[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 238 (Thursday, December 11, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73627-73628]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-29066]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

[OMB Number 1121-NEW]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed eCollection 
eComments Requested; New Collection: Methodological Research To Support 
the National Crime Victimization Survey: Subnational Companion Study--
American Crime Survey Field Test

AGENCY: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Department of Justice.

ACTION: 60-day notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs, 
Bureau of Justice Statistics, will be submitting the following 
information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Comments are encouraged and will be accepted for 60 days until 
February 9, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have additional comments 
especially on the estimated public burden or associated response time, 
suggestions, or need a copy of the proposed information collection 
instrument with instructions or additional information, please contact 
Michael Planty, Unit Chief, Victimization Statistics, Bureau of Justice 
Statistics, 810 Seventh Street NW., Washington, DC 20531 (email: 
[email protected]; telephone: 202-514-9746).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Written comments and suggestions from the 
public and affected agencies concerning the proposed collection of 
information are encouraged. Your comments should address one or more of 
the following four points:

-- Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary 
for the proper performance of the functions of the Bureau of Justice 
Statistics, including whether the information will have practical 
utility;
-- Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the

[[Page 73628]]

proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
-- Evaluate whether and if so how the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected can be enhanced; and
-- 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 
submission of responses.

    Overview of this information collection:
    (1) Type of Information Collection: New collection under activities 
related to the National Crime Victimization Survey Redesign Research 
(NCVS-RR) program: NCVS Subnational Companion Study--American Crime 
Survey Field Test.
    (2) The Title of the Form/Collection: American Crime Survey (ACS).
    (3) The agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of 
the Department sponsoring the collection: The form number for the 
questionnaire is ASC1 and ASC2. The applicable component within the 
Department of Justice is the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in the 
Office of Justice Programs.
    (4) Affected public who will be asked or required to respond, as 
well as a brief abstract: Adults ages 18 or older in 40 largest Core 
Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) in the United States, as measured by 
the number of households. Since 2008, BJS has initiated numerous 
research projects to assess and improve upon the core NCVS methodology. 
The purpose the Companion Survey Field Test will be to test a low-cost 
alternative self-administered survey for collecting information about 
violence and property crime to generate subnational, local level 
estimates of victimization. The goal of this test is to generate a 
survey that could parallel National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) 
and Uniform Crime Report (UCR) estimates over time, rather than 
replicate either of them, and could be used to assess whether local 
initiatives are correlated with changes in crime rates. A secondary 
goal is to assess change over time, as the Field Test will be 
administered over two years, with a cross-sectional address-based 
sample survey in 2015 and a second address-based sample survey 2016. 
The rationale for collecting data in two years is that we are able to 
assess the ability of the instruments to detect change over time. An 
additional feature of the surveys being tested is the inclusion of a 
set of questions on perceptions of neighborhood safety, fear of crime, 
and police effectiveness, which would allow the survey to be used to 
assess changes in these perceptions as well. This information is not 
currently available from the NCVS.
    (5) An estimate of the total number of respondents and the amount 
of time estimated for an average respondent to respond: Over the two 
year period approximately 200,400 households are expected to complete 
the survey. The sample is divided into two groups by instrument 
version: ASC1 person-level survey and ASC2 incident-level survey. Over 
the two waves, for both versions, approximately 25% of households 
interviewed in year 1 will be re-interviewed in year 2.
     The first group of 100,200 households will receive the 
ASC1, a person-level survey to measure prevalence or the number of 
adult household members victimized by one or more types of violent 
crime and the number of households victimized by types of property 
crime. The expected burden placed on these respondents is 12 minutes 
per respondent for a total of 20,040 burden hours for both years.
     The second group of 100,200 households will receive the 
ASC2, an incident-level survey to measure the number of victimization 
incidents experienced by all adult household members. The expected 
burden placed on these respondents is 12.5 minutes for a total of 
17,535 burden hours.
    (6) An estimate of the total public burden (in hours) associated 
with the collection: The total respondent burden is approximately 
37,575 hours.
    If additional information is required contact: Jerri Murray, 
Department Clearance Officer, United States Department of Justice, 
Justice Management Division, Policy and Planning Staff, Two 
Constitution Square, 145 N Street NE., 3E.405B, Washington, DC 20530.

    Dated: December 8, 2014.
Jerri Murray,
Department Clearance Officer for PRA, U.S. Department of Justice.
[FR Doc. 2014-29066 Filed 12-10-14; 8:45 am]
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