[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 231 (Thursday, December 1, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74802-74803]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-30904]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative 
Feedback on Agency Service Delivery

AGENCY: Office of the Director (OD), National Institutes of Health.

ACTION: 30-Day notice of submission of information collection approval 
from the Office of Management and Budget and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: As part of a Federal Government-wide effort to streamline the 
process to seek feedback from the public on service delivery, OD has 
submitted a Generic Information Collection Request (Generic ICR): 
``Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on 
Agency Service Delivery '' to OMB for approval under the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

DATES: Comments must be submitted within 30 days after publication in 
FR.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted to the Office of 
Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Attn: NIH Desk Officer, by Email to [email protected], or by 
fax to (202) 395-6974.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information, 
please contact Mikia P. Currie, Program Analyst, Office of policy for 
Extramural Research Administration, 6705 Rockledge Drive Suite 350, 
Bethesda, MD 20892-7974, or Email your request, including your address 
to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback 
on Agency Service Delivery
    Abstract: The information collection activity will garner 
qualitative customer

[[Page 74803]]

and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, timely manner, in accordance 
with the Administration's commitment to improving service delivery. By 
qualitative feedback we mean information that provides useful insights 
on perceptions and opinions, but are not statistical surveys that yield 
quantitative results that can be generalized to the population of 
study. This feedback will provide insights into customer or stakeholder 
perceptions, experiences and expectations, provide an early warning of 
issues with service, or focus attention on areas where communication, 
training or changes in operations might improve delivery of products or 
services. These collections will allow for ongoing, collaborative and 
actionable communications between the Agency and its customers and 
stakeholders. It will also allow feedback to contribute directly to the 
improvement of program management.
    Feedback collected under this generic clearance will provide useful 
information, but it will not yield data that can be generalized to the 
overall population. This type of generic clearance for qualitative 
information will not be used for quantitative information collections 
that are designed to yield reliably actionable results, such as 
monitoring trends over time or documenting program performance. Such 
data uses require more rigorous designs that address: the target 
population to which generalizations will be made, the sampling frame, 
the sample design (including stratification and clustering), the 
precision requirements or power calculations that justify the proposed 
sample size, the expected response rate, methods for assessing 
potential non-response bias, the protocols for data collection, and any 
testing procedures that were or will be undertaken prior fielding the 
study. Depending on the degree of influence the results are likely to 
have, such collections may still be eligible for submission for other 
generic mechanisms that are designed to yield quantitative results.
    No comments were received in response to the 60-day notice 
published in the Federal Register of December 22, 2010 (75 FR 80542).
    Below we provide OD's projected average estimates for the next 
three years:
    Current Actions: New collection of information.
    Type of Review: New collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals and households, businesses and 
organizations, State, Local or Tribal Government.
    Average Expected Annual Number of Activities: 30.
    Respondents: 253,000.
    Annual Responses: 253,000.
    Frequency of Response: Once per request.
    Average Minutes per Response: 10.
    Burden Hours: 49,358.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a 
currently valid Office of Management and Budget control number.

    Dated: November 22, 2011.
Mikia P. Currie,
Program Analyst, Office of policy for Extramural Research 
Administration, Office of the Director.
[FR Doc. 2011-30904 Filed 11-30-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P