[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 48 (Monday, March 12, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10734-10736]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-04918]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Proposed Collection; 60-Day Comment Request; Generic Clearance 
for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery 
(National Institute of Nursing Research)

AGENCY: National Institutes of Health, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirement of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 to provide opportunity for public comment on proposed data 
collection projects, the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) 
will publish periodic summaries of propose projects to be submitted to 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval.

DATES: Comments regarding this information collection are best assured 
of having their full effect if received within 60 days of the date of 
this publication.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To obtain a copy of the data 
collection plans and instruments, submit comments in writing, or 
request more information on the proposed project, contact: Diana 
Finegold, Division of Science Policy and Public Liaison, NINR, NIH, 31 
Center Drive, Building 31, Suite B1B55, Bethesda, MD 20892, by phone at 
(301) 496-0209 or email your request, including your address to: 
[email protected]. Formal requests for additional plans and 
instruments must be requested in writing.

[[Page 10735]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 requires: Written comments and/or suggestions 
from the public and affected agencies are invited to address one or 
more of the following points: (1) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the function 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 minimizes 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.
    Proposed collection title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of 
Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery, 0925-0653, Expiration 
Date 4/30/2018, EXTENSION, National Institutes of Health (NIH), 
National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR).
    Need and Use of Information Collection: There are no changes being 
requested for this submission. The information collection activity will 
continue to garner qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback in an 
efficient, timely manner, in accordance with the Administration's 
commitment to improving service delivery. By qualitative feedback we 
mean information that provides useful insights on perceptions and 
opinions, but are not statistical surveys that yield quantitative 
results that can be generalized to the population of study. This 
feedback will provide insights into customer or stakeholder 
perceptions, experiences and expectations, provide an early warning of 
issues with service, or focus attention on areas where communication, 
training or changes in operations might improve delivery of products or 
services. These collections will allow for ongoing, collaborative and 
actionable communications between the Agency and its customers and 
stakeholders. It will also allow feedback to contribute directly to the 
improvement of program management.
    Improving agency programs requires ongoing assessment of service 
delivery, by which we mean systematic review of the operation of a 
program compared to a set of explicit or implicit standards, as a means 
of contributing to the continuous improvement of the program. The 
Agency will collect, analyze, and interpret information gathered 
through this generic clearance to identify strengths and weaknesses of 
current services and make improvements in service delivery based on 
feedback. The solicitation of feedback will target areas such as: 
Timeliness, appropriateness, accuracy of information, courtesy, 
efficiency of service delivery, and resolution of issues with service 
delivery. Responses will be assessed to plan and inform efforts to 
improve or maintain the quality of service offered to the public. If 
this information is not collected, vital feedback from customers and 
stakeholders on the Agency's services will be unavailable.
    NINR will only submit a collection for approval under this generic 
clearance if it meets the following conditions:
     The collections are voluntary;
     The collections are low-burden for respondents (based on 
considerations of total burden hours, total number of respondents, or 
burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents 
and the Federal Government;
     The collections are non-controversial and do not raise 
issues of concern to other Federal agencies;
     Any collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions 
from respondents who have experience with the program or may have 
experience with the program in the near future;
     Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected 
only to the extent necessary and is not retained;
     Information gathered will be used only internally for 
general service improvement and program management purposes and is not 
intended for release outside of the agency;
     Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of 
substantially informing influential policy decisions; and
     Information gathered will yield qualitative information; 
the collections will not be designed or expected to yield statistically 
reliable results or used as though the results are generalizable to the 
population of study.
    Feedback collected under this generic clearance will provide useful 
information, but it will not yield data that can be generalized to the 
overall population. This type of generic clearance for qualitative 
information will not be used for quantitative information collections 
that are designed to yield reliably actionable results, such as 
monitoring trends over time or documenting program performance. Such 
data uses require more rigorous designs that address: the target 
population to which generalizations will be made, the sampling frame, 
the sample design (including stratification and clustering), the 
precision requirements or power calculations that justify the proposed 
sample size, the expected response rate, methods for assessing 
potential non-response bias, the protocols for data collection, and any 
testing procedures that were or will be undertaken prior to fielding 
the study. Depending on the degree of influence the results are likely 
to have, such collections may still be eligible for submission for 
other generic mechanisms that are designed to yield quantitative 
results.
    OMB approval is requested for an additional 3 years. There are no 
costs to respondents other than their time. The total estimated 
annualized burden hours are 500.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                                      Average
                                     Type of         Number of       Number of      burden per     Total annual
           Form name               respondents      respondents   responses  per   response  (in   burden hours
                                                                     respondent       hours)
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A.............................  General Public..             500               1           30/60             250
B.............................  Health                       300               1           30/60             150
                                 Professionals.
C.............................  Educators.......             200               1           15/60              50
D.............................  Students........             200               1           15/60              50
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.....................  ................           1,200           1,200  ..............             500
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[[Page 10736]]

    Dated: March 5, 2018,
Diana F. Finegold,
Health Communications Specialist, National Institute of Nursing 
Research, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 2018-04918 Filed 3-9-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4140-01-P