OMB Memo

Generic Information Collection Request

Cognitive Testing of the 2023 National Survey of Children’s Health

Longitudinal Cohort Mail Materials

Request: The U.S. Census Bureau plans to conduct additional research under the generic clearance for questionnaire pretesting research (OMB number 0607-0725). We propose to conduct cognitive interviews to pretest proposed mail materials for the National Survey of Children’s Health Longitudinal Cohort (NSCH-LC). We are seeking approval for this project.

Background: The National Survey of Children’s Health Longitudinal Cohort (NSCH-LC), is a new survey that will be conducted by the Census Bureau and sponsored by the Maternal and Children’s Health Bureau (MCHB) of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The NSCH-LC will be conducted using self-administered paper and web modes. The survey will follow up with households who completed the annual NSCH during the 2018 and 2019 survey cycles. The reference child from when the survey was conducted in 2018/2019 will be selected again to be the focus of the topical questionnaire. The Census Bureau’s Demographic Statistical Methods Division (DSMD) Survey Methodology (SM) team developed and tested content for the questionnaires in a recently completed project.

The SM team is currently developing survey mail materials (letters and reminder postcards) that will be sent to sampled households, inviting them to participate in the NSCH-LC. The next step is to conduct cognitive interviews to evaluate how well the mail materials work and to identify any ways they may be improved.

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to interview adults from the general U.S. population who have a child or children within the age ranges covered by the NSCH-LC (ages 4-22). The research will assess their understanding of and preferences for the way that information appears within the proposed survey mail materials. In the cognitive interviews, we will assess the clarity and potential effectiveness of the information in the materials and identify any issues with comprehension or interpretation, with the goal of producing materials that are understood as intended and compelling to potential sample members. The results of the cognitive interviews will influence decisions about final content and wording of mail materials to be used with sampled addresses for the upcoming 2023 NSCH-LC survey data collection.

Population of Interest: Participants will be screened during the study recruitment effort to ensure they have a child within the target age ranges of the survey and to meet any other criteria of interest. This will allow testing of the materials with participants who represent the population of the survey sample.

Language: The interviews will be conducted in English.

Timeline: Cognitive interviews are planned from March 2023 through June 2023.

Project scope: The cognitive testing of the proposed NSCH-LC mail materials will be carried out according to the milestone schedule described in Table 1.

Table 1. Estimated Project Schedule

Activity	Dates
OMB request submitted for cognitive interviewing	2/06/23
OMB clearance received for cognitive interviewing	3/06/23
Recruiting (Ongoing)	3/08/23 – 5/30/23
Conduct cognitive interviews	3/13/23 – 5/30/23
Data analysis – preliminary results	6/13/23
Deliver final content recommendations	6/29/23
Deliver report	7/21/23

Below is a list of materials to be used in this research.

1. Letter 1 - NSCH-LC-E1

2. Letter 1 (Screener Card Version) - NSCH-LC-AC

3. Letter 2 - NSCH-LC-P1

4. Letter 3 - NSCH-LC-E2

5. Letter 4 - NSCH-LC-E3

6. Letter 5 - NSCH-LC-E4

7. FAQs

General Protocol: While it may be preferable to conduct cognitive interviews in person, due to COVID-19 restrictions, DSMD will conduct this research remotely, via Microsoft Teams. Teams is a Census Bureau approved platform and allows for secure video conferencing capabilities and screen-sharing to maximize both the respondent and interviewer experience. The interviews will be conducted in accordance with guidelines and policies outlined in the internal Census Bureau policy memo Use of Microsoft Teams for Conducting Title 13 Qualitative Research Remotely.

At the start of the interview, the participant will electronically sign an online consent form in a Qualtrics instrument that references the OMB approval for the study, the confidentiality of the session, the voluntary nature of the study, and acknowledges that the session will be recorded.

Once the consent form has been signed, any participant questions will be answered, and recording will begin. The participant will then see the mail materials within the Qualtrics instrument. The researcher will walk the participant through the materials using a think aloud technique, asking the participant to verbally express their thoughts to allow researchers to gain insight into how they interpret and respond to the materials they are presented with. The cognitive interviewer will administer both concurrent and retrospective probes to gain a full understanding of respondent perceptions of specific elements of the materials.

Sample: Up to 30 participants will be interviewed over two rounds (up to 15 per round) throughout the U.S.

Recruitment: We will use a multi-pronged strategy to recruit participants, such as Census Bureau broadcast messages, posting ads on internet and social media platforms (i.e., Facebook) parenting group pages, and using personal networks. While not intended to be nationally representative, an attempt will be made to recruit participants with varying demographic characteristics (e.g., sex, education, age, race, ethnicity and SES).

Use of Incentive: Due to the length and complexity of the task, we will offer an incentive of $50 per participant. Many among the target population (those with children in the age ranges of interest to the study) are notably busy with childcare related responsibilities, facing unprecedented challenges and disruptions because of the ongoing pandemic. The incentive value is intended to compensate them sufficiently to motivate them to participate and pay for any childcare arrangements needed to do so.

Length of interview: Based on experience with similar pretesting efforts, it will require approximately 3 minutes for potential participants to complete the online cognitive interviewing screener questionnaire. We estimate up to 100 screener completions to result in 30 participants. Therefore, total recruitment burden is 5 hours. We estimate it will take 1 hour per participant to complete the cognitive interview. For 30 participants, the estimated burden for the interviews is therefore 30 hours, bringing the total burden to no more than 35 hours with recruitment.

The contact person for questions regarding data collection and statistical aspects of the design of this research is listed below:

M. Christopher Stringer

Demographic Statistical Methods Division

U.S. Census Bureau

Washington, D.C. 20233

[email protected]

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