[Federal Register: May 16, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 94)]
[Notices]               
[Page 28300-28301]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr16my06-40]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

 
Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    DOC has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
clearance the following proposal for collection of information under 
the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35).
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
    Title: Census Coverage Measurement, Person Followup Interview and 
Person Followup Reinterview Operations.
    Form Number(s): DD-1301, DD-1302.2(PFU-RI).
    Agency Approval Number: None.
    Type of Request: New collection.
    Burden: 807 hours.
    Number of Respondents: 2,420.
    Avg Hours per Response: 20 minutes.
    Needs and Uses: In preparation for the 2010 Census, the U.S. Census 
Bureau requests authorization from the Office of Management and Budget 
to conduct the Person Followup (PFU) Interview and the Person Followup 
Reinterview (PFURI) as part of the 2006 Census Coverage Measurement 
(CCM) test. The CCM test, which includes the CCM Person Interview (PI), 
PI Reinterview, person matching, PFU and PFURI operations, is to occur 
during the 2006 Census Test to evaluate new approaches that would 
improve measures of coverage error for persons. The 2006 CCM test will 
occur in Travis County, Texas; and on the Cheyenne River Reservation in 
South Dakota.
    The 2006 CCM test will be comprised of two overlapping samples, a 
population sample (P sample) and a sample of census records. The P 
sample will be obtained by independently rostering persons in housing 
units within the CCM sampled block clusters. The independent roster is 
obtained

[[Page 28301]]

during the CCM PI, the results of which will be matched to census 
enumerations in the sample blocks, in surrounding blocks and across the 
entire site. A separate OMB package was previously prepared for the PI 
operations. After the CCM PI and matching operations have taken place, 
some cases will receive the CCM PFU interview. Generally, these will be 
cases where additional information is needed to determine residence 
status or where inconsistencies were observed during the matching 
operations. We also will conduct a quality control operation of the PFU 
called the Person Followup Reinterview (PFURI).
    The purpose of the 2006 CCM test is not to measure the coverage of 
the 2006 Census Test per se, but rather to test ways of improving 
previous coverage measurement methods. In particular, the focus of the 
2006 CCM test is to test improved matching operations and data 
collection efforts designed to obtain more accurate information about 
where a person should have been enumerated according to Census 
residence rules. This focus is motivated by: (1) Problems encountered 
with coverage measurement in 2000 in determining a person's residence 
(relative to Census residence rules), (2) the significant number of 
duplicate enumerations in Census 2000, and (3) expanded goals for 
coverage measurement in 2010. The latter refers to our objective of 
producing, for the first time, separate estimates of coverage error 
components--omissions and erroneous enumerations including duplicates. 
The data collection and matching methodologies for previous coverage 
measurement programs were designed primarily to measure net coverage 
error, which reflects the difference between omissions and erroneous 
enumerations (see Definition of Terms). In order to produce separate 
estimates of these coverage error components, we need to develop and 
test changes to our data collection and matching methods. In 
particular, the 2006 CCM efforts will focus on ways to obtain better 
information about addresses where people should have, and could have, 
been enumerated during the census.
    An additional objective for the 2006 Census Test is to determine if 
we can conduct coverage measurement interviews before all census data 
collection is complete, and do so without contaminating the census and 
adversely affecting coverage measurement. There are several operational 
and data quality advantages of conducting coverage measurement 
interviews as close to census day as possible, but we do not want to do 
this if it will seriously affect measurement of coverage error.
    A main goal of the 2006 CCM test is to test our underlying 
assumption that our enhanced data collection procedures adequately 
determine a person's residence status. In order to move towards 
attaining this goal in 2010, we must learn more about the usefulness of 
changes made to the PFU questionnaire since 2000. Since the 2006 CCM 
test will feature many new matching procedures, we also hope to gain a 
better understanding of how the new matching operations affect the PFU 
universe.
    As part of the 2006 CCM PFU operations, we will also conduct the 
quality control operation PFURI. For this operation a sample of the CCM 
PFU cases will be selected for a reinterview. The purpose of the 
reinterview is to determine if the source of the CCM PFU data (e.g., a 
household member; a specific proxy respondent) can be confirmed.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Frequency: One time.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: 13 U.S.C. 141 and 193.
    OMB Desk Officer: Susan Schechter, (202) 395-5103.
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by calling or writing Diana Hynek, Departmental Paperwork Clearance 
Officer, (202) 482-0266, Department of Commerce, room 6625, 14th and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet at 
dhynek@doc.gov).

    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to Susan Schechter, OMB Desk Officer either by fax (202-395-7245) or e-
mail (susan_schechter@omb.eop.gov).

    Dated: May 11, 2006.
Madeleine Clayton,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. E6-7420 Filed 5-15-06; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-07-P