1. Supporting Statement A-FINAL 9.13.21

Supporting Statement A:
2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts
Introduction
This request is for clearance of the 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA) to be
conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau in July 2022 as a supplement to the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s
Current Population Survey (CPS). The SPPA is the field’s premiere cross-sectional survey of individuals’
attendance and involvement in arts and cultural activity. The data are circulated to interested
researchers, and they are the basis for a range of NEA reports and independent research publications.
The SPPA provides primary knowledge on the extent and nature of participation in the arts in the United
States. Earlier SPPA surveys were conducted in 1982, 1985, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2008, 2012, and 2017, all
of which were conducted by the Census Bureau except the 1997 study, which was conducted by a
private contractor, Westat Inc.
A. Justification
A.1. Necessity of Information Collection
The NEA, pursuant to its mandate “to support projects and productions that will encourage public
knowledge, education, understanding and appreciation of the arts” (USC2O, Section 954 (5)) and “to
develop and implement a practical system of national information and data collection and public
dissemination on the arts and their audiences, including trends in audience participation” (USC 20,
Section 954 (q)), has entered into an interagency agreement with the Census Bureau to conduct the
SPPA. The Census Bureau is authorized to collect data under Title 13, United States Code, Section 182
(see Attachment A).
As a national survey, the SPPA will serve as a sound base from which to make estimates of participation
rates in the various arts and cultural activities addressed by this study. The SPPA data provide
information on the characteristics of the population participating in the arts through various means,
including attendance at live performances or consuming arts programing accessed through web
streaming, recordings, or TV or radio broadcasts.
A.2. Needs and Uses of the Data
The 2022 SPPA will provide measures of participation in the arts and other cultural activities from a
nationally representative sample of adults ages 18 and older. The information to be collected from
adults includes attendance at live arts events, engagement in the arts through media, creation and
performance of art, and adults’ current and past experiences learning about art or arts-related skills.
Since access to the arts is a major agency goal, measuring the wide range of possible ways the American
public can participate in the arts is of critical importance.
The sample design is such that, in addition to the capability of making national estimates, it will also be
possible to generate estimates for sub-regions of the nation and for approximately 32 individual states
and 11 large metropolitan areas. Thus, researchers, policymakers and arts administrators are able to
study the patterns of participation across various population subgroups and to look for correlates of
participation in artistic and other cultural activities at the national, regional, state, and local levels. The
data from this study will better enable policymakers and arts administrators to make essential decisions

based on such things as the size and characteristics of the current audiences for arts and current
populations actively creating or learning art in 2022.
The 2022 SPPA will be the ninth such study spanning more than three decades, which allows for ongoing
assessment of the arts activities beginning with the 1982 SPPA and continuing through the 1985, 1992,
1997, 2002, 2008, 2012, and 2017 SPPA surveys. These data allow policymakers, researchers and arts
administrators to assess how the nature of adults’ participation in the arts has changed over time. Data
from previous SPPA surveys have been widely used by policymakers and scholars because of their
unique scope and statistical precision. A listing of published research notes and reports based on SPPA
data is provided in the appendix (see Attachment B).
A.3. Use of Information Technology
The supplemental questions are designed to obtain the required information while keeping respondent
burden to a minimum. The proposed items and interviewer procedures were developed over years of
consultation with the Census Bureau, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and other
government agencies. The use of computer-assisted personal and telephone interviewing is deemed the
most appropriate collection methodology.
A.4. Efforts to Identify Duplication
A few other surveys ask questions regarding participation in the arts. One is the American Time Use
Survey (ATUS), which includes questions about arts participation, but it is designed to capture how
people spend their time on an average day. Because many forms of arts participation are done
infrequently, the ATUS is not a great substitute for the SPPA given its limitation to a typical day. The Arts
Basic Survey asks a subset of questions included in the SPPA and, begun in 2013, is fielded in years
between when the SPPA. No other survey provides a comparable level of detail on the American public’s
participation in the arts, has as large a sample size, or obtains as high a response rate as the SPPA. Only
the SPPA can produce reliable and detailed estimates of the arts and leisure participation activities of
the U.S. adult population with breakouts for demographic and geographic subgroups.
A.5. Minimizing Burden in Small Businesses or Small Entities
Not applicable. The collection of public participation in the arts information does not involve small
businesses or other small entities.

