[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 6 (Thursday, January 9, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1628-1630]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-00147]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of
information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44
U.S.C. chapter 35).
Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
Title: Generic Clearance for Internet Nonprobability Panel
Pretesting.
Form Number(s): None.
OMB Control Number: None.
Type of Request: New collection.
Burden Hours: 8,334.
Number of Respondents: 50,000.
Average Hours Per Response: 10 minutes.
Needs and Uses: The U.S. Census Bureau is requesting a new OMB
generic clearance to conduct a variety of medium-scale iterative
Internet research pretesting activities. We will dedicate a block of
hours to these activities for each of the next three years. OMB will be
informed in writing of the purpose and scope of each of these
activities, as well as the time frame and number of burden hours used.
The number of hours used will not exceed the number set aside for this
purpose.
The Census Bureau is committed to conducting research in a cost
efficient manner. Currently, several stages of testing occur in
research projects at the Census Bureau. As a first stage of research,
the Census Bureau pretests questions on surveys or censuses and
evaluates the usability and ease of use of Web sites using a small
number of subjects during focus groups, usability and cognitive
testing. These projects are in-person and labor-intensive, but
typically only target samples of 20 to 30 respondents. This small-scale
work is done through an existing OMB generic clearance. Often the
second stage is a larger-scale field test with a split-panel design of
a survey or a release of a Census Bureau data dissemination product
with a feedback mechanism. The field tests often involve a lot of
preparatory work and often are limited in the number of panels tested
due to
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the cost considerations. They are often targeted at very large sample
sizes with over 10,000 respondents per panel. These are typically done
using stand-alone OMB clearances.
Cost efficiencies can occur by testing some research questions in a
medium-scale test, using a smaller number of participants than what we
typically use in a field test, yet a larger and more diverse set of
participants than who we recruit for cognitive and usability tests.
Using Internet panel pretesting, we can answer some research questions
more thoroughly than in the small-scale testing, but less expensively
than in the large-scale field test. This clearance seeks to establish a
medium-scale (defined as having sample sizes from 100-2000 per study),
cost-efficient method of testing questions and contact strategies over
the Internet through different types of nonprobability samples.
For example, email has been identified as a possible cost-effective
notification strategy for online data collection. Email has not been
used extensively as a notification mode for past censuses nor other
government surveys. (Please see ``Supporting literature'' section at
the end of this section.) Prior to implementing an email strategy, the
Census Bureau needs to determine the best email invitation to maximize
the likelihood that someone will open the email and initiate the
survey. Assessment of numerous email variations in a large-scale test
would be cost-prohibitive. Medium-scale testing of email variations is
more efficient. This research will be used to answer some fundamental
questions about how to optimize email (and possibly text message)
contacts.
This research program will be used by the Census Bureau and survey
sponsors to test alternative contact methods, including emails and text
messages (via an opt-in strategy), improve online questionnaires and
procedures, reduce respondent burden, and ultimately increase the
quality of data collected in the Census Bureau censuses and surveys. We
will use the clearance to conduct pretesting of decennial and
demographic census and survey questionnaires prior to fielding them as
well as communications and/or marketing strategies and data
dissemination tools for the Census Bureau. The primary method of
identifying measurement problems with the questionnaire or survey
procedure is split panel tests. This will encompass both methodological
and subject matter research questions that can be tested on a medium-
scale nonprobability panel.
This research program will also be used by the Census Bureau for
remote usability testing of electronic interfaces and to perform other
qualitative analyses such as respondent debriefings. An advantage of
using remote, medium-scale testing is that participants can test
products at their convenience using their own equipment, as opposed to
using Census Bureau-supplied computers. A diverse participant pool
(geographically, demographically, or economically) is another
advantage. Remote usability testing would use click through rates and
other paradata, accuracy and satisfaction scores, and written
qualitative comments to determine optimal interface designs and to
obtain feedback from respondents.
The public will be offered an opportunity to participate in this
research remotely, by signing up for an online research panel. If a
person opts in, the Census Bureau will occasionally email (or text, if
applicable) the person an invitation to complete a survey for one of
our research projects. Invited respondents will be told the topic of
the survey, and how long it will take to complete it. Under this
clearance, we will also conduct similar-scale and similarly designed
research using other email lists to validate preliminary findings and
expand the research.
