OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT
A. Introduction
Background/Overview
In order to evaluate the service provided by the IRS.gov Web Site Help Desk, the IRS is interested in determining levels of customer satisfaction with the service being provided to IRS.gov Web Site visitors who call the IRS.gov Web Site Help Desk for assistance.
Objectives of Data Collection
The objectives of this research are to:
Determine overall customer satisfaction with the IRS.gov Web Site Help Desk.
Determine areas of possible improvement with the IRS.gov Web Site Help Desk.
Determine areas of possible improvement with the content on the IRS.gov Web Site.
B. Methodology
This study would be conducted via telephone, e-mail and at the end of chat sessions. The contractor is AFFINA Corporation, and all interviewing would be conducted from its national headquarters in Peoria, IL. There are three separate surveys depending on the method of contact used by the participant. Those who call the IRS.gov Help Desk will get an IVR automated telephone survey. Those who use e-mail or live chat to contact the IRS.gov Help Desk will be invited to participate in an online survey.
Contacts to the IRS.gov Web Site Help Desk will receive an invitation to participate in the survey depending on their method of contact.
After the survey is completed, AFFINA will tabulate the data and prepare a report of findings.
The survey package is being forwarded to OMB for approval. Attachments 1, 2 and 3 contain the surveys for the study. The surveys include general questions to determine satisfaction with the service provided by the IRS.gov Web Site Help Desk.
Sample Design
A minimum goal of 400 surveys for each contact method will be conducted from visitors to the IRS.gov Web Site who contact the IRS.gov Web Site Help Desk for assistance. A sample size of 400 will provide a 95% confidence level that the population of callers is represented in the survey. The survey will be offered to taxpayers who contact the help desk by phone, email and chat. The phone survey will be via a recorded, interactive IVR system, while email and chat will be conducted via a web based survey.
Data to be Collected
This survey will collect the customer’s overall satisfaction with the service provided by the IRS.gov Web Site Help Desk. Questions will be asked regarding their satisfaction with the help desk experience and why they contacted the help desk. See attachments 1, 2 and 3 for the questions to be asked.
How Data is Collected and Used
The data will be collected via an Integrated Voice Response (IVR) survey for calls to the helpdesk, and via a website for email and chat contacts. Live contacts (call and chat) will be offered the survey at the completion of their help desk contact. eMail responses will contain a link to the survey in the response to the taxpayer’s question. A follow up email will not be sent directly inviting the taxpayers to take the survey.
Analysis of the survey data, including but not limited to frequencies, means, regression, and significance testing, will be conducted by AFFINA Corporation using SPSS for Windows, a data analysis and statistics software.
Improvement actions taken during the year, either to the content on the website or to the contact handling procedures will be reviewed in the quarterly survey results to determine success or for additional improvement areas.
Dates Collection Begin and End
Surveys will be conducted beginning December 1, 2010 through May 31, 2012 with the results tabulated and summarized on a quarterly basis.
Who is Conducting the Research and Where
This research will be conducted by AFFINA Corporation. AFFINA Corporation will conduct all fieldwork, tabulation, analysis and reporting, and additionally provide IRS with results in a PDF.
This survey will be fielded from AFFINA Corporation’s Headquarters in Peoria, IL.
Cost of Study
The total cost of this study is $10,000.00. This includes the cost of $2,500.00 per quarter to administer the survey and process and report the results.
There will be no stipends paid to participants.
Recruitment Efforts
There will be no separate recruitment efforts necessary
Location-Region/City and Facility
Peoria, IL – Affina Corporation
Expected Response Rate
The expected response rate is 15%.
With regard to the low response rate, the IRS will assume that all data collected from this survey is qualitative in nature, and that no critical decisions will be made by SOI solely from the analysis of data from this survey. The feedback provided by the taxpayer will be used to either improve the content / structure of the IRS.gov website, and/or to identify training opportunities for the IRS.gov Web Site Help Desk customer service representatives.