A.6. Consequences of Less Frequent Data Collection
The goal of NEA is to conduct the SPPA once every five years to roughly coincide with the Economic
Census, which provides complementary data to the SPPA, specifically on the number of arts
organizations (dance companies, symphonies, operas, etc.) and their associated revenue.
The SPPA also supplements data on the arts economy collected through the Arts and Cultural
Production Satellite Account (ACPSA), produced by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis in partnership
with NEA.
A.7. Special Circumstances
There are no special circumstances that apply to the 2022 SPPA.
A.8. Public Comment and Consultations Outside the Agency
A notice was published in the Federal Register on June 16, 2021, to solicit comments on the 20 SPPA
prior to submission of this OMB clearance request. (A copy of this notice is in Attachment G.) One public
comment was received in response to this notice. The second Federal Register notice was published on
September 14, 2021. (A copy of this notice is in Attachment H.)
To inform the development of the 2022 SPPA, NEA worked with the Census Bureau’s CPS survey director
and staff from the Bureau’s Center for Behavioral Science Methods. The SPPA questions progressed
from a series of virtual meetings with NEA and Census staff. Further, the Census Bureau tested the
proposed questions in two separate rounds of cognitive testing, approved by OMB through a separate
OMB clearance request from Census.
The 2022 questionnaire maintains many of the valued “trend” questions asked in 2017 and prior years in
the first core module (Core 1). A second core (Core 2) of questions approaches arts participation from a
different perspective, and also investigates the venues and places where people attend arts, as well as
how they heard about performances. Half of the SPPA respondents will receive questions from Core 1 of
the survey, while the other half will be asked questions from Core 2.
After answering questions from either core section of the survey, one-half of the 2022 SPPA
respondents will be randomly selected for questions about accessing the arts through web streaming,
recordings, or TV or radio broadcasts (Module A). This module will also ask respondents if they have
shared or posted information about the arts.
Also following responses from either Core 1 or 2 of survey, half of the respondents will be randomly
assigned to a module of questions about their personal performance or creation of art, including
whether they play a musical instrument, perform or practice singing, take photographs as an artistic
activity, or do creative writing (Module B).
The remaining two sections of the survey investigate participation in leisure activities (Module C) and in
lifetime experiences with art learning (Module D). Assignment in either of these two modules will be
randomly rotated following responses to either Module A or Module B.

A.9. Paying Respondents
The Census Bureau does not make any payments or provide any gifts to individuals participating in the
CPS.
A.10. Assurance of Confidentiality
The Census Bureau will collect the supplement data in compliance with the Privacy Act of 1974 and the
OMB Circular A-130. Each sample household receives an advance letter approximately one week before
the start of the initial CPS interview (see Attachment C). The letter includes the information required by
the Privacy Act of 1974, explains the voluntary nature of the survey, and states the estimated time
required for participating in the survey. Interviewers must ask if the respondent received the letter and,
if not, provide a copy and allow the respondent sufficient time to read the contents. Also, interviewers
provide households with a confidentiality brochure, which further states the confidentiality assurances
associated with this data collection effort and the Census Bureau’s past performance in assuring
confidentiality (see Attachment D). All information given by respondents to Census Bureau employees is
held in strict confidence under Title 13, United States Code, Section 9. Each Census Bureau employee
has taken an oath to that effect and is subject to a jail penalty or substantial fine if he/she discloses any
information given to him or her. The confidentiality brochure also explains the Census Bureau’s use of
passwords, firewalls, encryption, and other technological safeguards to protect respondent information.
A.11. Questions of a Sensitive Nature
The 2022 SPPA does not include any questions of a sensitive nature.
A.12. Estimate of Hour Burden
The estimated respondent burden is 6,000 hours for fiscal year (FY) 2022. This is based on an average
10-minute interview for each of the 36,000 persons age 18 years and older in the supplement universe.
This estimate was based on the time required to answer similar questions in past SPPA Supplements.
The actual respondent burden is dependent upon the size of the household and the characteristics of its
occupants. In some households two supplement questionnaires will be asked.
A.13. Estimate of Cost Burden
There are no costs to respondents other than that of their time to respond.
A.14. Cost to Federal Government
The estimated cost to the government of the SPPA Supplement is $860,000 which will be borne by the
NEA. The CPS program is anticipated to cost $88 million in FY 2021. Those costs are borne by the Census
Bureau, the BLS, and other government agencies.
A. 15 Reasons for Program Changes
The 2022 SPPA is a new data collection, based on previous SPPA collections, that will provide data for
comparison with prior SPPA surveys.

A.16. Project Schedule
Main data collection will occur in July 2022, since the 2022 SPPA will be a supplement to the July 2022
CPS. Processing of this supplement will commence in August 2022. The public use file is expected to be
released in the spring of 2023. A summary report from NEA is planned for the fall of 2023.
A.17. Request to Not Display Expiration Date
We do not wish to display the assigned expiration date of the information collection. The CPS requires
two OMB control numbers and two expiration dates because the survey consists of two parts: the basic
questionnaire and a supplemental questionnaire, which differs from month to month. The OMB control
number and expiration date for conducting the Basic CPS are included in the survey’s advance letter
(Attachment C). To avoid confusion, the expiration date of the supplemental questionnaire is not
included in the letter.
A.18. Exceptions to the Certification
There are no exceptions to the certification.