[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 28 (Thursday, February 10, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6605-6606]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-3061]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60Day-00-24]


Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

    In compliance with the requirement of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for opportunity for public comment on 
proposed data collection projects, the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC) will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects. 
To request more information on the proposed projects or to obtain a 
copy of the data collection plans and instruments, call the CDC Reports 
Clearance Officer on (404) 639-7090.
    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways 
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, 
including through the use of automated collection techniques for other 
forms of information technology. Send comments to Seleda Perryman, CDC 
Assistant Reports Clearance Officer, 1600 Clifton Road, MS-D24, 
Atlanta, GA 30333. Written comments should be received within 60 days 
of this notice.

Proposed Project

    Developing Communication to Reduce Workplace Violence and Assault 
Against Taxicab Drivers--New--The mission of the National Institute for 
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is to promote ``safety and 
health at work for all people through research and prevention.'' In 
order to carry out this goal effectively and efficiently, NIOSH and the 
occupational safety and health community implemented the National 
Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) in 1996. NORA is the first step in 
an ongoing, synergistic effort by the various institutions of the 
occupational safety and health community to identify and research the 
most important workplace safety and health issues. In order to 
accomplish the NORA objectives in preventing violence and assault in 
the workplace, NIOSH is conducting health communication research to 
determine the most effective means of promoting preventive behavior 
among taxicab drivers, a high risk occupational group. This research is 
based upon the following NIOSH publications: ``Alert: Preventing 
Homicide in the Workplace'' (NIOSH, 1993) and ``Violence in the 
Workplace--Risk Factors and Prevention Strategies'' (NIOSH, 1996).
    Workplace violence is a significant cause of injury and death in 
the workplace. It was the second leading cause of death in 1997, 
accounting for approximately 18% of worker fatalities during that year 
(BLS, 1998). Approximately 85% of occupational homicides involved 
robberies, and approximately four-fifths of the homicides were the 
result of shootings. An increased risk of workplace homicide was 
clustered within certain occupational areas including sales 
occupations, protective service occupations, and taxicab drivers. 
Furthermore, 60% of occupational fatalities within taxicab drivers were 
due to homicide (BLS, 1998). Although these statistics are significant, 
a limited amount of information is known concerning the level of worker 
awareness about the risk of workplace violence. In addition, little is 
known about the level of worker self-efficacy in regard to recommended 
preventive measures or the current status of the prevention strategies 
utilized by both the worker and employer. Therefore, the goal of this 
study is to identify those communication variables that are most 
effective in increasing the following in regard to workplace violence 
prevention: worker awareness, comprehension, and use of recommendations 
in the workplace.
    To achieve this goal, this project will assess the combined effect 
of message framing (gain or loss) and highly involving messages on the 
elaboration likelihood of the receiver, and the subsequent attention, 
intention, and behavior change that result (Maheswaran & Levy, 1990; 
Smith & Petty, 1996). A study will be conducted in which message 
framing (gain, loss), issue involvement (high, low), and argument 
quality (strong, stronger) are varied. First, three phases of Message 
Pretesting will be done (N = 175) to determine the appropriate version 
of these communication variables to be used in the studies: (1) 
Selecting appropriate written versions of communication variables; (2) 
test several formats of the brochure to determine the most effective 
graphics, design, and presentation; and (3) pretest the combination of 
the print and visual variables for clarity and manipulation accuracy. 
Second, a Pilot Study will be conducted with a sample of taxicab 
drivers (N > > 300). The Pilot Study will be a small scale study in 
which participants are randomly assigned to the conditions of a 2 
(message framing: gain, loss) ' 2 (issue involvement: high, low) ' 2 
(argument quality: strong, stronger) factorial design. The effect of 
each variable on elaboration, attitude, and intentions will be 
determined through pre- and post-surveys. The knowledge obtained in 
this Pilot Test will be used to improve the version of the brochure to 
be used in the main Study. The Study will be conducted with taxicab 
drivers (N > > 1,500 total) in a major US city. The goal of the Study 
will be to determine the effect of message framing, issue involvement, 
and argument quality on the participant's level of elaboration, 
attitude, and intentions. In addition, a follow-up survey at 1, 3, and 
6 months will assess any corresponding behavior change over time.
    These combined studies will assess the use of message framing and 
issue involvement in applied health communication research. 
Specifically, the studies will assess the effectiveness

[[Page 6606]]

of incorporating message framing into health interventions and the 
importance of promoting issue involvement through occupation-specific 
messages. At an average wage of $10.00/hour, the total cost to 
respondents is $22,800.

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                                                                                        Avg. burden
                                                               Number of    Number of       per         Total
           Respondents                       Phase            respondents   responses/    response    burden (in
                                                                            respondent   (in hrs.)      hrs.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taxicab drivers..................  Pretesting Phase I.......           60            1            1           60
Taxicab drivers..................  Pretesting Phase II......           60  ...........  ...........           60
Taxicab drivers..................  Pretesting Phase III.....           15            1            2           30
Taxicab drivers..................  Pilot Test...............          300            1           .5          150
Taxicab drivers..................  Study....................        1,500            4          .33        1,980
                                                                                                    ------------
      Total......................  .........................  ...........  ...........  ...........        2,280
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    Dated: February 4, 2000.
Charles W. Gollmar,
Acting Associate Director for Policy, Planning and Evaluation, Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
[FR Doc. 00-3061 Filed 2-9-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P