Response to the American Community Survey During the 2020 Pandemic

• Activity Number: 381 - Being Agile During a Pandemic: The American Community Survey Approach
• Type: Topic-Contributed
• Date/Time: Thursday, August 12, 2021 : 12:00 PM to 1:50 PM
• Sponsor: Government Statistics Section
• Author(s): Stephanie Baumgardner and Sandra L. Clark*
• Companies: US Census Bureau and U.S. Census Bureau
• Keywords: response rates; survey methods; pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 global pandemic significantly altered data collection for the 2020 American Community Survey (ACS). The ACS typically sends up to five mailings to sampled addresses but, due to mandatory stay-at-home orders, the Census Bureau’s National Processing Center (NPC) was not able to send out any mailings from mid-March through June. In July, with reduced staff available at NPC, mailouts started again but could only send up to two mailings to sample addresses. As resources allowed, three mailings were sent to sample addresses starting in October 2020. The stay-at-home orders also affected the computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI) operation, which restricted field representatives to complete interviews by only telephone for a few months. Gradually, areas opened for in-person interviewing and by September, all areas allowed in-person interviewing. This presentation will show how these changes to data collection affected self-response and CAPI response to the ACS in 2020.