The purpose of the Content and Forms Design (CFD) operation was to successfully develop, refine, and finalize the content, questionnaires, and respondent materials for the 2020 Census. The content development process began with validating the data collected in the previous census against current federal data needs.

In order to inform the 2020 questionnaire content, the Census Bureau conducted the 2015 National Content Test (NCT), which served as the primary content field test for the 2020 Census. The NCT focused on testing modified versions of race and ethnicity questions, relationship questions, and coverage questions.

Additional census tests further refined these questions, and in preparation for each test and the 2020 Census, CFD developed all respondent-facing content including mail materials and internet, phone, paper, and field enumeration questionnaires.

While previous censuses were paper-based, the 2020 Census introduced automated data collection instruments for three operations: Internet Self-Response (ISR), Census Questionnaire Assistance (CQA), and Nonresponse Followup (NRFU). The process of designing and developing automated instruments was new for the CFD operation and included the development of detailed content specifications that were very different from traditional paper questionnaires.

Recommendations found from the CFD operation include: finalizing all content before the dress rehearsal, ensuring that robust pretesting of 2030 Census content and materials begins early in the decade and is comprehensive, and analyzing instrument paradata to support planning for the 2030 Census.