Methods to Maximize Response Rate
Standard procedures will be used in order to obtain the highest response rate possible for the mail survey. These will include:
Invitations by CSRs at the conclusion of a call or chat
Including the survey link in each response sent from the help desk to address a taxpayer question
Testing and Survey Structure/Design
The customer satisfaction survey questions are attached and have been tested previously. The IVR and survey websites have both undergone testing by the IRS, confirming functionality and ensuring that only the questions in the documentation are provided to the taxpayer for feedback
Efforts Not to Duplicate Research
This research is part of the performance measures of the IRS.gov Web Site Help Desk and does not duplicate other research currently being conducted.
Participants Criteria
The population frame consists of all individuals who contact the IRS.gov Web Site Help Desk for website support
C. Privacy, Disclosure, and Security Issues
AFFINA Corporation has in place strict procedures for non-disclosure of respondent information. No personally identifiable information will be collected during this survey. In addition, this survey will be conducted in an automated manner with no interaction from AFFINA or IRS staff.
All participants will be subject to the provisions of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights II during this study and the vendor will ensure that all participants are treated fairly and appropriately.
The security of the data used in this project and the privacy of taxpayers will be carefully safeguarded at all times. Security requirements are based on the Computer Security Act of 1987 and Office of Management and Budget Circular A-130, Appendices A & B. Physical security measures include a locked, secure office. Notes are stored in locked cabinets or shredded. Data security at the C-2 level is accomplished via the Windows NT operating system. Systems are password protected, users profiled for authorized use, and individual audit trails generated and reviewed periodically.
The IRS will apply and meet fair information and record-keeping practices to ensure privacy protection of all taxpayers. This includes criteria for disclosure—laid out in the Privacy Act of 1974, the Freedom of Information Act, and Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code—all of which provide for the protection of taxpayer information as well as its release to authorized recipients.
The survey will not contain tax return or taxpayer information. Survey participants will not be identified in any of the documents or files used for this project. We will limit and control the amount of information we collect to those items that are necessary to accomplish the research questions. We will carefully safeguard the security of data utilized as well as the privacy of the survey respondents. We will apply the fair information and record-keeping practices to ensure protection of all survey respondents. The criterion for disclosure laid out in the Privacy Act, the Freedom of Information Act, and section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code provides for the protection of information as well as its releases to authorized recipients.
The survey data returned to IRS will have no identifying information relating specific records to individual taxpayers. Public and official access to the information will be tightly controlled. The computer files containing this tabulated information will remain password protected at all times. Data security approaching level C-2 will be accomplished using the Windows XP operating system.
PRA Statement and OMB Control Number
For the Field Examination Survey, the OMB Control Number and required information will be provided on the survey itself.
D. Burden Hours
The survey will take approximately 3 minutes to complete for each contact method.
Based on the contact volume for the reporting period and an invitation rate as high as 100%, a total as high as 63,000 potential respondents may be invited to participate, assuming 15% accept the invitation and 50% of those participate. 63,000 potential respondents minus 4725 sample size leaves 58275 non-participants.
The contact time to determine non-participation could be up to 1 minute, averaging approximately 30 seconds, with the resulting burden for non-participants being 58275 non-participants x 1 = 58275 minutes / 60 minutes = 971 burden hours.
Then, for those who do participate, the length of the survey is 3 minutes, with the time burden for that group being 4725 participants x 3 minutes = 14175 total minutes / 60 minutes = 236 burden hours.
Thus, the total burden hours for the study would be (971 non-participant burden hours + 236 participant burden hours) 1207 hours.
E. Statistical Contact
For questions regarding the study or questionnaire design or statistical methodology, contact:
Sherri Bower
Director of Client Services
Affina
131
Tower Park Drive, 3rd Floor
Waterloo, IA 50701
Telephone: 319-274-7655
E-Mail: [email protected]
F. Attachments
Attachment 1
IVR Questionnaire for the survey – a single questionnaire covering all target audiences.
Attachment 2
eMail Questionnaire for the survey – a single questionnaire covering all target audiences.
Attachment 3
Chat Questionnaire for the survey – a single questionnaire covering all target audiences.
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT |
| Author | sherri.a.settle |
| Last Modified By | qhrfb |
| File Modified | 2010-09-22 |
| File Created | 2010-09-22 |