-up to ensure quality of enumerations is conducted. Area census office management staff assign cases selected for reinterview to clerks. The clerks use a reinterview form for each case in their reinterview and telephone each GQ to confirm that the enumerator visited the correct facility at the correct address. The reinterview also determines if the enumerator obtained a population count within a pre-defined acceptable range of the count provided by the GQ contact during the reinterview.
Reinterview responses are then compared to the initial responses. If a response is satisfactory, no further work is required. If a response is unsatisfactory, management will conduct an investigation into the cause. Some outcomes may result in additional data collection. If errors occurred or if falsification by the enumerator occurred, the case may be sent out for rework. Also, if falsification occurred, all cases worked by that enumerator will be reinterviewed.
GQ Enumeration— eResponse Data Transfer
The GQ eResponse leverages electronic data transfers from GQ administrators to the Census Bureau. Client-level data from systems maintained by GQ administrators will be transferred to a standardized Census Bureau secured system that will accept electronically submitted data in a standardized template. These data will be accepted in lieu of use of the Individual Census Questionnaire if data are deemed to be of sufficiently high quality and completeness.
Domestic Violence Shelters
Domestic violence shelters are facilities for those seeking safety from domestic violence. Domestic violence shelters are enumerated using special procedures and specially trained personnel. These special procedures include inviting members of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence state coalitions to participate in the 2020 Census Group Quarters Frame Update Program to create a comprehensive and current address listing for domestic violence shelters. In order to protect the integrity of these locations, it will be necessary to have individuals designated to be the recipient of this information and to personally implement the procedures. Due to the sensitive nature of these places, the Census Bureau has assured the service providers that we will not disclose name, address, or any other type of information about the facility or the persons staying there to anyone other than on a “need to know” basis. These special procedures are designed to protect the safety and security of respondents being enumerated at these locations.
Service-Based Enumeration
The Service-Based Enumeration is specifically designed to approach people using service facilities because they may be missed during the traditional enumeration at housing units and group quarters. These service locations and outdoor locations include the following:
Shelters: shelters with sleeping facilities for people experiencing homelessness; shelters for children who are runaways, neglected, or experiencing homelessness.
Soup kitchens.
Regularly scheduled mobile food vans: stops where regularly scheduled mobile food vans distribute meals.
Targeted non-sheltered outdoor locations.
For the 2020 Census, the Service-Based Enumeration operation will be conducted over the three-day period that ends on April 1, 2020, Census Day. Service providers for shelters, soup kitchens, and regularly scheduled mobile food vans will be given the flexibility for their facility to be enumerated on any one of the three days. Targeted non-sheltered outdoor locations will be enumerated April 1, 2020. Field partnership specialists with local knowledge will help to identify non-sheltered outdoor locations during the time of the census.
Military Enumeration
Military installations are fenced, secured areas used for military purposes that include living quarters such as housing units and group quarters for military, civilian, and non-Department of Defense-affiliated personnel. Residents living in housing units on military installations will have the opportunity to respond to the census through the internet or by mail or telephone (just like residents who do not live on installations). The enumeration methodology at all military GQs (barracks, military treatment facilities with assigned patients, military disciplinary barracks and jails, and military vessels) will be implemented under the GQ operation. Residents living in GQs will be enumerated during the GQ enumeration, using the same set of enumeration options.
Maritime/Military Vessel Enumeration
A maritime vessel is defined as a United States-flagged vessel with people who live or stay aboard for extended periods of time and sail from or to a United States port. A military vessel is defined as a United States Navy or United States Coast Guard vessel assigned to a home port in the United States. Maritime and Military Vessel Enumeration is a mailout-mailback operation to enumerate people who live or stay aboard and will not have any other opportunity to respond in time to be included in the 2020 Census. The response burden for military installations and maritime and military vessels is included in the GQ enumeration count.
L. Enumeration at Transitory Locations
The goal of the 2020 Census Enumeration at Transitory Locations (ETL) operation is to enumerate individuals in occupied units at transitory locations (TLs) who do not have a Usual Home Elsewhere. A TL is a location that is composed of living quarters where people are unlikely to live year-round, due to the transitory/temporary/impermanent nature of these living quarters. Transitory locations include recreational vehicle parks, campgrounds, racetracks, circuses, carnivals, marinas, hotels, and motels.
The 2020 Census ETL operation consists of the following components:
TL Frame Update.
TL Advance Contact.
Enumeration.
TL Frame Update
The 2020 Census TL Frame Update is being implemented to ensure that the 2020 Census enumeration frame is complete and to provide an opportunity for enumeration of people residing at transitory locations. Building from the 2010 Census, the TL frame incorporates updates from the Local Update of Census Addresses, Address Canvassing, and New Construction operations. The design of the program ensures that the 2020 Census enumeration frame is updated by using specialized procedures to update the addresses for the following types of locations:
Carnival, circus, and fair locations.
Hotels and motels.
Carnival and circus research is a telephone solicitation of carnival and circus operators. Scheduled dates and corresponding addresses for shows that will occur during ETL enumeration are collected. In addition, hotel and motel research is a telephone solicitation of hotels/motels to inquire if a hotel or motel has any rooms occupied by people who live or stay there most of the time or if that hotel/motel is used entirely to house people experiencing homelessness.
TL Advance Contact
The TL Advance Contact has both in-office and in-field activities. The in-office TL Advance Contact is an area census office activity in which TLs identified in frame update steps are called on the telephone. Address verification, TL type, number of spaces or units at the TL, and other advance information to support the ETL operation in the field are collected. For cases that staff are unable to contact or resolve during the in-office advance contact, field supervisors make an in-field visit to the GQs to collect this data.
TL Enumeration
The 2020 Census ETL operation will cover all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Enumerators will canvass a TL in one visit to enumerate at occupied transitory units. Respondents at a TL who do not have a usual home elsewhere are counted where they are enumerated in ETL.
