Supplemental 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?
NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey (NGS) is conducting a series of online surveys for
the purpose of obtaining feedback from core users of its geospatial positioning products
and services. It is NOAA’s goal to provide counties in the United States with the
infrastructure, models and tools, and capacity for accurate positioning to the centimeter
level. To this end, feedback and interaction with local county geospatial representatives
is required to ensure NOAA is meeting their local positioning needs and to obtain
feedback on NOAA’s products and services for the purpose of improving them.
Completing this survey is also a requirement for counties to be graded as “fully enabled”
with accurate positioning capacity in accordance with NGS’ Government Performance
and Results Act (GPRA) performance measure, which is also an outcome measure for
NOAA in the Navigation Services Program Performance Assessment Rating Tool
(PART) completed by OMB in 2006. This GPRA measure tracks NOAA’s progress
toward its goal, which is “to increase the percentage of counties rated as substantially or
fully enabled, with the infrastructure, tools, and demonstrated local capacity for accurate
positioning” from 25% in 2004 to 83% in 2011.
NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS) will be conducting surveys for the fifth
distribution in FY11 in the same manner as the distributions in FY06 - FY09. This
method involves distributing a web-based customer survey available only to a targeted
group of individuals who have been identified to accurately represent their County’s
geospatial needs.
NGS defines and manages a national coordinate system. This network, the National
Spatial Reference System (NSRS), provides the foundation for transportation and
communication; mapping and charting; and a multitude of scientific and engineering
applications. NGS develops Federal standards for geodetic surveys and helps to
coordinate surveying methods. NGS’ customers include surveyors (government and
private), private industry, recreational users of GPS, and all other industries and other
users of GIS, remote sensing, and surveying.
NGS’ services are provided to customers through access to our numerous databases
including Online Positioning User Service (OPUS) and the National Spatial Reference
System Integrated Database. Furthermore our services can be obtained via our website
http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/. In addition, NGS State Geodetic Advisors are stationed in
several states to work with local communities to expand surveying capabilities.
The first distribution of the survey was sent to 175 County Surveyors who were members
of the National Association of County Surveyors (NACS). The second distribution was
sent to other surveyors who may not be NACS members, as well as engineers and
Graphical Information System Managers, including those in private industry, who

perform the same or similar services as County Surveyors in Counties which do not have
County Surveyors. For the third distribution of the County Scorecard, NGS worked with
State Geodetic Associations and other resources to identify and survey other individuals
who can represent their Counties’ geodetic needs. Some of these were NACS members
not previously completing the survey or geospatial representatives in counties not yet
covered. In the fourth, NGS targeted 500 members of the National Association of
County Engineers who were County Engineers. The fifth distribution, which has a
revised set of questions tailored to further improve NGS’ geospatial products and
services, will target counties which have not yet had a representative respond, with a
focus on the roughly 880 counties who have met the GPRA requirements of being fully
enabled in all other respects and only lack a county scorecard web survey.
Previous distributions of the NGS County Scorecard have been compiled and
disseminated both internally and externally. The results were provided in the Geodesy
GPRA measure and presented to the National Association of County Surveyors (NACS)
Membership Meeting during the American Congress of Surveying and Mapping Annual
Conference. They are also posted internally on NGS Intranet for use within NGS to
improve NGS’ products and services based on the feedback provided. The most recent
extensive presentation (2008) is attached.
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 was developed in consultation with high level management including
division chiefs who manage our services and products. It was also developed in
consultation with the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM), whose
membership roster includes core users of our products and services. The survey questions
were introduced to a variety of stakeholders at a recent NGS-sponsored conference. NGS
has a newly created stakeholder feedback committee, which was created to analyze
stakeholder feedback (collected through the County Scorecard as well as other
stakeholder activities) in order to maximize the use of this feedback to better inform
management decisions and improve NGS geospatial products and services. This
committee reviewed the questions and offered suggestions for improving the survey.
Furthermore, NGS State Advisors and Coordinators were consulted on the content of the
survey. The NGS State Geodetic Advisor Program is a cost-sharing program that
provides a liaison between NOAA and the host state, usually with a jointly-funded
NOAA employee residing in the state to guide and assist the state's geodetic and
surveying programs. NGS also fosters a State Geodetic Coordinator Program wherein a
participating state designates an employee to be its State Geodetic Coordinator, acting as
a liaison between the state and NGS. Suggestions to improve the content of the survey
included reduction in the length of the survey to simplify the survey and improve
response rate; providing unit conversions in several cases to allow the user to see
examples in both English and metric systems to reduce confusion; addition of questions
dealing with new technology, and reducing the technical nature of response choices. The

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revised questionnaire has simpler and shorter questions that are easier to understand and
whose answers will better inform improvements to NGS products and services.
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.)
NGS is seeking to obtain feedback from one Geospatial Representative per County, who
will be asked to rate NGS’ web-based products and services. Because Counties and States
differ widely in the makeup of their County governments, these recipients include County
Engineers, GIS Coordinators, County Surveyors, Executive Judges, etc. or others who
have been identified by NOAA as being able to speak for the geospatial needs of their
County. NGS will be using Survey Monkey (www.surveymonkey.com) as the web
service provider.
Previous distributions have had a response rate of 30% - 50%. The most recent survey
of NACE representatives had a response rate of almost 40%. NGS expects a similar
response rate for this survey, especially given the simplification and reduced technical
nature of the revised questions.
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.)
NGS has compiled the results of previous distributions in a database and is using them to
determine ranges and average levels of use and satisfaction for its models and tools as a
baseline. The fifth distribution will follow the same analytical response as the first four
distributions. NGS’ newly formed constituent feedback committee will conduct an in
depth analysis of the responses and present the findings to senior NGS leadership.
Responses from each county will provide information for determining whether a county
is considered “fully enabled” with accurate positioning. The GPRA performance
measure for which this survey is a critical component includes the following:
Percentage of U.S. counties rated as enabled or substantially enabled with accurate
positioning capacity (Goal: Increase percentage of counties rated as substantially or fully
enabled, with the infrastructure, tools, and demonstrated local capacity for accurate
positioning, from 25% in 2004 to 83% in 2011). The level of capacity varies across the
nation. This variation is measured as deficient, sufficiently enabled, and fully enabled as
follows:

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1) Deficient capacity to conduct accurate positioning:
a) Indicates county has not demonstrated that it has the NOAA-enabled
infrastructure, tools, and local capacity needed for accurate positioning.
This is indicated by fewer than 25 OPUS solution generations in a given
county in the last year and no capacity validation (such as by OPUS
project submission).
b) Color indicator on a US counties map – Red or Blank.
2) Substantially enabled capacity to conduct accurate positioning:
a) Indicates county has demonstrated it has the NOAA-enabled
infrastructure, tools, and local capacity needed for accurate positioning.
This is indicated by 25 or more OPUS solution generations in a given
county in the last year.
b) Color indicator on a US counties map – Yellow.
3) Fully enabled to conduct accurate positioning:
a) Indicates county validated NOAA-enabled infrastructure, tools, and
local capacity needed for accurate positioning. This is indicated by having
the four following elements:
i) NGS has identified a County Designated Representative (e.g.
County Surveyor)
ii) The county participates in the State Advisor/Coordinator
program or has a State Designated Equivalent.
iii) The county has submitted accepted “blue book” data to NGS
through activities such as: OPUS DB (Note the OPUS project tool
is not yet publicly available) and leveling project software.
iv) The county completes a county-based, accurate-positioning
scorecard (County Scorecard).
b) Color indicator on a US counties map – Green.
The results to date have provided NGS feedback for future planning decisions, such as
improvements in NGS capacity building and outreach. Using the information gathered
from this survey so far, NGS has:
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Reviewed and strengthened the NGS Workshop Program.
Held a State Plane Coordinates and Datum Transformations Workshop on May
20, 2008 in Upper Michigan in direct response to the analysis of feedback from
local geospatial representatives.
Responded to the specific questions from survey respondents.
Gave survey results to State Advisors to use for local analysis.

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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.
There are approximately 3,142 counties in the United States from which NGS would
ultimately like to receive responses. NGS will be seeking to obtain responses from at
least one Geospatial Representative per county before this series of surveys is completed.
Previous distributions have had a response rate of 30% - 50%. To date, we have received
over 1,000 fully completed responses from representatives in over 700 counties
(including almost 100 responses in the first distribution, over 200 in the second
distribution, over 400 in the third, and over 350 in the fourth). NGS is expecting 40% of
distributed surveys to be completed in the fifth distribution (based on similar successes in
previous surveys and improvements in reducing the technical nature of the survey to
appeal to a broader constituent base. Based on this estimated number of responses, and
assuming there may be more than one respondent per county, we expect to hear from up
to 350 additional counties.
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 fifth distribution, which has a revised set of questions tailored to further improve
NGS’ geospatial products and services, will target counties which have not yet had a
representative respond, with a focus on the 880 counties who have met the GPRA
requirements of being fully enabled in all other respects and only lack a county scorecard
web survey which is the final requirement.
The first phase targeted the 175 County Surveyors who are National Association of
County Surveyors (NACS) members, for whom we have contact information. This group
of surveyors is from 20 states, including all regions except for New England. The second
phase targeted those Counties which are located in states that are associated with NGS’
State Geodetic Advisor Program. The third distribution of the survey included greater
numbers of County Surveyors or their equivalents, identified with the help of NGS’ State
Geodetic Advisor Program and other state and county associations. For the third
distribution in FY08, State Geodetic Advisors compiled names of individuals in their
representative states who could complete the survey as spokespersons for their counties’
geodetic needs. The fourth distribution was sent to 513 members of the National
Association of County Engineers and included a number of question revisions tailored to
NACE members.
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The reliability and accuracy of the information is adequate for this purpose.
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.
Using a web-based survey allows respondents to respond at their convenience and submit
their responses quickly and easily. We found it highly effective to send out periodic email
reminders to those who had not submitted the survey and this method will be used in the
fifth distribution. Using this technique, we achieved response rates from 30-50% in the
first 4 distributions, which reflects the care with which potential respondents are selected
and the relevance of the survey questions to their work. We will continue to use this
technique, expecting the response rate to be approximately 40% in the fifth distribution.
For the first three distributions, information was provided by individuals distributed fairly
evenly throughout the U.S., who use NGS’ products and services and who have an
incentive to receive better products and services from NGS. The fourth distribution added
supplemental information, relatively efficiently, to the broadly distributed responses
received thus far, since it was focused on County Engineers who were not adequately
surveyed in previous distributions. The fifth distribution expects to collect information
similar to the first three distributions, providing a range of responses from a broad group
of stakeholders across the U.S. who use NGS’ products and services.
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.
There are no tests of procedures or methods to be undertaken in this survey.
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.
Brett Howe – NGS Program Analyst
(301) 713-3234 ext. 115
Monica Stich – NGS Program Analyst
(301) 713-3234 ext 149
Joe Whitsitt – NGS Contractor
(319) 530-0254

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