Agency Information Collection Extension, 24392-24394 [2025-10475]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
• Energy Information Administration

[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 110 (Tuesday, June 10, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24392-24394]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-10475]


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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

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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 July 10, 2025. 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 Kenneth Pick, EIA Clearance Officer, at (202) 586-5562, or by 
email at [email protected]. Include the OMB control number listed 
in the subject line of the message.

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 change;
    (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 are 
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 EIA will continue to use for the coverage by 
this clearance are described below.
    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 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 they answer 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 personal 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 they review a survey 
questionnaire, related materials, or website. The objective of 
usability testing is to check that respondents can easily and 
intuitively navigate survey questionnaires, related materials, and 
websites to submit their data to EIA.
    Focus Groups. Focus groups are a qualitative method used early in 
questionnaire development to gather information about a topic that can 
later be used to write survey questions, such as specific terminology, 
definitions, sensitivity of topics, organizational processes, and 
burden associated with reporting. Information is collected by a 
moderator using a guided discussion with small groups of people (e.g., 
8-10).
    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 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.
    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.
    (4a) Changes to Information Collection:
    EIA proposes to collect personally identifiable information (PII) 
only to the extent necessary to recruit participants for questionnaire 
testing, evaluation, and research. This PII would not be retained, with 
the exception of information needed to provide

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renumeration for participants of questionnaire testing, evaluation, and 
research and conduct associated data analysis.
    (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;
    (8) Annual Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: 
$712,425 (7,500 annual burden hours multiplied by $94.99 per hour). EIA 
estimates that respondents will have no additional costs associated 
with the surveys other than the burden hours and the maintenance of the 
information during the normal course of business.
    Statutory Authority: 15 U.S.C. 772(b), 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on June 5, 2025.
Samson A. Adeshiyan,
Director, Office of Statistical Methods and Research, U. S. Energy 
Information Administration.
[FR Doc. 2025-10475 Filed 6-9-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P