Cover Memo

Date: October 15, 2007

To: Reports Clearance Officer, DHHS

Ms. Mikia Currie, NIH OMB Clearance Officer

From: Gordon Willis, PhD.

Cognitive Psychologist, Applied Research Program

DCCPS, NCI/NIH

301-594-6652

[email protected]

Subject: Generic Clearance for NCI Questionnaire Development and Pre-testing Research

A Generic Clearance is requested from OMB for general questionnaire development and pretesting activities to be carried out in 2008-2010 by the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS), National Cancer Institute, NIH. These activities are to be overseen by staff of the Applied Research Program (ARP/DCCPS) and involve the development of health-related survey questionnaires, mainly focusing on cancer risk factors or other cancer-control related issues, using a methodology which has been employed effectively since 1985 by Federal Agencies within DHHS and elsewhere.

Four types of activities will be carried out:

1) Survey questionnaire development and pretesting based on cognitive interviewing methodology. Draft questionnaires to be used in NCI-sponsored surveys are developed and tested through rounds of cognitive interviews in laboratory or other settings with specifically-recruited volunteer participants. Most commonly these are one-on-one interviews, although group interviews (focus groups) are used occasionally. Results of cognitive interviews are used to make questionnaire design decisions that minimize survey response error.

2) Research on the cognitive aspects of survey methodology. Participants are recruited for individual cognitive interviews for general research in survey methodology, rather than for purposes of testing a particular questionnaire.

3) Research on computer-user interface design for computer-assisted instruments (including Web-based surveys), also known as Usability Testing. Participants help to assess ease of use (e.g. of computerized and Internet-based instruments), comprehension, and quality of on-line help.

4) Pilot Household interviews: Using samples somewhat larger than those for cognitive interviewing, but still modest in size, Pilot tests (either personal, telephone, or Web-based) are conducted with respondents using professional field interviewers. Sources of response error are identified through observation by methodologists, and through techniques such as the coding of the interviewer-participant interaction (behavior coding).

Clearance is requested for a period of 3 years.

OMB Approval of Individual Collections

NCI will submit individual collections under this generic clearance to OMB, and will proceed with data collection after OMB provides feedback on the individual collections, normally within ten working days of submission by NCI.

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