[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 16 (Thursday, January 24, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5211-5212]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-01392]


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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, with change, of a previously approved 
collection for which approval has expired collection of the ``National 
Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997.'' A copy of the proposed information 
collection request (ICR) can be obtained by contacting the individual 
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 25, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Nora Kincaid, BLS Clearance Officer, 
Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 4080, 
2 Massachusetts Avenue NE., Washington, DC 20212. Written comments also 
may be transmitted by fax to 202-691-5111 (this is not a toll free 
number).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nora Kincaid, BLS Clearance Officer, 
202-691-7628 (this is not a toll free number). (See ADDRESSES section.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) is a 
nationally representative sample of persons who were born in the years 
1980 to 1984. These respondents were ages 12-17 when the first round of 
annual interviews began in 1997; starting with round sixteen, the 
NLSY97 will be conducted on a biennial basis. Round sixteen interviews 
will occur from September 2013 to May 2014. The Bureau of Labor 
Statistics (BLS) contracts with the National Opinion Research Center 
(NORC) at the University of Chicago to conduct the NLSY97. The primary 
objective of the survey is to study the transition from schooling to 
the establishment of careers and families. The longitudinal focus of 
this survey requires information to be collected from the same 
individuals over many years in order to trace their education, 
training, work experience, fertility, income, and program 
participation.
    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 NLSY97 contributes to the formation of national policy in the areas 
of education, training, work experience, fertility, income, and program 
participation. In addition to the reports that the BLS produces based 
on data from the NLSY97, members of the academic community publish 
articles and reports based on NLSY97 data for the DOL and other funding 
agencies. To date, approximately 266 articles examining NLSY97 data 
have been published in scholarly journals. The survey design provides 
data gathered from the same respondents over time to form the only 
dataset that contains this type of information for this important 
population group. Without the collection of these data, an accurate 
longitudinal dataset 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 round 16 of annual interviews of 
the NLSY97. Respondents to the NLSY97 will undergo an interview of 
approximately 61 minutes during which they will answer questions about 
schooling and labor market experiences, family relationships, and 
community background.
    During the fielding period for the main round 16 interviews, about 
2 percent of respondents will be asked to participate in a brief 
validation interview a few weeks after the initial interview. The 
purpose of the validation interview is to verify that the initial 
interview took place as the interviewer reported and to assess the data 
quality of selected questionnaire items.
    The BLS plans to record randomly selected segments of the main 
interviews during round 16. Recording interviews helps the BLS and NORC 
to ensure that the interviews actually took place and interviewers are 
reading the questions exactly as worded and entering the responses 
properly. Recording also helps to identify parts of the interview that 
might be causing problems or misunderstanding for interviewers or 
respondents. Each respondent will be informed that the

[[Page 5212]]

interview may be recorded for quality control, testing, and training 
purposes. If the respondent objects to the recording of the interview, 
the interviewer will confirm to the respondent that the interview will 
not be recorded and then proceed with the interview.
    The round 16 questionnaire will resemble the round 15 questionnaire 
with few modifications. Some of the modifications have been made 
because the interview will be conducted biennially rather than 
annually. The round 16 questionnaire will include questions about 
whether the respondent's parents owned a business, served a prison 
sentence or served in the military. A short section on childcare will 
be asked. Additional income questions on the Earned Income tax credit 
(EITC) and whether a spouse or partner received income from worker's 
compensation. A series of questions on personality traits will also be 
added in round 16. Personality traits will include task completion, 
pursuit of goals, diligence, hard work, dealing with setbacks, focus, 
and distractibility. These questions will allow researchers to measure 
non-cognitive skills which may be important measures of labor market 
success.
    Round 16 will include a trial Internet collection of selected 
information used to locate respondents for interviews. Approximately 20 
percent of the sample will be offered the opportunity to participate. 
The purpose of the trial is to determine whether Internet collection 
yields information of higher quality when compared to the current 
method of collecting the information as part of the interview. The 
Internet trial also will be used to assess respondent acceptance of 
Internet collection generally and whether such collection can reduce 
respondent burden without reducing the quality of the survey 
information.
    As in prior rounds of the NLSY97, round 16 will include a pretest 
conducted several months before the main fielding to test survey 
procedures and questions and resolve problems before the main fielding 
begins.

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 collection.
    Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    Title: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997.
    OMB Number: 1220-0157.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.

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                                                                                  Average time
             Form                   Total          Frequency          Total       per response   Estimated total
                                 respondents                        responses       (minutes)     burden (hours)
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NLSY97 Pretest June-July.....             150  One-time........             150              61            152.5
NLSY97 R16 advance web test             1,000  One-time........           1,000              10            166.7
 June-July 2013.
Main NLSY97: September 2013-            7,400  One-time........           7,400              61          7,523.3
 May 2014.
Validation interview: October             147  One-time........             147               4              9.8
 2013-June 2014.
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    TOTALS*..................           7,550  ................           8,697  ..............          7,852
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    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 17th day of January 2013.
Eric Molina,
Acting Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor 
Statistics.
[FR Doc. 2013-01392 Filed 1-23-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-P