Supplementary and Part B questions

Supplemental Questions for DOC/NOAA Customer Survey Clearance
(OMB Control Number 0648-0342)

1. Explain who will be conducting this survey. What program office will be conducting the
survey? What services does this program provide? Who are the customers? How are
these services provided to the customer?
This survey will be conducted by staff at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) Coastal Services Center to assess customer views and related needs regarding
www.csc.noaa.gov/landcoveratlas.
The Coastal Services Center serves the needs of coastal and natural resource management
programs and professionals (e.g., state natural resource management agencies and staff,
conservation organization staff) through development and delivery of data and information
products, decision-support tools, professional development training, and technical assistance on a
variety of topics. Data and information products and decision support tools are delivered per
customer requests via online systems (e.g., clearing house, direct download). Technical
assistance is conducted via telephone or electronically or remotely (on-site) depending on the
needs of the specific customer and the specific technical assistance topic.
2. Explain how this survey was developed. With whom did you consult during the
development of this survey on content? Statistics? What suggestions did you get about
improving the survey?
This survey instrument was developed by reviewing the list of cleared questions for the Generic
Clearance, OMB Control No. 0648-0342, and through consultation from NOAA Coastal
Services Center staff with expertise in assessing customer needs. A list of draft questions was
discussed with the project team responsible for generating www.csc.noaa.goc/landcoveratlas
content. Suggestions included asking respondents about specific uses and usefulness of the
website and keeping the list of questions as short as possible.
3. Explain how the survey will be conducted. How will the customers be sampled (if fewer
than all customers will be surveyed)? What percentage of customers asked to take the
survey will respond? What actions are planned to increase the response rate? (Webbased surveys are not an acceptable method of sampling a broad population. Web-based
surveys must be limited to services provided by Web.)
The survey will be created using SurveyMonkey and administered using a static link on
www.csc.noaa.goc/landcoveratlas. Because this is a call for feedback on improving this web
tool, all users should have the opportunity to respond. The number of responses and subsequent
content will be recorded. It will not be possible to calculate an actual response rate, though we
can derive an estimate based on use statistics of the website, for reporting purposes. The number
of questions will be limited to three in an effort to achieve a higher response rate relative to more
lengthy surveys, and based on the program’s informational needs.

4. Describe how the results of this survey will be analyzed and used. If the customer
population is sampled, what statistical techniques will be used to generalize the results to
the entire customer population? Is this survey intended to measure a GPRA
performance measure? (If so, please include an excerpt from the appropriate document.)
Analysis of survey data will be undertaken through basic descriptive statistics (e.g., percent,
mean scores). This information collection seeks to assess general customer feedback to inform
improvements to www.csc.noaa.goc/landcoveratlas. The respondent universe will include all
users of www.csc.noaa.goc/landcoveratlas. Data from this information collection will not be
aggregated with other data for GPRA reporting.

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 Land Cover Atlas users are mid-level, technical, county or regional land use planners. This
includes state Coastal Zone Management programs, other state wildlife/environmental
departments, county governments, local land trust organizations, and other non-profits. It will be
used to visualize, understand, and communicate both the current distribution of land covers, as
well as the recent land changes for their areas (counties) of interest. The Land Cover Atlas
website is a new site. Thus, current use statistics are not yet available, but are currently being
tracked for later reporting. The Land Cover Atlas uses data from the Coastal Change Analysis
Program (C-CAP) http://www.csc.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/data/ccapregional/ website, which
receives a high volume of web activity. The total number of website visits in the 2009 calendar
year was 3,757 with 6,986 pageviews. The total number of website visits over the past three
months (October-December, 2009) was 1,331 with 3,788 pageviews.
This survey will be distributed via a static link on the NOAA Land Cover Atlas website, and will
inquire on perceptions of the usefulness of this web resource. This survey will be available to a
census of site users. The estimated time necessary for each respondent to complete the
questionnaire is 2 minutes, based on trials with Center staff. Total estimated public burden
associated with this information collection is 3 hours and 20 minutes (100 X 2 minutes). The
computer program will keep track of the total number of successful responses.
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.

The survey will be available via a static link on the NOAA Land Cover Atlas website which will
direct them to the Survey Monkey website.
Completed surveys received via Survey Monkey will be downloaded to a password protected
work space at the Coastal Services Center, only accessible by staff particular to this project.
Respondents will be instructed not to provide identifying information on the survey (names,
social security numbers, dates of birth, etc.), and any identifying information placed on surveys
will be removed. Once 100 responses are received, the survey will be terminated.
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 intent of this information collection is to assess general customer feedback and needs in
order to inform improvements to the NOAA www.csc.noaa.goc/landcoveratlas website and
associated products and services. In order to improve response rates for this information
collection, the survey has been made very brief (only three questions), two of which are multiple
choice. Nonresponse testing will be a challenge in that no identifying information will be
collected that would allow for follow-up activities; it would also not necessarily be applicable in
this case, as this website is frequently visited and used and a short survey that is potentially
helpful to stakeholders should generate responses that will lead to improvements for the
customer. While there is no way to guarantee a truly representative sample of the respondent
universe with this methodology, the information gained will be extremely valuable in making
website improvements that are direct requests from public users. This survey allows equal and
independent opportunity for all users to provide feedback on this web resource.
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.
Draft versions of this survey were circulated for review and comment to fellow NOAA staff with
relevant content knowledge and field expertise related to marine spatial planning and web
services associated with the content of the survey instrument. Reviewers were asked to offer
feedback on the length, appropriateness and clarity of questions, content, or other aspects to
improve the questionnaire. Comments from reviewers were helpful and resulted in design, and
content changes to clarify questions and simplify instructions.

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.
The implementation of the information collection and data analysis will be completed by Dr.
Chris Ellis at the NOAA Coastal Services Center, available by telephone at (843) 740-1195 or by
email at [email protected].