M. Paper Data Capture
The Paper Data Capture operation scans and converts data from 2020 Census paper questionnaires. Core sources for the Paper Data Capture operation include housing unit self-response questionnaires mailed back by respondents and Group Quarters Individual Census Reports. The Census Bureau’s in-house Integrated Computer Assisted Data Entry system is used to capture paper responses from questionnaires. Each write-in and checkbox data field is data-captured, and Optical Character Recognition and Optical Mark Recognition are performed. If Key From Image is needed for forms that cannot be processed through Optical Character Recognition or Optical Mark Recognition, staff are presented the image of the page and are able to key, clarify, correct, and add to what was captured. The Census Bureau maintains the data, images of the forms, and the paper forms themselves until confirmation that the data have been correctly captured, at which point the paper forms are sent to destruction while the data and images are retained. The Census Bureau maintains the images for archiving purposes until such time as the National Archiving and Records Administration takes possession of the images for permanent archiving.
Additional details about this operation are provided in the Paper Data Capture Detailed Operational Plan.
N. Response Processing
The Response Processing Operation (RPO) supports the three major components of the 2020 Census: pre-data collection activities, data collection activities, and post-data collection activities. Specifically, the operation supports the following activities:
Pre-data collection
Create and distribute the initial 2020 Census enumeration universe of living quarters.
Assign the specific enumeration strategy for each living quarter based on case status and associated paradata.
Data collection
Create and distribute workload files required for enumeration operations.
Track case enumeration status.
Check for suspicious returns.
Post-data collection
Run post-data collection processing actions in preparation for producing the final 2020 Census results.
Additional details about this operation are provided in the Response Processing Operation Detailed Operational Plan.
O. Redistricting Data Program
The purpose of the 2020 Census Redistricting Data Program (RDP) is to provide to each state the legally-required redistricting data tabulations by the mandated deadline of April 1, 2021. Pursuant to Title 13, U.S.C., Section 141, the Census Bureau has worked with “the officers or public bodies having initial responsibility for the legislative apportionment of each state,” to solicit feedback on the content of the prototype redistricting data file. On March 29, 2019 the Census Bureau published the prototype of the redistricting files based on the test enumeration of Providence County, Rhode Island. With no stakeholders requesting citizenship data on the 2020 Census P.L. 94-171 Redistricting Data File, the Census Bureau will proceed with the prototype file design as the design for the 2020 Census. The citizenship data will still be published, at the block level and prior to the April 1, 2021 deadline. The Census Bureau will also tabulate housing unit counts by occupancy status (occupied or vacant) and provide total population counts for group quarters by group quarters type. For the prototype and for the 2020 Census Redistricting Data Files, the Census Bureau will provide these tabulations for a variety of standard census geographic areas including state, county, place, tract, and tabulation block. If states provide their congressional, legislative, and voting district boundaries through the Redistricting Data Program, the Census Bureau will also provide the tabulations for these areas. Tabulations by congressional, legislative, and voting districts will be available for the 50 states; equivalent tabulations will be available for the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
This program has a separate OMB clearance number. There is more detail about this program in Federal Register Notice “Redistricting Data Program,” July 26, 2018 (Vol. 83, No. 144, pp. 35458-35460. FR Doc No. 2018-15972) and the Redistricting Data Program Detailed Operational Plan.
P. Data Products and Dissemination
The Data Products and Dissemination (DPD) operation performs three primary functions:
Prepare and deliver the 2020 Census apportionment data for the President of the United States to provide to Congress by December 31, 2020.
Tabulate 2020 Census data products for use by the states for redistricting.
Tabulate and disseminate 2020 Census data for use by the public.
The DPD operation produces information required by Public Law to satisfy apportionment and redistricting requirements. Title 13, U.S. Code (U.S.C.) requires that the apportionment population counts be delivered to the Office of the President within nine months of the census date. Apportionment counts are based on the Census Unedited File, the Federally Affiliated Overseas Personnel and Dependents Count File, and a geographic file of state changes. For the 2020 Census, the census date is April 1, 2020, and the President will receive the counts by December 31, 2020.
The DPD operation is also responsible for the production and dissemination of many data products, including national and state summary files, tabulated informational files, and data comparison tables. This includes electronic and printed products that cover population and housing unit tabulations, geographical maps, and products specific to the Island Areas (U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands).
The Center for Enterprise Dissemination Services and Consumer Innovation initiative is responsible for developing enterprise dissemination requirements. DPD is conducting a thorough review of the past product design (cross-tabulations and iterations of characteristics), while also looking to ensure that users can find data after the 2020 Census quickly and easily. The Census Bureau will undertake a thorough analysis of the proposed 2020 Census data products in keeping with our sworn obligation to protect respondents’ data as data stewards under Title 13. Federal Register Notice “Soliciting Feedback from Users on 2020 Census Data Products,” July 19, 2018 (Vol. 83, pp. 34111 - 34112, FR Doc No. 2018-15458) was published with a 60-day comment period. It requested feedback from users on specific tables and geographic detail for decennial census products such as Summary File 1, Summary File 2, and the Demographic Profile. The last day to provide comment on the notice was September 17, 2018. Subsequently, this notice was reopened for an additional 30-day comment period on October 9, 2018 (Vol. 83, p. 50636, FR Doc No. 2018-21837). The last day to provide comments on this notice was November 8, 2018. The final suite of 2020 Census data products is under development.
Additional details about this operation are provided in the Data Products and Dissemination Detailed Operational Plan.
Q. Archiving
The Archiving (ARC) operation performs the following functions:
Coordinate storage of the materials and data and provide records deemed permanent as the official data of the 2020 Census, including files containing the individual responses, as well as names and addresses, to the 2020 Census, to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
Provide similar files to the Census Bureau’s National Processing Center in Indiana to use as source materials to conduct the Age Search Service, which provides, upon request, transcripts of personal data from historical population census records. (OMB Control #0607-0117)
Store data to cover in-house needs.
Additional details about this operation are provided in the Archiving Detailed Operational Plan.
