Current Population Survey: August 2008 Migration Supplement

G. Patricia de la Cruz, U.S. Census Bureau
Cassandra A. Logan, U.S. Census Bureau

The U.S. Census Bureau fielded a new migration supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS) basic monthly questionnaire in August 2008. As part of the mandate to collect data and provide timely information on migration, the Immigration Statistics Staff, a branch of the Census Bureau’s Population Division, coordinated with other Census the Bureau divisions to develop this supplement. The supplement is the only comprehensive, nationally representative source of data on multiple years of entry to the United States, time outside the United States since coming to the United States, emigration, and monetary remittances. This poster will summarize the process used to develop and field the CPS August 2008 Migration Supplement. It will present information on question development, cognitive testing and results, the goals of each section of the supplement, observations from the field, and results from post-collection debriefings of field representatives and telephone interviewers.