Federal
Register Notice on Proposed Updates to
ACS Operations and Question Wording
In
September, the Census Bureau posted a
Federal Register Notice that
invites public comments on some proposed
changes to data collection operations
and question wording for the 2024 ACS.
Comments are due on or before November 14, 2022.
Beginning
with the 2024 data collection year, the
ACS plans to use administrative records
to reduce respondent burden and improve
the quality of ACS data. The Census
Bureau is focusing initial efforts to
supplement or replace ACS survey data
for several housing characteristics with
administrative data from other sources,
such as property tax records. At a
minimum, administrative data will be
used for the question asking about
property acreage beginning in 2024.
In
2024, the ACS plans to add an internet
self-response option to the group
quarters data collection operation. The
Census Bureau believes there is value in
offering a self-response option to
people living in certain types of group
quarters—college/university student
housing, group homes, military barracks,
workers' group living quarters and Job
Corps centers, and emergency and
transitional shelters.
Additionally,
based on cognitive testing results, the
Census Bureau proposes to update wording
in the 2024 ACS for questions on three
topics: condominium fees, home heating
fuel, and journey to work.
- The
condominium fees question would be
extended to include homeowners’
association (HOA) fees.
Data sources continue to show housing
units that are part of HOAs outnumber
housing units in condominiums. In
order to provide more comprehensive
and accurate costs of owning a home,
the ACS needs to capture HOA fees for
these homes. Adding these fees to the
existing condominium fees question
avoids adding a new question to the
ACS and therefore minimizes respondent
burden.
- The
change to the home heating
fuel question would update the
natural gas and bottled gas
categories.
This will aid respondents in
identifying the correct category more
easily by using more commonly used
terminology.
-
The
journey to work question would be
updated to include
ride-sharing services as a mode of
transportation to work to account
for new and growing travel trends.
This will reduce ambiguity in the
current question about where
respondents should report ridesharing
commutes and will allow the government
to monitor changes in transportation
patterns for planning purposes.
For
more information and to submit
comments:
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