Nov 6 -- The U.S. Census Bureau invites public comment to OMB by December 6, 2023 regarding proposed Census Household Panel Topical 2 and Topical 3 Operations.
The Census Household Panel is designed to ensure availability of frequent data collection for nationwide estimates on a variety of topics for a variety of subgroups of the population.
Content for both Topical 2 and Topical 3 will consist of a modified version of the Household Pulse Survey questionnaire. Topics covered include employment, telework, access to infant formula, health and disability, children's mental health treatment, social connection/isolation, childcare arrangements, educational enrollment, inflation and spending, food security, experience of national disasters, housing, COVID testing and symptoms, COVID vaccination uptake, and long COVID. Data will be collected in December and January to study methodological implications of having a repeated measure design. These data will also be studied in conjunction with the January fielding of the Household Pulse Survey. Once the public comment period has closed and subject to receiving clearance from OMB, the Census Bureau will plan to deploy the Topical 2 questionnaire on or about December 5, 2023, and Topical 3 on or about January 17, 2023.
The first topical survey planned for the Census Household Panel is the Census Barriers, Attitudes and Motivators survey that will inform the decennial advertising and communications program for the 2030 Census. The second and third topical surveys will be an abridged version of the Household Pulse Survey. Future topical surveys can be sponsored by other Census Bureau survey programs or by other Federal statistical agencies. Each topical survey will offer panelists an opportunity to update contact information and verify their address for incentive mailing. Content governance will initially follow policies developed for the Household Pulse Survey and be amended as necessary.
The Census Household Panel is a probability-based nationwide nationally representative survey panel designed to test the methods to collect data on a variety of topics of interest, and for conducting experimentation on alternative question wording and methodological approaches. The goal of the Census Household Panel is to ensure availability of frequent data collection for nationwide estimates on a variety of topics and a variety of subgroups of the population, meeting standards for transparent quality reporting of the Federal Statistical Agencies and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Panelists and households selected for the Panel were recruited from the Census Bureau's gold standard Master Address File. This ensures the Panel is rooted in this rigorously developed and maintained frame and available for linkage to administrative records securely maintained and curated by the Census Bureau. Invitations to complete the monthly surveys will be sent via email and SMS messages and questionnaires will be mainly internet self-response. The Panel will maintain representativeness by allowing respondents who do not use the internet to respond via computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). All panelists will receive an incentive for each complete questionnaire. Periodic replenishment samples will maintain representativeness and panelists will be replaced after a period of three years.
Household Pulse Survey:
https://www.census.gov/householdpulsedata
Census submission to OMB:
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=202310-0607-007 Click IC List for data collection instruments, View Supporting Statement for newly added technical documentation. Submit comments through this webpage.
FRN:
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2023-24429
For AEA members wishing to submit comments, "A Primer on How to Respond to Calls for Comment on Federal Data Collections" is available at
https://www.aeaweb.org/content/file?id=5806