[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 235 (Monday, December 8, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72704-72705]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-28655]


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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 revision 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 February 6, 2015.

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 is conducted on a biennial basis. Round seventeen interviews 
will occur from September 2015 to May 2016. The Bureau of Labor 
Statistics (BLS) contracts with a vendor 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 372 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 17 of biennial interviews 
of the NLSY97. Respondents of 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 17 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 17. Recording interviews helps the BLS and NORC 
to

[[Page 72705]]

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 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 17 questionnaire will resemble the round 16 questionnaire 
with few modifications. The round 17 questionnaire proposes an 
experiment to investigate the efficacy of preloads in bounding the 
respondents' recall of migration dates. This experiment will allow us 
to build a body of knowledge about the feasibility of web questionnaire 
administration, which may require fielding questions without preloads. 
The results will give us some insight into the impact of removing these 
preloads on data quality.
    New questions include respondents' business ownership, new wage 
bargaining questions, questions about nonresident children, one 
question about medical debt and mental health scale questions. Round 17 
also reintroduced the child care long section, parent supportiveness, 
``whom do you turn to'', alcohol and drug use, and health behaviors 
questions from previous rounds.
    As in prior rounds of the NLSY97, round 17 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: Revision of a currently approved 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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                                                                                                      Estimated
                                         Total                                Total       Average       total
                Form                  respondents         Frequency         responses     time per      burden
                                                                                          response     (hours)
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NLSY97 Pretest June-July............          150  One-time..............          150           61        152.5
NLSY97 R16 advance web test June-           1,200  One-time..............        1,200           10          200
 July 2013.
Main NLSY97: September 2013-May 2014        7,200  One-time..............        7,200           61        7,320
Validation interview: October 2013-           144  One-time..............          144            4          9.6
 June 2014.
                                     -------------                        --------------------------------------
    Totals*.........................        7,400  ......................        8,694  ...........        7,682
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* The difference between the total number of respondents and the total number of responses reflects the fact
  that about 7,200 are expected to complete the main interview. In addition, about 144 respondents will be
  interviewed twice, once in the main survey and a second time in the 4-minute validation interview. We estimate
  achieving about 1,200 web updates; most of these will be from respondents who also complete the main
  interview, but a small number (perhaps 50) may complete only the web update and not also the main interview.

    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 3rd day of December 2014.
Kimberly D. Hill,
Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
[FR Doc. 2014-28655 Filed 12-5-14; 8:45 am]
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