Notice2022-00564
Generic Clearance for Formative Data Collections for Evaluation, Research, and Evidence-Building
Primary source
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Published
January 13, 2022
Issuing agencies
Small Business Administration
Abstract
The Small Business Administration (SBA) intends to request approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a generic clearance to allow the SBA to conduct a variety of formative data collections with more than nine respondents. The formative evaluation, research, and other evidence-building data collections will inform future studies but will not be highly systematic nor intended to be statistically representative. Findings from these formative studies will not be generalized to the broader population and are not intended to inform major decisions. In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, the SBA is soliciting public comment on the specific aspects of the information collection described above.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 9 (Thursday, January 13, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 9 (Thursday, January 13, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2204-2205]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-00564]
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SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Generic Clearance for Formative Data Collections for Evaluation,
Research, and Evidence-Building
ACTION: 60-Day notice of information collection and request for
comments.
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SUMMARY: The Small Business Administration (SBA) intends to request
approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a generic
clearance to allow the SBA to conduct a variety of formative data
collections with more than nine respondents. The formative evaluation,
research, and other evidence-building data collections will inform
future studies but will not be highly systematic nor intended to be
statistically representative. Findings from these formative studies
will not be generalized to the broader population and are not intended
to inform major decisions. In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act (PRA) of 1995, the SBA is soliciting public comment on the specific
aspects of the information collection described above.
DATES: Submit comments on or before March 14, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Send all comments to Shay Meinzer, Lead Program Evaluator,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#bac9d2dbc394d7dfd3d4c0dfc8fac9d8db94ddd5cc"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="097a61687027646c6067736c7b497a6b68276e667f">[email protected]</span></a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shay Meinzer, Lead Program Evaluator,
Office of Program Performance, Analysis, and Evaluation, Small Business
Administration, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#15667d746c3b78707c7b6f7067556677743b727a63"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c3b0aba2baedaea6aaadb9a6b183b0a1a2eda4acb5">[email protected]</span></a>, 202-539-1429, or Curtis B. Rich,
Management Analyst, 202-205-7030, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#96f5e3e4e2ffe5b8e4fff5fed6e5f4f7b8f1f9e0"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="55362027213c267b273c363d152637347b323a23">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The SBA intends to design and conduct
evidence-building activities of SBA programs. SBA's evidence-building
activities include formative evaluations of existing programs, process,
and new initiatives; logic model development and testing; process or
journey mapping; research syntheses; survey, questionnaire, and metric
development; analysis; and foundational fact-finding through
descriptive and exploratory studies.
Under this generic clearance, the SBA would engage in a variety of
formative and exploratory data collections with SBA grantees, program
and potential program providers and participants, researchers,
practitioners, and other stakeholders to fulfill the following goals:
<bullet> Maintain a rigorous and relevant evaluation and research
agenda,
<bullet> inform the development of SBA's evidence-building
activities,
[[Page 2205]]
<bullet> inform the delivery of targeted assistance and workflows
related to program and grantee processes,
<bullet> inform the development and refinement of recordkeeping and
communication systems,
<bullet> plan for provision of programmatic or evidence-capacity-
related training or technical assistance,
<bullet> obtain grantee or stakeholder input on the development or
refinement of program logic models, evaluations, and performance
measures, and
<bullet> test activities to strengthen programs in preparation for
summative evaluations.
The SBA envisions using a variety of techniques including but not
limited to semi-structured small group discussions or focus groups,
questionnaires and surveys, interviews (e.g., in-person, video, and
telephone), and cognitive interviews (e.g., in-person, video and audio
collections) to reach these goals. Participation in formative data
collections is strictly voluntary, and personal identifiable
information is not collected.
Following standard OMB requirements, the SBA will submit a change
request for each individual data collection activity under this generic
clearance. Each request will include the individual instrument(s), a
justification, and any supplementary documents specific to the unique
information collection. OMB should review within 10 days of receiving
each change request.
The information collected in this effort will not be the primary
subject of any published SBA reports. However, information may be made
public through methodological appendices or footnotes, reports on
instrument development, instrument user guides, descriptions of
respondent behavior, and other publications or presentations describing
findings of methodological interest. When necessary, results will be
labeled as formative or exploratory. The aggregated results of this
work may be prepared for presentation at professional meetings or
disseminated in evaluation reports, research papers, and professional
journals.
Respondents: The populations to be studied include SBA grantees,
program and potential program providers and participants, researchers,
practitioners, and other stakeholder groups involved in SBA programs,
experts in fields pertaining to SBA evaluation and research, or others
involved in conducting SBA evaluation, research, or evidence-building
projects.
Annual Burden Estimate
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Estimated
Description of data collection Estimated Frequency of Estimated average Estimated
method number of response annual minutes/ annual hour
respondents responses response burden
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Small group discussions or focus 240 1 240 90 360
groups.........................
Surveys or questionnaires....... 450 1 450 30 225
Interviews...................... 135 1 135 60 135
Cognitive interviews............ 75 1 75 90 112.5
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Total....................... 900 .............. 900 .............. 832.5
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Solicitation of public comments: The SBA requests comments on (a)
whether the collection of information is necessary for the agency to
perform its functions properly; (b) whether the burden estimates are
accurate; (c) whether there are ways to minimize the burden, including
through the use of automated techniques or other forms of information
technology; and (d) whether there are ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information collected. Comments submitted
in response to this notice will be summarized and/or included in the
request for OMB approval of this information collection; they also will
become a matter of public record.
Curtis B. Rich,
Management Analyst.
[FR Doc. 2022-00564 Filed 1-12-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8026-03-P
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