R. Federally Affiliated Count Overseas
The Federally Affiliated Count Overseas operation obtains counts by home state of United States military and federal civilian employees who are stationed or assigned overseas and their dependents living with them. For the 2020 Census, overseas is defined as anywhere outside the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Island Areas: American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands. Counts are submitted from Federal agencies and the Department of Defense (Defense Manpower Data Center) through a Census Bureau secure server and are used to allocate the federally affiliated population living overseas to their home state for the purposes of apportioning seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. If military and federal civilian employees of the U.S. government are deployed overseas while stationed or assigned within the U.S., they are counted at their U.S. residence where they live or sleep most of the time using administrative data provided by Federal agencies and the Department of Defense. See Section K for more info on how we count stateside military personnel.
Residence Criteria and Residence Situations for the 2020 Census are described in Federal Register Notice 83 FR 5525, which has been included with the materials in this package.
S. Island Areas Censuses
The purpose of the Island Areas Censuses (IAC) operation is to enumerate all residents of American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands; process and tabulate the collected data; and disseminate data products to the public. All data collection activities for the IAC will rely on the use of paper questionnaires, paper maps, and paper address registers to record the physical addresses of housing units and group quarters. The IAC questionnaire will leverage the American Community Survey questionnaire with minor wording changes in order to take into account the Island Areas local governments’ concerns, where possible. A supplemental document “2020 Island Areas Census Questionnaire Content” submitted with this package describes the development of the questionnaires. Subsequent to the creation of this document, the Executive Order On Collecting Information About Citizenship Status In Connection with the Decennial Census was produced. As a cautionary matter following litigation in NY v. Commerce, the citizenship question has since been removed from the Island Areas Censuses questionnaires.
Enumerators will list the addresses using paper address registers. Once the addresses have been listed, enumerators will visit every living quarter to conduct interviews with household members and follow up as necessary. The IAC will perform a clerical review of all completed questionnaires for completeness and data consistency, reinterview for a sample of questionnaires, and an independent address check. The response data will be processed through the Decennial Response Processing System. Data products will include counts of the population and housing units, data profiles, subject tables, and supplemental tables. These products will use the same enhanced disclosure avoidance methods that are used in the American Community Survey. These methods differ from the approach currently being rolled out to data users regarding differential privacy for the 2020 Census.
Additional information about the development of the Island Areas Censuses questionnaire is provided as a supplemental document. Additional details about this operation are provided in the Island Areas Censuses Detailed Operational Plan.
T. Evaluations and Experiments
For the 2020 Census, operational assessments, quality profiles, evaluations, and experiments are all produced within the Evaluations and Experiments operation. Operational Assessments are designed to document final volumes, rates, and costs for individual operations or processes using data from production files and activities and information collected from debriefings and lessons learned. They do not include analysis. Operational assessments report out on planned versus actual variances as it relates to budget, schedule, and workloads (production and training), and on meeting performance success criteria. Depending on the operation, they may include frequency distributions and standard demographic or address tables. Quality profiles are designed to provide the results from the quality assurance program for an operation. No additional data collection is required for the purpose of creating the operational assessments or the quality profiles. They are described here for the purpose of providing the complete scope of the Evaluations and Experiments operation.
The evaluations and experiments performed during a census represent the initial plans for updating and improving the subsequent census. While testing continues throughout the decade, certain aspects can only be tested within a decennial census environment, as public awareness of the census and of the responsibility to respond is often a key factor of the test. Evaluations are designed to analyze, interpret, and synthesize the effectiveness and efficiencies of census components and their impact on data quality and coverage using data collected from census operations, processes, systems, and auxiliary data collections. Experiments provide quantitative or qualitative results for tests that occur during a decennial census. Since they occur in an environment of optimal census awareness, results simulate more closely what experimental treatments would yield in a full production application. Experiments inform planning of future decennial censuses, so 2020 Census experiments will focus on planning toward a 2030 Census.
The evaluations and experiments for the 2020 Census are described either as a revision to this package, to the Census Bureau’s Post-Enumeration Survey Independent Listing OMB package (OMB approval #0607-1009), within the Generic Clearance for Questionnaire Pretesting Research (#0607-0725), or within the Generic Clearance for Census Bureau Field Tests and Evaluations, covered under OMB approval #0607-0971. For the purposes of fully defining the Evaluations and Experiments operation, specific assessments, evaluations, and experiments planned for the 2020 Census are documented in the table below. The evaluations and experiments included in other OMB approval packages are shown in italics and noted in the footnotes to the table.
2020 Census Operational Assessments |
|
Archiving Operational Assessment |
|
Census Questionnaire Assistance Operational Assessment |
|
Content and Forms Design Operational Assessment |
|
Coverage Improvement Operational Assessment |
|
Count Question Resolution Operational Assessment |
|
Decennial Logistics Management - Logistics Management Support Operational Assessment |
|
Decennial Logistics Management - Space Acquisition and Lease Management Operational Assessment |
|
Decennial Service Center Operational Assessment |
|
Demographic Analysis Operational Assessment |
|
Enumeration at Transitory Locations Advance Contact Operational Assessment |
|
Enumeration at Transitory Locations Operational Assessment |
|
Evaluations and Experiments Operational Assessment |
|
Federally Affiliated Count Overseas Operational Assessment |
|
Field Infrastructure – Field Office Administration and Payroll Operational Assessment |
|
Field Infrastructure – Recruiting, Onboarding, and Training Operational Assessment |
|
Forms Printing and Distribution Operational Assessment |
|
Geographic Partnership Programs Operational Assessment |
|
Group Quarters Advance Contact Assessment Report |
|
Group Quarters Enumeration and Military Enumerations Assessment |
|
In-Field Address Canvassing Operational Assessment |
|
In-Office Address Canvassing Operational Assessment |
|
Internet Self-Response Operational Assessment |
|
Integrated Partnership and Communications Contract Assessment |
|
