Testing of Pre-registration in Preparation for the 2020 US Census UNECE/Eurostat Group of Experts on Population and Housing Censuses September 23, 2014.

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Testing of Pre-registration in Preparation for the

2020 US Census

UNECE/Eurostat Group of Experts on Population and Housing Censuses

September 23, 2014

Arona L. PistinerSpecial Assistant to Associate Director for 2020

Census for International Collaboration and Policy

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The Context for Census Taking in the 21st Century

Evolving respondent behavior

Digital society Need to contain

costs

United States CensusCost Per Housing Unit, 1970-2010 (2010 US $)

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Pre-Registration:A New Approach to Self-Response

Promote use of Internet and digital communication

Reduce paper

Use of advertising and partnership to provide understanding and promote participation

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Pre-Registration:A New Approach to Self-Response

Provides an opportunity for respondents to “sign-up” for the Census

Advantages For the Respondent –

They provide preferred mode of electronic contact For the Census Bureau –

Allows for early engagement with respondents Enables greater electronic contact, reducing need for

paper

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Pre-Registration: Current Status of Research Internationally

International Collaboration on Census Pre-Registration (ICCP)

United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, United Kingdom, Scotland

United States testing 2014 Census Test 2015 Census Test

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The US Census Bureau Experience2014 Census Test – Objectives

Test new contact and notification strategies, including email and automated telephone contacts

Encourage respondents to pre-register with their email or cell phone to receive future notifications

Provide multiple response options for respondents: internet, telephone, paper

Allow respondents to report their information without a pre-assigned identification number

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Sent postcard invitation to encourage respondents to pre-register

Opened pre-registration portal prior to full data collection

Collected address information and respondents’ contact mode preference: email or text message

Used respondents’ preferred mode for all future contacts (except final contact when paper questionnaire was delivered)

The US Census Bureau Experience2014 Census Test – Design

2014 Census Test Pre-Registration Portal

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Very low participation with pre-registration About 3 percent of invited respondents participated Of these about 93 percent ultimately responded

Majority (about 92 percent) of pre-registrants selected email as their preferred contact mode

Overall, achieved internet self-response in excess of 60 percent without any significant promotion or paid advertising

The US Census Bureau Experience2014 Census Test – Preliminary Results

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The US Census Bureau Experience2014 Census Test – Lessons Learned

Develop messaging that respondents may receive after they’ve responded on the internet e.g., “If you’ve already responded, thank you…”

Provide respondents with confirmation that we’ve received their internet response (e.g., email receipt)

Email does not appear to be a viable option as a replacement for paper for initial contacts and invitations

Pre-registration participation was low and may require more promotion to fully inform the public of the purpose and value

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The US Census Bureau ExperienceLooking Ahead – 2015 Census Test

Will employ advertising, promotion, and partnership Use targeted, digital advertising to promote pre-

registration and then encourage self-response, with or without a pre-assigned identification number

Use partnership efforts to reach out to specific communities, particularly hard-to-count and traditionally undercounted populations

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Thank You!

For additional information please contact:

Arona L. Pistinerarona.l.pistiner@census.gov

Jane Ingoldjane.h.ingold@census.gov