One of the testing methodologies to be used is Split sample
experiments. This involves testing alternative versions of
questionnaires, invitations to questionnaires (e.g., emails or text
messages), or Web sites, at least some of which have been designed to
address problems identified in draft versions or versions from previous
waves. The use of multiple questionnaires, invitations, or Web sites,
randomly assigned to permit statistical comparisons, is the critical
component here; data collection will be via the Internet. Comparison of
revised questionnaires (or invitations) against a control version,
preferably, or against each other facilitates statistical evaluation of
the performance of alternative versions of the questionnaire (or
invitation or Web site).
The number of versions tested and the number of cases per version
will depend on the objectives of the test. We cannot specify with
certainty a minimum panel size, although we would expect that no
questionnaire versions would be administered to less than fifty
respondents.
Split sample tests that incorporate methodological questionnaire
design experiments will have a larger maximum sample size (up to
several hundred cases per panel) than other pretest methods. This will
enable the detection of statistically significant differences, and
facilitate methodological experiments that can extend questionnaire
design knowledge more generally for use in a variety of Census Bureau
data collection instruments.
Another testing methodology is Usability Interviews. This method
involves getting respondent input to aid in the development of
automated questionnaires and Web sites and associated materials. The
objective is to identify problems that keep respondents from completing
automated questionnaires accurately and efficiently with minimal
burden, or that prevent respondents from successfully navigating Web
sites and finding the information they seek. Remote usability testing
may be conducted under this clearance, whereby a user would receive an
invitation to use a Web site or survey, then answer targeted questions
about that experience.
This clearance will only cover pretests primarily conducted
remotely, via the Internet. Since the types of surveys included under
the umbrella of the clearance are so varied, it is difficult to specify
at this point what kinds of activities would be involved in any
particular test, but a key component will be the comparison of one
invitation, questionnaire or Web site to another.
We will provide OMB with a copy of questionnaires and invitations
in advance of any testing activity. Depending on the stage of
development, this may be the printed material from the last round of a
survey or a revised draft based on analysis of other evaluation data.
For a test of alternative procedures, the description and rationale for
the procedures would be submitted. We will also provide a description
of the sample design and the planned administration. OMB will endeavor
to provide comments on substantive issues within 10 working days of
receipt.
The Census Bureau will consult with the Economics and Statistics
Administration (ESA) and OMB prior to submission on the appropriateness
of submissions under this clearance that may raise policy or
substantive issues. With respect to ESA, this will include all research
and testing related to the American Community Survey (ACS) and the 2020
decennial census. In addition, the Census Bureau will consult with ESA
on any research and testing proposals that are presented to the Data
Stewardship Executive Policy (DSEP) Committee. Consultation with ESA
includes the Census Bureau providing copies of the materials to be
tested in advance of any testing.
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The Census Bureau will send ESA and OMB an annual report at the end
of each year summarizing the number of hours used, as well as the
nature and results of the activities completed under this clearance.
The information collected in this program of developing and testing
questionnaires will be used by staff from the Census Bureau and
sponsoring agencies to evaluate and improve the quality of the data in
the surveys and censuses that are ultimately conducted. Because the
questionnaires being tested under this clearance are still in the
process of development, the data that result from these collections are
not considered official statistics of the Census Bureau or other
Federal agencies. Data will be included in research reports prepared
for sponsors inside and outside of the Census Bureau. The results may
also be prepared for presentations related to survey methodology at
professional meetings or publications in professional journals.
Affected Public: Individuals or households.
Frequency: On occasion.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Legal Authority: Data collection for this project is authorized
under the authorizing legislation for the questionnaire being tested.
This may be Title 13 U.S.C., Sections 131, 141, 161, 181, 182, 193, and
301 for Census Bureau-sponsored surveys, and Title 13 and 15 for
surveys sponsored by other Federal agencies. We do not now know what
other titles will be referenced, since we do not know what survey
questionnaires will be pretested during the course of the clearance.
OMB Desk Officer: Brian Harris-Kojetin, (202) 395-7314.
Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained
by calling or writing Jennifer Jessup, Departmental Paperwork Clearance
Officer, (202) 482-0336, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 14th and
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet at
[email protected]).
Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice
to Brian Harris-Kojetin, OMB Desk Officer either by fax (202-395-7245)
or email ([email protected]).
Dated: January 6, 2014.
Glenna Mickelson,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-00147 Filed 1-8-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P