Supporting Statement for Focus Groups for Moving the Needle: Advancing Girls in Engineering

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 3145-0215)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Focus Groups for Moving the Needle: Advancing Girls in Engineering

PURPOSE: What do girls know about engineering today? How do they make career decisions? Are there common touch-points or experiences that sway a girl to choose engineering or to avoid it? Are the messages identified by the ‘Engineer Your Life’ and ‘Changing the Conversation’ projects still relevant or should they change? And where and how do girls access and process video media content? These questions are important to understanding where we are today in our collective efforts to engage more girls in engineering.

The proposed Moving the Needle: Advancing Girls in Engineering project will conduct focus group research that asks and answers the question—what is working, and what can we do differently to engage more girls in engineering and move the needle in a meaningful way?

Led by DiscoverE with support from Crabtree + Company and Concord Evaluation Group, the project will leverage the collective knowledge and expertise of individuals and organizations that have been working to invite, encourage, and increase the participation of girls in engineering.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Girls (including demographically under-represented) in fifth grade in the Boston, Washington, DC, and Detroit metropolitan areas. Each focus group will include six to eight girls, for a total of 32 girls.

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:__Suzanne H. Plimpton, NSF Reports Clearance Officer_______________________

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

Personally Identifiable Information:

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

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

*Please note: PII will be collected solely for the purpose of scheduling and coordinating the focus groups. No PII will be shared with NSF, nor provided in the final report.

Gifts or Payments:

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

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Individuals or Households	32	30 minutes	16 hours
Totals	32	60 minutes	16 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $34,941.63

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? [ ] Yes [X] 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?

Recruiting:

The facilitators will recruit respondents through such methods as working with fifth-grade teachers to send home flyers or emails to their female students.

Sampling Plan Criteria:

1. A mix of race and ethnicity. For example:

   1. (2) African-American

   2. (2) Hispanic

   3. (2) White (non-Hispanic)

   4. (2) Mix of Asian/Middle Eastern

2. Income: The facilitators will seek to include half-or-more low-income participants (by using reduced or free lunch qualifications)

3. Interest in Engineering: The facilitators will recruit participants who haven’t yet expressed an interest in engineering.

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.

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.

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.

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

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