Jan 19 -- The U.S. Census Bureau invites public comment to OMB by February 22, 2024 regarding proposed Census Household Panel Topical 4, Topical 5, and Topical 6 Operations. [Comments due 30 days after submission to OMB on January 23.]
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. This notice serves to inform of the Department's intent to request clearance from OMB to conduct topical operations 4, 5, and 6.
The topical surveys that will field in February and March (Topicals 4 and 5) will provide important methodological data to compare the CHP responses against national benchmarks and other similar survey designs. These surveys pull questions from Pew's National Public Opinion Reference Survey and the National Center for Health Statistics' Research and Development Survey. These will be used for methodological assessment of the current panel members representativeness compared to national benchmarks and other similar data collection strategies and will be used to inform future directions for recruitment and replenishment.
Additionally, in the February module, we ask some questions about improving the CHP respondent experience. Questions like these have been shown to boost engagement in panels and will be used in future planning. Finally, the February module also asks some opinion questions on including a time capsule question in a future decennial census.
In April (Topical 6), the CHP will pivot to support the development of content for a Census survey being redeveloped for a change in mode. The Census Bureau is amid an agency-wide effort to innovate the enterprise approach to the data lifecycle. One area of improvement is the modernization of data collection. As a part of these modernization efforts, The Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) is moving towards a multi-mode design that would allow for Internet Self Response (ISR). The re-development of the SIPP instrument for an ISR option requires an overhaul of the current survey with changes in question wording and pathing. To ensure this design is ready for full implementation in the redesigned SIPP, we are incorporating the SIPP roster and demographic questions into the Census Household Panel to test their usability in the field.
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 for experimental purposes, Topical 4 invitations will include pressure-sealed post-cards. 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=202401-0607-001 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/2024-01034
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