American Community Survey (ACS)

Report 3: Testing the Use of Voluntary Methods

Summarizes results of test about the impact that a change to voluntary methods would have on mail response, survey quality, and costs.

Report 11: Testing Voluntary Methods-Additional Results

Eleventh in a series of reports about implementing the ACS: additional results of testing voluntary methods.

Cost and Workload Implications of a Voluntary ACS

Provides updated information about the costs and workloads associated with implementing a voluntary ACS.

Quality Measures Associated with a Voluntary American Community Survey

Provides updated information about the quality implications associated with implementing a voluntary ACS.

Comparison of the ACS Voluntary Versus Mandatory Estimates

Re-examination of data to assess if estimates produced from a voluntary ACS would differ from estimates produced from a mandatory ACS.

Respondent Characteristics: Mandatory and Voluntary Response Methods

Examines how the distribution of respondent characteristics differ between the two methods and whether any difference is reflected in the final estimates.

Projected 2013 Costs of a Voluntary American Community Survey

Provides updated cost and workload estimates associated with implementing a voluntary ACS.

2015 Envelope Mandatory Messaging Test Preliminary Report

Learn more about research into how removing “YOUR RESPONSE IS REQUIRED BY LAW” from ACS mailing envelopes might affect return rates.

Researching Administrative Record Usage for ACS Income Question

Learn more about the potential for using administrative records to replace or supplement the income question on the American Community Survey.

2015 Summer Mandatory Messaging Test

Learn more about an experiment to assess the impact of changes to mandatory messaging on response, cost, and the reliability of survey estimates.

Results to Reduce Respondent Contact Burden in ACS CAPI

Learn about the results of a pilot to address respondent concerns about the burden associated with the contact attempts made during the ACS CAPI operation.

2015 Envelope Mandatory Messaging Test

Learn about the results of a test conducted to address concerns about the mandatory message “Your Response Is Required By Law” used on ACS mail materials.

"Why We Ask" Mail Package Insert Test

Learn more about an experiment that assessed the impact on response and cost of proposed design changes to the ACS mail materials.

Evaluation of August 2015 ACS Mail Contact Strategy Modification

Learn more about the impact on response and cost of the August 2015 mail contact strategy change.

Research for Replacing or Supplementing the ROYA Question on the ACS

Learn more about the potential for using IRS data to determine whether a respondent moved in the past year.