CIRCUMSTANCES MAKING COLLECTION OF INFORMATION NECESSARY
On September 11, 1993, President Clinton issued Executive Order 12862, “Setting Customer Service Standards,” which clearly defined his vision that the Federal agencies will put the public first. To accomplish this, President Clinton called for a “revolution within the Federal government to change the way it does business.” He expected this process to require continual reform of government practices and operations to the end that, “when dealing with the Federal agencies, all people receive service that matches or exceeds the best service available in the private sector.”
Section 1(b) of this E.O. requires agencies to “survey customers to determine the kind and quality of services they want and their level of satisfaction with existing services” and Section 1(a) requires agencies to “survey front- line employees on barriers to, and ideas for, matching the best in business.” These Presidential requirements established an ongoing need for the National Science Foundation (NSF) to engage in an interactive process of collecting information and using it to improve program services and processes.
The Division of Materials Research is conducting an assessment on the international profile of its award portfolio. This assessment is prompted by feedback received from the division’s Committee of Visitors and by a desire of the division’s management and program staff to solicit input on the international engagement priorities of its customers (research community) for the purpose of informing future program and funding decisions for the ultimate benefit of advancing their research interests and satisfaction.
HOW, BY WHOM, AND PURPOSE FOR WHICH INFORMATION IS TO BE USED
The survey will target researchers at U.S. institutions who have received funding from NSF’s Division of Materials Research and who are Principal Investigators on active awards (~1850 Principal Investigators). The data collected will be used to understand the international engagement priorities and practices of the materials research community so that the Division of Materials Research can align its programs and guidance to best serve the needs of its research community.
USE OF AUTOMATION
The survey will be available via SurveyMonkey, a web-based survey tool. The survey will be sent via email to researchers who have received funding from the Division of Materials Research and will be entirely voluntary. The Division of Materials Research Awardee Survey on International Engagement will be administered via the Internet, which will allow for a more convenient and less costly survey administration than a paper survey.
EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY DUPLICATION
Not applicable.
SMALL BUSINESS CONSIDERATIONS
Not applicable.
CONSEQUENCES OF LESS FREQUENT COLLECTION
Not applicable.
SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES FOR COLLECTION
Not applicable.
FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE.
The agency’s notices, as required by 5 CFR 1320.8(d), were published in the Federal Register on January 12, 2011, at 76 FR 2151 and May 10, 2011 at 76 FR 27093 and no comments were received.
OUTSIDE CONSULTATION
It is estimated that the survey will take no more than 15 minutes to complete.
GIFTS OR REMUNERATION
Not applicable.
CONFIDENTIALITY PROVIDED TO RESPONDENTS
Yes, this is stated in the opening sentences of the survey: “This survey should take approximately 15 minutes to complete and is purely optional. An individual's responses are anonymous.” No identifying information will be collected.
QUESTIONS OF A SENSITIVE NATURE
No questions of a sensitive nature will be asked.
ESTIMATE OF BURDEN
Each respondent will submit only one survey response. There is one anticipated respondent: researchers who are Principal Investigators on active awards made by the NSF Division of Materials Research. The researcher group is comprised of NSF-funded research faculty at research institutions with U.S.-based campuses (Principal Investigators). It is anticipated that the average response time for a respondent will be fifteen (15) minutes. This estimate is based on the survey length and time required to complete similar surveys in the past. NSF estimates that the number of responses to the survey will be 500. The total hourly burden for the researchers is estimated to be 125 hours (500 researchers x 15 minutes / 60 minutes).
ANNUALIZED COST TO RESPONDENTS
In March, 2013, The Chronicle of Higher Education published a table of average faculty salaries by field and rank at 4-year research universities for the academic year of 2012-2013. The data was collected from the “Annual survey by the American Association of University Professors.” The salaries are adjusted to a nine-month work year.
Cost to Respondents
Average salary of faculty (physical sciences researchers at associate professor level) as described above |
$80,735.00 |
Hourly salary based on 1,560 annual hours (40 hours per week for 39 weeks) |
$51.75 |
Estimate of survey burden (researchers) |
125 hours |
Cost to researcher respondents |
$6469.00 |
CAPITAL/STARTUP COSTS
Not applicable.
ANNUALIZED COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
The table below estimates the cost to the government associated with the Division of Materials Research international survey. Costs include only the participation of federal government employees. Federal employee hourly rate was calculated from NSF’s 2014 Excepted Service Pay Scale for salaries effective January 2014. The hourly wage for an NSF AD-4 was used. The total cost is estimated at $4776.60.
Cost to the Federal Government
Contractor support for survey data collection and analysis |
$0 |
Hourly salary of federal government employee (NSF AD-4) |
$79.61 |
Hours, federal government employee review and oversight |
60 |
Cost of federal government employee review and oversight |
$4776.60 |
Cost to the Federal Government |
$4776.60 |
CHANGES IN BURDEN
Not applicable.
PUBLICATION OF COLLECTION
The data collected from this survey will not be made public. A summary of survey results will be available on the DMR website (http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=DMR) in the summer or early fall of 2014.
SEEKING APPROVAL TO NOT DISPLAY OMB EXPIRATION DATE
Not applicable.
EXCEPTION(S) TO THE CERTIFICATION STATEMENT (19) ON OMB 83-I
There are no exceptions.
STATISTICAL METHODS
B.1.
Universe and Sampling Procedures
Respondents will be comprised of NSF-funded research faculty at research institutions. Due to the voluntary nature of the survey, no sampling will be needed.
B.2.
Survey Methodology
The survey will be web-based, and a link to the survey will be sent to those researchers at U.S. research institutions who have received funding from NSF’s Division of Materials Research.
B.3. Methods to Maximize Response
Every effort will be made to maximize the participants’ response to the survey, with an initial explanatory email and a reminder email before the survey window closes. Questions will be relevant, brief, and explicit. The survey should take no longer than 15 minutes to complete.
B.4. Testing of Procedures
This time estimate for survey completion is based on the survey length and time required to complete similar surveys in the past. The survey will be tested internally at NSF to validate functionality.
B.5. Contacts for Statistical Aspects of Data Collection
DeAndra Beck, Program Director in the Division of Materials Research, is the point of contact for data collection and analysis.
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | SUPPORTING STATEMENT |
| Author | JFELDMAN |
| Last Modified By | Plimpton, Suzanne H. |
| File Modified | 2014-04-28 |
| File Created | 2014-04-28 |