[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 66 (Wednesday, April 6, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19951-19953]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-07850]


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 Notices
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  Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 66 / Wednesday, April 6, 2016 / 
Notices  

[[Page 19951]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Economic Research Service


Notice of Intent To Request New Information Collection

AGENCY: Economic Research Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. Chapter 35), this notice announces the Economic Research 
Service's intention to request approval for a new information 
collection for a Pilot Survey on Food Acquisition among American 
Households.

DATES: Written comments must be received by June 6, 2016 to be assured 
of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments concerning this notice to John Kirlin, 
Food Assistance Branch, Food Economics Division, Economic Research 
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Ave. SW., 
Mailstop 1800, Washington, DC 20250-0002. Comments may also be 
submitted via email to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Kirlin, [email protected]. 
Tel. 202-694-5398.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: National Food Study Pilot.
    OMB Number: To be assigned by OMB.
    Expiration Date: Three years from the date of approval.
    Type of Request: New information collection.
    Abstract: The National Food Study (NFS) pilot will be conducted 
over a four-month period from October 2016 through January 2017. The 
survey will collect nationally representative data from 500 households, 
including 150 households participating in the Supplemental Nutrition 
Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp Program). Each 
eligible household will be asked to record their food acquisitions for 
each household member over a 7-day period.
    The U.S. Department of Agriculture collected similar data in 2012-
2013 with the National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey 
(FoodAPS, OMB Control Number 0536-0068). Participating household 
members in that survey used food booklets and a hand-held scanner to 
record information about all food acquisitions during a 7-day period. 
There is evidence in the FoodAPS data of some drop-off in the frequency 
of reported food acquisitions toward the end of the 7-day reporting 
periods. FoodAPS was a nationally representative survey with over-
sampling of households participating in the Supplemental Nutrition 
Assistance Program (SNAP) and non-SNAP households with low incomes.
    The main objective of the NFS pilot is to test an alternative 
method of collecting data on the foods acquired by American households 
that leads to more complete and accurate information about patterns of 
food acquisitions. Other objectives are to explore the feasibility of 
expanding the population of interest to include households receiving 
benefits from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, 
Infants, and Children (WIC) and to collect more complete and accurate 
information on income. Data will be collected from households in nine 
states.
    The sample will be selected from an address-based sampling frame. A 
total of 2,154 households from 12 Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) in nine 
states will receive a letter requesting their participation in the 
study. The pilot will also test the effectiveness of using WIC and SNAP 
administrative data at identifying SNAP and WIC participants.
    The NFS pilot data collection begins by screening households via an 
in-person interview to determine eligibility and identifying a primary 
respondent (person who does the majority of the grocery shopping and 
cooking for the household) within eligible households. Next, an in-
person initial interview is completed with the primary respondent. 
Then, all members of the household age 11 years and older are asked to 
access a web-based system daily to report food or drinks obtained 
during their assigned data collection week. Upon completion of the 
week-long data collection, a final in-person interview is completed 
with the primary respondent. To determine measurement error, 
immediately after the final interview, a follow-up re-interview will be 
conducted with two household members about their last two reporting 
days and to probe for missing information.
    Food obtained by household members includes food purchased or 
obtained for free and brought into the home as well as food purchased 
or acquired for free outside of the home. Information to be collected 
about each food event will include place name and type, location, date, 
total cost, and method(s) of payment. Food item information to be 
collected will include an item descriptor, quantity acquired, unit 
price, and use of coupons or store loyalty cards that reduce actual 
cost. Participants also will be asked to upload photos of receipts. 
Participants will receive reminder email messages or text messages 
throughout the week if they do not report acquisitions for a day. If 
needed, households will be provided electronic equipment for the 
duration of their data collection period to assist them in accessing 
the web instrument.
    Recruited households will receive $50 upon completion of the 
initial interview. Households will accumulate a $3 per day credit for 
each eligible household member whose food purchase behavior (including 
affirmation of no acquisitions) is recorded in the web system for that 
day, and a bonus of $50 for households whose members record food 
acquisitions for all 7 days and that complete the final interview. 
Finally, $5 will be provided to the household if members complete the 
income questions online.
    All data collection instruments will ask only the most pertinent 
information, and the web-based system will be as respondent- and user-
friendly as possible. Responses are voluntary and confidential. The 
instruments and procedures will be pretested prior to the finalization.
    Responses from the National Food Study pilot will be combined for 
statistical purposes and reported only in aggregate or statistical 
form. A final report summarizing the findings will include an 
evaluation on the accuracy of administrative data used to select WIC 
and SNAP households as well as an

[[Page 19952]]

evaluation of the feasibility of the web-based data collection system. 
Because this is a pilot test of a new data collection mode, there are 
no plans to make the collected data available to the public. The data 
will be analyzed and used as the Agency makes plans for a full-scale 
data collection at a future date.

    Authority:  These data will be collected under the authority of 
7 U.S.C. 2204(a). ERS will comply with OMB Implementation Guidance, 
``Implementation Guidance for Title V of the E-Government Act, 
Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act 
of 2002 (CIPSEA)'', 72 FR 33362, June 15, 2007. Respondent 
information will be protected under the CIPSEA and the 7 U.S.C. 
2276.

