Proposed Information Collection Activity; Pre-Testing of Evaluation Data Collection Activities, 27624 [2021-10731]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
• Administration for Children and Families

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 97 (Friday, May 21, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Page 27624]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-10731]



[[Page 27624]]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

[OMB #0970-0355]


Proposed Information Collection Activity; Pre-Testing of 
Evaluation Data Collection Activities

AGENCY: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration 
for Children and Families, HHS.

ACTION: Request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) proposes to 
extend the existing overarching generic clearance for Pre-testing of 
Evaluation Data Collection Activities (Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) #0970-0355) with no changes.

DATES: Comments due within 30 days of publication. OMB is required to 
make a decision concerning the collection of information between 30 and 
60 days after publication of this document in the Federal Register. 
Therefore, a comment is best assured of having its full effect if OMB 
receives it within 30 days of publication.

ADDRESSES: 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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Description: The ACF Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation 
(OPRE), at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 
intends to request approval from 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 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:

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

    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 3,825.

    Authority: Social Security Act, Sec. 1110 [42 U.S.C. 1310].

Mary B. Jones,
ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2021-10731 Filed 5-20-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-79-P