Generic Clearance Request

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 2127-0682)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Focus Groups for Assessment of

Creative Concepts Supporting a Spanish-language National Awareness Campaign to

Reduce Drug-Impaired Driving

PURPOSE:

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) was authorized by the Highway Safety Act of 1966 to carry out a Congressional mandate to reduce the mounting number of deaths, injuries and economic losses resulting from motor vehicle crashes on our Nation’s highways. In response to GAO recommendations contained in Section 4009 (Increasing Public Awareness of the Dangers of Drug-Impaired Driving), GAO-15-293 of FAST ACT, Public Law 114-94, NHTSA was directed to “…increase public awareness of the dangers of drug-impaired driving.” NHTSA is developing a drug-impaired communications campaign to support state efforts to raise drivers’ awareness of the risks and dangers of driving while under the influence of marijuana. This campaign is planned to be implemented in December 2018.

Drivers impaired by marijuana have become a mounting problem on the nation’s highways. NHTSA’s 2013/14 National Roadside Survey of Alcohol and Drug Use by Drivers (www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/812118-Roadside_Survey_2014.pdf) found that 12.6 percent of weekend nighttime drivers had evidence of marijuana use; this was an increase from 8.6 percent in a similar study in 2007. This represents a large 48 percent increase in the prevalence of drivers testing positive for THC in just seven years. In its report to Congress (Compton, R. (2017, July). Marijuana-Impaired Driving- A Report to Congress. (DOT HS 812 440). Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.), NHTSA noted, “There is evidence that marijuana use impairs psychomotor skills, divided attention, lane tracking and cognitive functions (Ramaekers, 2000; Robbe & O’Hanlon, 1993; Moskowitz, 1995; Hartman & Huestis, 2013).” Adding concern to increased use of marijuana is that 30 states and the District of Columbia have some form of legalized marijuana use. These and other facts give significant credence to the importance of discouraging drivers from operating vehicles while under the influence of marijuana.

Marijuana use has also increased significantly among Hispanic adults (from 3.3% to 8.4% between 2002 to 2013. This increase could very well reflect the fact that more states have legalized marijuana, as well as greater societal acceptantance of marijuana use. Additionally, self-reported current marijuana use among working adults 18+ in Colorado was second-highest among Hispanics (15.1%) according to recent data published by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. And while marijuana use is becoming more prevalent among emerging adults of all races, new research also suggests that Hispanic men between 18 and 25 who use marijuana are more likely to experience the drug’s negative effects, including dependence, as compared to their white peers.

An integral part of NHTSA’s plan is development of a public communications campaign to increase and sustain awareness of the risks and dangers of driving while impaired by marijuana. For assessment of the relative strengths and weaknesses of creative concept alternatives, NHTSA seeks to use a qualitative research methodology in the form of focus groups. For past NHTSA campaigns, market research findings in the form of focus groups have been important in gathering feedback because they allow a more in-depth understanding of drivers’ attitudes, beliefs, motivations, and feelings than do quantitative studies. Focus groups serve the narrowly defined need for direct and informal opinion on a specific topic.

NHTSA proposes conducting two focus groups among Spanish-speaking male drivers who are ages 18-34 and who are recreational users of marijuana. The focus groups will be conducted in Los Angeles, CA. While marijuana use is prevalent in nearly every community across the nation, Los Angeles provides sufficiently large populations to accommodate the recruiting specifications, as well as locally-based, research industry-accredited resources for efficient recruiting and facilitation of focus groups.

Focus groups will play an important role in gathering this information because they allow for more in-depth understanding of people’s attitudes, beliefs, and motivations than do other kinds of studies. If such information is not collected, it will be more difficult and less cost-effective for NHTSA to develop and distribute potentially life-saving messages to its target audience. 

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

Focus group respondents will correspond to the campaign’s target audience: Spanish-reliant male drivers ages 18 to 34 who are recreational users of marijuana. Two groups will be conducted, each composed of seven to nine pre-screened individuals matching that profile. Each group is projected to last 90 minutes in duration. (This total time is a combination of an “arrive early” window of 15 minutes plus 75-minute focus group session (but is exclusive of the 5-minute screening/recruiting time that’s noted in the burden hours section on the fourth page)). Although no more than eight participants will be seated for each group, more than eight per group will be recruited. Given the target market profile for this effort, twelve people will be recruited for each group in anticipation of at least eight showing. Even with advance confirmations from qualified recruits, the sensitive nature of the subject matter for this research necessitates the higher number of recruits. Should more than eight arrive on time, only eight will be seated in the group, and the others will be released (as well as paid their promised incentives). For the two groups, one city will be used, with two groups per city. The proposed city is relatively major in size and has marketing research industry-accredited focus group facilities available:

• Los Angeles, CA

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: ___Susan McMeen __________________________________________

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

Each respondent will be provided with $75 following her/his participation in a focus group session. This amount is in line with the industry standard, relative to focus group participation by people in the target market. These industry-standard stipends help to ensure that respondents can be recruited efficiently and ensure their arrival and participation in the groups. These standards exist to provide fair compensation for costs incurred by participants while attending groups, based on the location of and expenses in Los Angeles. As noted earlier, pre-screened and invited respondents who arrive on time but are released prior to the group will also be awarded their stipends (also in keeping with marketing research industry standards).

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	Number of Respondents per Category	Participation Time	Total Burden Hours (Number of Respondents x Participation Time)
Unqualified/Refusal Respondents: Individuals who will be contacted, but screened out or refuse participation	400	5 minutes per phone interview	33.3
Qualified & Confirmed-Acceptance Repondents Who Participate: Individuals who will meet screening criteria, accept participation, and participate in full group sessions	16	95 minutes 5 minutes screening + 15 minutes pre-group arrival + 75 minutes group discussion	25.3
Qualified & Accepted “No-Shows” or “Released-Shows”: Individuals who meet screening criteria and are accepted, but either do not show up for the group; or show up and are released prior to start of group	8	20 minutes for “Released-Shows”; (-0- minutes for “No-Shows”) 5 minutes screening + 15 minutes pre-group arrival (for burden hours calculation, assumption is all individuals are “Released-Shows”)	2.6
Totals	424		61.2 hours

TOTAL BURDEN HOURS: 61.2 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $19,900.

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?

Each focus group facility in each city does the recruiting on behalf of NHTSA and NHTSA’s contractor, The Tombras Group, as described in the screener.  The facility’s recruiting staff works primarily from a pool within its proprietary database of people in that marketplace who have previously submitted demographic, lifestyle and product preference information.  Upon receipt of a screener such as the one for this project, the recruitment manager at the focus group facility will filter the database to search for potential respondents in the designated age group (and any other relevant specs if the firm happens to have one or more of those other criteria established in the database).  Then the recruiters will use telephone calls to those potential respondents to administer the full screener.

 

In any given household, only one person will be screened and confirmed.

 

After going through the database, if the recruiters can't fill the specified total numbers and/or quotas, the secondary step is procuring sample from any of numerous national sample providers of names, addresses and phone numbers.  The recruiters will then make phone calls to this list until the recruiting is completed.

Administration of the Instrument

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

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[X] 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.

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