Supporting Statement A

Supporting Statement A: Arts Basic Survey
Introduction
This request is for clearance to conduct the 2025 Arts Basic Survey (ABS) (formally titled Annual Arts
Benchmarking Survey, and Annual Arts Basic Survey). This survey will be conducted by the U.S. Census
Bureau as a supplement to the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s Current Population Survey. The ABS will be
conducted in February 2025 and serves as a supplement when the National Endowment for the Arts’
(NEA) Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA) is not conducted. To date, the ABS was
conducted six times from 2013 to 2020. One of the strengths of the ABS is that it will complement and
supplement the information collected in the SPPA. The SPPA is the field’s premiere repeated crosssectional survey of individual attendance and involvement in arts and cultural activities, and is conducted
approximately every five years. The ABS is much shorter than the SPPA, consisting of 12 to 14 questions
per module that will be used to track arts participation over time.
As with the SPPA, the ABS data will be circulated to interested researchers and will be the basis for a
range of NEA reports and independent research publications. Reports on these data will be made publicly
available on the NEA’s website1 or NEA-designated websites. The ABS will provide primary knowledge
on the extent and nature of participation in the arts in the United States.
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 U.S. Census Bureau to conduct the
Arts Basic Survey (ABS). The U.S. Census Bureau is authorized to collect data under Title 13, United
States Code, Section 182 (see Attachment A).
As a national survey, the ABS will serve as a sound basis on which to make regular estimates of
participation rates in the various art forms asked on the survey. National data from the ABS, along with
the SPPA, has appeared regularly in the Social Indicators chapter of the Analytical Perspectives, Budget
of the United States Government. The ABS data will also provide information on the characteristics of the
population participating in the arts. In addition, the ABS gathers information on the characteristics of
adults who do not participate in the arts. The ABS will provide trend data that will help policymakers and
arts administrators make decisions using reliable and recent information.
A.2. Needs and Uses of the Data
The ABS will provide measures of participation in the arts from a nationally representative sample of
adults ages 18 and older. The information to be collected from adults include attendance at live arts
events, participation in the arts through performing or creating art, reading, and art museums or galleries.
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.

1

https://arts.gov/artistic-fields/research

The sample design is such that, in addition to the capability of making national estimates, it will be
possible to generate estimates for subregions of the nation and for approximately 32 individual states and
11 large metropolitan areas. Thus, policymakers and arts administrators at the national, regional, state,
and local levels will be able to study the patterns of participation across various population subgroups and
to look for correlates of participation in artistic and other cultural activities. The data from this study will
better enable arts administrators to make essential policy decisions based on such things as the size and
characteristics of current audiences. Publications based on this data will be available to the public on the
NEA’s website or NEA-designated websites, where studies on the SPPA data can also be found.2 This
includes the Agency’s National Arts Statistics and Evidence-based Reporting Center.3
The ABS is a study that complements the ongoing assessment of the arts activities that began with the
1982 SPPA and was followed with the 1985, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2008, 2012, 2017, and 2022 SPPA
surveys. The first six years of the ABS were conducted in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2020.
Previously, odd years focused on arts attendance and arts learning, and even years focused on arts
creation and performance. These data allow arts administrators to assess how the demand for the arts
changes over time, and how the nature of adults’ participation in the arts changes over time.
Data from previous SPPA surveys have been widely used by policymakers and scholars because of their
unique scope and statistical precision. The estimates from the ABS will help users of SPPA data assess
whether changes in the SPPA participation estimates are more likely a short-term phenomenon (based, for
instance, on the economy or a major current event) or a long-term shift in participation. This is
particularly crucial as the most recent 2022 SPPA reflected substantial shifts due to the ongoing COVID19 pandemic.
A.3. Use of Information Technology
The ABS 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 U.S. 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
Preexisting surveys, such as the General Social Survey (sponsored by the National Science Foundation),
periodically include a handful of arts participation questions. However, there is no existing nationally
representative survey outside of the ABS and SPPA that allows for tracking of public participation in the
arts on a regular basis and for analysis by 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 ABS at least once between years that the SPPA is conducted in order
to enable policymakers and arts administrators to make decisions using reliable and recent information.
2
3

https://arts.gov/artistic-fields/research
https://www.arts.gov/impact/research/NASERC

