[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 7 (Thursday, January 11, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1342-1344]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-162]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of Labor Statistics


Proposed Collection; Comment Request

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to 
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a pre-clearance 
consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies 
with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing 
collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps to 
ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, 
reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, 
collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of 
collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. The 
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is soliciting comments concerning the 
proposed reinstatement of the ``National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 
1979.'' A copy of the proposed information collection request (ICR) can 
be obtained by contacting the individual

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listed in the Addresses section of this notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
Addresses section below on or before March 12, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Amy A. Hobby, BLS Clearance Officer, 
Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 4080, 
2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Washington, DC 20212, 202-691-7628. (This 
is not a toll free number.)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy A. Hobby, BLS Clearance Officer, 
202-691-7628. (See Addresses section.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) is a 
nationally representative survey of people who were born in the years 
1957 to 1964 and lived in the U.S. when the survey began in 1979. 
NLSY79 participants were interviewed annually from 1979 to 1994 and 
have been interviewed every two years since 1994. The focus of the 
survey is labor market experiences, but the survey also covers topics 
that affect or are affected by labor market activity. These topics 
include education, training, marital and family relationships, 
fertility, childcare, health, substance use, and others.
    The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) contracts with the National 
Opinion Research Center (NORC) of the University of Chicago to conduct 
the NLSY79. Prior to each round of the NLSY79, a pretest has been 
conducted with a separate, smaller sample to help ensure the proper 
functioning of questionnaires, procedures, and systems and to rectify 
any problems before the main fielding of the NLSY79. Over time, the 
size of the pretest sample has declined significantly, and the 
characteristics of pretest participants now differ so sharply from the 
characteristics of most NLSY79 participants that the pretest no longer 
is a useful tool to detect and remedy problems with the survey. For 
this reason, the BLS and its contractors have decided to replenish the 
pretest sample.
    One of the goals of the Department of Labor (DOL) is to produce and 
disseminate timely, accurate, and relevant information about the U.S. 
labor force. The BLS contributes to this goal by gathering information 
about the labor force and labor market and disseminating it to 
policymakers and the public so that participants in those markets can 
make more informed, and thus more efficient, choices. Research based on 
the NLSY79 contributes to the formation of national policy in the areas 
of education, training, employment programs, and school-to-work 
transitions. In addition to the reports that the BLS produces based on 
data from the NLSY79, members of the academic community publish 
articles and reports based on NLSY79 data for the DOL and other funding 
agencies. The survey design provides data gathered from the same 
respondents over time to form the only data set that contains this type 
of intergenerational information for these important population groups. 
Without the collection of these data, an accurate longitudinal data set 
could not be provided to researchers and policymakers, thus adversely 
affecting the DOL's ability to perform its policy- and report-making 
activities.

II. Current Action

    The BLS seeks approval to conduct interviews to replenish the 
pretest sample of the NLSY79. The process of replenishing the sample 
requires new sample members to be interviewed during the summer of 
2007. The information obtained from this interview will be used for an 
input file during the NLSY79 Round 23 pretest that is planned for 
October 2007. Because the NLSY79 is longitudinal, the questions that 
respondents are asked in one round sometimes depend on the responses 
they provided in previous rounds. The summer 2007 interview is 
necessary to obtain information that will enable all questions to 
function properly in the October 2007 pretest. At an appropriate later 
date, the BLS will request approval to conduct the regular pretest and 
main fielding for Round 23 of the NLSY79.
    The expanded pretest sample will add 100 cooperative respondents 
born in the years 1957 to 1964. The sample will be selected from a 
targeted telephone list of approximately 1,000 numbers that is 
maintained in the NORC telephone center system. To make the dialing 
effort more efficient, NORC will screen its list for phone numbers that 
are no longer working or that are associated with businesses. The new 
sample members will be dispersed across rural, suburban, and urban 
tracts within 40 miles of Chicago. The sample will be targeted across 
these different types of tracts based on the area codes selected for 
the replenishment effort.
    By design, the replenished pretest sample will be one of 
convenience rather than one used to produce nationally representative 
estimates. The sample characteristics will be constrained only by the 
birth year, but the BLS and its contractors will seek a diverse mix of 
men and women across racial and ethnic groups. Employed individuals 
also will be targeted so that the pretest can effectively examine the 
most critical NLSY79 questionnaire paths, which relate to employment.

III. Desired Focus of Comments

    The Bureau of Labor Statistics is particularly interested in 
comments that:
     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.
     Evaluate 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.
     Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected.
     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 submissions of responses.
    Type of Review: Reinstatement, with change, of a previously 
approved collection for which approval has expired.
    Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    Title: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979.
    OMB Number: 1220-0109.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.

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                                   Total                           Total      Average time per   Estimated total
             Form               respondents      Frequency       responses        response           burden
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NLSY79 Pretest Sample                 1,000  Once.............        1,000  3 minutes........  50 hours.
 Replenishment Screener.
NLSY79 Pretest Sample                   100  Once.............          100  15 minutes.......  25 hours.
 Replenishment Interview.
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    Totals....................        1,100  .................        1,100  .................  75 hours.
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Note: In some cases, the respondents for the replenishment interview will be the same people who responded to
  the screener. These respondents could be different people, however. For example, one spouse who was not born
  in the years 1957 to 1964 and therefore is ineligible for the pretest sample may respond to the screener
  questions, while the other spouse who is eligible for the pretest sample responds to the replenishment
  interview.

    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $0.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): $0.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget 
approval of the information collection request; they also will become a 
matter of public record.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 5th day of January 2007.
Cathy Kazanowski,
Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
 [FR Doc. E7-162 Filed 1-10-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-P