[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 30 (Friday, February 13, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7234-7235]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-3151]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Proposed Collection; Comment Request; NICHD Research Partner 
Satisfaction Surveys

SUMMARY: Under the provisions of section 3507(a)(1)(D) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, the National Institute of Child Health and Human 
Development (NICHD), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has 
submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to 
review and approve the information collection listed below. The 
proposed information collection was previously published in the Federal 
Register on August 26, 2003, in Volume 68, No. 165, pages 51276-51277, 
and allowed 60 days for public comment. No public comments were 
received. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days 
for public comment. The NIH may not conduct or sponsor, and the 
respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection 
that has been extended, revised, or implemented after October 1, 1995, 
unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.
    Proposed Collection: Title: NICHD Research Partner Satisfaction 
Surveys. Type of Information Collection Request: New. Need and Use of 
Information Collection: Executive Order 12862 directs agencies that 
provide significant services directly to the public to survey customers 
to determine the kind and quality of services they want and their level 
of satisfaction with existing services. With this submission, the NICHD 
seeks to obtain OMB's generic approval to conduct customer satisfaction 
surveys surrounding its research programs and activities.
    The NICHD was founded in 1963. Its mission is to ensure, through 
research, the birth of healthy infants and the opportunity for each to 
reach full potential in adulthood, unimpaired by physical or mental 
disabilities. The NICHD conducts and supports research on the many 
factors that protect and enhance the process of human growth and 
development. The developmental focus of the NICHD means that its 
research portfolio is unusually broad. NICHD programs include research 
on infant mortality, birth defects, learning disorders, developmental 
disabilities, vaccine development, and demographic and behavioral 
sciences, among others. In addition to supporting basic research, 
clinical trials, and epidemiological

[[Page 7235]]

studies that explore health processes, the NICHD forms partnerships 
with organizations or institutions to ensure effective use of 
scientific findings and research products.
    The NICHD utilizes program evaluations and strategic assessments to 
support Institute planning and policy development, and to help 
determine programmatic and scientific objectives and priorities. 
Research partner surveys will augment the NICHD's ongoing efforts to 
evaluate research-related activities. The two principal objectives are 
(1) to measure the personal satisfaction of research partners with 
NICHD programs or initiatives, including both responsiveness to 
scientific aims and convenience of operations to support research and 
its effective use; and (2) to learn from research partners the ways in 
which the NICHD can improve the overall planning and management of its 
programs and initiatives. Findings will be used to improve the NICHD's 
research programs and initiatives in the following ways: (1) To assess 
the effectiveness and efficiency of operations; (2) to identify 
opportunities for improving program performance; (3) to develop plans 
to incorporate innovations in program management; (4) to measure 
partner satisfaction and document program outcomes for governmental 
accountability reporting; and (5) to identify the need for creating new 
programs or initiatives or restructuring existing ones to respond to 
emerging scientific opportunities.
    Frequency of Response: Annual [As needed on an ongoing and 
concurrent basis]. Affected Public: Members of the public, researchers, 
practitioners, and other health professionals. Type of Respondents: 
Members of the public; eligible grant applicants and actual applicants 
(both successful and unsuccessful); clinicians and other health 
professionals; and actual or potential clinical trials participants. 
The annual reporting burden is as follows: Estimated Number of 
Respondents: 13,625; Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1; 
Average Burden Hours Per Response: Varies with survey type, see below; 
and Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours Requested: 2,920.00. The 
annualized cost to respondents is estimated at: $43,800.00. There are 
no Capital Costs to report. There are no Operating or Maintenance Costs 
to report.

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                                                                     Estimated                       Estimated
                                                     Estimated       number of    Average burden   total annual
       Type of respondents/survey modality           number of     responses per     hours per     burden hours
                                                    respondents     respondent       response        requested
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Web-based.......................................          10,000               1           0.167        1,670.00
Paper Survey....................................           2,500               1           0.25           625.00
Telephone Interview.............................           1,000               1           0.50           500.00
In-person Interview.............................             125               1           1.00           125.00
                                                 -----------------
    Total.......................................          13,625  ..............  ..............        2,920.00
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    Request for Comments: Written comments and/or suggestions from the 
public and affected agencies are invited on one or more of the 
following points: (1) Whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the function of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) 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; (3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) Ways to minimize 
the burden of the collection of information on those who are to 
respond, including the use of appropriate automated, electronic, 
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms 
of information technology.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: To request more information on the proposed 
project, contact Mona Rowe, NIH NICHD Office of Science Policy, 
Analysis and Communication (OSPAC), 9000 Rockville Pike, Bldg. 31, Rm. 
2A-18, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-2425, or call non-toll-free at 301-402-
3213. You may also e-mail your request to [email protected].
    Comments Due Date: Comments regarding this information collection 
are best assured of having their full effect if received within 30 days 
of the date of this publication.

    Dated: February 2, 2004.
April Edwards,
NICHD Project Clearance Liaison, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 04-3151 Filed 2-12-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P