Supporting Statement Part B_REVISED 07-27-14

Supporting Statement Part B_REVISED 07-27-14.doc

2014 Ethnographies and Focus Groups

OMB: 0704-0524

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SUPPORTING STATEMENT – PART B

2014 Ethnographies and Focus Groups – 0704-TBD

B. COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS

1. Description of the Activity

The Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) issued solicitation number 12-233-SOL-00463 for research into the barriers to voting success among UOCAVA voters. The component of the research covered under this Information Collection submission pertains to CONUS and OCONUS military families, Local Election Officials who assist UOCAVA voters and who are responsible for processing their ballots, among other steps in the voting process, and non-military, non-federal employee UOCAVA or UOCAVA-eligible voters. The latter population includes civilians residing overseas who vote as well as civilians residing overseas who do not vote, but who are eligible to do so and who are considered UOCAVA-eligible. A total of 115 ethnographies and 36 focus groups will be conducted among these populations to examine facets of the voting process and explore barriers to voting success. All data collected is qualitative and exploratory; no quantitative data will be collected or analyzed.

2. Procedures for the Collection of Information

Statistical methodologies for stratification and sample selection. The research being conducted is qualitative in nature and the data collected is not meant to be statistically representative of the populations under study. However, we make every effort to ensure that participants are randomly selected in order to ensure results remain free from bias. The research among military families involves obtaining a random sample from the DMDC of .mil e-mail addresses from target installations, chosen to reflect diversity in service branch and geographical location. FVAP sends out an initial e-mail invitation to randomly selected respondents that explains the purpose of the research project and indicates the criteria for participation (registered voter, voted absentee in 2012, active duty status). If respondents meet the criteria, they are invited to reply to the e-mail with their best contact information. FVAP then forwards respondent-provided contact information to Lake Research Partners for scheduling and confirming participation. Because no centralized list of non-military/non-federal employee civilians exists, we will rely on organizations who work with U.S. citizens who live and work overseas to contact potential participants.

Estimation procedures. N/A

Degree of accuracy needed for the Purpose discussed in the justification. N/A

Unusual problems requiring specialized sampling procedures. N/A

Use of periodic or cyclical data collections to reduce respondent burden. N/A

3. Maximization of Response Rates, Non-response, and Reliability

While in qualitative research measures like non-response and reliability are not meaningful the way they can be in quantitative research, we will make efforts to maximize response rates for volunteer participation in this research.

For the studies that involve spouses and dependents of military members (to whom we are NOT providing monetary incentives), we will attempt to increase response rates by sending reminder e-mails about the studies. The reminder e-mails are simply copies of the original invitation with the subject line Reminder: Still seeking research participants.

If response rates are unusually low at a particular installation, we may ask military leadership to issue their own reminders and encourage participation. This can be done by simply forwarding the original invitation with a note of reminder. An example of a note might read “Researchers will be at [INSTALLATION NAME] on [DATES] and they are still looking for volunteers to participate in this important study about voting. If you are available and eligible to participate, please respond to the e-mail below.” For the civilian populations, the monetary incentive we will provide is intended to increase response rates among a population who, unlike the military, does not have a centralized contact list nor leadership who can encourage participation. Among this group we intend to provide a $75 incentive to those who are participating in-person to help offset the cost of travel to either the hotel or to some other conference-style facility, and a $20 incentive to those who are participating online. We will also send reminder e-mails to encourage response.

4. Tests of Procedures

We will not be conducting any tests of procedures.

5. Statistical Consultation and Information Analysis