Integrated Partnership and Communications Operational Assessment |
|
Island Areas Censuses Operational Assessment |
|
Item Nonresponse Rates Assessment Study |
|
Language Services Operational Assessment |
|
Local Update of Census Addresses Operational Assessment |
|
Maritime Vessel Enumeration Report |
|
New Construction Operational Assessment |
|
Non-ID Operational Assessment |
|
Nonresponse Followup Operational Assessment |
|
Paper Data Capture Operational Assessment |
|
Post-Enumeration Survey Sampling and Estimation Operational Assessment |
|
Post-Enumeration Survey Field Operations Initial Listing and Initial Housing Unit Followup Operational Assessment |
|
Post-Enumeration Survey Field Operations Person Interview and Person Followup Operational Assessment |
|
Post-Enumeration Survey Field Operations Final Housing Unit Followup Operational Assessment |
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Post-Enumeration Survey Matching Initial Housing Unit Matching Operational Assessment |
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Post-Enumeration Survey Matching Person Matching Operational Assessment |
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Post-Enumeration Survey Matching Final Housing Unit Matching Operational Assessment |
|
Redistricting Data Program Operational Assessment |
|
Research to Support the Integrated Partnership and Communications Program |
|
Response Processing Operational Assessment |
|
Response Rates Assessment Study |
|
Self-Response Quality Assurance Operational Assessment |
|
Service-Based Enumeration Assessment Report |
|
Systems and Applications in the 2020 Census (Security, Privacy, and Confidentiality) |
|
Update Enumerate Operational Assessment |
|
Update Leave Operational Assessment |
|
2020 Census Quality Control |
|
Quality Control Study Plan for Listing Operations |
|
Quality Control Study Plan for Enumeration Operations |
|
Address Canvassing QC Results |
|
Update Leave QC Results |
|
Nonresponse Followup QC Results |
|
Person Interview QC Results |
|
Independent Listing QC Results |
|
2020 Census Evaluations and Experiments |
Additional Data Collected |
Evaluations |
|
Reengineered Address Canvassing
|
Salted and suppressed addresses within Address Canvassing: same burden because listers should delete incorrect addresses and add missing addresses. |
Administrative Record Dual-System Estimation
Determine whether dual system estimates could be generated without conducting an independent post-enumeration survey, using Administrative Records. |
None |
Evaluating Privacy and Confidentiality Concerns of Complete and Partial Respondents by Mode2
Capture respondents’ concerns about privacy and confidentiality during the census, particularly with respect to the internet response option. |
NA |
The Undercount of Young Children: A Qualitative Evaluation of Census Materials and Operations2,3
Conduct focus groups and cognitive interviews to identify where existing roster questions and procedures are failing and how to improve them. |
NA |
Research on Hard to Count Populations: Non-English Speakers and Complex Household Residents, including Undercount of Children Research2
Assess NRFU interviews in areas associated with potential undercoverage and non-English speaking households. |
NA |
Analysis of Census Internet Self-Response Paradata by Language
Examine 2020 Census web paradata and assess by language. |
None |
Group Quarters Advance Contact: Refining Classification of College or University Student Housing
Explore whether refined classification used in 2020 Census results in more accurately identifying privately owned college housing. |
None |
Experiments |
|
Extending the Census Environment to the Mailing Materials
Test effect on self-response rates of wearable, nonmonetary mailing inserts that promote 2020 Census as well as mailing materials that incorporate elements and images developed by the 2020 Census communications campaign. In addition, testing the use of an every door direct mail piece. |
None |
Optimization of Self-Response in the 2020 Census Experiment
Evaluate impacts of the mailing strategy and the influence of the internet response option by 1) mailing a sample of housing units a modified version of 2010 Census materials with no promotion of the internet response option, 2) switching the planned mail contact strategy between internet choice and internet first for another sample of housing units. In addition, to test the effectiveness of communications and partnership activities, test not mailing any census materials to a sample of households. |
None |
Real-Time 2020 Census Administrative Record Census Simulation
Compare person-level, housing unit-level, and hybrid approaches to conducting an administrative record census. |
None |
2020 Census Post-Enumeration Survey Independent Listing Operation (OMB approval #0607-1009)
Generic Clearance for Census Bureau Field Tests and Evaluations (OMB approval #0607-0971)
Generic Clearance for Questionnaire Pretesting Research (OMB approval #0607-0725)
2. Needs and Uses
The decennial census is mandated by Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. Title 13, United States Code (U.S.C), Section 141 directs the Secretary to take a decennial census of population and housing, determining its form and content, and further authorizes the collection of such other census information in relation to the decennial census, as necessary. These authorities are delegated to the Director of the Census Bureau under Department of Commerce Organization Order 35-2A. The Census Bureau is required to conduct the 2020 Census to collect the person and housing data that will be used for reapportionment, redistricting, and various statistical data products, under Title 13, U.S.C. Additionally, the Census Bureau is authorized under Title 13, Section 193 to conduct surveys and collect information before, during, and after the decennial census to assist in the conduct of the decennial census.
Information Quality
Information quality is an integral part of the predissemination review of the data collected and released by the Census Bureau (fully described in the Census Bureau’s Information Quality Guidelines at https://www.census.gov/about/policies/quality/guidelines.html). Information quality is also integral to the data collections conducted by the Census Bureau and is incorporated into the clearance process, and this document, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act.
3. Use of Information Technology
As described in the operation sections above, the 2020 Census will use Information Technology and automation in a wide variety of ways throughout data collection operations, particularly in data collection and in management of field operations.
The In-Field Address Canvassing operation is fully automated. In addition, the In-Office Address Canvassing used electronic imagery and other software for updating the MAF/TIGER system and identifying the areas where In-Field Address Canvassing was needed. Additional computerized files and IT processes, such as the Geographic Update Partnership Software, were used for updating the MAF/TIGER system through geographic partnerships, as well as data from the United States Postal Service.
The enumeration phase of the 2020 Census will use the internet, telephone centers, and data collection software residing on electronic devices to interact with respondents. In the 2010 Census, enumeration was almost entirely on paper. Callers to the 2010 Census Telephone Questionnaire Assistance could be enumerated over the phone if they requested to be. Respondents in TEAs 1 and 6 will initially have the option to respond to this census using the internet on various devices (e.g. computers, tablets, smartphones), by mailed paper questionnaires, or on the telephone through CQA. In addition, the NRFU operation will be performed with enumerators using an automated application on a smartphone.
