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SUPPORTING STATEMENT
MARINE MAMMAL HEALTH AND STRANDING RESPONSE PROGRAM SURVEY
FOR STRANDING NETWORK PARTICIPANTS
OMB CONTROL NO. 0648-xxxx
B. COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS
1. Describe (including a numerical estimate) the potential respondent universe and any
sampling or other respondent selection method to be used. Data on the number of entities
(e.g. establishments, State and local governmental units, households, or persons) in the
universe and the corresponding sample are to be provided in tabular form. The tabulation
must also include expected response rates for the collection as a whole. If the collection has
been conducted before, provide the actual response rate achieved.
The potential respondent universe for this study includes all stakeholders and volunteers at
organizations in each of the six Regional Stranding Networks. All networks will be represented
in the sampling design.
Responsive Management will survey the top two primary responders from each of the
organizations in the six Regional Stranding Networks. The table below summarizes the number
of organizations, the sample size, and the expected response rate for each region. In addition to
administering the survey to individuals at each organization actively involved in the Stranding
Network, Responsive Management proposes to survey 100 program volunteers in each region.
The stranding organizations would provide recommendations as to which volunteers to survey,
based upon their level of involvement in stranding response activities. The total sample size of
stakeholders (including volunteers) will be 882. A 100% response rate is expected because the
participants are seen as stakeholders in the program, and will be motivated to improve the
program by completing the survey.

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Entities Within Universe
Approximately seventeen (17)
organizations actively involved in
the Northeast Region Stranding
Network
Approximately forty-seven (47)
organizations actively involved in
the Southeast Region Stranding
Network
Approximately nineteen (19)
organizations actively involved in
the Southwest Region Stranding
Network
Approximately thirty-one (31)
organizations actively involved in
the Northwest Region Stranding
Network
Approximately seventeen (17)
organizations actively involved in
the Alaska Region Stranding
Network
Approximately ten (10)
organizations actively involved in
the Pacific Islands Region
Stranding Network

Sample
Two (2) individuals per organization
and one hundred (100) program
volunteers in the region
Two (2) individuals per organization
and one hundred (100) program
volunteers in the region
Two (2) individuals per organization
and one hundred (100) program
volunteers in the region
Two (2) individuals per organization
and one hundred (100) program
volunteers in the region
Two (2) individuals per organization
and one hundred (100) program
volunteers in the region
Two (2) individuals per organization
and one hundred (100) program
volunteers in the region
Total Expected Responses:

Expected Response Rate (100%)
134 completed interviews

194 completed interviews

138 completed interviews

162 completed interviews

134 completed interviews

120 completed interviews
882 completed interviews

2. Describe the procedures for the collection, including: the statistical methodology for
stratification and sample selection; the estimation procedure; the degree of accuracy
needed for the purpose described in the justification; any unusual problems requiring
specialized sampling procedures; and any use of periodic (less frequent than annual) data
collection cycles to reduce burden.
Sample selection for the surveys will be provided by NMFS. Accuracy of the survey results will
be of a high degree. Data will be collected with an unbiased survey instrument. Responsive
Management will work to ensure a high response rate among stakeholders. This will be achieved
by contacting individuals at different times of the day and week, and by scheduling appointments
convenient to respondents. The multi-modal aspect of the survey is also crucial in this regard, as
individuals have the opportunity to respond via telephone, mail, or through the Web-based
questionnaire. Responsive Management will work at a 95% confidence interval when
conducting the statistical analyses. Responsive Management anticipates no unusual problems
requiring specialized sampling procedures.
3. Describe the methods used to maximize response rates and to deal with nonresponse.
The accuracy and reliability of the information collected must be shown to be adequate for
the intended uses. For collections based on sampling, a special justification must be
provided if they will not yield "reliable" data that can be generalized to the universe
studied.
The survey will be administered in multiple modes, such as telephone, mail, and/or web.
Responsive Management’s more than twenty years of experience interviewing professionals and
volunteers suggests that a high response rate will be achieved by making the surveys available in
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a variety of formats (including telephone, mail, and/or web). In this way, a respondent will be
able to submit responses according to the survey format best suited to his/her schedule. In
addition, the participants are seen as stakeholders in the program, and thus motivated to improve
the program.
Telephone interviews will be conducted Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.,
Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Sunday 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., local time. A fivecallback design will be used to attain a high response rate. The five-callback system uses a total
of at least four subsequent calls, often as many as eight, to each not-answered number selected in
the original sample. Subsequent calls will be placed at different times of the day and different
days of the week. In addition, respondents who decline to participate because of inconvenience
will be called again to encourage their participation or to set an appointment for their
participation. Converting refusals into completed interviews is an important part of Responsive
Management’s contact plan to help minimize nonresponse.
While the telephone survey represents the preferred sampling medium, Responsive Management
has designed a paper version and a web-based version of the survey and will distribute the
survey, via postal mail or via the web-based format, at the request of the respondents.
Responsive Management will offer these survey versions during the initial telephone interview.
Mail surveys entail using various postal or similar (e.g., FedEx) delivery techniques to deliver
surveys to potential respondents. Mail surveys may be effective in a variety of settings, most
notably when contacting named respondents, when contacting respondents who are unlikely or
unwilling to respond by telephone or other media, or when delivering some sort of stimulus
about which a response will be measured.
Web-based surveys may also be highly effective in augmenting response rates when respondents
contacted through another medium (mail/telephone) indicate that they would prefer another
alternative method of responding. The online survey will ask the same questions as the
telephone survey; formatting changes will be made to the survey instrument only to
accommodate online viewing of the questionnaire.
4. Describe any tests of procedures or methods to be undertaken. Tests are encouraged as
effective means to refine collections, but if ten or more test respondents are involved OMB
must give prior approval.
Responsive Management will conduct internal tests of the survey instrument without live
respondents and make any necessary revisions for logic, wording, and clarification. During the
course of the telephone surveys, Responsive Management will monitor to ensure that the data
collected are of the highest quality.
Additionally, Responsive Management’s telephone interviewers are trained through lectures, role
playing, and video training, according to the standards established by the Council of American
Survey Research Organizations. The Survey Center Managers conduct in-depth project briefings
with the interviewing staff prior to their working on the specific project. Interviewers are
instructed on survey goals and objectives, type of study, handling of survey questions, interview
length, termination points and qualifiers for participation, reading of interviewer instructions,
reading of survey, reviewing of skip patterns, and probing and clarifying techniques necessary
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for specific questions on the survey instrument.
The Survey Center Managers monitor the telephone workstations without the interviewers’
knowledge of which interviews will be monitored. This allows the Survey Center Managers to
maintain strict quality control over the data collection process.
5. Provide the name and telephone number of individuals consulted on the statistical
aspects of the design, and the name of the agency unit, contractor(s), grantee(s), or other
person(s) who will actually collect and/or analyze the information for the agency.
Responsive Management has been contracted to collect and analyze the information for the
agency. The Executive Director of Responsive Management is Mark Damian Duda. Mr. Duda’s
telephone number is (540) 432-1888. The NMFS contact is Dr. Janet Whaley, National
Stranding Coordinator, at (301) 713-2322.

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