[Federal Register: August 17, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 158)]
[Notices]
[Page 48371-48372]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17au05-46]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Census Bureau
2006 Census Test Coverage Followup Operation
ACTION: Proposed collection; comment request.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort
to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public
and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on
proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C.
3506(c)(2)(A)).
DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before October 17,
2005.
ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Diana Hynek, Departmental
Paperwork Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 6625, 14th
and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet
at DHynek@doc.gov).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or
copies of the information collection instrument(s) and instructions
should be directed to Frank Vitrano, U.S. Census Bureau, Building 2,
Room 2012, Washington, DC 20233-9200, 301-763-3961.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
Improving coverage, or how well the Census Bureau counts people and
housing units in the census, is one of the major goals for the 2010
Census. The U.S. Census Bureau has designed a series of tests intended
to examine new methods for improving overall coverage of the population
and housing. Favorable results will be implemented in the 2010
Decennial Census Program. In preparation for the 2010 Census, the
Census Bureau has conducted two previous operations designed to
evaluate the effectiveness of new procedures for improving coverage and
reducing duplication. These coverage measurement operations are the
2004 Census Test Coverage Research Followup (OMB Approval Number 0607-
0910) and the 2005 National Census Test Coverage Followup (OMB Approval
Number 0607-0916.)
The 2006 Census Test is part of the cycle of tests leading up to
the 2010 Census. Like other tests, the primary goals of this test are
designed to evaluate new methods and systems intended to improve
accuracy, provide more timely and relevant data, reduce risks, and/or
contain costs. In support of these goals, the 2006 Coverage Followup
(CFU) operation is designed to study a method to improve coverage that
collects additional information from households that might have
coverage problems. This includes households where persons might have
been counted more than once (e.g., students who are counted at their
parents' home but also counted where they reside while they are
attending school) and persons who might not have been included in the
household count (e.g., newborn babies or roommates). This operation
also will contact large households (those with more than six persons
listed on their mail-back questionnaires) in order to ensure that
everyone is included in the census. Another category of households that
we will attempt to contact are those that contain persons identified
through the StARS database (an administrative records database built
from six national level data files) but who were not included on the
appropriate census questionnaire. Finally, this operation will include
households where the count of persons does not equal the number of
persons for which census data were provided during enumeration
II. Method of Collection
The 2006 Census Test CFU operation will be conducted in selected
locations in Travis County, Texas and the Cheyenne River Reservation
and Off Reservation Trust Land, South Dakota in two phases: telephone
and personal visit.
The telephone operation will be conducted April 21, 2006, through
August 31, 2006, with an expected workload of approximately 25,000
housing units in Travis County and approximately 400 housing units in
the Cheyenne River Reservation. During this operation, the CFU
interviewers will attempt to contact, via telephone, a portion of the
households that fall within the CFU sample that provided a telephone
number on the questionnaire. The followup interviews will be conducted
by U.S. Census Bureau staff at two of the U.S. Census Bureau's
telephone call centers, located in Jeffersonville, IN and Tucson, AZ.
These interviews will be conducted by computer-assisted telephone
interviewing (CATI). The CATI instrument will be in English, or in
Spanish for those respondents who wish to report their information in
the Spanish language. We expect an approximately 60% response rate for
the telephone operation. Nonrespondents during this operation will be
sent for personal visit followup.
The personal visit operation will be conducted July 21, 2006,
through August 31, 2006, with an expected workload of approximately
28,000 housing units in Travis County and approximately 400 housing
units in the Cheyenne River Reservation, including those nonrespondents
from the telephone operation. During this operation, enumerators will
attempt to enumerate respondents using a paper questionnaire. We expect
an approximately 90% response rate for the personal visit operation.
The purpose of the CFU telephone and personal visit contact is to
identify those persons who may have been counted in more than one
household or erroneously excluded from any household. The items
included in the 2006 CFU questionnaire are probes that are intended to
indicate whether
[[Page 48372]]
respondents understood and properly applied the residence rules
instructions on the 2006 Census Test questionnaire.
III. Data
OMB Number: Not available.
Form Number:
Type of Review: Regular.
Affected Public: Individuals or households.
Estimated Number of Respondents: Approximately 53,800 housing
units.
Estimated Time Per Response: The personal visit operation and the
telephone operation will each require approximately 10 minutes for
response.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: Approximately 8,967 hours for
the total CFU workload.
Estimated Total Annual Cost: There is no cost to respondents except
for their time to respond.
Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
Legal Authority: Title 13 of the United States Code, Sections 141
and 193.
IV. Request for Comments
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information;
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of
automated collection techniques or other forms of information
technology.
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information
collection; they also will become a matter of public record.
Dated: August 11, 2005.
Madeleine Clayton,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 05-16250 Filed 8-16-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P