[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 116 (Wednesday, June 17, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34644-34645]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-14786]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30-Day-15-0222]


Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has submitted 
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. The notice for the proposed 
information collection is published to obtain comments from the public 
and affected agencies.
    Written comments and suggestions from the public and affected 
agencies concerning the proposed collection of information are 
encouraged. Your comments should address any of the following: (a) 
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; (b) Evaluate the 
accuracy of the agencies estimate of the burden of the proposed 
collection of information, including the validity of the methodology 
and assumptions used; (c) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected; (d) 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; and 
(e) Assess information collection costs.
    To request additional information on the proposed project or to 
obtain a copy of the information collection plan and instruments, call 
(404) 639-7570 or send an email to [email protected]. Written comments and/or 
suggestions regarding the items contained in this notice should be 
directed to the Attention: CDC Desk Officer, Office of Management and 
Budget, Washington, DC 20503 or by fax to (202) 395-5806. Written 
comments should be received within 30 days of this notice.

Proposed Project

    Questionnaire Design Research Laboratory (QDRL)--(OMB No. 0920-
0222, expires 6/30/2015)--Revision--National Center for Health 
Statistics (NCHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    The Questionnaire Design Research Laboratory (QDRL) is the focal 
point within NCHS for 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; however, question development and evaluation activities are 
conducted throughout NCHS. NCHS is requesting 3 years of OMB Clearance 
for this generic submission. This revision is a request for additional 
burden hours due to anticipated increase in the number and size of 
projects being undertaken in the next three years.
    The QDRL and other NCHS programs conduct cognitive interviews, 
focus groups, in-depth or ethnographic interviews, 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.
    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 are 
used.
    The most common questionnaire evaluation method is the cognitive 
interview. These evaluations are conducted by the QDRL. 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.
    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 them to be critical users in their approach and 
application of the data.
    In addition to cognitive interviewing, a number of other 
qualitative and quantitative methods are used to investigate and 
research survey response errors and the survey response process. These 
methods include conducting focus groups, usability tests, in-depth or 
ethnographic interviews, and the administration and analysis of 
questions in both representative and non-representative field tests. 
Focus groups are conducted by the NCHS QDRL. They are group interviews 
whose primary purpose is to elicit the basic sociocultural 
understandings and terminology that form the basis of questionnaire 
design. Each group

[[Page 34645]]

typically consists of one moderator and 4 to 10 participants, depending 
on the research question. In-depth or ethnographic interviews are one-
on-one interviews designed to elicit the understandings or terminology 
that are necessary for question design, as well as to gather detailed 
information that can contribute to the analysis of both qualitative and 
quantitative data. Usability tests are typically one-on-one interviews 
that are used to determine how a given survey or information collection 
tool functions in the field, and how the mode and layout of the 
instrument itself may contribute to survey response error and the 
survey response process.
    In addition to these qualitative methods, NCHS also uses various 
tools to obtain quantitative data, which can be analyzed alone or 
analyzed alongside qualitative data to give a much fuller accounting of 
the survey response process. For instance, phone, internet, mail, and 
in-person follow-up interviews of previous NCHS survey respondents may 
be used to test the validity of survey questions and questionnaires and 
to obtain more detailed information that cannot be gathered on the 
original survey. Additionally, field or pilot tests may be conducted on 
both representative and non-representative samples, including those 
obtained from commercial survey and web panel vendors. Beyond looking 
at traditional measures of survey errors (such as missing rates, item 
non-response, and don't know rates), these pilot tests can be used to 
run experimental designs in order to capture how different questions 
function in a field setting.
    There are no costs to respondents other than their time. The total 
estimated annual burden hours are 4,383.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                    Number of     Average burden
         Type of respondents                   Form name            Number of     responses per    per response
                                                                   respondents     respondent       (in hrs.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Individuals or households............  Eligibility Screeners...           4,000               1           5/60
Individuals or households............  Developmental                      3,900               1              1
                                        Questionnaires.
Individuals or households............  Focus group documents...             100               1              1.5
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Leroy A. Richardson,
Chief, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Scientific 
Integrity, Office of the Associate Director for Science, Office of the 
Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2015-14786 Filed 6-16-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4163-18-P