[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 11 (Tuesday, January 18, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2602-2603]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-00736]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Energy Information Administration


Agency Information Collection Extension

AGENCY: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), U.S. Department 
of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: EIA submitted an information collection request for extension 
as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The information 
collection requests a three-year extension with changes of its Generic 
Clearance for Questionnaire Testing, Evaluation, and Research, OMB 
Control Number 1905-0186. EIA-882T, Generic Clearance for Questionnaire 
Testing, Evaluation, and Research, provides EIA with the authority to 
utilize qualitative and quantitative methodologies to pretest 
questionnaires and validate the quality of data collected on EIA's 
surveys. EIA uses EIA-882T to meet its obligation to publish, and 
otherwise make available independent, high-quality statistical data to 
federal government agencies, state and local governments, the energy 
industry, researchers, and the general public.

DATES: Comments on this information collection must be received no 
later than February 17, 2022. Written comments and recommendations for 
the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of 
publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find 
this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently under 
30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search 
function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you need additional information, 
contact Gerson Morales, U.S. Energy Information Administration, 
telephone (202) 586-7077, or by email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This information collection request 
contains:
    (1) OMB No.: 1905-0186;
    (2) Information Collection Request Title: Generic Clearance for 
Questionnaire Testing, Evaluation, and Research;
    (3) Type of Request: Three-year extension with changes;
    (4) Purpose: The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is 
requesting a three-year approval from the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) to utilize qualitative and quantitative methodologies to 
pretest questionnaires and validate the quality of the data that is 
collected on EIA and DOE survey forms. Through the use of these 
methodologies, EIA will conduct research studies to improve the quality 
of energy data being collected, reduce or minimize survey respondent 
burden, and increase agency efficiency. This authority would also allow 
EIA to improve data collection in order to meet the needs of EIA's 
customers while also staying current in the evolving nature of the 
energy industry.
    The specific methods proposed for the coverage by this clearance 
are described below. Also outlined is the legal authority for these 
voluntary information gathering activities.
    The following methods are proposed:
    Pilot Surveys. Pilot surveys conducted under this clearance will 
generally be methodological studies, and will always employ 
statistically representative samples. The pilot surveys will replicate 
all components of the methodological design, sampling procedures (where 
possible), and questionnaires of the full scale survey. Pilot surveys 
will normally be utilized when EIA undertakes a complete redesign of a 
particular data collection methodology or when EIA undertakes data 
collection in new energy areas, such as HGL production, alternative 
fueled motor vehicles, and other emerging areas of the energy sector 
where data collection would provide utility to EIA.
    Cognitive Interviews. Cognitive interviews are typically one-on-one 
interviews in which the respondent is usually asked to ``think aloud'' 
or is asked ``retrospective questions'' as he or she answers questions, 
reads survey materials, defines terminology, or completes other 
activities as part of a typical survey process. A number of different 
techniques may be involved including, asking respondents what specific 
words or phrases mean or asking respondents probing questions to 
determine how they estimate, calculate, or determine specific data 
elements on a survey. The objectives of these cognitive interviews are 
to identify problems of ambiguity or misunderstanding, examine the 
process that respondents follow for reporting information, assess 
survey respondents' ability to report new information, or identify 
other difficulties respondents have answering survey questions in order 
to reduce measurement error from estimates based on a survey.
    Respondent Debriefings. Respondent debriefings conducted under this 
clearance will generally be methodological or cognitive research 
studies. The debriefing form is administered after a respondent 
completes a questionnaire either in paper format, electronically, or 
through in-person interviews. The debriefings contain probing questions 
to determine how respondents interpret the survey questions, how much 
time and effort was spent completing the questionnaire, and whether 
they have problems in completing the survey/questionnaire. Respondent 
debriefings also are useful in determining potential issues with data 
quality and in estimating respondent burden.
    Usability Testing. Usability tests are similar to cognitive 
interviews in which a respondent is typically asked to ``think aloud'' 
or asked ``retrospective questions'' as he or she reviews an electronic 
questionnaire, website, visual aid, or hard copy survey form. The 
objective of usability testing is to check that respondents can easily 
and intuitively navigate electronic survey collection programs, 
websites, and other survey instruments to submit their data to EIA.
    Focus Groups. Focus groups, in person, online, or by phone, involve 
group sessions guided by a moderator who follows a topic guide 
containing questions or subjects focused on a particular issue rather 
than adhering to a standardized cognitive interview protocol. Focus 
groups are useful for exploring issues concerning the design of a form 
and the meaning of terms from a specific group of respondents, data 
users, or other stakeholders of EIA data. Focus groups may also be used 
to explore respondents' general opinions about data collection 
technologies or survey materials other than questionnaires.
    (4a) Changes to Information Collection: EIA proposes to add several 
other methodologies or techniques to improve survey design, pretest 
questionnaires and validate the quality of the data that is collected 
on EIA and DOE survey forms.
    Field Techniques. Field techniques described in survey research and 
survey methodology literature will be employed as appropriate. These 
include follow-up probing, memory cue tasks, paraphrasing, confidence 
rating, response latency measurements, free

