Supporting Statement Part B for OMB Collection 1660-0039

February 12, 2018

Supporting Statement for

Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions

OMB Control Number: 1660-0039

Title: National Fire Academy Long-Term Evaluation Form for Supervisors and National Fire Academy Long-Term Evaluation Form for Students/Trainees

Form Number(s): FEMA Form 078-0-2; FEMA Form 078-0-2A

General Instructions

A Supporting Statement, including the text of the notice to the public required by 5 CFR 1320.5(a)(i)(iv) and its actual or estimated date of publication in the Federal Register, must accompany each request for approval of a collection of information. The Supporting Statement must be prepared in the format described below, and must contain the information specified in Section A below. If an item is not applicable, provide a brief explanation. When Item 17 or the OMB Form 83-I is checked “Yes”, Section B of the Supporting Statement must be completed. OMB reserves the right to require the submission of additional information with respect to any request for approval.

Specific Instructions

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods.



When Item 17 on the Form OMB 83-I is checked “Yes”, the following documentation should be included in the Supporting Statement to the extent it applies to the methods proposed:

1. Describe (including 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 government units, households, or persons) in the universe covered by the collection and in the corresponding sample are to be provided in tabular form for the universe as a whole and for each of the strata in the proposed sample. Indicate expected response rates for the collection as a whole. If the collection has been conducted previously, include the actual response rate achieved during the last collection.

Based on the participant sign up rate from the 3 previous years, the potential respondent universe is anticipated to total 3,000 annually (approximately 1,500 students and 1,500 supervisors.) The potential respondent universe is made up of those NFA students who sign up both their supervisor and themselves to complete the Long Term Evaluation.

2. Describe the procedures for the collection of information including:

-Statistical methodology for stratification and sample selection:

All students attending courses on the campus of the NFA are provided with the opportunity to sign up for the LTE procedure. All students who sign up and their supervisors are provided with access to the LTE online forms. It is a full census. Every individual student has an opportunity to participate. The return of the electronic forms is fully anonymous and automated. However, if the provided email address is not functional, paper letters are generated and sent by the United States Postal Service with the LTE Web site address and an anonymous password.

-Estimation procedure:

The anonymous character of the LTE procedure does not permit respondents and non-respondents to be compared using the student’s personal demographic information gathered by the NFA through other means. The selective non-response to individual items is not investigated and no attempt is made to use statistical regression procedures to estimate missing values. Descriptive results are reported with the number (n) of the respondents for that question

-Degree of accuracy needed for the purpose described in the justification:

Degree of accuracy (margin of error) is irrelevant to this information collection because there is no sampling process involved. Additionally, estimates of true scores are not needed in this case since (1) data will not be used for inferential purposes and (2) the homogeneity of the target population and interest in the subject ensure satisfactory levels of useful and consistent information.

-Unusual problems requiring specialized sampling procedures: (e.g., special hard to reach populations, bias toward landline verses cell phone respondents, populations that need to be reached via other methods such as those who do not use telephones for religious reasons, large non-English speaking populations expected to be surveyed but only English questionnaires available, exclusion of elderly using computer response only, etc.)

Note: For surveys with particularly low response rates and a substantial suspicion of non-response bias, it may be necessary to collect an additional sub-sample of completed surveys from non-respondents in order to confirm if non-response bias is present in the sample and make adjustments if appropriate.

There are no unusual problems requiring specialized sampling procedures.

-Any use of periodic (less frequent than annual) data collection cycles to reduce burden:

There is no use of periodic data collection cycles to reduce burden

3. Describe methods to maximize response rates and to deal with issues of non-response. The accuracy and reliability of information collected must be shown to be adequate for intended uses. For collections based on sampling, a special justification must be provided for any collection that will not yield “reliable” data that can be generalized to the universe studied.

Note: Describe all possible actions you plan to take to maximize response including incentives, call-backs, follow up, survey length kept to a minimum to increase participation, letters urging the importance of their contribution to this data collection, etc.

In order to maximize response rates, the National Fire Academy has placed informational posters within each of their resident classrooms to encourage student participation. In addition, clear instructions are provided to both students and supervisors via e-mail. The NFA has also established an on-line evaluation comments web-page and direct mailbox to assist respondents with questions and to provide feedback.

4. Describe any tests of procedures or methods to be undertaken. Testing is encouraged as an effective means of refining collections of information to minimize burden and improve utility. Tests must be approved if they call for answers to identical questions from 10 or more respondents. A proposed test or set of tests may be submitted for approval separately or in combination with the main collection of information.

Note: Pilot tests cannot be conducted on 10 or more persons without prior approval. Lessons learned previously from usability testing for the NFA’s Level I end-of-course form have been incorporated into the LTE instruments. Further testing of minor changes to forms is not deemed necessary.

5. Provide the name and telephone number of individuals consulted on 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.

Ms. Dawn Long, (301) 447-1488/U.S. Fire Administration, National Fire Academy.