Running head: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH: THE US CENSUS

Qualitative Research: The US Census

Chase Appleby, Carlie Goltz, Berkli Johnson, Lynsey Lamoureux and Jamie White

PR Research MC 3360 MWF 10-10:50

Texas State University

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Qualitative Research: The US Census

Background:

Upon completion of secondary research, we found that there is a lack of knowledge in college

students on the Census as well as an overall difficulty in administering the census. A New York

Times article from 2018 reported that “it’s getting harder to conduct the census, due to a variety

of factors, including increasing cultural & linguistic diversity, and distrust of the government. The

addition of the citizenship question will make the enumerators’ jobs even harder by heightening

privacy concerns and reducing participation among immigrants, who may fear the information

will be used to harm them or their families.”

The real problem driving the situation is that, as college aged citizens leave their parents, they

are required to take the census and are unaware of its importance. A lot of the population is

either unaware of the census or is unwilling to take it. For example, some people are “reluctant

to participate in the census, including U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann. Bachmann

spoke out about her census concerns in a recent "Good Morning America" interview,

commenting that the census has become "very intricate, very personal." Personal views like this

could be preventing people from participating.

Client Question:

How do we increase the participation of the Texas State student population in the 2020

Census?

Research Purpose​:

To assess and understand Texas State students’ current knowledge and perceptions of the

census.
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Research Questions:

What is TXST students current knowledge of the census?

What perceptions, if any, do students have about the census?

Sample Groups/Respondents:

● TXST Students 18-22

● Both men and women

● Students who aren’t engaged in the census process

Methodology:

We will conduct in-depth interviews with Texas State students in San Marcos, Texas in an effort

to encourage the students to be honest about their knowledge without feeling judgement from a

group setting.
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Screener Development

The purpose of the screener is to narrow our field of respondents in those who are acceptable

for the qualitative research study. In our study we are focusing on students who are enrolled in

Texas State University. Any gender is acceptable but they must be the average college age,

between 18 and 22. It is important to not include any Mass Communication majors in the study

nor any Bateman or NSAC participants so that they don’t have any biases. Another important

group of people to reject from the study are people who have participated in another research

study in the past 6 months. These people often tailor their answers to what researchers want to

hear, so their responses aren’t valid. Additionally, we will be screening for those who don’t have

much knowledge of the census to avoid selecting respondents that don’t fit the client’s target

audience of people that aren’t engaged in the census process.

Our screener was developed with Qualtrics, an online survey administrator. This will make it

easy to send out to possible participants in order to find the 8f we will use. In order to be

selected, respondents must answer all questions besides gender with a certain answer:

● Age must be between the ages of 18-22

● Educational level must be some college

● Their current college must be Texas State

● Their major can be any as long as it is not in the Mass Communication fields

● They cannot be apart of Bateman or NSAC for their organizations or teams

● They cannot have participated in any research studies in the past 6 months

● Must have little knowledge of the census (under 5 on a scale of 1-10)

If respondents answer all questions as needed, they will be selected for the qualitative study

and will participate in the in-depth interviews.

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Screener

1. Gender?

a. Male (1)

b. Female (2)

2. Age?

a. 12-17

b. 18-22

c. 23-27

Skip To: End of Survey If Age? = 12-17

Skip To: Q3 If Age? = 18-22

Skip To: End of Survey If Age? = 23-27

3. Education level?

a. high-school only

b. some college

c. graduate level or higher

Skip To: End of Survey If Education level? = high-school only

Skip To: End of Survey If Education level? = graduate level or higher

4. Are you a Mass Communication (or specialties) major?

a. Yes

b. No
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Skip To: End of Survey If Are you a Mass Communication (or specialties) major? = yes

5. Have you participated in any research studies in the past 6 months?

a. yes

b. no

Skip To: End of Survey If Have you participated in any research studies in the past 6 months? =

yes

6. Are you a part of the Bateman or NSAC organizations?

Skip To: End of Survey If Are you a part of the Bateman or NSAC organizations? = yes

7. Do you attend Texas State University?

a. Yes

b. No

Skip To: End of Survey If Do you attend Texas State University? = no

8. On a scale of 1-10, what is your current knowledge about the US Census?

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Answer must be 1-5