NSC_PES PIPFU Sample Size and Schedule Change November 2020

OMB Nonsubstantive Change Request

Department: Commerce

Agency: U.S. Census Bureau

Title: 2020 Census Post-Enumeration Survey Person Interview and Person Followup

OMB Control Number: 0607-1011

Expiration Date: 01/31/2023

Request: As in previous censuses, the Post-Enumeration Survey (PES) for the 2020

Census will be conducted to provide estimates of census net coverage and components of census coverage for housing units and people living in housing units. The independent roster of housing units is obtained during the PES Independent Listing (IL) operation, while the independent roster of people is obtained during the PES Person Interview (PI) operation. The PES PI operation will collect specific information for people in housing units. The PES PI Reinterview is a quality control operation that will be conducted on about 15 percent of the PES PI cases. The purpose of the PES PI Reinterview is to confirm that the PES PI interviewer conducted a PES PI with a household member or a proxy respondent and to conduct the complete PES PI as needed if the original interview seems questionable. This nonsubstantive change is to request a sample size increase and schedule changes to the approved information collection for the 2020 Census PES PI field operation.

The Census Bureau is proposing to change the sample size and data collection schedule for the PES PI operation from what was previously stated in the Federal Register on June 5, 2019 (Vol. 84, No. 108, p. 26067). By PES design, a sample of census units that are missed during the PES IL operation are also included in the PI sample sent to PES PI operation. However, the actual number of census units missed by PES IL was slightly higher than estimated, thus resulting in a slight increase to the final PI sample. Including these census units in the PI sample will help confirm the reasons for the increase in census units.

A sample of 196,113 housing units will be selected for the PES PI operation, instead of approximately 190,000. The PES PI Reinterview operation will contain approximately 29,500 housing units instead of approximately 28,500. Changes to the sample are shown in the table below.

Table: Burden Change by Operation Phase

Operation	Original Estimated number of housing units	Revised Estimated number of housing units	Estimated time per response (in minutes)	Original Total burden hours	Revised Total burden hours
Person Interview	190,000	196,113	15	47,500	49,028
Person Interview Reinterview	28,500	29,500	15	7,125	7,375
Total	218,500	225,613		54,625	56,403

As noted in the Federal Register on June 5, 2019 (Vol. 84, No. 108, p. 26067), the PES PI and PI Reinterview operations were to occur June 2020 through September 2020. However due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Census Bureau announced the PES PI and PI Reinterview operations would occur September 2020 through December 2020. (News release is available here: https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2020/2020-additional-operations.html.) Now as a result of the increase in PI sample and impacts from the coronavirus pandemic, the new dates are September 2020 through January 2021. The PES PI and PI Reinterview operations are experiencing difficulty hiring and staff attrition due to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as lockdowns and travel restrictions in areas throughout the country due to surges in coronavirus cases. Thus, more time is needed to complete PES PI and PI Reinterview operations.

There are no substantive changes to the program resulting from these proposed changes. The only changes are increasing the sample size and extending the schedule.

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