This study develops a behind-the-scenes understanding of the people and organizations that are depended upon to provide survey data. A data collection event— in this study, a pilot coverage measurement survey conducted after the United States 2010 Census—provides an ideal environment to gauge respondents’ reactions to the survey process. Relying on the conceptual guidance of script formation, these reactions are studied using a focus group and interviews with staff. Using a combination of constant comparative method and ethnographic theme analysis the results generated a grounded theory of situated refusal that identifies specific scripts that respondents used when completing a self-administered survey. The findings describe the role of sensegiving and sensemaking in the fluid decision-making context of survey participation. The major themes for sensemaking include time, redundancy, and education, while the themes for sensegiving are organizational messages and organizational relationships. In addition to this contribution to qualitative and survey research, this study also provides a cognitive perspective on the current understanding of ethnostatistics—the qualitative study of quantitative processes.