National Science Foundation Surveys to Measure Customer Satisfaction

SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR PAPERWORK REDUCTION SUBMISSION
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION SURVEYS TO MEASURE CUSTOMER
SERVICE SATISFACTION (OMB Approval Number 3145-0157)
A. JUSTIFICATION
1. CIRCUMSTANCES MAKING COLLECTION OF INFORMATION NECESSARY
On September 11, 1993, President Clinton issued Executive Order 12862, “Setting Customer
Service Standards,” which clearly defined his vision that the Federal agencies will put the
public first. To accomplish this, President Clinton called for a “revolution within the Federal
government to change the way it does business.” He expected this process to require
continual reform of government practices and operations to the end that, “when dealing with
the Federal agencies, all people receive service that matches or exceeds the best service
available in the private sector.”

Section 1(b) of this E.O. requires agencies to “survey customers to determine the kind and
quality of services they want and their level of satisfaction with existing services” and
Section 1(a) requires agencies to “survey front-line employees on barriers to, and ideas for,
matching the best in business.” These Presidential requirements established an ongoing need
for the National Science Foundation (NSF) to engage in an interactive process of collecting
information and using it to improve program services and processes.

The information that has been collected and that will be collected in these surveys represents
the minimum necessary to evaluate customer satisfaction with NSF programs. It is expected
that survey instruments will continue to be designed to take less than thirty minutes of any
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one respondent’s time. The service of customer surveys will continue to be coordinated to
ensure that most individual respondents will not be asked to respond to more than one survey
instrument. The “frequency” for individual respondents is essentially once. The total
number of surveys and the schedule for those surveys continues to be monitored and
approved by the Office of the Director.
2. HOW, BY WHOM, AND PURPOSE FOR WHICH INFORMATION IS TO BE USED
The purpose of this generic clearance was and continues to be to measure customer service
satisfaction. The series of customer satisfaction surveys that NSF has conducted and plans to
continue to conduct is intended to assess customer needs and to help develop proposals to try
to meet those needs at a level that matches or exceeds the best service available in the private
sector.

Over the course of the past approvals of this collection, NSF has obtained valuable survey
data from sponsored research offices at academic institutions, applicants and reviewers for
NSF research and education grants, and users of NSF-published information.

Results from these and future surveys and focus groups will be used to establish customerdefined goals and standards for measuring NSF progress toward those goals. Later surveys
and focus groups will clarify those standards and evaluate NSF performance. This will be a
continuous process of measuring customer satisfaction and then using that information to
refine or redefine NSF programs and processes. Without this institutionalized process, NSF
managers have no basis for planning and implementing program improvements and other
customer satisfaction initiatives. This process also will enhance NSF’s strategic planning,

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performance planning, and performance reporting efforts as required by the Government
Performance and Results Act of 1993.
3. USE OF AUTOMATION
There are no legal or technical obstacles to the use of technology in these information
collection activities. The determination to use technology, and which technology to use, will
be based on the type of information collected and the utility and the availability of specific
technology to each respondent in a proposed customer satisfaction survey.
4. EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY DUPLICATION
The information to be supplied on these surveys will not be duplicated on any other
information collection. An internal panel of program representatives will review the
proposed NSF surveys to verify that the information sought is not already available and that
the survey is part of a coordinated agency-wide customer satisfaction program.
5. SMALL BUSINESS CONSIDERATIONS
Not applicable.
6. CONSEQUENCES OF LESS FREQUENT COLLECTION
Without a regular program of customer satisfaction surveys, NSF cannot attain the E.O.’s
commitment to “best in the business” practices because there is no way to get reliable
feedback on NSF practices.
7. SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES FOR COLLECTION
These surveys will be consistent with all the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.6, especially those
provisions in subsection (g) which require that a statistical survey be designed to produce
results that can be generalized to the universe of study.

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8. FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE.
The agency’s notice, as required by 5 CFR 1320.8(d), was published in the Federal Register
on January 24, 2005, at 70 FR 3398 and one comment was received from B. Sachau of
Florham Park, New Jersey (attached). In her comment, Ms. Sachau objects to this
information collection as having customers solely in science and engineering. While the
focus of NSF is largely geared to science and engineering, the purpose of these surveys is to
assess public opinion, and this is emphasized in the first Federal Register notice when noting
who respondents most likely will be. The other statements within her comment have no
bearing on the information collection for which we are seeking renewal, and therefore, NSF
is proceeding with seeking approval from OMB.

OUTSIDE CONSULTATION
Consultations will be conducted on a case-by-case basis with outside experts and
representatives of those from whom information is to be obtained.
9. GIFTS OR REMUNERATION
Not applicable.
10. CONFIDENTIALITY PROVIDED TO RESPONDENTS
The individual survey instructions will provide all necessary assurances of confidentiality to
the respondents. Although there is no requirement for such an assurance in the statute, the
quality of this type of information requires respondent candor and anonymity.
11. QUESTIONS OF A SENSITIVE NATURE

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NSF does not expect to include any questions of a sensitive nature in these customer
satisfaction surveys. If any are used, NSF will submit a specific justification for each
question used as part of the completed package submitted to OMB.
12. ESTIMATE OF BURDEN
Each respondent will submit only one response per survey, which will take an average of ten
minutes (based on past collections). NSF estimates the number of annual responses to be
31,500 for an annual burden of 5,250 hours.
ANNUALIZED COST TO RESPONDENTS
The cost to respondents will vary by survey. As each survey is submitted for review and
approval, a cost analysis will be included.
13. CAPITAL/STARTUP COSTS
There are no capital or startup costs associated with these collections.
14. ANNUALIZED COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Again, the costs to the federal government will vary by survey. Most will be written as a
routine part of a program, and their cost will be outlined in each survey submission. The
prior justification statements show NSF’s commitment and costs associated with individual
surveys.
15. CHANGES IN BURDEN
Not applicable. We will continue the request of 5,250 hours for this information collection.
16. PUBLICATION OF COLLECTION
Not applicable.
17. SEEKING APPROVAL TO NOT DISPLAY OMB EXPIRATION DATE
Not applicable.

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18. EXCEPTION(S) TO THE CERTIFICATION STATEMENT (19) ON OMB 83-I
None.

ATTACHMENTS
First Federal Register notice (70 FR 3398, dated January 24, 2005)
Second Federal Register notice (70 FR 16875, dated April 1, 2005)
Comment from B. Sachau of Florham Park, NJ, dated January 29, 2005
Examples of prior surveys:
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NSF Website Redesign Survey and email string for approval

•

Customer Satisfaction with National Science Foundation Paleoanthropology Data
Sharing Practices

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