The 2020 Census is heavily dependent on specific information technology systems to administer and manage training, manage workloads, route field workers, alert supervisors of potential problems, create management reports, and process responses.
4. Efforts to Identify Duplication
The collection of decennial census data is mandated by Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution and Title 13, U.S. Code, Section 141. No other organization performs this specific activity. The decennial census is the only source of the data used for reapportionment and redistricting. There is no program, operation, or activity that duplicates the scope and uses of decennial census data, as laid out in Section 2, Needs and Uses.
The Census Bureau also performs a Post-Enumeration Survey to measure the coverage of the census. The Post-Enumeration Survey for the 2020 Census will be conducted to provide estimates of census net coverage error and components of census coverage (such as correct enumerations, omissions, and erroneous enumerations, including duplicates) for housing units and people living in housing units to improve future censuses. As in the past, the Post-Enumeration Survey operations and activities must be conducted separate from and independent of the other 2020 Census operations. Approval for the Post-Enumeration Survey is covered in three OMB packages separate from the 2020 Census documentation.
5. Minimizing Burden
Burden within Address Canvassing is minimized through the use of In-Office Address Canvassing, thereby reducing the workload for In-Field Address Canvassing, and thus the collection of new information from respondents.
Burden within enumeration operations is minimized by asking only questions that are required, by testing the questions and the questionnaire design prior to their implementation in the census, and by using automation whenever possible to improve data collection and response processing efficiency.
The collection of data is only for households and individuals and should have no effect on small businesses.
6. Consequences of Less Frequent Collection
Frequency cannot be decreased, as the 2020 Census is a legally mandated data collection activity that must occur every 10 years.
7. Special Circumstances
No special circumstances exist.
8. Consultations Outside the Agency
In developing the design of this census, the Census Bureau consulted with a variety of stakeholders, including, but not limited to, academics, national researchers, community and organizational leaders, the Congress (particularly through its authorizing and appropriations committees), and the Census Bureau’s advisory committees, in particular, the National Advisory Committee and the Census Scientific Advisory Committee. In addition, external consultants from the National Academy of Sciences provided regular feedback that contributed to research objectives and the ultimate design plans. Between December 2012 and February 2019, the Census Bureau held quarterly Program Management Reviews to provide updates on the status of operations and programs. These were attended by members of oversight organizations and the National Academy of Sciences. The programs were also streamed live on the internet to allow maximum exposure and awareness of plans by all stakeholders for the 2020 Census.
Findings and recommendations from over a dozen audits each, covering a variety of operations and program management activities, by the Government Accountability Office and the Department of Commerce’s Office of Inspector General were also factored into planning.
The notice for public comment, titled, “2020 Census,” was published in the Federal Register June 8, 2018 (Vol. 83, No. 111, pp. 26643-26653, FR Doc No. 2018-12365).
The Census Bureau received 147,831 documents with comments. Some comments were received through multiple means, and thus were duplicates. Some comments represented multiple organizations, respondents, or signers. In addition, some organizations joined in different configurations to submit different sets of comments related to the areas of interest to the organizations. In addition, some commenters had comments on multiple topics. There was a total of 148,443 comments. Totals shown reflect only received comments within documents, not the number of signers or organizations.
Of the total number of comments, 137,695 were related to the reinstatement of the citizenship question; 136,216 comments expressed opposition the question, 238 comments were less specific but were presumed to oppose the citizenship question, and 1,241 were for or presumed to favor the citizenship question. The Census Bureau response to these comments follows:
While the Census Bureau appreciated the comments on the decision to reinstate the citizenship question to the decennial census, the citizenship question is no longer included on the 2020 Census questionnaire.
Other comments and responses are provided or summarized in a separate document that is included with the request to OMB.
The Federal Register Notice that accompanied the OMB submission for the Enumeration operations revision (Vol. 84, No. 30, pp. 3748-3757, FR Doc No: 2019-02223) resulted in 23,785 comments, of which 23,766 were related in whole or in part to the citizenship question, which is addressed above. Most other comments were on similar topics to those for which the response was provided with the request to OMB. Two comments were not addressed in prior responses. The first comment expressed concern over the reduction of roster space on the 2020 Census [paper] questionnaire. In the 2010 Census, the census questionnaire provided space for the enumeration of 12 people. The 2020 Census roster provides room for 10 people. The Census Bureau response is that roster space is limited only on paper forms used in the Self-Response and Update Leave areas. Households with more than 10 people can avail themselves of responding by telephone or internet (or wait for a NRFU interviewer), if they need to address this concern.
The second comment was a request for clarification of whether and when partially completed responses would be accepted. The Census Bureau response is:
We encourage everyone to answer the census truthfully, providing as much information as they have on everyone living at their address. As in past censuses, the Census Bureau has criteria for determining whether a response has sufficient information to be included in the census. These criteria are sensitive and cannot be revealed to the public or even other Census Bureau employees who do not have an operational need to know.
The Federal Notice that accompanied the OMB submission for the Evaluations and Experiments revision received four comments related to content in the 2020 Census Evaluations and Experiments revision. They are summarized as follows:
One commenter requested more comprehensive details on the planned use of Administrative Records. The Census Bureau will publish a document with these details. This commenter also requested additional information about the planned use of administrative records for the Redistricting Data Program for Citizen Voting Age Population files regarding the July 11, 2019 Executive Order 13880 - On Collecting Information About Citizenship Status In Connection With The Decennial Census. Legal matters are outside of the scope of this approval process.
The American Civil Liberties Union had nearly identical comments to the set of comments just described.
The Leadership Conference requested additional information about the TEA changes that were described in the revision. These updates were a program update reflecting ongoing work and frame refinement. The Census Bureau is providing more information in response to the questions in the interest of achieving greater transparency.
The Update Enumerate universe was initially estimated to be 500,000 housing units since all American Indian Areas were eligible to be included at their request, and outside Alaska or Maine, this was the only way these areas could be designated for Update Enumerate. For early planning purposes, it was preferable to prepare for the largest possible Update Enumerate universe. However, very few American Indian Areas elected to be included in Update Enumerate, hence the considerable difference in the workloads. The counts for these areas were not finalized until the summer of 2018 and not updated in the published Life Cycle Cost Estimate until June 2019.
