CS-11-281 - Generic Clearance

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 1545-1432)

T ITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

Online web based survey to understand the effectiveness of a publication re-design

PURPOSE:

The primary purpose of this web-based research is to understand respondent perception and comprehension for an IRS publication. Due to its length the publication will be separated into two separate surveys. Each survey will contain certain document sections that will be tested in pairs whereby each pair would include an existing section along with its redesigned version. This would enable us to evaluate differences in perception and comprehension. By comparing differences in perception and comprehension among pairs or against S+G benchmarks, we can meet our secondary objective to identify areas that could be improved and what those potential refinements might be.

The research data and findings will be used to:

1. Validate and/or quantify the degree of improvement of a redesigned IRS publication

2. Identify problem areas in the publication and provide guidance and insight on specific refinements

3. Enhance an already established perception and comprehension benchmark of IRS publications

4. Used internally for general service improvement and program management purposes and is not intended for release outside of the agency

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions;

6. Information gathered will yield quantitative information; and is expected to yield statistically reliable results that are generalizable to the population of study ; 

7. The collection is voluntary;

8. The collection is low-burden for respondents (based on considerations of total burden hours, total number of respondents, or burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents and the Federal Government;

9. The collection is non-controversial and do not raise issues of concern to other Federal agencies;

10. This collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the publication or may have experience with it in the near future; and

11. The feedback received will not institute new policy, yet enable the Service to effectively meet taxpayer needs.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

Siegel+Gale will work with GMI Research and OTC to develop a web-based research tool to collect comments from general US consumers. The research will be based on voluntary participation by a specific segment of the population that GMI Research has identified as qualified respondents.

An estimated 4,400 taxpayers will receive invitations to participate in the survey. We anticipate an 18% response rate or approximately 400 surveys.

Participants in this survey will be limited to individuals over the age of 18 that reside in the US and have filed a tax return in the last five (5) years.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [ ] Small Discussion Group

[] Focus Group [ x ] Other: Quantitative Online Survey

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name:___Robert P. Kurisko_____________________________________________

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [x] No

2. If Yes, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ x ] Yes [ ] No

A point stipend worth a minimum of $10.00 will be provided for each completed survey. Points can be redeemed for a check that is mailed to the respondent or can be redeemed online. The stipend aims to encourage participation and to thank respondents for sharing their time and contributions to our research.

BURDEN HOURS

An online survey will be used to collect information from respondents. The annual burden hours requested (326) are based on the number of collections we expect to conduct over the requested period for this clearance. The target is 4400 taxpayers invited to participate. Only 18% of the 4400 will complete the survey, for approximately 800 completed surveys. The survey will take 20 minutes to complete.

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Screening Participants – Those contacted who did not take the survey	3,600 Approx.	1 Min	60 hrs
Individuals or households	800	20 min	266 hrs
Totals	4,400		326 hrs

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $10,000

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [x] Yes [ ] No

Respondents will be drawn from a standing panel who are voluntarily participating in this survey. Respondents will be sent an e-mail indicating that a survey is available for them to take. They can then click on the link embedded in the e-mail and will be taken to a set of screening questions.

Participants will be limited to individuals over the age of 18 that reside in the US and have filed a tax return in the last five (5) years. Sampling plan has been attached.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ x ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ ] Yes [ x ] No