Request of Approval

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0920-0974)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Public health laboratory focus group feedback on DLS professional development service offerings

PURPOSE:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) seeks to obtain Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval to collect feedback about the Division of Laboratory Systems (DLS) training and professional development service offerings. DLS provides a variety of training and professional development offerings for public health laboratory professionals. The purpose of this data collection is to understand the effectiveness of DLS offerings in helping public health laboratories support staff professional development, identify gaps in DLS’ existing offerings, and understand facilitators and barriers associated with staff using DLS training and professional development resources. The data will be used to inform the design and prioritization of new training and professional development offerings, as well as the modification of existing offerings, to better meet the needs of the laboratory workforce.

Qualitative data will be collected using virtual and/or in-person focus groups. Prior to the focus group session, a questionnaire will be used to collect certain demographic information of the participants. Thematic analysis using NVivo software will be used for transcribed focus group content. All participant information (names, email addresses, and phone numbers) and transcripts will be managed by Booz Allen Hamilton (external contractor) and purged following data analysis. All results will be delivered by the contractor to CDC in aggregate form, without attribution, to preserve the anonymity of respondents.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

Up to 100 non-federal individuals who work as bench-level staff within state, local, or tribal government public health laboratories, have direct experience with or are future users of DLS’ professional development resources, and have expressed interest in participating in the focus groups in response to a general call for volunteers from CDC or the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL), will be invited to participate in the focus groups. Prior to the focus group sessions, a questionnaire, which should take no more than 5 minutes to complete, will be sent to the 100 individuals to collect demographic information in order to ensure participants fit within the desired respondent category (bench-level public health laboratory staff). Completion of the questionnaire and participation in the one-time focus group are both voluntary. The focus groups, with up to 10 participants in each, will take place primarily in-person, although some virtual focus groups may be offered if it is more convenient for participants. Each focus group will last no more than 60 minutes.

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 might have experience with the program in the future.

Name: Renee Ned-Sykes

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

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [X ] No (Not applicable)

Gifts or Payments:

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

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Individuals and households	0
Private sector	0
State, local, tribal government	100	65/60	108
Federal government	0
Totals	100	65/60	108

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is _$2,000_

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

Respondents will be public health laboratory bench-level staff who have direct experience with or who are future users of DLS’ professional development resources and who have volunteered to participate in the focus groups via previous email communication using various DLS and Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) membership listservs. Volunteers for the focus groups will be asked to complete a pre-focus group demographic information questionnaire to ensure participants fit within the desired respondent category (bench-level public health laboratory staff).

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

[X] Other, Explain

Virtual focus groups will be hosted using meeting support software (e.g., Zoom, Adobe Connect, or Skype) on an as needed basis.

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

CDC will use an experienced contractor (from Booz Allen Hamilton) to conduct all focus groups. Data will be delivered to CDC in aggregate form without attribution to preserve the privacy of individual participants. Volunteer respondents will be asked to sign an informed consent form before participating in the focus group. All participant information (names, email addresses, and phone numbers) and audio files will be managed by Booz Allen Hamilton in a secure location and purged following completion of data analysis.

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