There were two contributing factors to the significant reduction in the Update Leave (UL) universe:
The largest impact on the estimated UL workload was the change in criteria in the automated delineation process that assigned a proposed type of enumeration. The Census Bureau uses addresses that the USPS has in their inventory. However, some of them represent second homes, short-term rentals, or other situations where the owner or resident does not choose to receive mail, rather than residences with permanent occupants. In such cases, an attempted mailing will result in just as much information provided from the USPS as a visit in UL would. Trying to mail to these address should increase efficiency and minimize unnecessary use of fieldwork. Therefore, the criteria for the algorithm used for type of enumeration assignment was modified from that used in the initial TEA assignment, and many areas previously assigned to UL were moved to Self-Response, in which invitations to respond to the 2020 Census will be mailed to the address instead of hand-delivered by field staff.
Secondly, the final component of the production TEA assignment work was an interactive process performed by Census Bureau staff. During this effort, some "smoothing" of areas occurred to remove isolated UL-designated areas from the workload due to field operational efficiencies, and further identify seasonal areas that were not flagged during the automated processing to determine type of enumeration.
Decision memo for Military TEA is at the following link and will be included in the package: Military Area Enumeration
Additionally, the Leadership Conference asked about the change in the predicted count of enumerations to be completed with Administrative Records. The number 7.9 million is the Census Bureau’s estimate of administrative record occupied addresses that we will identify for reduced contacts. We estimate about 1.7 million would be enumerated during the first visit and the remaining 6.2 million would be enumerated through administrative records. The original text is from a published Department of Commerce document. We felt it best to provide an updated description.
The Leadership Conference also suggested additional work for the Evaluations and Experiments Program. The Leadership Conference recommended a larger evaluation program in general, as well as particular additional evaluations, including on race and ethnicity questions, the Integrated Partnership and Communications operation and hard-to-count populations, and of the recently-added Mobile Questionnaire Assistance. The Census Bureau’s response is:
The initial baselined scope of the 2020 Census Program for Evaluations and Experiments (CPEX) was driven by some guiding principles that were used by the Decennial Research Objectives and Methods (DROM) working group to formulate the research program. Those guiding principles were designed to narrow the focus of the 2020 CPEX to eliminate any undue impact on the critical systems that were already undergoing development and testing for the 2020 Census. In particular, the DROM working group made the decision to prioritize IT systems development for peak enumeration operations over development for CPEX. However, the DROM working group continues to assess additional evaluation proposals for inclusion in the 2020 CPEX, and the program has grown from what was approved at the time of the publication of this revision. In particular, numerous evaluations were added to the scope primarily associated with the Undercount of Young Children and the 2020 Integrated Partnership and Communications campaign. The Census Bureau feels that the scope of the 2020 CPEX is well-defined and sufficient to provide invaluable inputs into the design and objectives of the 2030 Census research and testing program.
The Census Bureau will not conduct any additional content testing for race and ethnicity as part of the 2020 Census CPEX program. Following the 2020 Census, pending resources and the availability of funding, Census Bureau experts will evaluate 2020 Census race and ethnicity data and consult with advisors, other federal experts, and stakeholders on potential new areas for future research. In addition, the Census Bureau plans for some 2020 Census operational assessments to include standard demographic tables that will provide various operational metrics by race and ethnicity. These metrics will also inform any future research on race and ethnicity data collection.
An assessment for Mobile Questionnaire Assistance has recently been added. This new program is a subcomponent of the Internet Self-Response operation. There are now seven evaluations of the Integrated Partnership and Communications campaign, in addition to the three assessments initially planned and described in the prior Notice. These will be described in the upcoming Program Updates revision to the 2020 Census OMB documentation.
The Leadership Conference also asked about the Citizen Voting Age Population files and the Redistricting Data Program.
9. Paying Respondents
Respondents to the 2020 Census will not receive any form of compensation for their participation.
10. Assurance of Confidentiality
The Census Bureau will conduct the 2020 Census under the authority of Title 13 United States Code, Sections 141, 191, and 193. All respondents who participate in the 2020 Census will be informed that the information they provide is confidential under that law and that the same law makes participation mandatory. All collected information that identifies individuals will be held in strict confidence under the provisions of Title 13 United States Code, Sections 9 and 214.
The following appears on the Confidentiality Notice that is provided to all households:
The U.S. Census Bureau is required by law to protect this information (Title 13, U.S. Code, Section 9). The Census Bureau is not permitted to publicly release your responses in a way that could identify anyone. We are conducting the 2020 Census under the authority of Title 13, U.S. Code, Sections 141, 193, 221 and 223. By law, the Census Bureau can only use responses to produce statistics. Per the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015, data are protected from cybersecurity risks through screening of the systems that transmit data.
Title 13 of the U.S. Code protects the confidentiality of all this information. Violating the confidentiality of a respondent is a federal crime with serious penalties, including a federal prison sentence of up to five years, a fine of up to $250,000, or both. Only authorized individuals have access to the stored data, and the information provided to the Census Bureau may only be used by a restricted number of authorized individuals who are sworn for life to protect the confidentiality of individual responses.
For more information about how we protect this information, please visit our Web site at census.gov and click on "Data Protection and Privacy Policy" at the bottom of the home page. This page also includes information about the collection, storage, and use of these records. Click on "System of Records Notices (SORN)" and look for Privacy Act System of Records Notice COMMERCE/CENSUS-5, Decennial Census Program.
11. Justification for Sensitive Questions
The questions in the 2020 Census include age, Hispanic origin, race, relationship, sex, and tenure. A number of these questions could be considered sensitive by some people.
The Census Bureau collects racial and ethnic data in accordance with the 1997 OMB standards on race and ethnicity. Information on race and Hispanic origin is required for many federal programs and is critical in making policy decisions, particularly for civil rights. States use these data to meet legislative redistricting principles. Racial and ethnic statistics are used in planning and evaluating government programs and policies to ensure they fairly serve the needs of each community and to monitor against discrimination in these programs and in society. Race and Hispanic origin data are also used to promote equal employment opportunities and to assess racial and ethnic disparities in health and environmental risks.
