Coastal Services Center Products and Services Evaluation Supplemental and Part B questions

NOAA Coastal Services Center Product and Service Evaluation
(OMB Control Number 0648-0342)
Supplemental Questions for DOC/NOAA Customer Survey Clearance
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 NOAA Coastal Services Center to assess customer
views and related needs regarding Center products and services. The Coastal Services Center
serves the needs of coastal and marine 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 designed to
support ecosystem approaches to management. 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 (onsite) 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 similar instruments used by other NOAA
offices and with consultation from NOAA Coastal Services Center staff working on a suite of
particular data and information products, decision support tools, trainings, and technical
assistance items offered by the Center. Draft versions of the instrument were circulated to other
NOAA staff for comment. Suggestions included asking respondents about specific uses and
usefulness of the products and services listed. Only descriptive statistics will be used to analyze
response data.
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? (Web-based surveys are not an acceptable
method of sampling a broad population. Web-based surveys must be limited to services provided by
Web.)

This survey will be distributed to a targeted selection of Center customers identified by Center
staff for their past use of Center products and services. Respondents will be sent a prenotification notice announcing the survey one week prior to the distribution of the survey. The
following week, respondents will be sent the survey via email. Respondents will be asked to
complete and return the survey within two weeks of receipt. Reminder emails and replacement

copies of the survey (as necessary) will be sent to respondents who have not yet returned their
completed surveys one, two, and three weeks following the initial distribution of the survey.
Respondents will also be given the option to receive a paper copy of the survey upon request.
The minimum expected response rate is 70%, based on past information collections conducted
by the Coastal Services Center related to training and other information and service-oriented
products.
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 include basic descriptive statistics (e.g., percent, mean scores). This
information collection seeks to assess general customer feedback to inform improvements to
Center products and services related to management of coastal and marine natural resources. The
respondent universe comprises all those identified for their past involvement with and/or use of
Center products and services. Data from this information collection will be aggregated with other
data for GPRA reporting. The GPRA performance measure is as follows: Percentage of tools,
technologies and information services used by coastal managers to improve ecosystem
approaches to management.

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 estimated universe of Center customers is approximately 1,000. This survey will be
distributed via email to a stratified, random sample of 100 customers; stratification will be by
government vs. non-profit, as identified by email extension. The estimated time necessary for
each respondent to complete the questionnaire is 10 minutes, based on trials with Center staff.
Total estimated public burden associated with this information collection is 16.7 hours (100 X 10
minutes) or 17 hours. The minimum expected response rate is 70%, based on past information
collections conducted by the Coastal Services Center related to training and other information
and service-oriented products.
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.
This survey will be distributed via email to a stratified, random sample of 100 customers;
stratification will be by government vs. non-profit, as identified by email extension. The survey
will be distributed by email, but a printed version will be available for respondents upon request.
Respondents will be sent a pre-notification email announcing the survey one week prior to the
distribution of the survey (see attachment). The following week, respondents will be sent the
survey via email. Respondents will be asked to complete and return the survey via email (or fax
or postal mail if desired) within two weeks of receipt. Follow-up reminder emails and
replacement copies of the survey (as necessary) will be sent to respondents who have not yet
returned their completed surveys one, two, and three weeks following the initial distribution of
the survey.
Surveys received via email will be downloaded to a password protected work space at the
Coastal Services Center, only accessible by staff particular to this project. Surveys received via
postal mail and fax will be entered into the collective survey database, then destroyed.
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. This includes identifying information hand written on surveys, and those
automatically printed by fax machines or email systems, such as headers or footers with an
individual’s name or phone number.
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 informational products and services related to ecosystem-based
management of natural resources. To improve response rates for this information collection,
respondents will be sent a pre-notification email announcing the survey one week prior to the
distribution of the survey. The following week, respondents will be sent the survey via email.
Respondents will be asked to complete and return the survey via email (or fax or postal mail if
desired) within two weeks of receipt. Reminder emails and replacement copies of the survey will
be sent to respondents who have not yet returned their completed surveys at one-week intervals
for three weeks following the initial distribution of the survey. Similar reminder letters will be
sent using postal mail for any respondents who request printed version of the survey by postal
mail. Non-response testing will be conducted on a subset of questions (survey questions 2:
primary role, 5: products and services used and 6: products rating) by telephone with those

individuals who have not responded to ascertain the existence of appreciable differences in
respondent characteristics and survey responses.
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 the data and information products,
decision-support tools, and technical assistance items listed on the survey instrument. Reviewers
were asked to offer feedback on the length, clarity of questions, content, or other aspects to
improve the questionnaire. Comments from reviewers were helpful and resulted in design,
content, and wording changes to clarify questions and 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.
No statistical sampling methods will be used in this information collection. Only descriptive
statistics will be used for the analysis and reporting of data collected using this questionnaire.
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].