[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 205 (Wednesday, October 24, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60380-60381]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-20910]


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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 July 25, 2007, in Volume 72, No. 142, pages 40887-40888, 
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: Extension without 
change. 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 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 strategic assessments to support Institute 
planning and policy development, and to help determine programmatic and 
scientific objectives and priorities. Research partner surveys will 
augment NICHD's ongoing efforts to assess 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 it programs and initiatives. 
Findings will be used to improve 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: 28,000; 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: 5,883. The 
annualized cost to respondents is estimated at: $109,541.46. There are 
no Capital Costs to report. There are no Operating or Maintenance Costs 
to report.

 
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                                                  Estimated number of                            Estimated total
  Type of respondents     Estimated number of        responses per       Average burden hours     annual burden
                              respondents             respondent             per response       hours  requested
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         Web-based                  24,000                   1                       0.167      4,008.00
         Telephone                   2,000                   1                        0.50      1,000.00

[[Page 60381]]

 
             Paper                   1,500                   1                        0.25        375.00
         In-person                     500                   1                        1.00        500.00
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    Total.............              28,000      ......................  ......................  5,883.00
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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 Paul L. Johnson, 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: October 17, 2007.
Paul L. Johnson,
Project Clearance Liaison, NICHD National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. E7-20910 Filed 10-23-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P