13532 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 45 / Wednesday, March 7, 2012 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Census Bureau 

Proposed Information Collection; 

Comment Request; 2012 National 

Census Test 

AGENCY: U.S. Census Bureau, 

Department of Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice. 

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, 

Public Law 104–13 (44 U.S.C. 

3506(c)(2)(A)). 

DATES: To ensure consideration, written 

comments must be submitted on or 

before May 7, 2012. 

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 jjessup@doc.gov). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information or 

copies of the information collection 

instrument(s) and instructions should 

be directed to Jason Machowski, Bureau 

of the Census, HQ–3H468F, 

Washington, DC 20233; (301) 763–4173 

or jason.d.machowski@census.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract 

The Census Bureau must conduct a 

series of research projects and tests 

throughout this decade to fulfill its 

commitment to provide the public with 

an option to complete their 2020 

Decennial Census questionnaire on the 

Internet. One of the first tests to support 

this planning effort is the 2012 National 

Census Test. It has two primary 

objectives. 

The main objective is to test new, 

dynamic approaches for collecting the 

number of people in a household, which 

are not feasible on a paper 

questionnaire. The standard paper 

questionnaire used in the census 

typically begins with a set of 

instructions or residence rules to guide 

the respondent on whom to include as 

members of the household as of a set 

reference date. Furthermore, the 

questionnaire later poses questions to 

the respondent that ask about people 

who the respondent may have missed 

(undercounted) or included by mistake 

(overcounted). An Internet data 

collection mode, on the other hand, 

allows the Census Bureau to guide the 

respondent through the residence rules 

using a series of questions and 

conditional probes, to better understand 

who was living in the household on the 

reference day. 

For the 2012 National Census Test, 

the Census Bureau aims to optimize the 

presentation of its residence rules on an 

Internet data collection instrument and 

to identify validated methods for 

determining the appropriate number of 

people in a household in accordance 

with its residence rules. To fully assess 

the validity of the new approaches, a 

real-time, targeted, probing, coverage 

reinterview will be conducted by 

telephone with a sample of households 

that respond by Internet. The purpose of 

this reinterview is to evaluate the 

accuracy of within-household coverage 

by comparing the final household 

population roster collected via each 

Internet coverage approach to the final 

roster collected via telephone. The goal 

is to obtain a ‘‘truth’’ measure for who 

was living in the household on the 

reference day. This is the main goal of 

the test and other objectives will be 

secondary. These secondary objectives 

will not drive the sample size of the 

2012 National Census Test. 

A secondary objective of the 2012 

National Census Test is to obtain 

response rate indicators. The Census 

Bureau will study the relative response 

rates associated with various contact 

strategies under a Push Internet 

methodology. Under a Push Internet 

methodology, households do not receive 

a questionnaire in the initial mailing. 

Questionnaires will be sent to 

households who have failed to respond 

on the Internet by a pre-determined 

date. Planned contact strategies build off 

previous Census and American 

Community Survey research and 

include alternate reminder and/or 

replacement questionnaire approaches 

as well as varying the timing of the 

replacement questionnaire. The key 

analytical measures expected from this 

data collection include response rates, 

return rates, percent of Internet returns, 

and speed of returns. More discussion 

on contact strategies under 

consideration appears in the following 

section, Method of Collection. 

Without impact to sample size, the 

2012 National Census Test offers the 

opportunity to gain knowledge about 

how to optimize the presentation of the 

race and Hispanic origin questions, as 

well as age and date of birth for the 

Internet mode. 

Based on preliminary results from the 

2010 Alternative Questionnaire 

Experiment, the combined race and 

Hispanic origin question approach 

appears to be a promising strategy for 

collecting these data items. The Census 

Bureau plans to further this research by 

implementing two versions of a 

combined race and Hispanic origin 

question as part of the 2012 National 

Census Test. In addition, this data 

collection will incorporate the use of 

predictive text (that is, the open-ended 

text boxes in the race and Hispanic 

origin questions will produce a dynamic 

drop-down list of suggested options 

based on the initial text string entered 

in the box). The use of predictive text 

will automate and streamline the race 

and Hispanic origin coding process. 

This component allows for near-realtime data processing by increasing the 

speed of automated coding, thus 

reducing and/or eliminating back-end 

processing. 

Results from recent Census Bureau 

Internet studies suggest that vast 

improvements can be made in the 

presentation of age and date of birth 

questions in the self-response Internet 

mode. The Census Bureau plans to test 

one or two new approaches for 

optimizing age and date of birth 

presentation on the Internet. Plans 

include reducing the lengthy edits 

associated with the questions and/or 

using drop down menus for month, day, 

and year. 

The results from the 2012 National 

Census Test will inform internal 

planning decisions that will guide the 

design of additional 2020 Decennial 

Census Internet testing later this decade. 

The results from this test will inform 

planning for both the next decennial 

census as well as the American 

Community Survey. 

II. Method of Collection 

The Census Bureau will conduct the 

2012 National Census Test with a 

national sample of 80,000 households. 

The Census Bureau estimates a 45% 

response rate overall and a 25% Internet 

response rate. About one-half of Internet 

respondents will fall into the 

reinterview sample. 

