Supporting Statement B for Paperwork Reduction Act Submission
3090-0288 – Open Government Citizen Engagement Ratings,
Rankings, and Flagging
B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods.
The rating/ranking/flagging mechanisms are to create simple and effective dialogs with the public regarding issues of government transparency and openness. The information will not be used to generalize the respondent population. The information collected will not be characterized as “representative” of either the initial visitors to the site or the general public, as many visitors may elect not to provide ratings. The feedback will serve to inform agencies about public sentiment and concerns about innovative ideas.
1. Universe and Respondent Selection
The rating/ranking/flagging activities under this clearance will be made available to all end users who access the tools. The end users are not required to complete the ratings; the activity is totally optional.
The voting/ratings/flagging approach for Open Government activities does not utilize statistical sampling. Rather, users will be a self-selected subset of the number of overall visitors to the site; end users with both positive and negative experiences may have an interest in responding. It seems plausible that the lowest response rate would be among ambivalent users. We estimate as many as 1,200,000 ratings per year. The number of responses anticipated is based on data for a similar open government dialog project by the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Academy of Public Administration.
2. Procedures for Collecting Information
End users will access the Open Government website tools and will be presented with options to rate, rank or flag content. The applications will display the ratings to all users. Like procedures will be followed for additional feedback mechanisms as stakeholder interest and visitor feedback dictate.
3. Methods to Maximize Response
Responses are not required and the Open Government websites will not characterize the results as statistically representative of users or the opinions of the general public. Rather, because the intent of the site is to benefit the public and the government, links will be prominently displayed and made easy to understand and use, thereby encouraging participation among those who are interested.
The results of the ratings will be prominently displayed on Open Government websites and tools, and this prominent placement will help maximize responses. The simplicity and brevity of the voting / rating / flagging approach and simplicity of the rating categories themselves will also aid in maximizing responses.
Likewise, similar methods to maximize response will be followed for additional feedback mechanisms as stakeholder interest and visitor feedback dictate.
4. Testing of Procedures
The responses to the ratings, as well as future similar feedback mechanisms used by agencies, are solely feedback and will not be formally tested against statistical practices. It is the intention of the Open Government team to leverage the responses to provide feedback to the public as to how the public collectively views the content. The intent is to leverage this feedback to deliver high-quality information and service to the public. The information will not be used for statistical purposes or sampling purposes.
5. Contacts for Statistical Aspects and Data Collection
There are no applicable statistical contacts. The Project Manager for GSA’s Open Government Citizen Engagement is Bev Godwin and she can be contacted at [email protected] or at 202-208-5163.
| File Type | application/msword |
| Author | JackeAZeiher |
| Last Modified By | cherriapday |
| File Modified | 2010-03-09 |
| File Created | 2010-01-25 |