This request is for clearance to conduct the 2015 and 2016 Annual Arts Benchmarking Surveys (AABS). These surveys will be conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau as a supplement to the Bureau of Labor Statistic's Current Population Survey. The AABS will be conducted in February 2015 and February 2016 and are expected to conducted annually thereafter in years that the National Endowment for the Arts' (NEA) Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA) is not conducted. One of the strengths of the AABS surveys is that they will both complement and supplement the information collected in the SPPA. The SPPA is the field's premiere repeated cross-sectional survey of individual attendance and involvement in arts and cultural activity, and is conducted approximately every five years. The AABS questionnaires are much shorter than the SPPA, consisting of 10 to 12 questions that will be used to track arts participation over time. As with the SPPA, the AABS data will be circulated to interested researchers and will be the basis for a range of NEA reports and independent research publications. Reports on these data will be made publicly available on the NEA's website. The AABS will provide annual primary knowledge on the extent and nature of participation in the arts in the United States. These data will also be used by the NEA as a contextual measure for one of the strategic goals identified in its FY 2014 â FY 2018 strategic plan.
US Code:
20 USC 954
Name of Law: National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act
This request is based on a similar request that was submitted to conduct two years of AABS surveys in FY13 and FY14. In advance of those surveys, a pilot test was to be conducted, and that pilot test was part of the original ICR. Because the surveys to be conducted in FY15 and FY16 are identical to those conducted in FY13 and FY14, respectively, the pilot test is no longer required. As such, the burden is reduced by the amount that was included in the original request for the pilot test.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.