Notice2021-17349
Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
August 13, 2021
Issuing agencies
Health and Human Services DepartmentCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 154 (Friday, August 13, 2021)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 154 (Friday, August 13, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44728-44730]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-17349]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[30Day-21-0222]
Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has submitted the information
collection request titled The Collaborating Center for Questionnaire
Design and Evaluation Research (CCQDER) to the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) for review and approval. CDC previously published a
``Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public Comment and
Recommendations'' notice on May 26, 2021 to obtain comments from the
public and affected agencies. CDC received no comments related to the
previous notice. This notice serves to allow an additional 30 days for
public and affected agency comments.
CDC will accept all comments for this proposed information
collection project. The Office of Management and Budget is particularly
interested in comments that:
[[Page 44729]]
(a) 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;
(b) Evaluate the accuracy of the agencies estimate of the burden of
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
(c) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected;
(d) 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 submission of responses; and
(e) Assess information collection costs.
To request additional information on the proposed project or to
obtain a copy of the information collection plan and instruments, call
(404) 639-7570. Comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of
this notice to <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>. Find this particular
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function. Direct
written comments and/or suggestions regarding the items contained in
this notice to the Attention: CDC Desk Officer, Office of Management
and Budget, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503 or by fax to (202)
395-5806. Provide written comments within 30 days of notice
publication.
Proposed Project
The Collaborating Center for Questionnaire Design and Evaluation
Research (CCQDER) (OMB Control No. 0920-0222, Exp. 08/31/2021)--
Revision--National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Background and Brief Description
Section 306 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act (42 U.S.C.
242k), as amended, authorizes that the Secretary of Health and Human
Services (DHHS), acting through NCHS, shall undertake and support (by
grant or contract) research, demonstrations, and evaluations respecting
new or improved methods for obtaining current data to support
statistical and epidemiological activities for the purpose of improving
the effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of health services in the
United States.
The Collaborating Center for Questionnaire Design and Evaluation
Research (CCQDER) is the focal point within NCHS for questionnaire and
survey development, pre-testing, and evaluation activities for CDC
surveys such as: The National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), the
Research and Development Survey (RANDS) (including RANDS COVID), and
other federally sponsored surveys.
The CCQDER and other NCHS programs conduct cognitive interviews,
focus groups, in-depth or ethnographic interviews, usability tests,
field tests/pilot interviews, and experimental research in laboratory
and field settings, both for applied questionnaire development and
evaluation, as well as more basic research on measurement errors and
survey response.
Various techniques to evaluate interviewer-administered, self-
administered, telephone, Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing
(CAPI), Computer Assisted Self-Interviewing (CASI), Audio Computer-
Assisted Self-Interviewing (ACASI), and web-based questionnaires are
used.
The most common questionnaire evaluation method is the cognitive
interview. These evaluations are conducted by the CCQDER. The interview
structure consists of respondents first answering a draft survey
question and then providing textual information to reveal the processes
involved in answering the test question. Specifically, cognitive
interview respondents are asked to describe how and why they answered
the question as they did. Through the interviewing process, various
types of question-response problems that would not normally be
identified in a traditional survey interview, such as interpretive
errors and recall accuracy, are uncovered. By conducting a comparative
analysis of cognitive interviews, it is also possible to determine
whether particular interpretive patterns occur within particular sub-
groups of the population. Interviews are generally conducted in small
rounds totaling 40-100 interviews; ideally, the questionnaire is re-
worked between rounds, and revisions are tested iteratively until
interviews yield relatively few new insights.
Cognitive interviewing is inexpensive and provides useful data on
questionnaire performance while minimizing respondent burden. Cognitive
interviewing offers a detailed depiction of meanings and processes used
by respondents to answer questions, a process that ultimately produces
the survey data. As such, the method offers an insight that can
transform understanding of question validity and response error.
Documented findings from these studies represent tangible evidence of
how the question performs. Such documentation also serves CDC data
users, allowing them to be critical users in their approach and
application of the data.
