[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 58 (Wednesday, March 26, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16828-16830]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-06653]
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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 of the ``National Longitudinal Survey of Youth
1979.'' 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 May 27, 2014.
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,
[[Page 16829]]
202-691-7628 (this is not a toll free number). (See Addresses section.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) is a
representative national sample of persons who were born in the years
1957 to 1964 and lived in the U.S. in 1978. These respondents were ages
14 to 22 when the first round of interviews began in 1979; they are
ages 49 to 58 as of December 31, 2013. The NLSY79 was conducted
annually from 1979 to 1994 and has been conducted biennially since
1994. 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.
In addition to the main NLSY79, the biological children of female
NLSY79 respondents have been surveyed since 1986. A battery of child
cognitive, socio-emotional, and physiological assessments has been
administered biennially since 1986 to NLSY79 mothers and their
children. Starting in 1994, children who had reached age 15 by December
31 of the survey year (the Young Adults) were interviewed about their
work experiences, training, schooling, health, fertility, self-esteem,
and other topics. Funding for the NLSY79 Child and Young Adult surveys
is provided by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child
Health and Human Development through an interagency agreement with the
BLS and through a grant awarded to researchers at the Ohio State
University Center for Human Resource Research (CHRR). The interagency
agreement funds data collection for children and young adults up to age
20. The grant funds data collection for young adults age 21 and older.
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 NLSY79 contributes to the formation of national policy in the areas
of education, training, employment programs, and school-to-work
transitions. In addition to the reports that the BLS produces based on
data from the NLSY79, members of the academic community publish
articles and reports based on NLSY79 data for the DOL and other funding
agencies. To date, more than 2,332 articles examining NLSY79 data have
been published in scholarly journals. The survey design provides data
gathered from the same respondents over time to form the only data set
that contains this type of information for this important population
group. Without the collection of these data, an accurate longitudinal
data set 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 26 of the NLSY79 and the
associated surveys of biological children of female NLSY79 respondents.
The NLSY79 Child Survey involves three components:
The Mother Supplement is administered to female NLSY79
respondents who live with biological children under age 15. This
questionnaire will be administered to about 285 women, who will be
asked a series of questions about each child under age 15. On average,
these women each have 1.12 children under age 15, for a total of
approximately 320 children.
The Child Supplement involves aptitude testing of about
315 children under age 15.
The Child Self-Administered Questionnaire is administered
to approximately 275 children ages 10 to 14.
The Young Adult Survey will be administered to young adults age 15
and older who are the biological children of female NLSY79 respondents.
These young adults will be contacted regardless of whether they reside
with their mothers. Members of the Young Adult sample are contacted for
interviews every other round once they reach age 30. The NLSY79 Young
Adult Survey involves interviews with approximately 5,730 young adults
ages 15 and older.
During the field period, about 10 main NLSY79 interviews will be
validated to ascertain whether the interview took place as the
interviewer reported and whether the interview was done in a polite and
professional manner.
The round 26 questionnaire includes a new section on Educational
Expenditures, as well as several personality inventory and locus-of-
control scales. A new module on Educational Expenditures, which asks
about spending on private secondary schools and college has been added
for Round 26. All respondents (male and female) with children in the
Young Adult age range (turning 15 sometime during the 2014 survey year)
are asked a series of questions about each of those children. By
collecting data on how much respondents spent on each child's secondary
and post-secondary schooling, we hope to inform this area of research
that examines whether parents invest in their children (via secondary
and postsecondary educational expenditures). Eight questions on
Expectations are included in Round 26 and are designed to elicit
respondents' ``subjective probabilities'' about outcomes related to
retirement, inheritances, life expectancy, and health. Each question
asks respondents to report a number between zero and 100 that
represents their assessment of the likelihood of the outcome.
These questions have been added to expand our efforts to learn
about respondents' plans for retirement and expectations about the
future. The Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI10) has also been added
for Round 26. Using a scale from 1-7, respondents are asked to judge
how much they agree that pairs of words representing personality
characteristics apply to them. The personality characteristics are the
so-called ``Big Five'' traits (conscientiousness, agreeableness,
neuroticism, openness to new ideas, and extroversion) that are widely
used by psychologists based on evidence that a minimum of five factors
is needed to describe individuals' personalities. The Rotter Locus of
Control, first asked of respondents in 1979, returns in Round 26. The
measure of ``locus of control'' or self-efficacy obtained by this scale
has been widely used by researchers, many of whom have asked us to re-
field the scale to determine how individuals' locus of control has
changed over time.
The final addition to Round 26 is the inclusion of an Overall Life
Satisfaction module. Respondents are asked their overall level of
satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their lives on a scale from 1-7.
III. Desired Focus of Comments
The BLS 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.
[[Page 16830]]
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.
Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Title: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979.
OMB Number: 1220-0109.
Affected Public: Individuals or households.
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Average time Estimated
Form Total Frequency Total per response total burden
respondents responses (minutes) (hours)
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NLSY79 Round 26 Pretest...... 100 Biennially....... 100 60 100
NLSY79 Round 26 Main Survey.. 7,300 Biennially....... 7,300 60 7,300
Round 26 Validation 10 Biennially....... 10 6 1
Interviews.
Mother Supplement (Mothers of \1\ 285 Biennially....... 320 20 107
children under age 15).
Child Supplement (Under age 315 Biennially....... 315 31 163
15).
Child Self-Administered 275 Biennially....... 275 30 138
Questionnaire (Ages 10 to
14).
Young Adult Survey (Ages 15 1,030 Biennially....... 1030 55 944
to 20).
Young Adult Survey, Grant 4,700 Biennially....... 4700 60 4,700
component (Age 21 and older).
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Totals \2\............... 13,445 ................. 14050 .............. 13,453
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\1\ The number of respondents for the Mother Supplement (285) is less than the number of responses (320) because
mothers are asked to provide separate responses for each of the biological children with whom they reside. The
total number of responses for the Mother Supplement (320) is more than the number for the Child Supplement
(315) because the number of children completing the Child Supplement is lower due to age restrictions and
nonresponse.
\2\ The total number of 13,445 respondents across all the survey instruments is a mutually exclusive count that
does not include: (1) The 10 reinterview respondents, who were previously counted among the 7,300 main survey
respondents, (2) the 285 Mother Supplement respondents, who were previously counted among the main survey
respondents, and (3) the 275 Child SAQ respondents, who were previously counted among the 285 Child Supplement
respondents.
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 19th day of March 2014.
Eric P. Molina,
Acting Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
[FR Doc. 2014-06653 Filed 3-25-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-P