[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 89 (Tuesday, May 8, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27064-27065]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-11086]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30 Day-12-0222]


Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a 
list of information collection requests under review by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these requests, call 
(404) 639-7570 or send an email to [email protected]. Send written comments 
to CDC Desk Officer, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC or 
by fax to (202) 395-5806. Written comments should be received within 30 
days of this notice.

Proposed Project

    NCHS Questionnaire Design Research Laboratory (QDRL) 2012-2014, OMB 
No. 0920-0222 expiration 3/31/2013)--Revision--National Center for 
Health Statistics (NCHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
(CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    Section 306 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act (42 U.S.C. 
242k), as amended, authorizes that the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services (DHHS), acting through NCHS, shall undertake and support (by 
grant or contract) research, demonstrations, and evaluations respecting 
new or improved methods for obtaining current data to support 
statistical and epidemiological activities for the purpose of improving 
the effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of health services in the 
United States.
    The Questionnaire Design Research Laboratory (QDRL) conducts 
questionnaire development, pre-testing, and evaluation activities for 
CDC surveys (such as the NCHS National Health Interview Survey, OMB No. 
0920-0214) and other federally sponsored surveys. NCHS is requesting 3 
years of OMB Clearance for this generic submission.
    The QDRL conducts cognitive interviews, focus groups, usability 
tests, field tests/pilot interviews, and experimental research in 
laboratory and field settings, both for applied questionnaire 
development and evaluation as well as more basic research on response 
errors in surveys.
    QDRL Staff use various techniques to evaluate interviewer 
administered, self-administered, telephone, Computer Assisted Personal 
Interviewing (CAPI), Computer Assisted Self-Interviewing (CASI), Audio 
Computer-Assisted Self-Interviewing (ACASI), and web-based 
questionnaires.
    The most common questionnaire evaluation method is the cognitive 
interview. The interview structure consists of respondents first 
answering a draft survey question and then providing textual 
information to reveal the processes involved in answering the test 
question. Specifically, cognitive interview respondents are asked to 
describe how and why they answered the question as they did. Through 
the interviewing process, various types of question-response problems 
that would not normally be identified in a traditional survey 
interview, such as interpretive errors and recall accuracy, are 
uncovered. By conducting a comparative analysis of cognitive 
interviews, it is also possible to determine whether particular 
interpretive patterns occur within particular sub-groups of the 
population. Interviews are generally conducted in small rounds of 20-30 
interviews; ideally, the questionnaire is re-worked between rounds, and 
revisions are tested iteratively until interviews yield relatively few 
new insights.
    In addition to its traditional QDRL activities, NCHS is requesting 
approval for a large field test that will be conducted in 2012. This is 
a 5,000-case test which involves testing the use of ACASI in the full 
National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The ACASI content included in 
the 5,000-case test is consistent with the content studied in two 
smaller approved tests. The module includes questions on sexual 
identity, alcohol consumption, HIV testing, mental health, height and 
weight, sleep, and financial worries. The objective of asking a 
question on sexual identity in the NHIS is to fill the gaps that exist 
in the state of knowledge about the general health behaviors, health 
status, and health care utilization of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and 
Transgender (LGBT) persons.
    The 5,000-case test will include one or more built-in experiments 
to assess the impact of ACASI, and components of ACASI, on prevalence 
estimates and data quality. First and foremost, test cases will be 
randomly assigned to receive the above described questions in either 
CAPI or ACASI. In particular, prevalence estimates for the sexual 
identity questions will be compared by mode of administration. Since a 
documented advantage of ACASI is the enhanced level of privacy it 
affords, we anticipate higher prevalence estimates of sexual minorities 
(Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender persons) from this mode of 
administration. Estimates for sensitive items on mental health, alcohol 
consumption, HIV testing, height and weight, financial worries, and 
others will also be compared.
    Cognitive interviewing is inexpensive and provides useful data on 
questionnaire performance while minimizing respondent burden. Cognitive 
interviewing offers a detailed depiction of meanings and processes used 
by respondents to answer questions--processes that ultimately produce 
the survey data. As such, the method offers an insight that can 
transform understanding of question validity and response error. 
Documented findings from these studies represent tangible evidence of 
how the question performs. Such documentation also serves CDC data 
users, allowing

[[Page 27065]]

them to be critical users in their approach and application of the 
data.
    Similar methodology has been adopted by other federal agencies, as 
well as by academic and commercial survey organizations. There are no 
costs to respondents other than their time. The total estimated annual 
burden hours are 9450.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                 Average burden
                         Projects                               Number of       Responses per   per response (in
                                                               respondents       respondent          hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
QDRL Interviews...........................................              9000                 1                 1
Focus groups..............................................               300                 1               1.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Kimberly S. Lane,
Deputy Director, Office of Scientific Integrity, Office of the 
Associate Director for Science, Office of the Director, Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2012-11086 Filed 5-7-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P