Description - FY 15 Online Authentication Survey

DOCUMENTATION FOR THE GENERIC CLEARANCE

OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEYS

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Online Authentication (OA) Survey

SSA SUB-NUMBER: D-03

DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITY:

BACKGROUND

In May 2012, the Social Security Administration (SSA) introduced a new online authentication process that allows customers to create an online account (with a username and password) for conducting secure business on SSA’s website. Currently, customers can use their my Social Security account to view their Social Security statement online, report a change of address or direct deposit, and obtain a proof of income letter on SSA’s website.

SSA presents an American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) online survey to a random sample of customers who successfully create a my Social Security account on our website. The purpose of the OA Survey is to reach other customers who 1) initiate the my Social Security registration process online, but are unsuccessful and must visit an SSA field office (FO) to resolve their issue, or 2) initiate the registration process with an SSA employee (e.g., while conducting other business in the FO). We have designed the survey to measure satisfaction with the entire my Social Security account registration process (including service received in person and over the telephone), and to gauge customers’ inclination to use their my Social Security account for future business with SSA.

We conducted the survey in FY 2013 and FY 2014. We are repeating the survey in FY 2015 to gather additional feedback as the volume and type of customers using a my Social Security account changes.

SURVEY

Description of Survey

We will conduct the OA Survey by mail using a scannable questionnaire. The survey covers aspects of online services that we know, based on our other surveys of Internet customers, can influence satisfaction. We also used SSA’s annual surveys of office visitors, 800 number and FO callers to identify aspects of in-person and telephone service that affect customers’ perceptions of those modes of service.

The survey questions address the following areas:

• What type of online account sampled individuals wanted to create, how they heard about the online account, and what type of business they wanted to conduct using the online account; and (where applicable) asks why person haven’t yet finished creating the online account;

• Satisfaction with various aspects of the in-person service SSA provided, including office location, hours, signs and instructions, office comfort, appearance, privacy, and waiting time;

• Satisfaction with SSA employee attributes such as their helpfulness, courtesy, job knowledge, and clarity of explanations;

• Whether the person was able to complete their business in one visit and whether SSA staff explained that they had to correct the person’s SSA records;

• Satisfaction with the overall service received during the visit.

• Satisfaction with the service received on the telephone, including how long it took to reach someone, the SSA telephone staff’s helpfulness, courtesy, job knowledge, and clear explanations, and whether the person had to make more than one call to SSA;

• Satisfaction with the overall service SSA provided by telephone.

• Satisfaction with SSA’s notices concerning the online account, as well as with how long it took to receive notices sent by mail;

• Satisfaction with SSA’s website, including the ease of finding the online account service, appearance of the online pages, ease of answering questions, helpfulness of explanations, and the length of time it took;

• Overall opinion of SSA’s website for the online account service and their level of confidence that the information on SSA’s website is secure;

• Satisfaction with the entire experience creating an online account, and the likelihood to recommend the service to others, and likelihood to conduct other types of business on SSA’s website;

• Demographic questions (Internet experience, age, education) that will help put the survey responses in perspective.

Statistical Information

Sample Selection

Currently, about 26,000 visitors per month conduct business in an FO related to registering their my Social Security online account. As SSA actively markets my Social Security in FY 2014, we expect that number to grow. We estimate the volume of visitors in the sample period will be about 30,000 per month, projecting to a yearly universe of 360,000.

SSA has systems that identify customers who visit a FO to resolve their online account. We will use those systems to identify a random sample of survey participants during the months of February – March 2015. We will select a sample of 1,000 cases every two weeks to achieve a total sample size of 3,000.

Methodology

An SSA-approved contractor conducts the survey by mail using a scannable questionnaire. We mail a pre-notification postcard to all sampled individuals advising them to expect the survey questionnaire. A week later, we mail a questionnaire with a cover letter that explains the purpose of the survey. We include both the Paperwork Reduction Act and the Privacy Act statements on the survey instrument. We make two additional contacts to solicit participation; we send a follow-up postcard and a duplicate survey package (questionnaire and follow-up cover letter).

Response Rate

SSA takes the following steps to maximize the response rate for this survey:

• To minimize the time between customers’ service experience and the survey, thereby ensuring salience, we select the samples biweekly.

• We mail out a pre-notification postcard to inform sampled individuals that they will soon be invited to participate in the survey, and to be on the lookout for the envelope containing the questionnaire. Using a postcard format allows the sampled individuals to see that SSA sanctions the survey. Additionally, the postcard identifies the contractor who is conducting the survey for SSA, which should increase the likelihood that sampled individuals will open the envelope when they receive the questionnaire.

• Within one week after we send the pre-notification postcard, we mail the survey questionnaire along with a cover letter encouraging sampled individuals to respond by emphasizing the importance of the survey.

• One week later, we mail a reminder postcard to all sampled individuals.

• Two weeks after we send the reminder postcard, we mail a follow-up letter and another copy of the questionnaire to sampled individuals who have not responded as of that point.

• The scannable questionnaire is designed for ease of use, e.g., font sizes are large, difficult fill-in bubbles are not used

In the FY 2013 Online Authentication Survey, we achieved a response rate of 61 percent. (We are referencing the FY 2013 results because we have not yet published the final data for the FY 2014 survey.) We expect to achieve a similarly good response rate in FY 2015. Note that SSA routinely conducts a non-responder analysis to identify any significant differences in the responder and non-responder populations and their potential impact on the survey results.

Sampling Variability

The key variable in the Online Authentication Survey is the person’s overall satisfaction with the entire experience creating an online account. We define satisfaction as the combined rating of excellent, very good, or good (E/VG/G). The overall rating reported in the FY 2013 survey was 77 percent E/VG/G. Assuming a 60 percent response rate, our proposed sample size is large enough to provide a sampling variability at the 95‑percent confidence level equal to +/- 2.1, which is adequate for the intended purpose of the survey.

SSA’s Office of Quality Review will perform all sampling and data analysis. Dan Zabronsky, Director of SSA’s Division of Modeling in the Office of Quality Improvement, will provide statistical support. Dan can be reached at (410) 965‑5953.

IF FOCUS GROUP MEMBERS WILL RECEIVE A PAYMENT, INDICATE AMOUNT (No more than $25 can be authorized under OMB rules):

We will not compensate participants for this survey.

USE OF SURVEY RESULTS:

SSA will use the survey results to evaluate and improve various aspects of the my Social Security account, particularly for customers who are unable to complete the process on our website.

BURDEN HOUR COMPUTATION (Number of responses (X) estimated response time (/60) = annual burden hours):

Number of Responses: 3,000

Estimated Response Time: 10 minutes

Annual Burden Hours: 500 hours

NAME OF CONTACT PERSON: Deborah Larwood

TELEPHONE NUMBER: 410-966-6135