Experimentation and Evaluation Plans for the 2010 Census Interim Report (2008) / Chapter Skim
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APPENDIX B INTERNET RESPONSE OPTIONS IN SELECTED
POPULATION CENSUSES
APPENDIX B INTERNET RESPONSE OPTIONS IN SELECTED
POPULATION CENSUSES
Pages 75-92
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From page 75... ...
No publicity was given to the Internet response option. During the time span between the opening of the online questionnaire site and the cutoff for nonresponse follow-up workload (March 3 to April 18, 2000)
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argued for further work on an online response option: 76
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However, attempts to "force" respondents to use either of the electronic response modes by not including a paper questionnaire resulted in lower response rates. In terms of data quality, item nonresponse rates were significantly lower for the Internet responses than for paper returns for almost all items.1 A second mailout-only National Census Test in 2005 made another attempt to implement the telephone and Internet response modes, having made interface improvements in both.
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These technologies will provide respondents with additional options for receiving and submitting their census questionnaires. Our expectation is that we can increase the response rate even further by developing and implementing the optimal mix of contacts and response options.
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The 2003 and 2005 Census Tests offered an Internet response option, and in both cases, the response rates were low, and offering an internet response option did not increase the overall response rate. We have also consulted the statistical offices of Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.
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Yet only 719 college student census report forms were returned during the test while expectations were that more than 6,700 should be found. In the inspector general's review, this suggested that online response options might appeal to the Internetsavvy college generation.
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. One common theme to several of these profiles -- particularly Canada, Australia, and New Zealand -- is that the drive to allow the Internet as a response option came about through longer standing commitments to making government services electronically accessible.
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census short-form-only model. Canada The 2006 Canadian census was the first to offer an online response option.5 Every paper questionnaire sent by mail or dropped off by enumerators bore a 15-digit Internet Access Code (five groups of three digits)
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. The 18.5 percent overall online response rate was consistent with expectations developed based on a 2004 census test using an Internet response option in parts of four provinces, as well as an Internet response experiment conducted as part of the 2001 census.
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The Internet questionnaire used in the 2004 Canadian census test differed significantly from its paper counterpart in its approach to obtaining the basic resident count at a household. The paper questionnaire presents respondents with a set of detailed instructions of who should and should not be included in a household count and then asks for a roster of names.
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suggest Statistics Canada's eventual vision for Internet collection in the census, in which an invitation to complete the census online (presumably with an Internet Access Code or the like) and in which a paper questionnaire is mailed only if the household specifically requests one or fails to respond to the initial invitation.
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"but an almost completely trouble-free operation." The agency plans to use the Internet response option again -- with more active promotion -- in 2011. Prior to implementing the online response option in 2006, the Internet option was included in field tests in March and November 2003 as well as the 2005 dress rehearsal.
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Buscher and Stamm (2001:12) credited the creation of a government "Service Centre" for managing information technology as a final impetus for allowing online responses -- a decision made even though Swiss census officials knew that "only a minority of the Swiss population currently have Internet access." The Swiss Federal Statistical Office reasoned that "electronic communication options are increasingly expected by potential users" and that the "PR and advertising impact of an Internet solution would be highly beneficial for the Census." As in the New Zealand experience, the move was also made with gaining 10 http://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/popn/c2000sr4/coverage.pdf.
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do not describe the log-in procedure, noting only that "while it guaranteed maximum security, was also fairly complicated." United Kingdom The initial design document for the 2011 decennial census of England and Wales (Office for National Statistics, 2004) signaled the intent to use an online response option.
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posted on the Office for National Statistics website explained that, "as this is a Census Test, resources are limited especially for the large expense to provide a facility to complete the questionnaire online." Nonetheless, the user was reassured that "it is proposed that a facility to complete the questionnaire online will be available for the Census in 2011."11 11 http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census/2011Census/2011Project/pdfs/2007TestFAQsEnglish.pdf.
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From page 90... ...
An electronic form offers the possibility of interactive editing to improve response quality that is not possible on a paper form. People using electronic forms have a certain 90
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Assuming that the Internet option is targeted to the whole population, the public relations strategy should encompass managing public expectations about the ability to access the site during periods of peak demand. Simple messages advising people to use the internet option at "off peak" times should be prepared and used if necessary on the census internet site itself and through the census telephone inquiry service, radio and print.
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From page 92... ...
Figure B-1 Housing Unit ID log-in screen and race response screen, Internet questionnaire, 2005 census test. SOURCE: http://www.census.gov/procur/www/2010dris/omb-person-based-screens.doc.
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