All contact strategy approaches tested 

in this data collection will be 

implemented using a Push Internet 

methodology. That is, households will 

receive a paper questionnaire only if 

they fail to respond by a predetermined 

date. To optimize the implementation of 

a Push Internet methodology, the 

Census Bureau will test alternatives to 

the standard full implementation 

contact strategy typically used in the 

decennial census (advance letter, initial 

mailing, reminder postcard, 

replacement mailing). Census Bureau 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 45 / Wednesday, March 7, 2012 / Notices 13533 

analysts will study response rates across 

these varying strategies with the goal of 

identifying the best options for use with 

a Push Internet methodology, which 

will undergo additional validation in 

future mid-decade census tests. Census 

Bureau planners have not yet finalized 

the contact strategy approaches for this 

test. The proposed plan, however, is to 

contact sampled households using one 

of six contact strategies. In addition to 

a control panel that uses the standard 

full implementation contact strategy, the 

experimental treatments currently under 

consideration are, in brief: 

• Eliminating the advance letter 

mailing 

• Adding another reminder before 

mailing a paper questionnaire 

• Mailing the questionnaire on an 

accelerated schedule 

• A reminder to be sent after the 

questionnaire mailing 

• Modified wording for all mailing 

pieces 

The Census Bureau plans to conduct 

the 2012 National Census Test data 

collection in late summer or early fall 

2012. The specific data collection start 

and end dates along with the duration 

of the data collection period are still 

under consideration. The Census 

Bureau, however, expects that the 

duration of the data collection period 

will be between one and two months. 

This includes both the collection of selfresponse interviews via the Internet and 

paper questionnaires (returned by mail) 

and the real-time telephone reinterview 

following the Internet data collection. 

III. Data 

OMB Control Number: None. 

Form Number: TBD. 

Type of Review: Regular submission. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

Households. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

92,000 (80,000 initial response + 12,000 

reinterview). 

Estimated Time per Response: 10 

minutes. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: 15,334. 

Estimated Total Annual Cost: There is 

no cost to the respondent other than his 

or her time. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Mandatory. 

Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C. 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. 

Dated: March 2, 2012. 

Glenna Mickelson, 

Management Analyst, Office of the Chief 

Information Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2012–5507 Filed 3–6–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–07–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Allocation of Duty-Exemptions for 

Calendar Year 2012 for Watch 

Producers Located in the United States 

Virgin Islands 

AGENCY: Import Administration, 

International Trade Administration, 

Department of Commerce; Office of 

Insular Affairs, Department of the 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This action allocates calendar 

year 2012 duty exemptions for watch 

assembly producers (‘‘program 

producers’’) located in the United States 

Virgin Islands (‘‘USVI’’) pursuant to 

Public Law 97–446, as amended by 

Public Law 103–465, Public Law 106–36 

and Public Law 108–429 (‘‘the Act’’). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Supriya Kumar, Subsidies Enforcement 

Office; phone number: (202) 482–3530; 

fax number: (202) 501–7952; and email 

address: Supriya.Kumar@trade.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant 

to the Act, the Departments of the 

Interior and Commerce (‘‘the 

Departments’’) share responsibility for 

the allocation of duty exemptions 

among program producers in the United 

States insular possessions and the 

Northern Mariana Islands. 

In accordance with Section 303.3(a) of 

the regulations (15 CFR 303.3(a)), the 

total quantity of duty-free insular 

watches and watch movements for 

calendar year 2012 is 1,866,000 units for 

the USVI. This amount was established 

in Changes in Watch, Watch Movement 

and Jewelry Program for the U.S. Insular 

Possessions, 65 FR 8048 (February 17, 

2000). There are currently no program 

producers in Guam, American Samoa or 

the Northern Mariana Islands. 

The criteria for the calculation of the 

calendar year 2012 duty-exemption 

allocations among program producers 

within a particular territory are set forth 

in Section 303.14 of the regulations (15 

CFR 303.14). The Departments have 

verified and, where appropriate, 

adjusted the data submitted in 

application form ITA–334P by USVI 

program producers and have inspected 

these producers’ operations in 

accordance with Section 303.5 of the 

regulations (15 CFR 303.5). 

In calendar year 2011, USVI program 

producers shipped 53,744 watches and 

watch movements into the customs 

territory of the United States under the 

Act. The dollar amount of corporate 

income taxes paid by USVI program 

producers during calendar year 2011, 

and the creditable wages and benefits 

paid by these producers during calendar 

year 2011 to residents of the territory 

was a combined total of $1,036,055. 

The calendar year 2012 USVI annual 

duty exemption allocations, based on 

the data verified by the Departments, are 

as follows: 

Program producer Annual 

allocation 

Belair Quartz, Inc. ................. 500,000 

The balance of the units allocated to 

the USVI is available for new entrants 

into the program or existing program 

producers who request a supplement to 

their allocation. 

Dated: February 27, 2012. 

Judith Wey Rudman, 

Acting Director, Office of Policy, Import 

Administration, International Trade 

Administration, Department of Commerce. 

Dated: February 29, 2012. 

Nikolao Pula, 

Director of Office of Insular Affairs, 

Department of the Interior. 

[FR Doc. 2012–5588 Filed 3–6–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P; 4310–93–P 


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