OMB Memo

Generic Information Collection Request

Usability Evaluation of National Survey of Children’s Health

Request: The U.S. Census Bureau plans to conduct additional research under the generic clearance for questionnaire pretesting research (OMB number 0607-0725). We propose to conduct a usability evaluation for the National Survey of Children’s Health. We also will take this opportunity to gather more cognitive feedback on new and updated questions within the survey. We are seeking approval for this project.

Background: The U.S. Census Bureau and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) in partnership with National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control, Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative, and a National Technical Expert Panel has developed a revision of the National Survey of Children’s Health, a nationally representative survey of households in the United States. The web questionnaire will be administered to a selected sample of households in 2018.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to conduct a comprehensive usability test that will identify issues that are problematic or frustrating to the user. Eighteen usability sessions will be conducted – 12 in English and 6 in Spanish. All users will see the screener questionnaire, NSCH-S1 and then, depending upon the age of the child, each user will see one of the main questionnaires: NSCH-T1 (for ages 0-5); NSCH-T2 (for ages 6-11) or NSCH-T3 (for ages 12-17). Testing will evaluate the usability of the screen design for different types of devices including personal computers (PCs) and smartphones in those two languages. The NSCH will offer a mobile-optimized design in 2018 for smaller devices in addition to the traditional optimized design for PCs. We will conduct a retrospective debriefing on approximately 11 new and updated questions in the survey.

Population of Interest: Households with one or more children ages 0-17.

Language: The evaluation will be conducted in English and Spanish.

Timeline: The evaluation will be conducted from April 11 to May 1, 2018.

Project scope: The usability evaluation of the web questionnaire of NSCH will be carried out as scheduled in Table 1.

Table 1. Estimated Project Schedule

Activity	Start date	End date	Duration
Project Planning	1/15/2018	4/11/2018	40 days
OMB Approval	2/21/2018	3/20/2018	20 days
Respondent Recruitment	3/21/2018	4/10/2018	15 days
Usability Testing / Data Collection	4/11/2018	5/1/2018	15 days
Data Analysis / Quick Report Preparation	4/18/2018	5/8/2018	15 days
Quick Report Delivery	5/9/2018	5/9/2018	1 day
Quick Report Debriefing	5/10/2018	5/10/2018	1 day

General Protocol: Participants will first be asked to complete a demographics questionnaire. Then participants will complete the NSCH screener and main questionnaire online while thinking aloud. After completing the tasks, each participant will be asked to complete a satisfaction questionnaire, and asked debriefing questions, focusing on the new and updated NSCH questions.

Sample: Eighteen adults with at least one child age 0 to 17 will participate.

Recruitment: Participants will be recruited using a combination of word-of-mouth, flyers, online and paper advertisements.

Use of Incentive: The Census Bureau will use an incentive of $40 per participant for this 90-minute interview.

Below is a list of materials to be used in the current study.

1. Sample testing protocol (Enclosure 1)

2. Demographic questionnaire (Enclosure 2) - (Previously approved by OMB for usability testing in the spring of 2015 for the 2015 Census Test.)

3. PowerPoint slide shows with debriefing probes -- Placeholder screen shots from the paper questionnaire are shown (Enclosure 3)

4. Satisfaction questionnaire (Enclosure 4) - (Previously approved by OMB for usability testing in the spring of 2015 for the 2015 Census Test.)

5. Additional recruitment questions and recruiting announcement (Enclosure 5)

6. Draft 2018 NSCH paper questionnaires to show the questions which will be included in the online survey (Enclosures 6-S, 6-T1, 6-T2, and 6-T3)

Length of interview: We estimate 90 minutes to interview each participant in English or Spanish. In general, it requires four screener conversations to recruit one participant. On average across English and Spanish, each screener conversation lasts approximately six minutes. We estimate it will take approximately 7 hours to screen and recruit 18 participants. The estimated time for each cognitive interview usability testing session is 1.5 hours. For 18 participants, the estimated burden for the interviews is 27 hours, bringing the total burden to 34 hours.

The contact person for questions regarding data collection and statistical aspects of the design of this research is listed below:

Elizabeth May Nichols
Center for Survey Measurement

U.S. Census Bureau

Room 5K020A

Washington, D.C. 20233

(301) 763-1724

[email protected]

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