[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 28 (Tuesday, February 11, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8197-8199]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-02896]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Public Comment Request

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with Section 3507(a)(1)(D) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, the Health Resources and Services Administration 
(HRSA) has submitted an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. Comments 
submitted during the first public review of this ICR will be provided 
to OMB. OMB will accept further comments from the public during the 
review and approval period.

DATES: Comments on this ICR should be received within 30 days of this 
notice.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, including the Information Collection 
Request Title, to the desk officer for HRSA, either by email to [email protected] or by fax to 202-395-5806.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request a copy of the clearance 
requests submitted to OMB for review, email the HRSA Information 
Collection Clearance Officer at [email protected] or call (301) 443-
1984.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Information Collection Request Title: Questionnaire and Data 
Collection Testing, Evaluation, and Research for the Health Resources 
and Services Administration.
    OMB No.: 0915-xxxx--New.
    Abstract: The purpose of collections under this generic clearance 
is to obtain formative information from respondents to develop new 
questions, questionnaires, and tools and to identify problems in 
instruments currently in use. This clearance request is limited to 
formative research activities emphasizing data collection, toolkit 
development, and estimation procedures and reports for internal 
decision-making and development purposes; and does not extend to the 
collection of data for public release or policy formation.
    It is anticipated that these studies will rely heavily on 
qualitative techniques to meet their objective. In general, these 
activities are not designed to yield results that meet generally 
accepted standards of statistical rigor; rather, these activities are 
designed to obtain valuable formative information to develop more 
effective and efficient data collection tools that will yield more 
accurate results and decrease non-response.
    HRSA 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.HRSA 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.
    Professionally recognized procedures will be followed in each 
information collection activity to ensure high quality data. Examples 
of these procedures are likely to include:
     A certain percent of telephone interviews will be 
monitored by supervisory staff of a certain percent of telephone 
interviews;
     Cognitive interviewing techniques will be conducted, 
including think-aloud techniques and debriefings;
     Data-entry from mail or paper-and-pencil surveys will be 
computerized through scannable forms or checked through double-key 
entry;
     Observers will monitor focus groups, and focus group 
proceedings will be recorded; and
     Data submitted through on-line surveys will be subjected 
to statistical validation techniques to ensure accuracy (such as 
disallowing out-of-range values).
    Each request under this generic clearance will specify the 
procedures to be used. Participation will be fully voluntary, and non-
participation will not affect eligibility for, or receipt of, future 
HRSA health services research activities, grant awards, recruitment, or 
participation. Specific testing and evaluation procedures will be 
described when we notify OMB about each new request. Consent procedures 
will be customized for each information collection activity, but will 
include assurances of confidentiality and the legislative authority for 
the activity. If the encounter is to be recorded, the respondent's 
permission to record will be obtained before beginning the interview.
    Recruitment--Respondents will be recruited by means of 
advertisements in public venues or through techniques that replicate 
prospective data collection activities that are the focus of the 
project. For instance, a survey on physician communication, designed to 
be administered following an office visit, might be pretested using the 
same procedure. Each submission to OMB will specify the specific 
recruitment procedure to be used.
    Screening--When screening is required (e.g., quota sampling), the 
screening will be as brief as possible, and the screening questionnaire 
will be provided as part of the submission to OMB.
    Collection methods--The particular information collection methods 
used will vary, but may include the following:
     Individual in-depth interviews--In-depth interviews will 
commonly be used to ensure that the meaning of a questionnaire or 
strategy is understood by the respondent. When in-depth interviewing is 
used, the interview guide will be provided to OMB for review.
     Focus groups--Focus groups will be used to obtain insights 
into beliefs and understandings of the target audience early in the 
development of a questionnaire or tool. When focus groups are used, the 
focus group discussion guide will be provided to OMB for review.
     Expert/Gatekeeper review of tools--In some instances, 
tools designed for patients may be reviewed in-depth by medical 
providers or other gatekeepers to provide feedback on the acceptability 
and usability of a particular tool. This would usually be in addition 
to pretesting of the tool by the actual patient or other user.
     Record abstractions--On occasion, the development of a 
tool or other information collection requires review and interaction 
with records rather than individuals.
     ``Dress rehearsal'' of a specific protocol--In some 
instances, the proposed pretesting will constitute a walkthrough of the 
intended data collection procedure. In these instances, the request 
will mirror what is expected to occur for the larger scale data 
collection.
    Burden Statement: Burden in this context means the time expended by 
persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose or provide the 
information requested. This includes the time needed to review 
instructions; to develop, acquire, install and utilize technology and 
systems for the purpose of collecting, validating and verifying 
information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and 
providing information; to train personnel and to be able to respond to 
a collection of information; to search data sources; to complete and 
review the collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise 
disclose the information. The total annual burden hours estimated for 
this Information Collection Request are summarized in the table below.

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                                     Total Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                                      Average
                                     Number of       Number of         Total        burden per     Total burden
 Type of information collection     respondents   responses  per     responses     response  (in       hours
                                                     respondent                       hours)
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Mail/email \1\..................          10,000               1          10,000             0.5           5,000
Telephone.......................          10,000               1          10,000             0.5           5,000
Web-based.......................          10,000               1          10,000             0.5           5,000
Focus Groups....................          10,000               1          10,000             2.0          20,000
In-person.......................          10,000               1          10,000             1.0          10,000
Automated \2\...................          10,000               1          10,000             1.0          10,000
Cognitive Interviewing..........          30,000               1          30,000             2.0          60,000
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    Total.......................          90,000  ..............          90,000  ..............         115,000
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\1\ May include telephone non-response follow-up in which case the burden will not change.
\2\ May include testing of database software, CAPI software, or other automated technologies.


    Dated: February 5, 2014.
Bahar Niakan,
Director, Division of Policy and Information Coordination.
[FR Doc. 2014-02896 Filed 2-10-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P