Nonresponse in the 2020 Post-Enumeration Survey

• Activity Number: 19 - 2020 Census Post-Enumeration Survey Estimation Methods: Research and Challenges
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Sunday, August 7, 2022 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
• Sponsor: Survey Research Methods Section
• Author(s): Shadie Khubba* and Mark Jost and Courtney Hill
• Companies: U.S. Census Bureau and US Census Bureau and U.S. Census Bureau
• Keywords: nonresponse bias; unit nonresponse; 2020 Post-Enumeration Survey; Census Bureau

Abstract

The U.S. Census Bureau conducted the Post-Enumeration Survey (PES) to assess the quality of the 2020 Census. Due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, the PES initially faced higher than expected nonresponse rates from housing units as well as a higher than expected rate of item nonresponse. To increase the overall response rate of the survey, a second wave of interviewing referred to as the PES Reopen was performed. In addition, the PES included a nonresponse adjustment to mitigate potential bias in survey estimates resulting from differing characteristics between responding and nonresponding housing units and applied imputation methods to address item nonresponse. This paper provides some background on the 2020 PES relevant to item and unit nonresponse, presents a breakdown of 2020 PES response rates, and examines some of the evidence for nonresponse bias in survey estimates.