In addition to cognitive interviewing, a number of other
qualitative and quantitative methods are used to investigate and
research measurement errors and the survey response process. These
methods include conducting focus groups, usability tests, in-depth or
ethnographic interviews, and the administration and analysis of
questions in both representative and non-representative field tests.
Focus groups are conducted by the CCQDER. Focus groups are group
interviews whose primary purpose is to elicit the basic sociocultural
understandings and terminology that form the basis of questionnaire
design. Each group typically consists of one moderator and 4-10
participants, depending on the research question. In-depth or
ethnographic interviews are one-on-one interviews designed to elicit
the understandings or terminology that are necessary for question
design, as well as to gather detailed information that can contribute
to the analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data. Usability
tests are typically one-on-one interviews that are used to determine
how a given survey or information collection tool functions in the
field, and how the mode and layout of the instrument itself may
contribute to survey response error and the survey response process.
In addition to these qualitative methods, NCHS also uses various
tools to obtain quantitative data, which can be analyzed alone or
analyzed alongside qualitative data to give a much fuller accounting of
the survey response process. For instance, phone, internet, mail, and
in-person follow-up interviews of previous NCHS survey respondents may
be used to test the validity of survey questions and questionnaires and
to obtain more detailed information that cannot be gathered on the
original survey. Additionally, field or pilot tests may be conducted on
both representative and non-representative samples, including those
obtained from commercial survey and web panel vendors. Beyond looking
at traditional measures of survey errors (such as item missing rates,
non-response, and don't know rates), these pilot tests can be used to
run
[[Page 44730]]
experimental designs in order to capture how different questions
function in a field setting. Similar methodology has been adopted by
other federal agencies, as well as by academic and commercial survey
organizations.
In 2021-2024, NCHS/CCQDER staff plan to continue research on
methods evaluation and general questionnaire design research. We
envision that over the next three years, NCHS/CCQDER will work
collaboratively with survey researchers from universities and other
Federal agencies to define and examine several research areas,
including, but not limited to: (1) Differences between face-to-face,
telephone, and virtual/video over internet cognitive interviewing, (2)
effectiveness of different approaches to cognitive interviewing, such
as concurrent and retrospective probing, (3) reactions of both survey
respondents and survey interviewers to the use of Computer-Assisted
Personal Interviewing (CAPI), Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interview
(ACASI), video over internet/virtual, (4) social, cultural and
linguistic factors in the question response process, and (5)
recruitment and respondent participation at varying levels of incentive
in an effort to establish empirical evidence regarding remuneration and
coercion. Procedures for each of these studies will be similar to those
applied in the usual testing of survey questions. For example,
questionnaires that are of current interest (such as RANDS and NIOSH)
may be evaluated using several of the techniques described above. In
addition, different versions of a survey question will be developed,
and the variants then administered to separate groups of respondents in
order to study the cognitive processes that account for the differences
in responses obtained across different versions.
These studies will be conducted either by CCQDER staff, DHHS staff,
or NCHS contractors who are trained in cognitive interviewing
techniques. The results of these studies will be applied to our
specific questionnaire development activities in order to improve the
methods that we use to conduct questionnaire testing, and to guide
questionnaire design in general.
OMB approval is requested for three years. Participation is
voluntary. We are requesting 9,455 annualized hours, totaling 28,365
over three years. This is an increase of 1,672 hours per year or 5,016
hours over three years. The requested increases are due to an
anticipated increase in the number and size of projects being
undertaken.
Estimated Annualized Burden Table
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Average burden
Type of respondent Form name Number of responses per per response
respondents respondent (in hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Individuals or households............. Eligibility Screeners... 4,400 1 5/60
Individuals or households............. Developmental 8,750 1 55/60
Questionnaires.
Individuals or households............. Respondent Data 8,750 1 5/60
Collection Sheet.
Individuals or households............. Focus Group Documents... 225 1 90/60
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeffrey M. Zirger,
Lead, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Scientific
Integrity, Office of Science, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2021-17349 Filed 8-12-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P
</pre></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on August 13, 2021.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.