[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 83 (Monday, May 1, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25590-25591]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-6501]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60Day-06-0222]


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 404-639-5960 
and send comments to Seleda Perryman, CDC Assistant Reports Clearance 
Officer, 1600 Clifton Road, MS-D74, Atlanta, GA 30333 or send an e-mail 
to [email protected].
    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 or other 
forms of information technology. Written comments should be received 
within 60 days of this notice.

Proposed Project

    Questionnaire Design Research Laboratory (QDRL) 2007-2009, (OMB No. 
0920-0222)--Extension--National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    The Questionnaire Design Research Laboratory (QDRL) conducts 
questionnaire pre-testing and evaluation activities for CDC surveys 
(such as the NCHS National Health Interview

[[Page 25591]]

Survey, OMB No. 0920-0214) and other federally sponsored surveys. The 
QDRL conducts cognitive interviews, focus groups, mini field-pretests, 
and experimental research in laboratory and field settings, both for 
applied questionnaire evaluation and more basic research on response 
errors in surveys. The most common questionnaire evaluation method is 
the cognitive interview. In a cognitive interview, a questionnaire 
design specialist interviews a volunteer participant. The interviewer 
administers the draft survey questions as written, but also probes the 
participant in depth about interpretations of questions, recall 
processes used to answer them, and adequacy of response categories to 
express answers, while noting points of confusion and errors in 
responding. Interviews are generally conducted in small rounds of 10-15 
interviews; ideally, the questionnaire is re-worked between rounds and 
revisions are tested iteratively until interviews yield relatively few 
new insights. When possible, cognitive interviews are conducted in the 
survey's intended mode of administration. For example, when testing 
telephone survey questionnaires, participants often respond to the 
questions via a telephone in a laboratory room. Under this condition, 
the participant answers without face-to-face interaction. QDRL staff 
watch for response difficulties from an observation room, and then 
conduct a face-to-face debriefing with in-depth probes. Cognitive 
interviewing provides useful data on questionnaire performance at 
minimal cost and respondent burden. Similar methodology has been 
adopted by other federal agencies, as well as by academic and 
commercial survey organizations. NCHS is requesting 3 years of OMB 
Clearance for the project. There are no costs to respondents other than 
their time.

                                           Estimated Annualized Burden
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                                                     Number of       Number of      Avg. burden
                   Respondents                      respondents     responses/     response (in    Total burden
                                                     per year       respondent        hours)           hours
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2007 test volunteers............................            500               1             1.2             600
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    Dated: April 25, 2006.
Joan F. Karr,
Acting Reports Clearance Officer, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention.
 [FR Doc. E6-6501 Filed 4-28-06; 8:45 am]
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