MLRevised Supporting Statement part B_2013

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

FOR PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION

B. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods

The agency should be prepared to justify its decision not to use statistical methods in any case where such methods might reduce burden or improve accuracy of results. When Item 17 on Form 83-I is checked “Yes,” the following documentation should be included in the Supporting Statement to the extent that it applies to the methods proposed:

1. Describe the potential respondent universe (including a numerical estimate) and any sampling or other respondent selection method to be used. Data on the number of entities (e.g., establishments, state and local government units, households, or persons) in the universe covered by the collection and in the corresponding sample are to be provided in tabular form for the universe as a whole and for each of the strata in the proposed sample. Indicate expected response rates for the proposed sample. Indicate expected response rates for the collection as a whole. If the collection had been conducted previously, include the actual response rate achieved during the last collection.

Estimated Respondents Surveyed

Year	Estimated # of Pre-Docs	Estimated # of Post-Docs
1	500	100
2	520	105
3	540	110

The survey will be provided to all potential respondents. These respondents include the fellows who have been in their programs for at least an academic year but who have not been out of their programs for over 5 years. The estimated response rate is 75 percent. The list of fellows and their university email addresses will be first obtained from the director of each university pre- or postdoctoral program. As fellows leave their programs, they provide their new email address or their directors provide them. These emails will be used after the fellows have completed their programs and left their training universities.

Actual Response Rate from Most Recent Collection

Pre-Docs	Post-Docs
75.5%	78.7%

Please note that some IES predoctoral fellows later became IES postdoctoral fellows. These individuals are counted as predoctoral fellows.

2. Describe the procedures for the collection of information, including:

• Statistical methodology for stratification and sample selection.

• Estimation procedure.

• Degree of accuracy needed for the purpose described in the justification.

• Unusual problems requiring specialized sampling procedures, and

• Any use of periodic (less frequent than annual) data collection cycles to reduce burden.

No sampling is done. The survey will be emailed to all potential respondents and will be collected once a year. A census is being used because the populations of pre- and postdoctoral fellows are small enough to make a census survey manageable and to make a sample not reliable for subgroup findings. Fellows will be surveyed throughout their fellowships and for 5 years following the completion of their training programs and, for predoctoral fellows, their doctorate programs.

3. Describe methods to maximize response and to deal with issues of non-response. The accuracy and reliability of information collected must be shown to be adequate for intended uses. For collections based on sampling, a special justification must be provided for any collection that will not yield “reliable” data that can be generalized to the universe studied.

Response will be maximized through multiple avenues of contact:

1. multiple emails from IES;

2. direct contact from the on-site director of the fellowship program; and, if needed,

3. phone contact from IES.

A link to the online survey is sent by email, and responses are collected online.

In the case of non-response, a follow-up email will be sent 3 business days after the deadline of the survey and again 2 weeks after that. If there is no response within 2 weeks, an email check will be done to determine if the email address is correct. A third email will then be sent to the correct address 3 weeks after the second follow-up email. In addition, each pre- and postdoctoral program has a director based at the university. When there is non-response among a university’s fellows, the director will be asked to send a general reminder to all fellows to complete the survey. The director will not be informed which fellows have not responded. In addition, the director will not have access to fellows’ responses to the survey.

4. Describe any tests of procedures or methods to be undertaken. Testing is encouraged as an effective means of refining collections of information to minimize burden and improve utility. Tests must be approved if they call for answers to identical questions from 10 or more respondents. A proposed test or set of tests may be submitted for approval separately or in combination with the main collection of information.

The questions on the survey are drawn from two fellow satisfaction surveys that had been given in 2008 and that OMB determined needed to be converted into a survey. These satisfaction surveys were done with the same population using the procedure proposed here. The response rate was just over 70 percent. There will be no testing of the survey to be used in future years.

5. Provide the name and telephone number of individuals consulted on statistical aspects of the design and the name of the agency unit, contractor(s), grantee(s), or other persons who will actually collect and/or analyze the information for the agency.

As the entire population is being surveyed, results are to be simple tabulations, and the persons analyzing the data have appropriate backgrounds, no additional consultation was done.

All predoctoral and postdoctoral surveys will be sent and collected by:

Dr. Meredith Larson

IES/NCER

(202) 219-2025

All NCER predoctoral and postdoctoral surveys will analyzed by:

Dr. Meredith Larson

IES/NCER

(202) 219-2025

All NCSER postdoctoral surveys will analyzed by:

Dr. Amy Sussman

IES/NCSER

(202) 219-2126

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