Expedited Form

National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
Social Science Program
Expedited Approval for NPS-Sponsored Public Surveys
1.
2.

Project Title ⎢ Herbert Hoover National Historic Site Visitor Services Project Visitor Study
Submission Date:
Abstract:

March 6, 2008

Herbert Hoover NHS (HEHO) recently completed its General Management Plan (2004) and is
working on a Long-Range Interpretive Plan. HEHO has never had a VSP visitor study, and because
of the unique partnership with the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library-Museum, the Hoover
Association, Main Street-West Branch, and the City of West Branch, a visitor study would be
extremely valuable to the park and its partners for future planning endeavors, including the LongRange Interpretive Plan.
The mail-back questionnaire in this visitor study is designed to systematically collect data from winter
visitors, including individual characteristics, trip/visit characteristics, individual activities, individual
evaluation of park services/facilities, individual perceptions of their park experiences and individual
opinions on park management. Park visitors will be randomly selected to participate in the study as
they visit the park at selected locations during a 10-day period from July 24-August 2, 2008.

3.

Principal Investigator Contact Information
First Name:
Title:
Affiliation:

Street Address:
City:

4.

Margaret

Last Name:

Littlejohn

NPS Visitor Services Project (VSP) Director
NPS Visitor Services Project, PSU,
College of Natural Resources,
University of Idaho
6th & Line Streets, Room 17B
Moscow

Phone:

208-885-7863

Email:

[email protected]

State:
Fax:

ID

Zip code:

83844-1139

208-885-4261

Park or Program Liaison Contact Information
First Name:

Cheryl A.

Last Name:

Title:

Park Superintendent

Park:

Herbert Hoover National Historic Site (HEHO)

Schreier

Park Management
Office/Division:
Street Address:

P.O. Box 607

City:

West Branch

Phone:

319-643-7870

State:

IA

Zip code:

Fax: 319-643-7853
Email:
[email protected]

52358-0607

Project Information
5.

Park Where
Research is to be
Conducted:

6.

Survey Dates:

7.

Type of Information Collection Instrument (Check ALL that Apply)

8.

‰

Mail-Back
Questionnaire

‰

Other
(explain)

Survey
Justification:
(Use as much
space as needed;
if necessary
include
additional
explanation on a
separate page.)

Herbert Hoover National Historic Site (HEHO)

07/24/2008

‰

On-Site
Questionnaire

(mm/dd/yyyy)

‰

to

Face-to-Face
Interview

08/02/2008

‰

Telephone
Survey

(mm/dd/yyyy)

‰

Focus Groups

Legal Justification: The National Park Service Act of 1916, 38 Stat 535, 16 USC 1, et seq., requires
that the National Park Service (NPS) preserve the national parks for the use and enjoyment of
present and future generations. At the field level, this means resource preservation, public
education, facility maintenance and operation, and physical developments that are necessary for
public use, health, and safety. Allocation of funding is to be roughly in proportion to the
seasonally adjusted volume of use (P. L. 88-578, Sect. 6) and in consideration of visitor
characteristics and activities for determining carrying capacity (92 Stat. 3467; P. L. 95-625, Sect.
604 11/10/78). Other federal rules (National Environmental Policy Act, 1969 and NPS
guidelines) require visitor use data in impact assessment of development on users and resources as
part of each park's general management plan.
Managerial Justification.
HEHO recently completed a GMP (2004) and is working on a Long-Range Interpretive Plan.
HEHO has never had a VSP visitor study. The unique partnership between the park and the
Herbert Hoover Presidential Library-Museum, the Hoover Association, Main Street-West Branch,
and the City of West Branch means that data from a visitor study would be extremely valuable for
future planning endeavors, including the Long-Range Interpretive Plan.
The visitor study will help identify visitor use patterns, demographics, and linkages with the local
community, as well as the impact of visitation to the park on regional tourism. The study will also
assist the park and its partners in determining how much time visitors spend at the site, the librarymuseum, and the local historic downtown, and what types of services preferred by visitors are
lacking in the area.
The mail-back questionnaire in this visitor study is designed to systematically collect data from
visitors, including individual characteristics, trip/visit characteristics, individual activities, individual
evaluation of park services/facilities, individual perceptions of their park experiences and individual
opinions on park management. Park visitors will be randomly selected to participate in the study as
they visit the park at selected locations during a 10-day period from July 24-August 2, 2008.

