81 FR 95561 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; 2018 End-to-End Census Test-Post-Enumeration Survey Independent Listing Operation

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
U.S. Census Bureau

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 249 (December 28, 2016)

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.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 249 (Wednesday, December 28, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 95561-95562]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-31410]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

U.S. Census Bureau


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; 2018 End-to-End 
Census Test--Post-Enumeration Survey Independent Listing Operation

AGENCY: U.S. Census Bureau, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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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.

DATES: To ensure consideration, written comments must be submitted on 
or before February 27, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Jennifer Jessup, Departmental 
Paperwork Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 14th 
and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet 
at [email protected]).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument(s) and instructions 
should be directed to Beth Tyszka, U.S. Census Bureau, 4600 Silver Hill 
Road, Room 2K281J, Washington, DC 20233, 301-763-3066 (or via the 
Internet at [email protected]).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

I. Abstract

    During the years preceding the 2020 Census, the Census Bureau will 
pursue its commitment to reducing the costs of conducting a decennial 
census while maintaining our commitment to quality. In the 2018 Fiscal 
Year, the Census Bureau will be performing a 2018 End-to-End Census 
Test. This last major test before the 2020 Census has the stated 
purpose (1) to test and validate 2020 Census operations, procedures, 
systems, and field infrastructure together to ensure proper integration 
and conformance with functional and non-functional requirements, and 
(2) to produce a prototype of geographic and data products.
    As in previous censuses, the Post-Enumeration Survey for the 2020 
Census will be conducted to provide estimates of census net coverage 
error and components of census coverage (such as correct enumerations, 
omissions, and erroneous enumerations, including duplicates) for 
housing units and persons living in housing units (see Definition of 
Terms) for the United States (U.S.) and Puerto Rico, excluding remote 
Alaska. These coverage estimates provide insight into the quality and 
coverage of census results, which can be used to improve future 
censuses. Given that the Post-Enumeration Survey involves several field 
data collection activities on a sample basis and several matching 
activities between the survey and the 2020 Census during the 2020 
Census timeline, these Post-Enumeration Survey operations will also 
require testing during the 2018 End-to-End Census Test. It is also 
important to note that for the Post-Enumeration Survey methods, we need 
to ensure independence between the survey and census operations to 
prevent any of the programs affecting each other results.
    The Independent Listing operation, beginning in January of 2018, is 
the first Post-Enumeration Survey operation in the 2018 End-to-End 
Census Test. It will be conducted to obtain a complete inventory of all 
the housing unit addresses within the Post-Enumeration Survey sample of 
Basic Collection Units (BCUs) before the 2018 End-to-End Census Test 
enumeration commences.
    The following objectives are crucial to a successful Independent 
Listing operation:
     Test the automated listing and mapping capabilities 
required.
     Validate the creation of the Independent Listing workload.
     Conduct a listing quality control operation during the 
Independent Listing operation.
    The Post-Enumeration Survey Independent Listing operation for the 
2018 End-to-End Census Test will be conducted in selected survey sample 
areas in the specified sites listed below in the U.S. (excluding remote 
Alaska). The primary sampling unit is a BCU. The currently determined 
test sites are Pierce County, Washington; Providence County, Rhode 
Island; and the Bluefield-Beckley-Oak Hill, West Virginia area. As in 
the past, the Post-Enumeration Survey operations and activities will be 
conducted separate from and independent of the other 2018 End-to-End 
Census Test operations to prevent any potential contamination of census 
or Post-Enumeration Survey results.
    During the Independent Listing operation, field staff, referred to 
as listers, will canvass every street, road, or other place where 
people might live in their assigned BCUs and construct a list of 
housing units using an automated data collection instrument on a mobile 
device. The mobile device will contain the data collection instrument 
with digital maps of the area that needs to be canvassed. Listers will 
attempt to contact a member of each housing unit they encounter in 
their route. If someone answers, the lister will provide a 
Confidentiality Notice and ask about the address in order to collect 
the address information, as appropriate. To ensure all units at a 
multi-unit are properly listed, the lister will then ask if there are 
any additional vacant or occupied units in the structure or on the 
property. If there are additional units, the lister will collect and 
update that information. Multi-units are defined as apartment buildings 
or houses, condominiums, duplexes and triplexes, in addition to 
separate housing units with attached apartments, such as basement or 
garage, or similar apartments where people could be living on Census 
Day. To be classified as a separate unit, these must meet the housing 
unit definition requirement of having direct access from outside or 
through a common hallway, and must either have someone living there or 
be intended for occupancy, even if vacant at the time of the 
Independent Listing operation. Mobile homes and trailers, both in a 
park and not in a park, will also be listed, including any empty lots 
or pads in the parks in the BCU. Finally, any occupied camper, 
recreational vehicle, van, boat, tent or other location where people 
are living during the listing operation will also be listed as housing 
units.