    Affected Public: Respondent groups identified include: SNAP 
households, WIC households, and non-SNAP and non-WIC households.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: The number of respondents is 2,154 
households, of which 580 are expected to include SNAP participants. 
This includes: (i) Advance Letter: 2,154 households; (ii) Screener: 
1,551 households (assumes a10% vacancy rate for SNAP households, a 15% 
vacancy rate for non-SNAP households, and a 72% response rate); (iii) 
Initial Interview: 593 responding households and 958 non-responding or 
non-eligible households composed of 540 households screened out due to 
unfamiliarity with smartphone or internet technology (assumes 45% of 
SNAP and 40% of non-SNAP households), 248 households screened out due 
to high income (assumes 21% of remaining non-SNAP households), and 170 
households declining to participate in the study (assumes completion 
rates of 85% for eligible SNAP households and 75% for eligible non-SNAP 
households); (iv) Final Interview: 534 households (assumes a 90% 
response rate); and (v) Respondent Feedback Form: 507 households 
(assumes a 95% response rate). Data collection at the individual level 
contributes to household-level burden estimates, and the number of 
individual respondents is the number of households completing the 
Initial Interview (593) times estimated average household size (2.4), 
or 1424 individuals. The number of individual respondents is: (vi) 
Training: 1424 respondents (assumes an average of 2.4 individuals per 
household); It is assumed that 10% of households decide not to continue 
with the survey after the training, leaving 534 households and 1282 
individuals. (vii) Income Worksheet: 999 respondents (assumes an 85% 
response rate for SNAP households and a 75% response rate for non-SNAP 
households); (viii) Food Reporting System and Meals and Snack Form: 
1026 respondents (assumes an 80% response rate); and (ix) Re-interview: 
961 respondents (assumes a 90% response rate, 2 persons per household).
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: All respondents 11 
years and older who access the web once daily, will respond seven 
times. Respondents who complete the screener, initial, and final 
interviews will respond an additional three times. Respondents 
completing the re-interview will provide one additional response.
    Estimated Time per Response: Reading the advance letter and 
completing the screener, initial, final, and feedback instruments will 
average 1.33 hours per household (or primary respondent). Individuals 
(including the primary respondent) who access the web to receive 
training, provide information on food acquisitions, income, and meals/
snacks, and complete the re-interview will average 1.97 hours per 
respondent.
    Estimated Total Burden on Respondents: 6,394 hours. See table for 
details.

                                                                    Reporting Burden
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                             Responses               Non-response/Not eligible
                                                                                 ----------------------------------------------------------------  Total
                           Instrument                             Sample   Freq                                    Non-                           burden
                                                                   size            Resp.  Freq x   Min./  Burden   resp.  Freq x   Min./  Burden   hours
                                                                                   count   count   Resp.   hours   count   count   Resp.   hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advance letters.................................................    2154       1    2154    2154       3     108       0       0       0       0     108
Household-level Data Collection:
    Household Screener..........................................    2154       1    1551    1551      12     310     603     603       5      50     360
    Initial Household Interview.................................    1551       1     593     593      30     297     958     958     1.8      29     326
    Final Household Interview...................................     593       1     534     534      30     267      59      59       3       3     270
    Respondent Feedback Form....................................     534       1     507     507       5      42      27      27       3       1      44
                                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Total Responding Burden--HH.............................    2154  ......    2154  ......  ......    1024  ......  ......  ......      83    1107
                                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Individual-level Data Collection:
    Training....................................................    1424       1    1424    1424      45    1068       0       0       0       0    1068
    Income Worksheet--Individual................................    1282       1     999     999      15     250     283     283       3      14     264
    Food Reporting System.......................................    1282       7    1026    7182      25    2993     256    1792       3      90    3083
    Meals and Snacks Form.......................................    1282       7    1026    7182       3     359     256    1792       1      30     389
    Re-interview................................................    1068       1     961     961      30     481     107     107       1       2     482
                                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Total Responding Burden--Ind............................    1424  ......    1424  ......  ......    5148     301  ......  ......     136    5286
                                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Total Responding Burden.............................    2154  ......    2154  ......  ......    6175  ......  ......  ......     219    6394
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimates of burden hours have been rounded.

    Comments: Comments are invited on: (1) 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; (2) 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; (3) ways to enhance 
the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; 
and (4) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology. Comments may be sent to John 
Kirlin, Resource and Rural Economics Division, Economic Research 
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Ave. SW., 
Mailstop 1800, Washington, DC 20250-1800. Comments may also be 
submitted via fax to the attention of John Kirlin at

[[Page 19953]]

202-694-5661--or via email to [email protected]. All comments 
received will be available for public inspection during regular 
business hours at the same address.
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for OMB approval. All comments will become a matter of public 
record.

    Dated: March 24, 2016.
Mary Bohman,
Administrator, Economic Research Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-07850 Filed 4-5-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-18-P