Generic Clearance Sumission - CIOT Focus Groups Pickup Truck Drivers

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 National Communications Campaign to Increase Seat Belt Use Among Pickup Truck Drivers

PURPOSE:

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) was established by the Highway Safety Act of 1970 (23 U.S.C. 101) 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 proposes to conduct information collections to assess the public’s attitudes, understandings and perceptions about advertising ideas to encourage use of seat belts.

According to statistics published by NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis:

• In 2018, there were 9,778 unrestrained passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in the U.S.

• Seat belt use was virtually unchanged from 89.7 percent in 2017 to 89.6 percent in 2018, with one in 10 drivers and/or passengers on average still remaining unrestrained.

• According to data provided by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 59 percent of pickup truck occupants who were killed in 2018 were not buckled. That’s compared to 42 percent of passenger car occupants who were not wearing seat belts when they were killed.

• According to data provided by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis, people who live in rural areas might believe that their crash exposure is lower, but in 2018, there were 12,068 passenger vehicle fatalities in rural locations, compared to 10,330 fatalities in urban locations. Out of those fatalities, 49 percent of those killed in the rural locations were not wearing their seat belts, compared to 45 percent in urban locations.

• The percentage of unrestrained fatalities during the nighttime increased from 55 percent in 2017 to 56 percent in 2018.

Source:

National Center for Statistics and Analysis. (2019, October). 2018 fatal motor vehicle crashes: Overview. (Traffic Safety Facts Research Note. Report No. DOT HS 812 826). Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

These fatalities are preventable if drivers are informed, reminded and influenced to use their seat belt every time they are in a vehicle. Therefore, an integral part of NHTSA’s plan is development of a public communications campaign to remind people that driving while not wearing a seat belt is against the law (which is the case in all states except New Hampshire). To that end, NHTSA intends to implement its Click It or Ticket campaign, which will support law enforcement agencies across the nation as they step up enforcement of seat belt laws.

NHTSA is seeking approval of an information collection to evaluate concepts for four TV advertisements designed to influence how drivers and passengers think about the risk, consequences and dangers of not wearing seat belt and to encourage them to wear their seat belt every time they drive or ride in a vehicle. Knowledge gained from this research will improve the agency’s ability to deliver effective communications that clearly convey the personal costs (physical and emotional) of not wearing a seat belt (tickets/points, physical injury or death to self or others, emotional injury to loved ones) and promote awareness of police stepping up enforcement of seat belt laws.

Focus groups will play an important role in gathering this information because they allow for more in-depth understanding of people’s attitudes, understandings 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 align with the primary demographic target for the creative campaign and will include U.S. males ages 18-34 years old who reside in or near rural areas, drive pickup trucks and do not wear a seat belt 100% of the time (either as a driver or passenger). In addition, participants will be screened to ensure a good mix of key demographic criteria (gender, race/ethnicity and employment status) as well as specific socioeconomic factors (household income and education).

To ensure we are sampling a diverse set of perspectives, the focus group sessions will be held in three target locations: Richmond, Virginia (to allow for easy access for NHTSA to view and is adjacent to rural areas of Virginia and under-indexes on seat belt usage); Des Moines, Iowa (a mid-west market adjacent to rural areas and has seen a recent decline in seat belt usage and has a higher than average concentration of pickup truck owners); and Salt Lake City, Utah (a western market adjacent to rural areas and has a higher than average concentration of pickup truck owners). The facilities will screen all participants to ensure they live in a rural area and the recruiter will target respondents from their database who reside in more rural regions in proximity to the facility. Because respondents will be pulled from the facilities database, we don’t anticipate driving to the facility to be a major barrier to participation.

 

The focus groups will recruit 11 participants per group with the intention to seat nine. There will be two groups per market and three markets overall. A total of 66 participants will be recruited to seat 54. The table below shows our expected recruits per market, per group.

	Location 1 Richmond, VA	Location 2 Des Moines, IA	Location 3 Salt Lake City, UT	TOTAL
6pm Group	Recruit 11 to seat 9	Recruit 11 to seat 9	Recruit 11 to seat 9	Recruit 33 to seat 27
8pm Group	Recruit 11 to seat 9	Recruit 11 to seat 9	Recruit 11 to seat 9	Recruit 33 to seat 27
Total	Recruit 22 to seat 18	Recruit 22 to seat 18	Recruit 22 to seat 18	Recruit 66 to seat 54

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? [X] Yes [ ] No

The third-party vendor collects information from the research participants in order to provide them with the incentive. No PII is reported to NHTSA. No responses will be connected to individual respondents; only aggregate data will be reported.

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

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [X] 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 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. It is standard practice to provide a basic incentive in order to avoid bias of receiving responses only from individuals generally predisposed to be helpful. These industry-standard stipends help to ensure that respondents can be recruited efficiently and ensure their arrival and participation in the groups. 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	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Pre-screen completes (Individuals / Households) (Initial outreach from facility to find potential respondents interested in participating in research and meet screening requirements – estimated 5% incidence)	1,500	3.5 minutes	87.5 hours
Validation screener (Individuals / Households) (Follow-up among those who qualify, and fit quota targets for screening)	75	1.5 minutes	1.9 hours
Seated Respondents (Individuals / Households) (execution of the groups among those who are interested, qualify and are available the date/time of the groups)	54	75 minutes	67.5 hours
GRAND TOTAL BURDEN HOURS			156.9 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $121,100.00.

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?

NHTSA plans to work with existing contractor, Stratacomm, who will hire professional focus group facilities (third-party vendors) to recruit individuals that meet the criteria for each audience. Each facility maintains a database of potential participants in the local area that will serve as the sample frames for this research. Convenience samples of research participants from the focus group facilities will be screened and recruited to reflect the target audience.

Recruitment will take place using seasoned recruiters from each facility who will make calls to prospective participants within their respective operating area. After being pre-screened on the telephone an email invitation and reminder will be sent to individual qualified participants, followed by additional instructions with expected start and arrival times and facility directions. Recruitment will be monitored to ensure screening recruirements are met and respondents include a mixture of race/ethnicity, employment, income and education. Participants will complete a short validation screener at the facility prior to being seated at the focus group.

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 (pre-screening)

[X] In-person (validation screening at facility & participant discussion)

[ ] 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. Note: Agencies should only collect PII to the extent necessary, and they should only retain PII for the period of time that is necessary to achieve a specific objective.

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 per row.

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.

Submit all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

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