OMB Package
A Customer Satisfaction Study for Taxpayers using
IRS.gov Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Introduction
In order to evaluate the service provided by the IRS.gov web site, the IRS is interested in determining levels of customer satisfaction with the service being provided to taxpayers who use the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the IRS’ Internet web site, IRS.gov.
Objectives of Research
The objectives of this research are to:
Determine taxpayers’ customer satisfaction with the FAQs on the IRS.gov web site.
Determine areas of possible improvement with the FAQs on IRS.gov.
Methodology
An on-line web based survey will be used to gather taxpayer’s input regarding the effectiveness of FAQs. Survey responses will gauge if taxpayers received the needed information, the usefulness of that information and the ease of navigating through the FAQs.
The survey package is being forwarded to OMB for approval. Attachment 1 contains the survey for the study.
The survey will be an on-line survey taken when the survey participants access FAQs on IRS.gov. At the bottom of each FAQ answer page, a three question survey is displayed. Participation in the survey is completely optional.
Sample Design
The population will include all taxpayers who access the FAQ Content Area on IRS.gov. The rough estimate for site visits for the FAQ Content Area is 11,652,715 for calendar year 07. It is expected that 1% of the taxpayers will participate in a web survey.
Data Collection Date
This is an on-going survey starting in December 2008 with an end date of December 2009. At that point, the survey questions will be updated.
Data to be collected
This survey will collect customers’ overall satisfaction with the FAQs in the FAQ Content Area on the IRS.gov web site.
How data will be used
Data will be used to evaluate taxpayers’ satisfaction and identify areas for improvement for the FAQs on the IRS.gov web site.
How data will be analyzed
Analysis of the survey data will be conducted by Wage & Investment (W&I), Customer Account Services (CAS). Data secured from the responding participants will be tabulated by WebTrends. WebTrends is a Web analytics tool which collects and presents information about user behavior on web sites. WebTrends will provide weekly and monthly Excel reports which will be provided to the W&I CAS.
Who is conducting research?
The research will be conducted on IRS.gov via survey application. After survey participants complete the survey and click submit, the response data will be sent to WebTrends. From WebTrends, automated weekly and monthly reports will be sent to W&I CAS.
Cost of Study
The one-time cost for this survey and the survey weekly and monthly reports is $258.
Location
This survey will be fielded via the Internet.
Stipend
Survey participants will not be paid a stipend for participation.
Burden Hours
The survey contains three questions. All the questions are simple multiple choice. The survey should take approximately 20 seconds. Based on an estimated response rate of 1% and using the 2007 web traffic (11,652,715), the burden hours are 388 hours.
See below:
A one percent (1%) response rate for 11,652,715 taxpayers (based on 2007 web traffic) could potentially yield 116,527 respondents.
For those survey respondents (116,527), the survey will be 20 seconds, which would yield 23,305 minutes a year.
As a result, the total burden hours for the study would be 23,305 minutes divided by 60 minutes/hour = 388 burden hours.
Efforts to not duplicate research
This research will provide original information because no current information exists on taxpayer’s satisfaction with each of the FAQs individually. Previous surveys were conducted in 2006. This research will be part of the performance measures for managing the FAQs and do not duplicate other research currently being conducted.
Privacy, Security, Disclosures, Confidentiality
The tabulated response returned to the IRS W&A CAS FAQ content owners will not have any form of identifying information relating specific records to individual taxpayers. CAS personnel will ensure that privacy, security, and confidentiality of the aggregated results will receive utmost attention. The computer files containing this tabulated information will remain password protected at all times.
Attachment 1
Questionnaire for the survey
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | OMB Package |
| Author | 401fb |
| Last Modified By | 401fb |
| File Modified | 2008-04-15 |
| File Created | 2008-04-14 |