Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery, 13576 [2017-04946]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 14, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Page 13576]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-04946]


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Notices
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 48 / Tuesday, March 14, 2017 / 
Notices

[[Page 13576]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative 
Feedback on Agency Service Delivery

AGENCY: National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA.

ACTION: 30-Day notice of submission of information collection approval 
from the Office of Management and Budget and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: As part of a Federal Government-wide effort to streamline the 
process to seek feedback from the public on service delivery, The 
National Institute of Food and Agriculture has submitted a Generic 
Information Collection Request (Generic ICR): ``Generic Clearance for 
the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery '' to 
OMB for approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 
3501 et. seq.).

DATES: Comments must be submitted April 13, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted by any of the following 
methods: Email: rmartin@nifa.usda.gov; Fax 202-720-0857; Mail: Office 
of Information Technology (OIT), NIFA, USDA, STOP 2216, 1400 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250-2216.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information, 
please contact Robert Martin, Records Officer, email: 
rmartin@nifa.usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback 
on Agency Service Delivery.
    Abstract: The information collection activity will 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.
    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 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.
    The Agency received no comments in response to the 60-day notice 
published in the Federal Register of October 4th, 2016, Vol. 81 FR 192.
    Below we provide the National Institute of Food and Agriculture 
projected average estimates for the next three years:
    Current Actions: New collection of information.
    Type of Review: New Collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals and Households, Businesses and 
Organizations, State, Local or Tribal Government.
    Average Expected Annual Number of Activities: 20.
    Respondents: 10,500.
    Annual Responses: 1.
    Frequency of Response: Once per request.
    Average Minutes per Response: .5
    Burden Hours: 17,505.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a 
currently valid Office of Management and Budget control number.

Ruth Brown,
Departmental Information Collection Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017-04946 Filed 3-13-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-09-P