OAG Contractor Survey Description

DOCUMENTATION FOR THE GENERIC CLEARANCE

OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEYS

P rovide the following information for qualitative survey activities. If your survey activity is quantitative, complete the following and also provide information on the statistical methodology (see page 2 for instructions). You should also provide the documentation on disk in Word format or forward via e-mail to the Reports Clearance Team.

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 Office of Acquisition and Grants (OAG) Contractor Survey

SSA SUB-NUMBER: C-01

DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITY

BACKGROUND

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has conducted the OAG Contractor Survey, formerly the OAG Vendor Survey, almost every other year since 1999 and would like to do so again in October 2010. The purpose of the OAG Contractor Survey is to assess the satisfaction levels of SSA’s contractor community. This year’s survey, which is nearly identical to those of previous years, closely resembles other Government agencies’ contractor survey instruments.

The survey is voluntary, and all participating contractors will remain anonymous. We estimate including approximately 350-450 contractors in the survey. We will mail surveys only to contractors that received acquisition awards from SSA during FY 2010.

STATISTICAL METHODS

Statistical Sampling and Methodology

Survey Population

We will send surveys only to contractors that actually received acquisition awards during FY 2010. SSA awarded contracts to approximately 1,200 contractors in FY 2010; of these, we estimate we will survey 250-450 contractors. We have designed the current survey to: 1) survey all contractors receiving contract awards valued at $100K or greater (Group 1 contractors); and 2) survey every other contractor for contract awards valued between $25K and $100K (Group 2 contractors). We will not survey contractors with awards valued under $25K.

Sampling Technique

We are using a stratified sampling technique to ensure survey results are representative of target populations in Groups 1 and 2. We will survey each member of Group 1 so there are no sample selection concerns for this group. However, we will not survey all members of Group 2. We will use systematic sampling techniques for Group 2, surveying every other Group 2 contractor (chosen from an alphabetical list of contractors). We estimate about two-thirds of the sample will come from Group 1 contractors. Even with achieved response rates below the target response rate of 80 percent, the margin of error for both samples should be plus or minus 5 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. Past response rates have been in the 30-50 percent range.

Methods to Maximize Response Rates

We will gather the list of contractors we plan to survey directly from SSA’s OAG procurement information database. This database includes the company name, current company contact, and phone number for each contractor awarded. Thus, we will be using up-to-date information that will help maximize response rates. The survey has an attractive design and is easy to complete which should also encourage higher response rates. In addition, a cover letter signed by the OAG Associate Commissioner will accompany each survey. Finally, we will number each survey so that we can follow up with those contractors not returning surveys.

Collection and Analysis of Data

With respect to the methodology for the survey, we will extract procurement data from OAG's procurement database in the form of a text file that we will import into Microsoft EXCEL. We will then sort the data in EXCEL to develop the survey populations, stratified by award value. We will draw survey samples from these populations, and use EXCEL files to track the receipt of surveys.

We will analyze the actual survey data using an EXCEL spreadsheet model. This model automatically computes the relative agreement respondents found with survey statements, computes summary ratings, and provides written reports. We will sort the data and generate separate data reports reflecting award value, business type, and product or service. Once we have analyzed the data, we will issue a formal report to OAG management during the 2^nd quarter of FY 2011 highlighting OAG strengths and weaknesses, and suggesting opportunities for improvement.

Bob Wilson, team leader for OAG’s Acquisition Financial Services Team, will collect and analyze the data, and provide statistical support. Over the past 10 years Bob has administered surveys to OAG employees/managers, SSA project officers, and OAG contractors. Bob is available to discuss any statistical-related issues; his telephone number is 410-966-6702.

IF SURVEY MEMBERS WILL RECEIVE A PAYMENT, INDICATE AMOUNT (No more than $25 can be authorized under OMB rules):

N/A

USE OF SURVEY RESULTS:

We will use the results of the survey to assess OAG strengths and weaknesses in dealing with contract awardees. Ultimately, we will use data from the OAG contractor survey to suggest opportunities for OAG improvement.

BURDEN HOUR COMPUTATION (Number of responses (X) estimated response time

(/60) = annual burden hours):

Number of Responses: 350.

Estimated Response Time: 10 minutes.

Annual Burden Hours: 58 hours .

NAME OF CONTACT PERSON: Debbie Larwood (410-966-6135)

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