CIRCUMSTANCES MAKING COLLECTION OF INFORMATION NECESSARY
On September 11, 1993, President Clinton issued Executive Order 12862, “Setting Customer Service Standards,” which clearly defined his vision that the Federal agencies will put the public first. To accomplish this, President Clinton called for a “revolution within the Federal government to change the way it does business.” He expected this process to require continual reform of government practices and operations to the end that, “when dealing with the Federal agencies, all people receive service that matches or exceeds the best service available in the private sector.”
Section 1(b) of this E.O. requires agencies to “survey customers to determine the kind and quality of services they want and their level of satisfaction with existing services” and Section 1(a) requires agencies to “survey front- line employees on barriers to, and ideas for, matching the best in business.” These Presidential requirements established an ongoing need for the National Science Foundation (NSF) to engage in an interactive process of collecting information and using it to improve program services and processes.
The Division of Research on Learning is conducting an assessment of a new component of the AISL Program, Science Learning +. This assessment is prompted by a desire to gauge customers’ (informal science learning researchers and practitioners community) interest and participation in the Phase 1 and Phase 2 components of the SL+ Program for the purpose of informing future program and funding decisions for the ultimate benefit of advancing their research interests and satisfaction.
HOW, BY WHOM, AND PURPOSE FOR WHICH INFORMATION IS TO BE USED
The survey will target researchers at U.S. and U.K institutions who have participated in either or both of two SL+ activities: attending the Open Space event hosted by NSF and submitting a proposal to the SL+ Phase 1 planning grant competition. The data collected will be used to understand the international engagement priorities and practices of the informal science learning community so that the Division of Research on Learning can align its programs and guidance to best serve the needs of its research community.
USE OF AUTOMATION
The survey will be administered by The Wellcome Trust, a partner in the SL+ Program (an MOU between The Wellcome Trust and NSF has been signed). The survey will be sent via email to individuals who participated in the above (Section 2) SL+ activities and will be entirely voluntary. The SL+ Survey will be administered via the Internet, which will allow for a more convenient and less costly survey administration than a paper survey.
EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY DUPLICATION
Not applicable.
SMALL BUSINESS CONSIDERATIONS
Not applicable.
CONSEQUENCES OF LESS FREQUENT COLLECTION
Not applicable.
SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES FOR COLLECTION
Not applicable.
FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE.
The agency’s notices, as required by 5 CFR 1320.8(d), were published in the Federal Register on February 25, 2014, at 79 FR 10574 and May 30, 2014 at 79 FR 31145 and no comments were received.
OUTSIDE CONSULTATION
It is estimated that the survey will take no more than 10 minutes to complete.
GIFTS OR REMUNERATION
Not applicable.
CONFIDENTIALITY PROVIDED TO RESPONDENTS
Yes, this is stated in the opening sentences of the survey: “Please be assured that all your answers will remain anonymous and reported in aggregate form only.” No identifying information will be collected.
QUESTIONS OF A SENSITIVE NATURE
No questions of a sensitive nature will be asked.
ESTIMATE OF BURDEN
Each respondent will submit only one survey response. There are three anticipated respondents: Open Space event attendees (n=36) and Planning Grant submission PIs and Co-PIs (n=108) [Note – there will be some overlap between the two pools of respondents] . The researcher and practitioner group is comprised of faculty and senior personnel at research (e.g., colleges and universities) and informal (e.g., science centers, zoos, aquaria, museums, media, among other) institutions in the U.S. and U.K. It is anticipated that the average response time for a respondent will be ten (10) minutes. This estimate is based on the survey length and time required to complete similar surveys in the past. NSF estimates that the number of responses to the survey will be 150. The total hourly burden for the researchers is estimated to be 25 hours (150 researchers x 10 minutes / 60 minutes).
ANNUALIZED COST TO RESPONDENTS
The 2013-14 AAUP Faculty Salary Survey reports in Survey Report Table 4 the Average Salary and Average Compensation by Category, Affiliation, and Academic Rank. The average salary at the Associate Professor rank across all categories (e.g., doctoral, masters, baccalaureate, associate’s) of $81, 980 is used as an estimate for faculty and senior staff participating in the SL+ activities. The salaries are adjusted to a eleven-month work year.
Cost to Respondents
Average salary of faculty (educational researchers at associate professor level) as described above |
$81,980.00 |
Hourly salary based on 1,920 annual hours (40 hours per week for 48 weeks) |
$43.00 |
Estimate of survey burden (researchers) |
25 hours |
Cost to researcher respondents |
$1,075.00 |
CAPITAL/STARTUP COSTS
Not applicable.
ANNUALIZED COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
The table below estimates the cost to the government associated with the DRL SL+ survey. Costs include only the participation of federal government employees. Federal employee hourly rate was calculated from NSF’s 2014 Excepted Service Pay Scale for salaries effective January 2014. The hourly wage for an NSF AD-4 was used. The total cost is estimated at $4776.60.
Cost to the Federal Government
Contractor support for survey data collection and analysis |
$0 |
Hourly salary of federal government employee (NSF AD-4) |
$79.61 |
Hours, federal government employee review and oversight |
60 |
Cost of federal government employee review and oversight |
$4776.60 |
Cost to the Federal Government |
$4776.60 |
CHANGES IN BURDEN
Not applicable.
PUBLICATION OF COLLECTION
The data collected from this survey will not be made public. A summary of survey results will be available on the DRL AISL website (http://informalscience.org/nsf-aisl) in the late fall of 2014 or early in 2015.
SEEKING APPROVAL TO NOT DISPLAY OMB EXPIRATION DATE
Not applicable.
EXCEPTION(S) TO THE CERTIFICATION STATEMENT (19) ON OMB 83-I
There are no exceptions.
STATISTICAL METHODS
B.1.
Universe and Sampling Procedures
Respondents will be participants in the DRL SL+ sponsored activities. Due to the voluntary nature of the survey, no sampling will be needed.
B.2.
Survey Methodology
The survey will be web-based, and a link to the survey will be sent to those informal science researchers and practitioners who have participated in the SL+ Open Space event and/or the Phase 1 Planning Grant Program.
B.3. Methods to Maximize Response
Every effort will be made to maximize the participants’ response to the survey, with an initial explanatory email and a reminder email before the survey window closes. Questions will be relevant, brief, and explicit. The survey should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete.
B.4. Testing of Procedures
This time estimate for survey completion is based on the survey length and time required to complete similar surveys in the past. The survey will be tested internally at NSF to validate functionality.
B.5. Contacts for Statistical Aspects of Data Collection
Ellen McCallie, Program Director in the DRL AISL program, is the point of contact for data collection and analysis.
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | SUPPORTING STATEMENT |
| Author | JFELDMAN |
| Last Modified By | Plimpton, Suzanne H. |
| File Modified | 2014-11-13 |
| File Created | 2014-11-13 |