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Improving the American Community Survey Proceedings of a Workshop (2019) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
Pages 1-6

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From page 1...
... ACS data collection also involves visiting about 20,000 group quarters facilities and obtaining data on roughly 194,000 of their residents. A separate Puerto Rico Community Survey complements ACS collection on the mainland.
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From page 2...
... On average, the Census Bureau states that it takes about 40 minutes to complete the survey -- and the data collection that began its life as a burdenreduction measure, shifting the load of response to dozens of detailed census questions to a separate long-form questionnaire, is under constant pressure to further reduce respondent burden. Velkoff described quality as the central and leading priority -- the "North Star" -- for the ACS program, but she added that the ACS program views its other program priorities as being essential as well: maintaining the accuracy and utility of the ACS estimates, improving the survey process underlying the ACS, and ensuring that the respondent experience is as pleasant as possible.
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From page 3...
... of disability, P18–P19; veterans • Agricultural Sales (value of agricultural disability rating, P28) products sold, for houses or mobile • Educational Attainment (P11)
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From page 4...
... . It was followed by four expert meetings, digging deeper into four of the principal strategies for reducing respondent burden that were raised at the workshop: matrix sampling, administrative records, group quarters data collection, and communication and messaging.2 Velkoff described the 2016 workshop and the expert meetings as "invaluable to us" in directly shaping the research agenda, noting that the first hour of the session on matrix sampling made it clear that "the juice is not worth the squeeze" and subsequent discussion of exactly how much telephone interviewing costs in the ACS environment contributing to the decision to terminate CATI response.
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From page 5...
... Census Bureau and organized by a planning committee appointed by NASEM. As requested, the workshop covered two broad topic areas: • Uses of Administrative Records and Third-Party Data to Improve ACS Operations: Broad visions for use of these auxiliary data sources, including replacement of questionnaire items, incorporation into editing or imputation routines, and creation of new blended data products, as well as the articulation of lessons learned or best practices from roughly analogous combinations of administrative and survey data; and • Boosting Respondent Participation Through Improved Communication: Revisiting the full suite of print materials received by respondents in the ACS process and suggesting improvements, as well as generally refining the communication and contact strategy.
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Key Terms

  • community survey
  • american community
  • expert meetings
  • respondent burden
  • acs program

  • acs estimates
  • acs data
  • acs research
  • acs responses
  • administrative records

  • bureau requested
  • subsequent discussion
  • telephone interviewing
  • planning committee
  • matrix sampling

  • annual basis
  • census data
  • accumulated acs
  • acs information
  • detailed census

  • decennial census
  • collecting acs
  • releases acs
  • complements acs
  • improve acs

  • acs environment
  • acs yields
  • census questions
  • administrative data
  • acs collection


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