The Census Bureau collects relationship data, the relationship of each person in a household to the householder, in order to produce data about families, households, and other groups, and to present other data at a household level. Expanded relationship categories are designed to produce accurate data about households, including coupled households. Relationship data are used in planning and funding government programs that provide funds or services for families, people living or raising children alone, grandparents living with grandchildren, or other households that qualify for additional assistance.
12. Estimate of Hour Burden
The table below consolidates all planned data collection operations and suboperations for an estimate of the total number of respondents, the estimated time for response, and the total burden hour estimate for each specific data collection. The total burden requested for the 2020 Census is the sum of the individual burden hour estimates. This table includes the information known at the time of submission of this document and will be updated in future revisions and updates to account for updated figures that result from continued testing outcomes and other program updates.
2020 Census |
|||
Operation or Category |
Estimated Number of Respondents |
Estimated Time per Response (in minutes) |
Total Burden Hours |
Address Canvassing |
15,786,734 |
5 |
1,315,561 |
Address Canvassing Listing QC |
1,578,673 |
5 |
131,556 |
Address Canvassing Subtotal |
17,365,407 |
|
1,447,117 |
Geographic Areas Focused on Self-Response (this includes Mailout and Update Leave) |
|||
Internet/Telephone/Paper |
87,774,467 |
10 |
14,629,078 |
Optimization of Self-Response Experiment |
118,541 |
10 |
19,757 |
Extending the Decennial Census Environment to the Mailing Materials |
172,992 |
10 |
28,832 |
Update Leave |
6,600,000 |
5 |
550,000 |
Update Leave QC |
660,000 |
5 |
55,000 |
Nonresponse Followup |
62,934,000 |
10 |
10,489,000 |
Nonresponse Followup Reinterview |
3,146,700 |
5 |
262,225 |
Self-Response Quality Assurance |
250,000 |
10 |
41,667 |
Field Verification |
400,000 |
2 |
13,333 |
Field Verification QC |
40,000 |
2 |
1,333 |
Coverage Improvement |
3,200,000 |
7 |
373,333 |
Non-ID Processing Phone Followup |
750,000 |
5 |
62,500 |
Self-Response Areas Subtotal |
166,046,700 |
|
26,526,058 |
Geographic Area Focused on Update Enumerate (including Remote Alaska) |
|||
Update Enumerate Production |
35,000 |
12 |
7,000 |
Update Enumerate Listing QC |
3,500 |
5 |
292 |
Update Enumerate Reinterview |
1,750 |
10 |
292 |
Update Enumerate Subtotal |
40,250 |
|
7,584 |
Group Quarters |
|||
Domestic Violence Shelter address collection |
57 |
20 |
19 |
GQ Advance Contact (facility) |
297,000 |
10 |
49,500 |
GQ Enumeration – eResponse (facility) |
14,300 |
20 |
4,767 |
GQ Enumeration – person contact |
8,000,000 |
5 |
666,667 |
Service-Based Enumeration |
800,000 |
5 |
66,667 |
Group Quarters QC |
8,500 |
5 |
708 |
Domestic Violence Shelter Enumeration |
0* |
|
0 |
Military Enumeration |
0* |
|
0 |
Maritime and Military Vessel Enumeration |
0* |
|
0 |
Group Quarters Subtotal |
9,119,857 |
|
788,328 |
Carnivals/Circuses address collection |
450 |
10 |
75 |
Hotels/Motels address collection |
55,000 |
10 |
9,167 |
Enumeration at Transitory Locations – Advance Contact |
50,000 |
10 |
8,333 |
Enumeration at Transitory Locations – Units |
600,000 |
10 |
100,000 |
Federally Affiliated Count Overseas |
82 |
5 |
7 |
Island Areas Censuses – Housing Units |
138,281 |
40 |
92,187 |
Island Areas Censuses – Group Quarters |
10,291 |
30 |
5,146 |
Totals |
193,426,318 |
|
28,984,002 |
* Included in GQ Enumeration total
13. Estimate of Cost Burden to Respondents
There are no costs to respondents other than their time to participate in this data collection.
14. Cost to Federal Government
The life-cycle cost of this collection for FY 2012 through 2023 is covered under the requested budgets for the 2020 Census based on the 2019 update of the 2020 Census Life-cycle Cost Estimate, and is estimated to be $15.6 billion. This amount includes conducting, planning, managing, and supporting this collection, which includes the activities space acquisition, field infrastructure and equipment, recruiting and hiring processes, postage, and print contracts (“other objects”). This estimate also includes salaries for field workers, data capture processing staff, and the staff in headquarters providing program management and/or systems engineering and integration support. This cost estimate also includes all testing completed prior to the 2020 Census and 2020 Census data product creation.
15. Reason for Change Burden
The increase in burden is attributable to the information collection being submitted as a revision to an approved collection. Program updates have resulted in additions to the scope and scale of activities.
