[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 75 (Thursday, April 18, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16239-16240]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-07811]
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Notices
Federal Register
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This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 75 / Thursday, April 18, 2019 /
Notices
[[Page 16239]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food and Nutrition Service
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request--Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative
Feedback on Agency Service Delivery
AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this
notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment
on this proposed information collection. This collection is an
extension, without change, of a currently approved collection to
collect qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient
and timely manner. The Food and Nutrition Service created this generic
information collection in 2016 as part of a Federal Government-wide
effort to streamline the process for seeking feedback from the public
on service delivery.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before June 17, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the proposed collection
of information is necessary for the proper performance of the Agency's
functions, including whether the information will have practical
utility; (2) the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the proposed
information collection burden, 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 use of appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms
of information technology.
Comments may be sent to Kelly Stewart, Planning & Regulatory
Affairs Office, Office of Policy Support, 3101 Park Center Drive,
Alexandria, VA 22302. Comments will also be accepted through the
Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to http://www.regulations.gov, and
follow the online instructions for submitting comments electronically.
All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the
request for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval. All
comments will also become a matter of public record.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or
copies of this information collection should be directed to Kelly
Stewart, Planning & Regulatory Affairs Office, Office of Policy
Support, 3101 Park Center Drive, Alexandria, VA 22302; 703-305-2425.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback
on Agency Service Delivery (Fast Track).
OMB Number: 0584-0611.
Expiration Date: September 30, 2019.
Type of Request: Extension, without change, of a currently approved
information collection.
Abstract: The proposed information collection activity provides a
means to garner qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback in an
efficient and timely manner. By ``qualitative feedback,'' we mean
information that provides useful insights on perceptions and opinions,
but are not statistical surveys yielding quantitative results that can
be generalized to the population. This feedback will continue to, (1)
provide insights into customer or stakeholder perceptions, experiences
and expectations, (2) provide an early warning of issues with service
and, (3) focus attention on areas where communication, training or
changes in operations might improve delivery of products or services.
This collection allows for ongoing, collaborative and actionable
communications between the Agency and its customers and stakeholders.
It also allows feedback to contribute directly to the improvement of
program management.
The solicitation of feedback targets areas such as: Timeliness,
appropriateness, accuracy of information, courtesy, efficiency of
service delivery, and resolution of issues with service delivery.
Responses are 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.
The Agency will continue to 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 provides useful
information, but it does 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 usage 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
[[Page 16240]]
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. As a general matter,
information collections do not result in any new system of records
containing privacy information and does not ask questions of a
sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious
beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private.
A variety of instruments and platforms are used to collect
information from respondents. The annual burden hours requested
(30,000) are based on the number of collections we expect to conduct
over the requested period for this clearance.
Estimated Annual Reporting Burden
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Annual
Type of collection Number of frequency per Hours per Total hours
respondents response response
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Customer Feedback Surveys....................... 15,000 1 1 15,000
Comment Cards................................... 7,500 1 1 7,500
Focus Groups.................................... 7,500 1 1 7,500
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Total....................................... 30,000 1 1 30,000
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Annual Reporting Burden Estimates
Affected Public: Individuals and Households, Businesses and
Organizations, State, Local or Tribal Government.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 30,000.
Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.
Estimated Annual responses: 30,000.
Estimated time per response: 60 minutes.
Burden hours: 30,000.
Dated: March 29, 2019.
Brandon Lipps,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-07811 Filed 4-17-19; 8:45 am]
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