CIOT Fast Track Justification

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 2127-0682)

T ITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

2012 Click It or Ticket Creative Assessments Focus Groups

PURPOSE:

NHTSA is developing new advertising and communications ideas to support its long-standing “Click It or Ticket” seat belt enforcement campaign, which includes nationwide mobilizations of state and local highway safety enforcement agencies. Research over many years has shown that high visibility enforcement of seatbelt laws, combined with focused advertising/communications messages about this enforcement, is a highly effective way to persuade more drivers to wear belts.

For the advertising, four different creative concepts have been developed. (For reference, storyboards of these concepts accompany this Clearance Request). Opinions and assessments of the various concepts by members of the campaign’s intended target audience are needed to guide NHTSA in its decision-making and to help ensure optimal effectiveness of the final advertising/creative concept selected.

For assessments such as these, NHTSA’s experience has shown that focus groups are a meaningful, useful and cost-effective way to gather the insights needed for guiding decision-making and ensuring campaign effectiveness.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

(NOTE: A script for the recruitment screener is included with this Clearance Request.)

Respondents will reflect the characteristics of people who will comprise the target audience for the advertising. Specifically:

• Men who are between the ages of 18 and 34 years-old

• Licensed drivers who operate a four-wheeled vehicle (i.e., not motorcycles) at least two days a week

• Sometimes do not wear their seatbelts in certain situations when they drive

• Not employed in certain specific types of jobs/occupations considered by NHTSA to bias opinions and comments

Each group’s composition of respondents will be a mix of Caucasians, African-Americans and persons considering themselves Hispanic or Latino

The groups will be conducted in Kansas City, Missouri, (specifically among Missouri, not Kansas, residents) and Seattle, Washington. Missouri is one of several states without a primary seatbelt law and with lower than average seatbelt use. Conversely, Washington is a state with a primary law and higher than average belt use. These disparities of these two areas are expected to lend added substantiation to conclusions coming from the research.

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 [ ] Other: ______________________

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: Mike Joyce

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

Personally Identifiable Information:

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

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

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [√ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

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

A cash incentive in the amount of $75.00 will be given to each respondent who arrives at the focus group facility at the appointed time. This is a standard incentive amount for focus groups for the two cities (Kansas City, Missouri, and Seattle, Washington) where the focus groups will be conducted, based on input from focus group facilitators in both cities.

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Individuals from the Private sector --- recruited and fully-participating respondents; for each group, maximum of 9 respondents to be seated for discussions; 8 total groups to be conducted.	72	85 minutes (10 minutes for recruiting time; + 75 minutes for focus group)	102 hrs.
Individuals from the Private sector --- recruited individuals either (1) released prior to commencement of focus groups, or (2) failing to show up at appointed time; for each group, 12 individuals will be recruited, in anticipation of 9 showing)	24	10 minutes (for recruiting time)	4 hrs.
Totals	96	95	106 hrs.

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $86,000.

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 [√] 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?

This project will involve focus groups. In each city where the groups will be held, professional, locally-based recruiters employed by the focus group facility will use the recruiting screener script that accompanies this Clearance Request. The recruiters will conduct the screenings via telephone. In many cases, the recruiters have proprietary lists of individuals segmented by various demographic characteristics such as gender, age, race, etc. In this circumstance, the recruiters will use such lists as starting points in their screening process.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[√] Telephone -- for recruiting respondents

[√] In-person -- for data collection in focus group settings

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

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

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

Included with this Request is a script of the moderator’s guide, along with an example template of handouts for written exercises by respondents.

5