[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 16 (Thursday, January 24, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5211-5212]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-01392]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Proposed Collection, Comment Request
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a pre-clearance
consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies
with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing
collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps to
ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format,
reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized,
collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of
collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. The
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is soliciting comments concerning the
proposed reinstatement, with change, of a previously approved
collection for which approval has expired collection of the ``National
Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997.'' A copy of the proposed information
collection request (ICR) can be obtained by contacting the individual
listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the
Addresses section below on or before March 25, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Nora Kincaid, BLS Clearance Officer,
Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 4080,
2 Massachusetts Avenue NE., Washington, DC 20212. Written comments also
may be transmitted by fax to 202-691-5111 (this is not a toll free
number).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nora Kincaid, BLS Clearance Officer,
202-691-7628 (this is not a toll free number). (See ADDRESSES section.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) is a
nationally representative sample of persons who were born in the years
1980 to 1984. These respondents were ages 12-17 when the first round of
annual interviews began in 1997; starting with round sixteen, the
NLSY97 will be conducted on a biennial basis. Round sixteen interviews
will occur from September 2013 to May 2014. The Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS) contracts with the National Opinion Research Center
(NORC) at the University of Chicago to conduct the NLSY97. The primary
objective of the survey is to study the transition from schooling to
the establishment of careers and families. The longitudinal focus of
this survey requires information to be collected from the same
individuals over many years in order to trace their education,
training, work experience, fertility, income, and program
participation.
One of the goals of the Department of Labor (DOL) is to produce and
disseminate timely, accurate, and relevant information about the U.S.
labor force. The BLS contributes to this goal by gathering information
about the labor force and labor market and disseminating it to
policymakers and the public so that participants in those markets can
make more informed, and thus more efficient, choices. Research based on
the NLSY97 contributes to the formation of national policy in the areas
of education, training, work experience, fertility, income, and program
participation. In addition to the reports that the BLS produces based
on data from the NLSY97, members of the academic community publish
articles and reports based on NLSY97 data for the DOL and other funding
agencies. To date, approximately 266 articles examining NLSY97 data
have been published in scholarly journals. The survey design provides
data gathered from the same respondents over time to form the only
dataset that contains this type of information for this important
population group. Without the collection of these data, an accurate
longitudinal dataset could not be provided to researchers and
policymakers, thus adversely affecting the DOL's ability to perform its
policy- and report-making activities.
II. Current Action
The BLS seeks approval to conduct round 16 of annual interviews of
the NLSY97. Respondents to the NLSY97 will undergo an interview of
approximately 61 minutes during which they will answer questions about
schooling and labor market experiences, family relationships, and
community background.
During the fielding period for the main round 16 interviews, about
2 percent of respondents will be asked to participate in a brief
validation interview a few weeks after the initial interview. The
purpose of the validation interview is to verify that the initial
interview took place as the interviewer reported and to assess the data
quality of selected questionnaire items.
The BLS plans to record randomly selected segments of the main
interviews during round 16. Recording interviews helps the BLS and NORC
to ensure that the interviews actually took place and interviewers are
reading the questions exactly as worded and entering the responses
properly. Recording also helps to identify parts of the interview that
might be causing problems or misunderstanding for interviewers or
respondents. Each respondent will be informed that the
[[Page 5212]]
interview may be recorded for quality control, testing, and training
purposes. If the respondent objects to the recording of the interview,
the interviewer will confirm to the respondent that the interview will
not be recorded and then proceed with the interview.
The round 16 questionnaire will resemble the round 15 questionnaire
with few modifications. Some of the modifications have been made
because the interview will be conducted biennially rather than
annually. The round 16 questionnaire will include questions about
whether the respondent's parents owned a business, served a prison
sentence or served in the military. A short section on childcare will
be asked. Additional income questions on the Earned Income tax credit
(EITC) and whether a spouse or partner received income from worker's
compensation. A series of questions on personality traits will also be
added in round 16. Personality traits will include task completion,
pursuit of goals, diligence, hard work, dealing with setbacks, focus,
and distractibility. These questions will allow researchers to measure
non-cognitive skills which may be important measures of labor market
success.
Round 16 will include a trial Internet collection of selected
information used to locate respondents for interviews. Approximately 20
percent of the sample will be offered the opportunity to participate.
The purpose of the trial is to determine whether Internet collection
yields information of higher quality when compared to the current
method of collecting the information as part of the interview. The
Internet trial also will be used to assess respondent acceptance of
Internet collection generally and whether such collection can reduce
respondent burden without reducing the quality of the survey
information.
As in prior rounds of the NLSY97, round 16 will include a pretest
conducted several months before the main fielding to test survey
procedures and questions and resolve problems before the main fielding
begins.
III. Desired Focus of Comments
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is particularly interested in
comments that:
Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility.
Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used.
Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected.
Minimize the burden of the collection of information on
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submissions of responses.
Type of Review: Reinstatement, with change, of a previously
approved collection for which approval has expired collection.
Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Title: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997.
OMB Number: 1220-0157.
Affected Public: Individuals or households.
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Average time
Form Total Frequency Total per response Estimated total
respondents responses (minutes) burden (hours)
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NLSY97 Pretest June-July..... 150 One-time........ 150 61 152.5
NLSY97 R16 advance web test 1,000 One-time........ 1,000 10 166.7
June-July 2013.
Main NLSY97: September 2013- 7,400 One-time........ 7,400 61 7,523.3
May 2014.
Validation interview: October 147 One-time........ 147 4 9.8
2013-June 2014.
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TOTALS*.................. 7,550 ................ 8,697 .............. 7,852
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Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $0.
Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): $0.
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget
approval of the information collection request; they also will become a
matter of public record.
Signed at Washington, DC, this 17th day of January 2013.
Eric Molina,
Acting Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
[FR Doc. 2013-01392 Filed 1-23-13; 8:45 am]
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