Online Registration for ERS' Annual RIDGE Conference

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0503-0021)

T ITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:
Online Registration for ERS’s Annual RIDGE Conference

PURPOSE:

The Research Innovation and Development Grants in Economics (RIDGE) Program seeks to stimulate new and innovative research on food assistance and nutrition issues and to broaden the participation of social science scholars in these issues.

USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) and the RIDGE Centers host the Food and Nutrition Assistance RIDGE Program Conference in the Fall of each year, at which RIDGE researchers present findings of completed projects.

ERS plans to advertise and enable online registration during the week of August 19-23, 2013. Registration is open to the public.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

The targeted group includes RIDGE researchers from various institutions that have obtained grants from the two RIDGE Research Centers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Mississippi State University in cooperation with Purdue University. In addition to the universities represented by the RIDGE grantees, attendees may be affiliated with other universities, Government agencies, or private industry.

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: Online conference registration

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:_______Pheny Weidman_________________________________________

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

Personally Identifiable Information:

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

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

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

NOTE: Proposed information to be collected:

• Name

• Affiliation

• Contact information:

  • Phone number

  • Email address

• Option to include registrant’s information in a list of participants to be distributed at the conference

We plan to retain the information for one year, in order to confirm registration, provide post-conference information to attendees, and to invite participants to the following year’s conference.

Gifts or Payments:

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

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Registrants	80	2 minute	2.67 hours
Totals			2.67 hrs

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $10,312.50*

*Notes: Reflects staff hours, including: requirements gathering and vetting, design, development, testing, review, and readying for deployment. Also, this is a one-time upfront cost for developing the system, which can be used globally for all conference registrations (no future costs).____________

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

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? [ ] Yes [ X ] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

No/Not Applicable: ERS advertises the conference on the website, to the general public.

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

[ X ] Other: Optional registration via email to conference sponsors provided

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

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

Instructions for completing Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback”

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Provide the name of the collection that is the subject of the request. (e.g. Comment card for soliciting feedback on xxxx)

PURPOSE: Provide a brief description of the purpose of this collection and how it will be used. If this is part of a larger study or effort, please include this in your explanation.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Provide a brief description of the targeted group or groups for this collection of information. These groups must have experience with the program.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: Check one box. If you are requesting approval of other instruments under the generic, you must complete a form for each instrument.

CERTIFICATION: Please read the certification carefully. If you incorrectly certify, the collection will be returned as improperly submitted or it will be disapproved.

Personally Identifiable Information: Provide answers to the questions.

Gifts or Payments: If you answer yes to the question, please describe the incentive and provide a justification for the amount.

BURDEN HOURS:

Category of Respondents: Identify who you expect the respondents to be in terms of the following categories: (1) Individuals or Households;(2) Private Sector; (3) State, local, or tribal governments; or (4) Federal Government. Only one type of respondent can be selected.

No. of Respondents: Provide an estimate of the Number of respondents.

Participation Time: Provide an estimate of the amount of time required for a respondent to participate (e.g. fill out a survey or participate in a focus group)

Burden: Provide the Annual burden hours: Multiply the Number of responses and the participation time and divide by 60.

FEDERAL COST: Provide an estimate of the annual cost to the Federal government.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents. Please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them. If the answer is yes, to the first question, you may provide the sampling plan in an attachment.

Administration of the Instrument: Identify how the information will be collected. More than one box may be checked. Indicate whether there will be interviewers (e.g. for surveys) or facilitators (e.g., for focus groups) used.

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

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