During the years preceding the 2020 Census, the Census Bureau will pursue its commitment to reduce 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 data products.
The Address Canvassing operation is the first operation in the 2018 End-to-End Census Test, with field activity beginning in the summer of 2017. The purpose of the Address Canvassing operation is (1) to deliver a complete and accurate address list and spatial database for enumeration and tabulation, and (2) to determine the type and address characteristics for each living quarter. The Address Canvassing operation consists of two major components: In-Office Address Canvassing and In-Field Address Canvassing. Only the latter component involves collection of information from residents at their living quarters.
The number of housing units with respondent burden in the original OMB package was calculated based on the national estimate of 25 percent of addresses in the Self-Response areas needing In-Field Address Canvassing. This estimate was based on our original approach to In-Office Address Canvassing Operation, which included two phases: Interactive Review and Active Block Resolution. The Census Bureau discontinued this second phase because we were experiencing significant issues with productivity and quality control in the Active Block Resolution phase. The result of this decision is that our estimated national workload for In-Field Address Canvassing has increased from 25 percent to 30 percent. Prior to the suspension of Active Block Resolution, some of the blocks in the three test sites were removed from In-Field Address Canvassing workload as result of this phase of the In-Office Address Canvassing operation. Therefore, in order to ensure that the operations implemented in the 2018 End-to-End Census Test are consistent with the operations we plan to execute in the 2020 Census, the Census Bureau determined it was appropriate to add the blocks originally resolved during Active Block Resolution back into the in-field workload for this test.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.