Since 1947, the Current Population Survey’s (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) has collected data on health insurance coverage, work experience, income from all sources, receipt of noncash benefits, program participation, and geographic mobility. Notably, ASEC is the nation’s data source for the Official Poverty Measure, the Supplemental Poverty Measure, and the national health insurance coverage rate. 

This supplement is collected in February, March, and April each year and is the largest of the CPS supplements. All CPS supplements, including ASEC, are collected during the CPS interview in the same mode, meaning respondents answer their CPS questions, then proceed to the supplemental questions.

For more information on the sample and collection of both CPS and ASEC, please refer to Current Population Survey Design and Methodology Technical Paper 77, Chapter 1-3: Supplements.

ASEC faces the same challenges with declining response rates outlined on the Current Population Survey 2023 Modernization Efforts page.

Additionally, because ASEC is part of the same CPS interview, it must be collected in the same mode. As CPS is adding an Internet Self-Response (ISR) mode as part of the Census Bureau’s ongoing survey modernization efforts, ASEC must also develop an ISR mode to match this CPS enhancement. A failure to develop this new mode would mean a loss of ASEC data for any basic CPS cases that were collected in ISR.

The Census Bureau is also switching to new software for data collection and field operations.

The first step in the modernization is to add an ISR mode for ASEC to align with the ISR in CPS. This section reviews the testing and planning schedule. This is a multiyear project with the goal of extensively reviewing and testing ISR as a viable collection mode for ASEC. Another goal of testing is to ensure that changes do not negatively affect the reliability and comparability of the estimates produced by ASEC. This schedule seeks to align the ASEC ISR mode with the CPS timeline for continuity. Our schedule and activities may change to accommodate unforeseen obstacles, including, but not limited to, funding restrictions, discovery of issues during testing and analysis, and project reprioritization.

Overview: Contracted exploratory interviews and first round of cognitive interviews. Additional testing using the Census Bureau’s Demographic High Frequency Surveys (DHFS) Program.

About Exploratory Interviews

Between November 2023 and January 2024, the Census Bureau’s Center for Behavioral Science Methods (CBSM) and contractors at Research Triangle Institute (RTI) conducted one-on-one qualitative interviews with members of the public. Focusing mainly on the income, poverty, and health insurance sections in ASEC, the goal of the exploratory interviews was to investigate the current instrument’s questions that were known to cause confusion for respondents and to explore how to more effectively ask respondents about  sensitive or difficult topics. These early interviews have been particularly helpful for providing preliminary insight into more complex areas for future research.

About Cognitive Testing

In late 2024, RTI contractors will be conducting one-on-one cognitive interviews with members of the public to learn more about the potential challenges in an internet self-response mode for ASEC. The goal of the cognitive interviews is to learn more about respondents' thought processes while answering questions and to suggest ways in which the survey questions can be improved. Cognitive testing will continue with further refined versions of an internet response mode ASEC.

Overview: Round 2 of cognitive interviews and the development of our instrument in the new data collection software.

Overview: Usability testing and beginning to test data processing

About Usability Testing:

This will be the first usability testing on the ASEC ISR instrument. The goal of usability testing is to ensure respondents can use the ISR mode efficiently and intuitively by understanding the user interface (UI) of the screen and the flow of the instrument.

About Data Processing:

As a result of the qualitative research, any questionnaire changes will change the way we process the data and therefore will need to be updated. Edit testing will begin using the data collected during usability testing and will continue to be tested with the field test to ensure our edits and processing function properly.

Overview: Field testing the instrument during typical production schedule.

About the Field Test:

The goal of the field test is to replicate the production data collection plan. This allows us to evaluate the survey life cycle of both the basic CPS and ASEC to evaluate what we could encounter in production and address any issues beforehand.

The field test will focus on reviewing ISR as a viable mode for respondents by evaluating the response rates by each collection mode. It will also include various experiments on how to make the ISR mode successful. Areas of focus are different wording options, contact strategies, and other procedural changes to see what kind of responses are received and what is the best contact strategy to encourage the uptake of ISR by respondents. 

The field test will evaluate both ISR and the computer-assisted personal interview CAPI to try to find the optimal mix of modes for response rate, data quality, and cost effectiveness. The field test plan is still being developed. 

Overview: Production phase-in and parallel collection

Once the field test is complete and new production protocols are created, ASEC will be ready to add ISR to the production data collection. The implementation design is based on CPS’ phase-in design. Key elements may include parallel sample and collecting data with legacy methods for comparison. The best way to phase in is to include an additional sample that can be processed along with the standard production sample, allowing comparisons while not affecting any estimates from production. 

Your feedback is important. If you have any questions or feedback, please email us at demo.asec.modernization@census.gov.