The Commerce Department has opened the comment period on the Census Bureau‘s plan to conduct a population survey in Puerto Rico next year in order to test proposed data gathering and systems integration methods for the 2020 U.S. census.
In a Federal Register notice published Tuesday, the bureau said it aims to observe participant responses to a mail contact strategy and an online questionnaire option during the 2017 Puerto Rico Census Test.
The practice test is designed to also help the bureau measure the potential effects of using household contact methods to encourage self-response to the survey.
The bureau will also use the Puerto Rico-based census to assess the operational procedures and technical design of the bureau’s nonresponse follow-up and update enumerate programs as well as test its non-ID processing method as a tool to help increase self-response rates.
The Commerce Department will accept comments from agencies and the general public through Sept. 19.