16. Project Schedule
Activity/Milestone |
Date/Range* |
Address Canvassing |
8/4/19 – 10/4/19 |
Address Canvassing Listing QC |
8/25/19 – 10/11/19 |
Remote Alaska |
1/21/20 – 4/30/20 |
Mailings |
3/12/20 – 4/20/20 |
Internet Self-Response |
3/12/20 – 7/31/20 |
Census Questionnaire Assistance |
3/12/20 – 7/31/20 |
Non-ID Processing |
3/12/20 – 8/27/20 |
Update Leave |
3/16/20 – 4/17/20 |
Update Enumerate |
3/16/20 – 4/30/20 |
Remote Alaska |
1/21/20 – 4/30/20 |
NRFU |
4/9/20 – 7/24/20 |
Nonresponse Followup Reinterview |
4/10/20 – 7/31/20 |
Self-Response Quality Assurance |
4/9/20 – 7/24/20 |
Field Verification |
5/13/20 – 7/24/20 |
Coverage Improvement |
4/7/20 – 7/31/20 |
Non-ID Processing Phone Followup |
3/12/20 – 7/31/20 |
Group Quarters |
2/3/20 – 7/24/20 |
Domestic Violence Shelter address collection /GQ Update Program |
6/3/19 – 6/30/19 |
GQ/TL Advance Contact in Remote Alaska |
1/13/20 – 2/25/20 |
GQ Advance Contact (facility) |
2/3/20 – 3/6/20 |
GQ Service-Based Enumeration |
3/30/20 – 4/1/20 |
GQ Enumeration – eResponse (facility) |
4/2/20 – 7/25/20 |
GQ Enumeration – person contact |
4/2/20 – 6/5/20 |
Carnivals/circuses address collection |
1/1/20 – 2/28/20 |
Hotels/motels address collection |
11/1/19 – 12/31/19 |
Enumeration at Transitory Locations Advance Contact and Enumeration at Transitory Locations |
2/24/20 – 5/4/20 |
Federally Affiliated Count Overseas |
1/13/20 – 11/5/20 |
Island Areas Censuses |
3/18/20 – 6/7/20 |
* Includes training and QC activities, unless shown separately
17. Request to Not Display Expiration Date
No exemption is requested.
18. Exceptions to the Certification
There are no exceptions to the certification.
Appendix A – Documents Included in the 2020 Census Package
Supporting Statement A (this document)
Supporting Statement B
2020 Census Materials List
2020 Census 60-Day Federal Register Notice
Comments received on 60-Day Federal Register Notice – all comments posted on regulations.gov
Responses to Comments Received about Address Canvassing on the 2020 Census 60-Day Federal Register Notice
Responses to Comments Received about the 2020 Census Enumeration operations on the 2020 Census 60-Day Federal Register Notice
Summary of Comments Received on the 2020 Census Federal Register Notice
2020 Census 30-Day Federal Register Notice – Address Canvassing
2020 Census 30-Day Federal Register Notice – Enumeration operations
2020 Census Address Canvassing 83-I
2020 Census Enumeration 83-I
2020 Census Address Canvassing Paperwork Reduction Act Executive Summary Form
2020 Census Enumeration Paperwork Reduction Act Executive Summary Form
2020 Census Operational Plan v4.0
Island Areas Censuses Questionnaire Content
Questions Planned for the 2020 Census and American Community Survey
Residence Criteria Federal Register Notice
CBAMS Focus Group Final Report
CBAMS Survey Report
Memo to OMB about Special Enumerations
Appendix B – 2020 Census Operations
Appendix
C
The Operational Plan and all Detailed Operational Plans are available at the following link:
Specific links:
The 2020 Census Operational Plan, v4.0
Detailed Operational Plans for the 2020 Census that have been or will soon be published under the 2020 Census Memorandum Series are:
Address Canvassing (Memo 2018.12) <ADC DOP, v2.0, May 9, 2018>
Archiving (Memo 2018.19) <ARC DOP, v1.0, October 16, 2018>
Census Questionnaire Assistance (Memo 2018.05) <CQA DOP, v2.0, February 7, 2018>
Content and Forms Design (Memo 2016.12) <CFD DOP, v1.0, September 7, 2016>
Coverage Measurement Design and Estimation (TBD)
Coverage Measurement Field Operations (TBD)
Coverage Measurement Matching (TBD)
Count Question Resolution (TBD)
Count Review Operation (Memo 2019.17) <CRO DOP, v1.0, July 26, 2019>
Data Products and Dissemination (Memo 2019.07) <DPD DOP, v1.0, January 10, 2019>
Decennial Service Center (Memo 2018.11) <DSC DOP, v1.0, April 27, 2018>
Enumeration at Transitory Locations (Memo 2018.18) <ETL DOP, v1.0, September 10, 2018>
Evaluations and Experiments (Memo 2019.23) <EAE DOP, v1.0, September 19, 2019>
Federally Affiliated Count Overseas <FACO DOP, v1.0, May 30, 2019>
Field Infrastructure and Decennial Logistics Management (Memo 2019.08) <FLDI_DLM DOP, v2.0, February 11, 2019>
Forms Printing and Distribution (TBD)
Geographic Programs, Geographic Data Processing Component (Memo 2016.18) <GP GDP DOP, v1.0, September 13, 2016>
Geographic Programs, Geographic Delineations Component (Memo 2019.05) <GP GD DOP, v2.0, December 31, 2018>
Geographic Programs, Geographic Partnership Programs Component (Memo 2016.20) <GP GP DOP, v1.0, September 9, 2016>
Group Quarters (Memo 2017.18) <GQ DOP, v1.0, September 29, 2017>
Integrated Partnership and Communications (Memo 2016.17) <IPC DOP, v1.0, September 22, 2016>
Internet Self-Response (Memo 2018.17) <ISR DOP, v1.0, August 22, 2018
Island Areas Censuses (Memo 2019.24) <IAC DOP, v1.0, October 2, 2019>
IT Infrastructure (Memo 2017.10) <ITIN DOP, v1.0, May 24, 2017>
Language Services (Memo 2016.11) <LNG DOP, v1.0, September 1, 2016>
Local Update of Census Addresses (Memo 2018.21) <LUCA DOP, v2.0, November 21, 2018>
Non-ID Processing (Memo 2018.15) <NID DOP, v2.0, June 25, 2018>
Nonresponse Followup (Memo 2019.16) <NRFU DOP, v2.0, July 18, 2019>
Paper Data Capture (Memo 2017.13) <PDC DOP, v1.0, March 30, 2017>
Redistricting Data Program (Memo 2018.09) <RDP DOP, v2.0, April 6, 2018>
Response Processing (Memo 2019.26) <RPO DOP, v2.0, November 25, 2019>
Security, Privacy, and Confidentiality (Memo 2017.12) <SPC DOP, v1.0, June 6, 2017>
Update Enumerate (Memo 2018.20) <UE DOP, v1.0, November 16, 2018>
Update Leave (Memo 2018.14) <UL DOP, v1.0, June 25, 2018>
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Title | 2020 Census Part A_EAE |
| Author | Robin A Pennington (CENSUS/DCMD FED) |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-15 |
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