DCPAS Focus Groups One Pager

Request for Approval under the “Fast Track Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0704-0553)

T ITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

2017 College Student and Recent Graduates’ Knowledge of DoD Careers and Scholarship Opportunities

PURPOSE:

These focus groups will be conducted on behalf of the Defense Civilian Personnel Advisory Service (DCPAS), an agency of the Department of Defense (DoD). The primary purpose of these focus groups is to gather feedback from college market youth on their perceptions of DoD civilian career opportunities and scholarships. This information will be used internally by DCPAS to make program-related decisions regarding what factors should be prioritized in future branding efforts and recruiting strategies. Specifically, the feedback from college students will assist DCPAS in developing a new enterprise-wide recruitment strategy that will enhance the Department’s competitiveness in recruiting both college students and recent graduates. By hearing feedback directly from college students on what they are looking for in terms of value propositions, opportunities, recruiting processes etc., DCPAS will be able to make more informed decisions on the best ways to revise their recruiting practices in order to better connect, communicate, and ultimately become a stronger competitor in recruiting today’s best and brightest college students. By gathering this feedback from college students, the internal decisions made by DCPAS leadership in terms of recruitment strategies will be informed by the most relevant audience: college students.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: For the 2017 College Student and Recent Graduates’ Knowledge of DoD Careers and Scholarship Opportunities, college students and those up to two years out of college will be included.

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? [ ] Yes [X] No

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

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

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

Participants will receive $40 for participation in one 70-minute focus group. This incentive is based on past OMB-approved incentives for 70-minute focus groups. Providing incentives for recruitment of focus group participants is a critical component of planning a successful recruitment effort. Focus group facilities require an incentive to cover the cost of marketing, attracting, committing, and coordinating participants to partake in focus groups. The incentive amount chosen for this study is the minimum feasible amount for recruitment in the selected third-tier markets in which our target population is available, as the market rate for these locations is $75-$100 per participant for a 70-minute group. Additionally, given that this incentive is approximately half of the market rate for these two recruitment areas, focus group facilities will need to over-recruit at a higher rate—recruiting 16 participants to seat 8 per focus group—which will drive up the total cost of recruitment for each focus group in order to manage the risk of recruiting a population below market rate and accounting for potential no-shows.

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Screened College Students and Recent Graduates	192 (6 times final participant sample)	5 min	16 hours
College Student and Recent Graduate Participants– Study About Sheet Review	16 respondents recruited for each of 4 focus groups=total of 64 respondents	5 min	5.333 hours
College Student and Recent Graduate Participants– Focus Group	32	70 minutes	37.333 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $_________.

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

For the 2017 College Student and Recent Graduates’ Knowledge of DoD Careers and Scholarship Opportunities, focus groups will be conducted with up to 32 participants, 8 in each of the 4 focus groups. Focus groups will be held in local focus group facilities in the Orlando and Cleveland metro areas. Facilities will recruit college students and recent graduates from their panel to participate in the groups and may engage in typical panel expansion activities, such as social media and other advertising to recruit.

Administration of the Instrument

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

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] 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.

Instructions for completing Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback”

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Provide the name of the collection that is the subject of the request. (e.g. Comment card for soliciting feedback on xxxx)

PURPOSE: Provide a brief description of the purpose of this collection and how it will be used. If this is part of a larger study or effort, please include this in your explanation.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Provide a brief description of the targeted group or groups for this collection of information. These groups must have experience with the program.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: Check one box. If you are requesting approval of other instruments under the generic, you must complete a form for each instrument.

CERTIFICATION: Please read the certification carefully. If you incorrectly certify, the collection will be returned as improperly submitted or it will be disapproved.

Personally Identifiable Information: Provide answers to the questions. Note: Agencies should only collect PII to the extent necessary, and they should only retain PII for the period of time that is necessary to achieve a specific objective.

Gifts or Payments: If you answer yes to the question, please describe the incentive and provide a justification for the amount.

BURDEN HOURS:

Category of Respondents: Identify who you expect the respondents to be in terms of the following categories: (1) Individuals or Households; (2) Private Sector; (3) State, local, or tribal governments; or (4) Federal Government. Only one type of respondent can be selected per row.

No. of Respondents: Provide an estimate of the Number of respondents.

Participation Time: Provide an estimate of the amount of time required for a respondent to participate (e.g. fill out a survey or participate in a focus group)

Burden: Provide the Annual burden hours: Multiply the Number of responses and the participation time and divide by 60.

FEDERAL COST: Provide an estimate of the annual cost to the Federal government.

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. Please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them. If the answer is yes, to the first question, you may provide the sampling plan in an attachment.

Administration of the Instrument: Identify how the information will be collected. More than one box may be checked. Indicate whether there will be interviewers (e.g. for surveys) or facilitators (e.g., for focus groups) used.

Submit all instruments, instructions, and scripts with the Request for Approval.

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