Focus Groups of Parents of Millenials Supporting Statements

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0420-0545)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

Focus Groups with Parents of Millennials to Gather Information for Peace Corps Recruitment

PURPOSE:

• To explore perceptions of the Peace Corps and other volunteer organizations among parents of the Millennial generation

• To understand what career options and opportunities parents view as available to their children post-college and to better understand how the Peace Corps fits into that competitive set

• To examine the role that parents play in influencing career choices for their Millennial children

• To learn what messages and marketing strategies best resonate with Millennials and their Parents and could best be utilized by the Peace Corps for future communications

• To gather reactions to specific recruitment concepts and phrases

This qualitative component is part of an ongoing research effort about Millennials and the Peace Corps. In addition to these focus groups, qualitative research also includes online bulletin boards with Millennials. Formative research preceded qualitative research and included stakeholder interviews, secondary research, social listening, and an omnibus survey. A quantitative survey phase will follow the qualitative project. The project goal is to understand what messages will most appeal to Millennials to interest them in joining the Peace Corps.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

Parents of Millennials, aged 15-26, will participate in a set of 8 focus groups that will take place in 4 geographically dispersed markets, Baltimore, Dallas, St Louis, and Sacramento. The children of participating parents must be enrolled in high school or a 4-year college/university, or must be a graduate of a recent 4-year college/university. Parents will include a mix of ages, genders, ethnicities, and socio-economic groups. A total of two groups will be conducted in each market with the following compositions:

• Parents of high school and college students (aged 15-22)

• Parents of recent college graduates (aged 23-26)

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [ ] Small Discussion Group

[X] Focus Group [] Other:

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ X] Yes [ ] No

In order to screen for the right types of participants and to ensure a good demographic mix, Ipsos will collect the following personally identifiable information from Parents:

• Gender

• Age

• Race/ethnicity

• Employment status

• Household income

• Address

• Name, age, school level, name of school and gender of children 15-26

The name of school is requested to avoid recruiting more than one parent from the same high school and no more than two parents from the same four-year college. We would prefer that focus group participants not know each other. We also want opinions from parents whose children attend a diversity of schools.

First names will be used during the discussions. Some demographic data may be linked to direct quotes if relevant. None of the PII will be used to identify individuals for later contact or sales targeting.

2. If Yes, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ X] No

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [ X] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [X ] Yes [] No

Participants in the focus groups will be given $100 in appreciation for the two hours + travel time they will spend attending the groups. We believe this is the minimum amount needed to ensure that participants show up at the appointed time, engage in the discussions, and feel that their input is valued. This is the standard incentive for focus group participants in the US.

There is an evolving body of literature that suggests that using incentives can actually reduce nonresponse bias in some situations by bringing in a more representative set of respondents. [1},[2],[3]. This may be particularly effective in reducing nonresponse due to topic saliency.[4]

[1] Castiglioni, L., & Pforr, K. (2007). The effect of incentives in reducing non-response bias in a

multi-actor survey. Presented at the 2^nd annual European Survey Research Association

Conference, Prague, Czech Republic, June, 2007.

[2] Singer, E. (2002). The Use of Incentives to Reduce Nonresponse in Household Surveys. (R. M.

Groves, D. A. Dillman, J. L. Eltinge, & R. J. A. Little, Eds.) Survey nonresponse, (051), 163

-178. University of Michigan Institute for Social Research. Retrieved from

http://www.isr.umich.edu/src/smp/Electronic.

[3] Singer, E. (2006). Nonresponse bias in household surveys. Public Opinion Quarterly, 70(5),

637-645.

[4] Groves, R., Couper, M., Presser, S., Singer, E., Tourangeau, R., Acosta, G., & Nelson, L.

(2006). Experiments in producing nonresponse bias. Public Opinion Quarterly, 70(5), 720-736.

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Individuals – 8 groups	48	120 minutes	96 hours
Totals	48	120 minutes	96 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is ~$69,000 for 8 groups. An approximate cost breakdown is:

Project Management	$2,500
Incentives	$4,800
Moderation	$17,500
Recruitment	$9,880
Facility Rental	$9,600
Participant Meals/Incidentals	$1,800
Video and Audiotaping	$3,400
Transcription	$4,820
Analysis and Reporting	$7,500
Moderator Travel (Reimbursed at Cost)	$7,200
TOTAL	$69,000

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [X] Yes [ ] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

Focus group facilities maintain a database of individuals who agree to participate in group discussions. Individuals in the right age range will be randomly selected and contacted by telephone. Those who meet the screening criteria will be invited to participate in the group discussions.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ X ] Telephone

[ X ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [X ] Yes [ ] No

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

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