[[Page 2603]]

and dimensional sort classification tasks, and vignette 
classifications. The objective of all of these techniques is to aid in 
the development of surveys that work with respondents' thought 
processes, thus reducing response error and burden. These techniques 
have also proven useful for studying and revising pre-existing 
questionnaires.
    Behavior Coding. Behavior coding is a quantitative technique in 
which a standard set of codes is systematically applied to respondent/
interviewer interactions in interviewer-administered surveys or 
respondent/questionnaire interactions in self-administered surveys. The 
advantage of this technique is that it can identify and quantify 
problems with the wording or ordering of questions, but the 
disadvantage is that it does not necessarily illuminate the underlying 
causes.
    Split Panel Test. Split panel tests refer to controlled 
experimental testing of alternative hypotheses. Thus, they allow one to 
choose from among competing questions, questionnaires, definitions, 
error messages or survey improvement methodologies with greater 
confidence than any of the other methods. Split panel tests conducted 
during the fielding of the survey are superior in that they can support 
both internal validity (controlled comparisons of the variable(s) under 
investigation) and external validity (represent the population under 
study). Most of the previously mentioned survey improvement methods can 
be strengthened when teamed with this method.
    Research reports, research publications, peer-reviewed journal 
articles, peer-reviewed book chapters, and informational white papers: 
From the collected data, EIA will have the ability to write research 
papers, research publications, peer-reviewed journal articles, peer-
reviewed book chapters, and informational white papers. Summarized 
results may be released or discussed as experimental research in the 
types of publications. However, the information collected from these 
methodologies will not be released as official statistics and will 
explicitly note the experimental nature of the information.
    Professional conferences: EIA may present data collected from this 
research at various professional conferences. Professional conferences 
provide great opportunities to communicate EIA's research to the 
broader energy, statistical and survey methodology communities and get 
feedback on completed research. This will help innovate not only EIA's 
research and survey practices, but also that of these broader 
communities.
    Audio and Video Recordings: For qualitative interviews, EIA will 
ask potential respondents if they would be willing to be audio or video 
recorded. If potential respondents agree, EIA will provide them with an 
informed consent form, which respondents will sign to signify 
compliance. A copy of the signed consent will be given to the potential 
respondents and kept on file at EIA. Audio or video recording will only 
be used for data analysis, and only those researchers at EIA that are 
involved in the research will have access to these recordings. If 
potential respondents are not willing to be audio/video recorded, 
interviewer will bypass recording and take notes.
    (5) Annual Estimated Number of Respondents: 7,500;
    (6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: 7,500;
    (7) Annual Estimated Number of Burden Hours: 7,500.
    Statutory Authority: 15 U.S.C. 772(b), 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on January 11, 2022.
Samson A. Adeshiyan,
Director, Office of Statistical Methods and Research, U.S. Energy 
Information Administration.
[FR Doc. 2022-00736 Filed 1-14-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P