82 FR 48820 - Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 202 (October 20, 2017)

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 202 (Friday, October 20, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48820-48821]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-22718]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

    Title: Pre-testing of Evaluation Data Collection Activities.
    OMB No.: 0970-0355.
    Description: The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation 
(OPRE), in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the 
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) intends to request 
approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to renew a 
generic clearance to pre-test data collection instruments with more 
than nine participants to identify and resolve any question or 
procedural problems in survey administration.
    OPRE studies ACF programs, and the populations they serve, through 
rigorous research and evaluation projects. These include evaluations of 
existing programs, evaluations of innovative approaches to helping low-
income children and families, research syntheses and descriptive and 
exploratory studies. To improve the development of its research and 
evaluation surveys, OPRE uses the pre-testing of evaluation surveys 
generic clearance to employ a variety of techniques including cognitive 
and usability laboratory and field techniques, behavior coding, 
exploratory interviews, respondent debriefing questionnaires, split 
sample experiments, focus groups, and pilot studies/pre-tests. These 
activities allow OPRE to identify if and when a survey may be 
simplified for respondents, respondent burden may be reduced, and other 
possible improvements.
    Following standard OMB requirements, OPRE will submit a change 
request for each individual data collection activity under this generic 
clearance. Each request will include the individual instrument(s), a 
justification specific to the individual information collection, and 
any supplementary documents. OMB should review within 10 days of 
receiving each change request.
    The information collected in this effort will not be the primary 
subject of any published ACF reports; however, information may be made 
public through methodological appendices or footnotes, reports on 
instrument development, instrument user guides, descriptions of 
respondent behavior, and other publications or presentations describing 
findings of methodological interest. When necessary, results will be 
labeled as exploratory in nature. The results of this pre-testing 
research may be prepared for presentation at

[[Page 48821]]

professional meetings or publication in professional journals.
    Respondents: Participants in ACF programs being evaluated; 
participants in ACF demonstrations; recipients of ACF Grants and 
individuals served by ACF Grantees; comparison group members; and other 
relevant populations, such as individuals at risk of needing ACF 
services.

                                             Annual Burden Estimates
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  Number of      Average burden
                 Instrument                   Total number of   responses per      hours per       Total burden
                                                respondents       respondent        response          hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Survey development field tests, respondent             3,825                1                1            3,825
 debriefing questionnaires, cognitive
 interviews, split sample experiments, focus
 groups.....................................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In compliance with the requirements of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Administration for Children and 
Families is soliciting public comment on the specific aspects of the 
information collection described above. Copies of the proposed 
collection of information can be obtained and comments may be forwarded 
by writing to the Administration for Children and Families, Office of 
Planning, Research, and Evaluation, 330 C Street SW., Washington, DC 
20201, Attn: OPRE Reports Clearance Officer. Email address: 
[email protected]. All requests should be identified by 
the title of the information collection.
    The Department specifically requests comments on (a) whether the 
proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the 
information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 
agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information; (c) the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection 
of information on respondents, including through the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology. 
Consideration will be given to comments and suggestions submitted 
within 60 days of this publication.

Mary Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017-22718 Filed 10-19-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4184-79-P