Results from the Social Security Number, Privacy Attitudes, And Notification Experiment in Census 2000

By Cooper, Kathleen B.

Book Id: WPLBN0000582346
Format Type: PDF eBook
File Size: 1,655,328 KB.
Reproduction Date: 2005

Title:	Results from the Social Security Number, Privacy Attitudes, And Notification Experiment in Census 2000
Author:	Cooper, Kathleen B.
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Government publications, Census., Census report
Collections:	U.S. Census Bureau Collection
Historic Publication Date:
Publisher:	U.S. Census Bureau Department


Citation APA MLA Chicago Cooper, K. B. (n.d.). Results from the Social Security Number, Privacy Attitudes, And Notification Experiment in Census 2000. Retrieved from http://gutenberg.cc/

Description
Statistical Reference Document

Excerpt
Excerpt: The Social Security Number, Privacy Attitudes, and Notification Experiment was a research project during Census 2000 that was developed to provide information for use in the planning of the 2010 census (Neugebauer, R. ?Census 2000 Experimentation Program Master Plan: The Social Security Number, Privacy Attitudes, and Notification Experiment,? Census Bureau, Planning and Evaluation Division, November 5, 1999). Obtaining Social Security Numbers from census respondents appeared to be consistent with the potential interest of expanding the Census Bureau?s usage of administrative records information from other Federal agencies in future decennial censuses. The project was designed to assess the public?s attitudes on privacy and confidentiality issues related to the notion of an ?administrative records census? and to further examine how the notification of administrative records use and the request for a Social Security Number would impact census response rates and item nonresponse rates during Census 2000. The project included a survey and a panel component, enabling both attitudinal and behavioral responses to be evaluated.

Table of Contents
Contents Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .v Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 1.1. Experiment background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 1.2. Research questions and hypotheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 2. Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 2.1. Survey component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 2.2. Panel component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 3. Major Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 3.1. Survey component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 3.2. Panel component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 4. Implications and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 4.1. Public attitudes toward the Census . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 4.2. Behavioral responses to Census 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 4.3. Comments on Census publicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 4.4. Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Article 1: Mapping Questions of the SPA2000 Survey Instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Article 2: Survey Items, Response Categories, and Weighted Ns Across Four Public Surveys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 Table 1: Experimental Treatments Presented in the Census 2000 Cover Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 Table 2: Changes in Public Attitudes From 1995 to 2000 . . . .31 Table 3a: Effects of Exposure to Positive and/or Negative Publicity on Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 Table 3b: Effects of Exposure to Positive and/or Negative Publicity Only Vs. Both Publicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 Table 4a: Demographic and Attitudinal Predictors of Census Mail Returns in 1999 and 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 Table 4b: Demographic and Attitudinal Predictors of Match Between Survey and Census . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 Table 5: Logistic Regression Coefficients Predicting the Log Odds of Responding to the Census . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 Table 6: Logistic Regression Coefficients Predicting the Log Odds of Returning an Incomplete Census Form . . . . .35 Table 7a: Item Nonresponse Rates for SSN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Table 7b: Multiple Comparisons of SSN Missing Rates for Person 1 by Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Table 8: Valid SSN Rates for Persons 2-6 By Panel . . . . . . . . . .36