A.7. Special Circumstances
There are no special circumstances that apply to the ABS.
A.8. Public Comment and Consultations Outside the Agency
A notice was published in the Federal Register (Document #2024-14996) on July 9, 2024 to solicit
comments on the benchmarking survey prior to submission of this OMB clearance request. (A copy of
this notice is in Attachment B.) The second Federal Register Notice was published on September 16,
2024 (Document #2024-20996). (A copy of this notice is in Attachment C.)
The ABS questions are essentially from the SPPA questionnaire and were selected by a team internal to
the NEA. The SPPA questionnaire was developed by extensive advisory panels of academicians and users
of national arts data. The ABS survey instruments are included in the appendix (Attachment D). Half of
the respondents will receive Form 1, which includes questions on arts creation, performance, and
learning, and the other half will receipt Form 2, which includes questions on arts attendance.
A.9. Paying Respondents
The Census does not make any payments or provide any gifts to individuals participating in the CPS.
A.10. Assurance of Confidentiality
The U.S. 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 E). 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 the pamphlet The U.S. Census Bureau Respects Your Privacy and
Protects Your Personal Information (Attachment F) and Fact Sheet for the Current Population Survey
(Attachment G), which further states the confidentiality assurances associated with this data collection
effort and the U.S. Census Bureau’s past performance in assuring confidentiality).
All information given by respondents to U.S. Census Bureau employees is held in strict confidence under
Title 13, United States Code, Section 9 (see Attachment A). Every U.S. Census Bureau employee has
taken an oath to that effect and is subject to a jail penalty and/or substantial fine if they disclose any
information given to them.
A.11. Questions of a Sensitive Nature
The ABS does not include any questions of a sensitive nature.
A.12. Estimate of Hour Burden
The estimated respondent burden is 1,000 hours. Due to the methodology requirements for the
supplement questions, approximately 24,000 persons are actually interviewed for the supplement. With
each person interview, on average, being two and a half minutes long, this amounts to an hour burden of
1,000 hours for these questions.

The estimated total annual respondent cost burden based on these hours is $31,380. For individuals, the
wage rate is $31.38 per hour based on hourly earnings for employees as reported by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
12A. Estimated Annualized Burden Hours

Type of
Respondent
CPS
Household
Respondent

Expected
Number of
Respondents[1]

Number of
Responses per
Respondent

Average Burden per
Response
(in hours)

Total Burden
Hours

24,000

1

.04167

1,000

12B. Estimated Annualized Burden Costs

Type of
Respondent
Household Respondent

Total Burden
Hours

Total

Hourly
Wage Rate

1,000
1,000

$31.38

Total Respondent
Costs
(rounded to nearest
dollar)
$31,380
$31,380

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 supplement on public participation in the arts is $390,000 in
FY 2024, which will be borne by the NEA. The estimated cost to the government is expected to be $93
million in FY 2024 for the full CPS data collection program. Those costs are borne by the U.S. Census
Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and other government agencies.
A.15. Reasons for Program Changes
This information collection does not represent any program change.
A.16. Project Schedule
Previous ABS instruments from FY 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2020 serve as the basis for the
2025 survey. The finalized survey modules and instructions were delivered to the U.S. Census Bureau in
September 2024. Main data collection for the ABS is expected to occur in February of 2025, as a
supplement to the February 2025 CPS. Processing of this supplement will begin following data collection.
The public use files as well as summary reports are expected to be released in the following year after
data collection.
A.17. Request to Not Display Expiration Date

The NEA does 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 differ 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 E). 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.