9.

Survey
Methodology:
(Use as much
space as needed;
if necessary
include
additional
explanation on a
separate page.)

(a) Respondent universe:
The respondent universe will be all recreational visitors, age 16 and older, who visit the park during
the study period. A systematic sample of visitors will be contacted by VSP-trained interviewers
from July 24-August 2, 2008, at two locations: one in the park and the other at the library.
(b) Sampling plan/procedures:
The survey design and sampling plan for the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site visitor study
are based upon Dillman's Tailored Design Method (TDM). The TDM has been shown to increase
response rates, improve accuracy, and reduce cost and burden hours. This methodology and survey
instrument design has been used in 187 previous surveys conducted by the Visitor Services Project
(VSP). The majority of questions in this survey appear in the Social Science Program’s know pool
of questions and have been used in other VSP questionnaires. A systematic sampling procedure,
based on the park’s visitation statistics from the previous year, will require asking every 15th person
to participate in the study. Each interviewer will use a tally counter to count people. Approximately

357 visitor groups will be contacted during the planned sampling period, with heavier sampling on
weekends, matching the visitation statistics. Visitor groups will be intercepted at two locations in
the park, with one survey supervisor overseeing the interviewers.
(c) Instrument administration:
The initial contact with visitors to explain the study and determine if visitors are interested in
participating (see attached script) takes approximately 1 minute. The number of visitor groups who
refuse are recorded and used in calculating response rates. Visitors who voluntarily agree to
participate in the study are verbally given a short front-end interview (1 additional minute) to
collect information used in a non-response bias check. They are also asked to record their name,
address, and phone number/email address. If a group agrees to participate, the researcher will give
the survey to the individual within the group who has the next birthday. Participants will be given a
stamped, addressed questionnaire to complete and return.
Participants will be mailed a thank you/reminder post card 11 working days after the completion of
the survey. If the thank you/reminder post card proves unsuccessful, a reminder letter with a
stamped, addressed replacement questionnaire will be sent 21 working days after the completion of
the survey. A second reminder letter will be mailed after 35 working days with a stamped,
addressed questionnaire.
(d) Expected response rate/confidence levels:
Based on the park’s visitation data and the number of days of surveying, approximately 357 groups
will be contacted over the sampling period. It is expected that approximately 340 of these will
accept the questionnaires, and 265 will return them. This produces an overall response rate of 74%.
This expected response rate is based upon similar VSP study response rates (Saint-Gaudens NHS,
2004–81%, Manzanar NHS 2004–77%, Nicodemus NHS 2005–68%, John F. Kennedy NHS
2006–60%, Golden Spike NHS 2006–75%.)
Estimates from the survey will be accurate to within +/-6 percentage points at the 95% confidence
level for questions with dichotomous response scales. The confidence intervals will be somewhat
larger for questions with more than two response categories.
(e) Strategies for dealing with potential non-response bias:
During the front-end interview, questions are asked of the respondents to check for non-response
bias. Answers are recorded on a log of every survey contact. Results of the non-response bias
check are described in the report and the implications for park planning and management are
discussed.
(f) Description of any pre-testing and peer review of the methods and/or instrument
(recommended):
The questionnaire format and many of the questions have been used in over 187 previous VSP
survey instruments. Most of the questions appear in the Social Science Program’s known pool of
questions. Questionnaires are peer reviewed by NPS managers and university professors.
10.

13.

Total Number of
Initial Contacts
Accept Instrument |
Expected Respondents:

Reporting Plan:

357

340

265

11. Estimated Time 1
(mins.) to Complete
Initial Contact |
(refusals only)
Accept Instrument
Return Instrument:

1

20

12. Total 100
Burden
Hours:

Responses will be tabulated and frequencies, means, or medians for each question will be reported,
as appropriate. The results of this information collection activity will be tabulated as frequency
responses and presented in an internal agency report for park managers and NPS managers at the
regional and national level. The report will be archived with the NPS Social Science Program for
inclusion in the Social Science Studies Collection. It will also be posted on the Park Studies Unit
VSP website at: http:/psu.uidaho.edu/vsp.reports.htm. Hard copies will be available upon request.