[[Page 95562]]

    If the lister does not find anyone at home after several attempts, 
they will try to collect the information from a proxy or update the 
address list as best they can by observation as a last resort. Listers 
will also identify the location of each housing unit by collecting map 
spots on digital maps (i.e., Global Positioning System (GPS) 
coordinates). The lister will also collect information on the status of 
each housing unit, such as occupied, vacant, under construction, empty 
trailer park, etc., and collect the name and phone number of the 
respondent. Completed Independent Listing BCUs will be automatically 
reviewed for abnormal characteristics (such as GPS information 
indicating that the lister was far from the units they were listing). 
BCUs with unusual characteristics may be subject to a Dependent Quality 
Check (DQC) wherein DQC listers return to the field to check a portion 
of units to ensure that the work performed is of acceptable quality and 
to verify that the correct BCUs were visited. If the BCU fails the DQC, 
then the DQC lister reworks the entire BCU.
    Following the completion of listing for each BCU, the addresses are 
computer and clerically matched, on a flow basis, against the list of 
addresses considered valid for the census at the time of the matching 
operation for the same BCU. The addresses that remain unmatched or have 
unresolved address status after matching will be sent to the field 
during the next field operation of the Post-Enumeration Survey (Initial 
Housing Unit Followup) to collect additional information that might 
allow a resolution of any differences between the Independent Listing 
and census address list results. Cases will also be sent to the field 
to resolve potential duplicates and unresolved housing unit status. The 
questions and procedures to be used in the Initial Housing Unit 
Followup phase of the Post-Enumeration Survey in the 2018 End-to-End 
Census Test and all subsequent Post-Enumeration Survey phases will be 
published in several separate Federal Register Notices.

II. Method of Collection

    The Independent Listing operation will be conducted using in-field 
person-to-person interviews on an automated instrument on a mobile 
device. Listers will receive work assignments grouped by geography and 
in close proximity to the lister's residence (whenever possible). Field 
staff will use the Enterprise Census and Survey Enabling (ECaSE) 
platform's Listing and Mapping software.

Universe

    The 2018 End-to-End Census Test occurs in three sites within the 
continental United States: Pierce County, Washington; Providence 
County, Rhode Island; and the Bluefield-Beckley-Oak Hill, West Virginia 
area. For the Post-Enumeration Survey operations, a sample of 
approximately 21,000 housing units will be selected and divided evenly 
across the three sites included in the test; allocating 7,000 units to 
each of the sites. Independent Listing listers are expected to knock on 
every door over several spaced visits in their assigned BCUs to try to 
find a resident or proxy to ask about the units to be listed. The 
quality control operation will consist of 1,050 housing units.
Definition of Terms
    Components of Census Coverage--The components of census coverage 
includes Correct Enumerations, Erroneous Enumerations, Whole-Person 
Imputations, and Omissions. Correct enumerations are persons or housing 
units that were correctly enumerated in the census. Erroneous 
enumerations are persons or housing units that were enumerated in the 
census but should not have been. Examples of erroneous enumerations are 
duplicates, nonexistent housing units or persons, and persons or 
housing units that were enumerated in the wrong place. Omissions are 
persons and housing units that were not correctly enumerated in the 
census but should have been. Lastly, whole-person imputations are 
census records for which all of the demographic characteristics were 
imputed. Many of these imputations are persons for which we knew the 
count but did not obtain sufficient information.
    Net Coverage Error--Reflects the difference between the true 
population and the census count. If the census count was less than the 
actual number of persons or housing units in the population, then we 
say there was an undercount. If the census count was more than the 
actual number of persons or housing units in the population, then we 
say there was an over count.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0607-XXXX.
    Form Number: NA.
    Type of Review: Regular submission.
    Affected Public: Individuals or Households.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 21,000 Housing Units (HUs) for 
Independent Listing and 1,050 HUs for Independent Listing Dependent 
Quality Control.
    Estimated Time per Response: 5 min.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,840 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: The only cost to respondents is that 
of their time to respond.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13, U.S. Code, Section 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.

 Sheleen Dumas,
PRA Departmental Lead, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2016-31410 Filed 12-27-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P