NSC_HH Pulse Survey_Request Letter to OMB

December 22, 2020

TO:

Desk Officer for the U.S. Census Bureau
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs/OMB

FROM:

Victoria Velkoff, Associate Director for Demographic Programs
Digitally signed by Victoria
U.S. Census Bureau
Velkoff

Victoria Velkoff Date: 2020.12.21 17:12:00 -05'00'

SUBJECT:

Non-Substantive Change Request for the Household Pulse Survey, Phase 3

On October 31, 2020, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) provided clearance to the
Census Bureau to conduct Phase 3 of the Household Pulse Survey (OMB No. 0607-1013,
expiration 10/31/2023). A condition of that clearance was that the Census Bureau would
continue the survey using the Phase 2 instrument through December, 2020, and then take a hiatus
in data collection to evaluate the questionnaire content. During the hiatus, the Census Bureau
would work with the other Federal agencies who have contributed content to the questionnaire
(and other agencies wishing to add new content) to ensure that the Household Pulse Survey
continued to produce relevant and meaningful data given the ongoing circumstances of the
pandemic. The Census Bureau anticipated a break of approximately two months to determine
what changes were needed to the instrument; what content should be eliminated and/or added to
maximize data utility in these rapidly changing circumstances; conduct pretesting, if needed; and
submit an Information Collection Request (ICR) revision through formal channels for OMB
review and approval.
Given current information about the trajectory of the pandemic, however, it may be imprudent to
take the hiatus as planned at the end of December, 2020. Doing so would mean that Household
Pulse Survey would not be collecting data in the months of January or February, 2021 when the
pandemic is still in an acute stage – and when the data produced by the Household Pulse
continues to be useful to the public in understanding how American households are faring during
this period.
The Census Bureau therefore requests approval to continue administering the current Phase 3
instrument through January and February, 2021. While the survey continues, the Census Bureau
will proceed with the efforts requested by OMB as part of the October 31, 2020 clearance.

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Specifically, the Census Bureau will evaluate the continued utility of items on the Phase 3
instrument as described above. Further, it will execute a thorough non-response bias analysis to
supplement the Source & Accuracy Statements that accompany each bi-weekly data release (a
current example of which is included in Attachment A). This non-response bias work will further
the Census Bureau’s commitment to transparency in helping data users understanding the quality
and limitations of the Household Pulse Survey.
Additionally, we propose adding a brief series of questions to the Phase 3 instrument as soon as
possible regarding individuals’ intention to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. Given that time is of
the essence for these items, we request approval to include them immediately, effective the data
collection period starting January 6, 2021. To maintain balance with regard to the estimated
burden to the public, we would remove questions from the current survey for which we find
utility has declined over time. The Intent to Vaccinate questions proposed for inclusion, along
with the questionnaire items proposed for removal are included in Attachment B.
Finally, we note here that there will be a brief break in Household Pulse Survey data collection
from December 21, 2020 – January 6, 2021. This break is necessary to facilitate acquisition of
additional SMS texting capacity. The Census Bureau experimented with the use of texting for the
first time on the Household Pulse Survey and we currently observe that more than 60% of the
response has been elicited through SMS. Given this positive effect on response, we consider it
prudent to take this break and restart the survey with the ability to continue texting.
The Census Bureau appreciates OMB’s consideration of these changes and believes they are in
the best interests of the public at this time. We would be happy to address any questions or
concerns associated with this request.

Attachments
Attachment A: Source & Accuracy Statement for Data Collection Period November 25 –
December 7, 2020
Attachment B: Proposed Intent to Vaccinate Questions / Current Survey Questions Proposed for
Deletion