Generic 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 Development of a National Public Service Awareness Campaign to Reduce Alcohol-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 support of this mission, NHTSA is developing new creative for one of its donated media social norming public service campaigns, which is focused on alcohol-impaired driving. The campaign is intended to raise awareness of the dangers of ‘buzzed’ driving to the campaign’s target audience and to influence their behavior to reduce alcohol-impaired driving.

The goal of this research is to help NHTSA test creative concepts for the social norming campaign. We propose conducting qualitative focus groups among young males age 21-34 to understand their feedback in relation to public service advertising concepts for the buzzed driving prevention initiative. We intend to use this research to help understand which communications will be most effective in influencing the choices of young males to not drive while impaired. Focus groups will play an important role in gathering information because they allow for a more in-depth understanding of people’s beliefs and motivations than do other kinds of studies. If such information is not collected, it will be more difficult for NHTSA to develop and distribute effective messages to our target audience. 

Focus groups will be conducted by The Magnetic Collective, a qualitative vendor who employs moderators with expertise working on social-cause campaigns and sensitive topics.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

Our recommended data collection method is qualitative focus groups among young adult males age 21-34. Groups will include two core subgroups within the target audience to account for different lifestyles and life stages within the larger target audience. The two groups include: a) 28-34-year-old “budget-conscious” males who skew towards lower-income and more rural, and b) 21-29-year-old “risk and reward seeker” males who skew higher income and suburban. We worked with a media agency OMD Worldwide, who used their data analytics platform to help generate insights for the broader 21-34-year-old male audience and build the nuanced targets. We are still recruiting for a mix of key demographics across the two subgroups.

We recommend conducting a total of 6 focus groups. Each will be 90 minutes in length. The focus group discussions will be conducted in three geographically diverse locations (Nashville, TN; Omaha, NE; and Phoenix, AZ). Locations were chosen to account for different regions of the country where we could meet the recruiting specifications.

9 participants will be recruited for each individual focus group. However, each group will be conducted among a maximum of 6 participants. The 3 additional respondents per group will account for anticipated no-shows and/or cancellations. If all 9 participants show up, 3 will be paid and released. This is included in the cost outlined later in this document.

Key screening criteria is outlined below. The attached recruitment screener includes additional detail.

All groups

• Men only, age 21-34

• Mix of race/ethnicities, life stage, marital status, children

• Must hold a driver’s license and drive regularly

• Must drink alcohol

• Screen out highly likely to avoid ‘buzzed’ driving

• Articulate and engaged

Budget conscious: (skewing older, e.g. 28-34)

• Suburban skew (and rural, as possible)

• HHI: $20k-75k (mix within range)

• Screened for attitudes: budget-conscious

Risk & reward seekers: (skewing younger, e.g. 21-29)

• Suburban skew (non-city center)

• HH Income: $50k+ (mix at this level)

• Screened for attitudes: social/friends influence, risk-takers

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 questions:

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 cash (no social security numbers will be collected) following their 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 each market.

BURDEN HOURS

Note: On average, incidence of qualified respondents for any project with the market research facilities is about 25% success. We used this percentage to estimate the numbers below.

Category of Respondents	No. of Respondents	Average Burden per Response (hours)	Total Burden Hours
Unqualified/Refusal Respondents: total number of individuals who will be contacted, but screened out or refuse participation	162	2.5 min (0.042 hours)	6.8 hours
Recruits for screening interview	54	10 minute phone interview (0.167 hours)	9 hours
Confirmation call	54	1 minute phone scheduling confirmation (0.016 hours)	.9 hours
Focus group participants expected to show	36	90 minute discussion + 15 minute wait time (1.75 hours)	63 hours
			79.7 hours

TOTAL BURDEN HOURS: 79.7 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $65,000.

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

2. 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?

The Magnetic Collective will work with focus group facilities in all three markets to screen and recruit participants. Each focus group facility does the recruiting on NHTSA’s behalf, per the screeners NHTSA provides. The facility’s recruiting staff works from a pool within their proprietary database of people in that particular marketplace who have previously submitted demographic, lifestyle and product preference information. Some facilities may supplement their database with social media ads, social media groups and local listservs to find appropriate participants if they are unable to fulfill recruitment criteria through their existing database; all participation is by invitation and voluntary.

Based on submission of NHTSA’s screener, the recruitment manager will filter the database to search for potential respondents in the project’s specifications. The facilities may send an initial email for availability and basic demos. Recruiters will place telephone calls to those potential respondents to administer the full screener.

Once fully screened, qualified participants are scheduled for the appropriate group. Confirmation emails and calls are made the day before research. If any participant is no longer available, they are replaced with other qualified participants. When participants arrive at the facility for the workshops, they are rescreened by the consultants in the waiting room. If more than 6 recruited individuals show up, the extra participants are paid and sent home.

Administration of the Instrument

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

[X] 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.

Please see discussion guide and screener attached.