Justification

Request for Approval under the “DOI Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery”

OMB Control Number: 1090-0011

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

Evaluation of mobile technology utilization in outdoor education programs at Yellowstone National Park

PURPOSE:

This collection will be administered at Yellowstone National Park (YELL) to evaluate the use of mobile technologies (i.e., smartphones and iPads) in outdoor education programs.

The Yellowstone Association Institute (YAI), a non-profit organization, recently began integrating mobile devices (iPads) and applications in their outdoor education programs. The institution would like to evaluate the effectiveness of these devices in the program. Additionally, the staff is not satisfied with its current evaluation/feedback process or form. They have requested a new process and/or form.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

All prospective survey participants will be adults (18 years or older) who have signed up for educational programs offered by the Yellowstone Association Institute in Yellowstone National Park. They will be participants of either field seminars, lodging & learning programs or private tours. Respondents participate in in-class sessions and outdoor activities (e.g., hikes, walks).

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [X] 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:______Doris U Bolliger__________________________________________

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

Personally Identifiable Information:

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

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

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

Gifts or Payments:

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

BURDEN HOURS

We plan to approach up to 125 individuals during the sampling period. With an anticipated response rate of 80%, we expect to receive 100 total responses for this collection.

We expect that the initial contact time will be at least two minutes per person (125 x 2 minutes = 4 hours) to explain the purpose and provide instructions for completing the questionnaire. We expect that 25 (20%) participants will refuse to participate during the initial on-site contact, for those individuals we will record their reason for refusal. We will not ask non-response bias questions because our sample will be significant enough to provide the information we will need for this study.

For those who agree to participate (n= 100) we expect that all will complete and return the survey, with that, an additional 10 minutes will be required to complete the follow through (100 responses x 10 minutes = 17 hours). The burden for this collection is estimated to be 21 hours.

Contacts	Estimated Number	Contact time (mins)	Respondent Burden (hours)
Initial contacts	125	2	4
Completed responses	100	10	17
Total Burden				21

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $1,500 US dollars.

This cost is associated with federal park staff coordinating the on-site collection of this information.

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.

The response universe for this collection includes all participants 18 years of age or older participating in one of the YAI on-site environmental courses between January 10-26, 2014. Currently, there are 12 educational programs scheduled for this period that vary from 3-6 days. The number of participants in each courses ranges from 6-18 participants. We anticipate contacting approximately 125 participants with a response rate of 80%.

Sampling Frame
	Number of Contacts	Expected Response Rate	Expected # of Responses
Week 1	65	80%	52
Week 2	60	80%	48
TOTAL	125	80%	100

Administration of the Instrument

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

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[X ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

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

This will be an on-site survey. The researcher for this study staff will be on-site to hand out the survey instrument and to provide the information concerning the purpose and the instructions for completing the questionnaire. During the sampling period, program participants will be approached at the end of the course and asked if they would be interested in providing feedback about the program. All participants, even those traveling in a group will be asked to complete the survey.

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the University of Wyoming requires researchers to inform individuals about their rights to refuse to participate or terminate participation at any time. According to the IRB Manual, when a cover letter is used in lieu of an informed consent form (which is the case in this study), researchers are required to provide procedures on how to withdraw from study at any point. All completed questionnaire will be returned on-site.

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

Attachments:

• Survey instrument

• Letter to Participants

INSTRUCTIONS

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 in minutes 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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