Supplemental and Part B Questions

1. Supplemental Questions for DOC/NOAA Customer Survey Clearance
   (OMB Control Number 0648-0342)

1. Explain who will be conducting this survey. What program office will be
   conducting the survey? What services does this program provide? Who are the customers? How are these services provided to the customer?

The National Weather Service’s (NWS) Aviation Weather Center (AWC) will host (conduct) the survey.  Customers will include pilots and flight enthusiasts with an interest in flight weather and conditions.  Services are provided on-line via the AWC’s Aviation Digital Data Service (ADDS), where the survey will be hosted on the ADDS Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF) page. Users of this service will be given the option to take the survey in order to solicit perceptions on the service in general and TAFs in particular. Survey participation is not mandatory.

2. Explain how this survey was developed. With whom did you consult during the development of this survey on content? statistics? What suggestions did you get about improving the survey?

The original survey was developed by Ron Jones (Retired NWS) as part of a generic set of questions for checking website satisfaction.  This survey is a refinement of the original to better reflect aviation interests.

3. Explain how the survey will be conducted. How will the customers be sampled (if fewer than all customers will be surveyed)? What percentage of customers asked to take the survey will respond? What actions are planned to increase the response rate? (Web-based surveys are not an acceptable method of sampling a broad population. Web-based surveys must be limited to services provided by Web.)

The survey will be available to ADDS TAF users on the TAF menu tab selection where the survey link will be located. Survey responses will be electronically generated and stored on the ADDS. Survey results will be obtained through an online survey query. Responses are generated on-line and manually saved. It is assumed between 10 and 15% of service users will participate in the survey.

ADDS was designed to provide up to date weather information for the aviation end-user community to include but not be limited to: pilots; Air Traffic Control (ATC) and Air Traffic Management (ATM) users; airline dispatch personnel; and Flight Service Specialists. Since TAFs are used as weather guidance for both domestic and international air navigation, monitoring TAF user perceptions on the quality and performance of these products is vital to facilitate product improvements.

4. Describe how the results of this survey will be analyzed and used. If the customer population is sampled, what statistical techniques will be used to generalize the results to the entire customer population? Is this survey intended to measure a GPRA performance measure? (If so, please include an excerpt from the appropriate document.)

Customer ratings will be measured using statistics of central tendency. Data distribution will determine the measure to be used, i.e. with a high N response and a homogenous distribution, the mean will be utilized. Tests of significance and variability will also be derived. Comments will be tabulated and summarized. This data is not intended to measure a GPRA, but will be used as input to the FAA’s Quality Management System (QMS) of Operational Aviation Weather Products, in coordination with the NWS. The QMS is a joint FAA/NWS effort.

B. COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS

1. Describe (including a numerical estimate) the potential respondent universe and any sampling or other respondent selection method to be used. Data on the number of entities (e.g. establishments, State and local governmental units, households, or persons) in the universe and the corresponding sample are to be provided in tabular form. The tabulation must also include expected response rates for the collection as a whole. If the collection has been conducted before, provide the actual response rate achieved.

This survey will be located at the bottom of the TAF section on the AWC website (http://www.aviationweather.gov/adds/tafs). Participants for the survey are stakeholders in the aviation industry such as FAA personnel, pilots, general aviation, and commercial industry.

Users connect to the survey via a link on the website, therefore it is up to the users to respond (no efforts are made to “push” the survey to potential respondents). Based on past survey responses, there are expected to be 50-100 respondents every quarter. Estimated time necessary for each respondent to complete the questionnaire is 12 minutes, based on findings from previous years. The computer program will keep track of the total number of completed responses and information will be analysed to determine trends to consider for possible improvements to the product.

2. Describe the procedures for the collection, including: the statistical methodology for stratification and sample selection; the estimation procedure; the degree of accuracy needed for the purpose described in the justification; any unusual problems requiring specialized sampling procedures; and any use of periodic (less frequent than annual) data collection cycles to reduce burden.

Survey collection process will be automated (as users fill out survey via website form). On a quarterly basis responses will be collected and exported to excel for subject matter expert analysis. Respondents will not be asked to provide identifying information on the survey (names, social security numbers, dates of birth, etc.), and any identifying information placed on surveys will be removed. Given all questions are asking for qualitative information, the reviewer of the information will look for trends in the data to gather conclusions.

3. Describe the methods used to maximize response rates and to deal with nonresponse. The accuracy and reliability of the information collected must be shown to be adequate for the intended uses. For collections based on sampling, a special justification must be provided if they will not yield "reliable" data that can be generalized to the universe studied.

In order to improve response rates for this information collection, the survey has been made as brief as possible (8 questions) and is simple (intuitive) to use. Additionally comment writing is optional – much of the survey uses drop-down boxes to easily provide survey responses. Since there is no identifying information collected, there is no way to trace nonresponses. However TAF service users will be encouraged to take the survey via reminders strategically placed on the ADDS TAF menu tab. Based on experience with the original TAF survey, we estimate approximately 300 responses per year.

4. Describe any tests of procedures or methods to be undertaken. Tests are encouraged as effective means to refine collections, but if ten or more test respondents are involved OMB must give prior approval.

FAA and NWS QMS personnel reviewed draft versions of the survey and provided comments and suggested updates. Comments on the survey contents and its appropriateness for the aviation community of users were considered in its final form.

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

Cynthia Grzywinski – FAA, ANG-C63 – 609-485-5871

Rebecca Waddington – NWS/AWC – 816-584-7262

Beth McNulty – NWS Performance and Evaluation Branch - 301-427-9300

Jarrod Lichty – AvMet, FAA Contract Support – 571-748-3118