This assessment 2010 Census Island Areas Assessment: Preparing for and Conducting the Field Operations looks at the management of data collection operations conducted in the Island Areas and the efforts leading up to the data collection.

The U.S. Census Bureau has conducted a census of each outlying area of the United States’ for over a century. In previous censuses, a Memorandum of Agreement with the Census Bureau and each Island Areas’ government was used to provide funding to conduct the census. For the 2010 Census, contracts were deemed the appropriate vehicle for negotiating agreements. T he Census Bureau contracted with local government agencies to conduct the 2010 Census of the Island Areas. The Local Census Offices — two in the United States Virgin Islands, and one each in American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam — were opened and operated under the auspices of separate sole-source contracts.

Field operations in the Island Areas consisted of a blanket mailing of questionnaires to residential postal patrons. This was followed by a List/Enumerate methodology designed to have an enumerator visit, list an address or location description, spot on a paper map each living quarters in the area, and collect a completed questionnaire or conduct an interview. The Island Areas were the only areas that used List/Enumerate for the 2010 Census.

Consistent and open communication facilitated the planning and execution of the field data collection phase. During this time, Census Bureau staff traveled to the Island Areas, met with Island Areas representatives at the annual State Data Center conferences, and used electronic communication and teleconferencing to gain feedback from the Island Area liaisons. Four Census Bureau employees were selected to stay in each of the Island Areas for the duration of the field work. During the conduct of the field work, the Census Advisors were primarily responsible for communicating issues, progress, and serving as facilitators for questions regarding procedures. Standardized cost and progress reports were also developed to relay financial information from the local government and field progress reports from the Decennial Budget Integration Tool – Island Areas Module to the Puerto Rico and Island Areas branch of the Decennial Management Division. Weekly teleconferences between headquarters staff and Island Areas officials were instituted to discuss cost and progress.

The Island Areas were the only areas that used a “long form” questionnaire, containing detailed person and housing items, to collect data for the 2010 Census. A long form questionnaire was used because the Island Areas get no other data during intercensal years.

Each Island Area developed its own promotional campaigns. The onsite Census Advisors helped ensure that the messages provided in these campaigns were accurate and appropriate. The Local Census Offices also participated in some of the stateside programs, and distributed Census Bureau-provided promotional items and Census in Schools materials. The biggest impediments to their publicity campaigns were the stateside advertisements and the 2010 Census website, both of which reached the Island Areas’ residents. The stateside advertisements and the 2010 Census website informed residents on how to complete a 10-question short form and mail it back after they completed it. This information only confused and frustrated the Island Areas’ residents as they had to complete a long form questionnaire, instead of a short form, and hold the questionnaire for an enumerator visit. As the local advertising campaigns were quite successful, we recommend that they be expanded in the future. The stateside message must also be anticipated and proactively counteracted if major differences in methodology persist. Additionally, more guidance, suggestions, and materials should be provided by the Census Bureau to help with the campaign.

The quality control operations could have been better integrated into the overall field and office work and the importance of these tasks needed more emphasis in the training materials. Modernization of the 2020 Census office control system for the Local Census Offices could allow for more effective management of the Island Areas field, office, and quality control operations.

The amount of materials developed for the Island Areas’ census field operations were vast. Better efforts need to be made to draft materials with adequate lead time so everything can be thoroughly reviewed for accuracy and consistency, and distributed to the Island Areas with enough time for Local Census Office staff to become familiar with the procedures prior to the start of operations. It would have been more efficient to print the materials on the islands as opposed to shipping everything from the National Processing Center in Jeffersonville, Indiana and Headquarters.

The process to design the Island Areas’ census questionnaires was unnecessarily protracted. There were too many questionnaires, and the minor differences between them created complications when processing the data responses. The potential gains from having only two questionnaires (rather than the 19 used) for all Island Areas—one for housing units and one for group quarters—cannot be overstated.

Collection geography is the backbone of a census, and for the 2010 Census numerous issues were caused by misunderstanding of geography by Local Census Office staff, oversized assignment areas, and inaccurate and outdated maps. The Geography Division plans to improve in these areas, but improvements need to be actively pursued throughout the decade. Island Areas geographic features must be periodically updated. This will require site visits and consistent communication with the Island Areas officials.

The money budgeted for the Island Areas field data collection phase was sufficient. Since the agreement was a fixed-price contract for the 2010 Census, all the Island Areas kept any remaining funds following the closing of the Local Census Offices. For the 2020 Census, the contract amount could be negotiated with a contingency fund preserved by Census Bureau headquarters.

Finally, the data collection methodology for the Island Areas should be carefully examined and modernized. The challenges of a mixed-mode data collection process for the 2020 Census of Island Areas would be significant but not insurmountable. Formal planning with Island Areas officials should begin in fiscal year 2013, once the 2010 Census data products have been published.