Focus Group Interviews and User Testing to Assess Hunter Attitudes toward the HIP Questions and Migratory Bird Harvest Survey

OMB Control No. 1090-0011

Expires 10/31/2020

Focus Group Guide

Division of Migratory Bird Management

Harvest Information Program and Online Harvest Survey

DJ Case & Associates

DRAFT: October 6, 2020

Thank you all for joining us. I’m Phil Seng, I work at DJ Case and Associates. We work with state and federal agencies and nonprofit organizations all over the country on conservation-related research and communications. I’m also a lifelong <species> hunter, so this topic is near and dear to my heart.

For this project, DJ Case is working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Division of Migratory Bird Management to understand migratory bird hunters’ awareness, perceptions of, and experience with Harvest Information Program (HIP) Certification and the National Migratory Bird Hunter Survey.

Three quick things you should know:

1. I want to assure you that we are not here to persuade you of anything or to sell you anything. We just want your honest opinions.

2. We are recording this session. That’s simply for notetaking purposes. I hope to capture WHAT you say very accurately, but we will never attach your name to any of your comments. And no one outside of the team assigned to this research process will be able to link a specific individual with a specific quote or response. Does anyone have any questions about that? Can you please give me a thumbs up if you’re okay with us recording this session?

3. Also, in the interest of full disclosure, there are X people from the research team watching in real time today. Like me, they are most eager to hear your thoughts on how we might improve the harvest survey process.

We’ll start the focus group in a moment, but before we get started, I need to read you a couple of statements. This is a federal information collection, so I am required to give you the following information:

Introductions

Tonight, we will be discussing a variety of topics and asking you questions about them. For some of our questions I will go around the virtual room and ask every one of you to answer. Other times, I will just ask for general comments. You don’t HAVE to answer anything, so if I ask you a question and you choose not to answer just say “pass” and I’ll move on.

I apologize in advance if I have to cut anyone off or move past a topic before you’ve had a chance to fully discuss it, but we have a lot of ground to cover in a short amount of time. We will finish promptly at <time> p.m. After we finish, we will stick around to answer any questions you might have.

And a quick reminder that we will be mailing you a $40 VISA gift card for your participation in the interview and a $10 VISA gift card for participating in the testing to thank you for sharing your time with us tonight.

Before we get started, does anyone have any questions?

To start, let’s do quick introductions. Please tell us your name and what kinds of migratory birds you like to hunt. [Maybe follow up with each one asking how long they’ve been hunting their favorite mig birds.]

That’s great, thanks.

Harvest Information Program (HIP)

Goal: To understand migratory bird hunters’ awareness of the purpose of HIP Certification and their perception of the HIP screening questions.

We want to start out with a broad set of questions about how familiar you are with the migratory bird licensing process.

1. Just working from memory, please tell me what kinds of licenses, permits, certifications, stamps, or other permissions you need in order to hunt <species> in your state. [Let them build the list as a group]

2. By a show of hands, how many of you know what the Harvest Information Program, also known as the “HIP Program” is? Could you explain it to a fellow hunter?

It’s called the Harvest Information Program (HIP). Its purpose is to collect contact information for migratory bird hunters, which the USFWS then uses to select the hunters who will receive a harvest survey that year.

Now I’d like to show you the core set of HIP questions. Keep in mind the format of the questions varies from state to state, and states may add additional questions as well, but these are the basic questions that must be included.

3. Now that you have seen this list, do you recall answering these questions? Please raise your hand if you DO remember answering these questions before.

4. What, if any, concerns do you have with answering these questions?

5. When thinking about the number of birds you harvested in a previous season, how easy is it for you to remember that information?

Possible Probe: Do you provide an average or typical number that you harvest, or do you remember the exact number harvested?

*NOTE: The following questions do not relate to a specific HIP question, but are meant to explore other options for potential HIP questions that may work better for stratifying the harvest survey sample

6. Before the hunting season starts, how would you estimate the number of birds you think you will take in the upcoming season? What things do you consider when making such an estimate?

7. What events/issues might affect whether you are able to hunt or not during the season?

Harvest Survey

Goal: To understand migratory bird hunters’ motivations as they relate to harvest surveys and enhance their experience with the online harvest survey.

As I mentioned, the HIP Certification you complete when you buy your license gives the USFWS the pool of all possible migratory bird hunters. The Service then draws a sample of hunters from that pool and sends them a harvest survey. So now I'd like to switch gears and discuss that harvest survey.

1. By a show of hands, have you ever participated in the USFWS’s national survey asking hunters about their migratory bird harvest? Remember, I’m NOT asking about the HIP questions that we just discussed, but rather the full harvest survey that asks about your specific hunting results in a specific year.

2. Do you think it would be important to participate in such a survey? Why or why not?

Facilitator: Tells them why it is important.

Now we would like you to test the harvest survey for us. We will provide you a fictitious hunting trip scenario and we’d like you to use the information to complete the online harvest survey. While you’re doing this, think about how the survey could be improved or made easier. In a minute we will ask you to follow the user testing link we have provided in the meeting chat. But first we’ll step you through the process, so you will know what to expect.

Guide participants through the user testing process: 1) accessing the testing site; 2) setup of video and audio; 3) four tasks to complete; 4) necessary information to complete tasks – 12-digit access code and hunting scenarios; 5) completing tasks and submitting results; and returning to Zoom meeting.

After clicking the link you will need to leave this current Zoom meeting. If you have any issues the user testing link is also provided in your confirmation email, as well as in the meeting invitation. Remember, you will need the 12-digit access code that was provided to you in the same email as the user testing link. After you complete the survey, please come back to this Zoom meeting.

Does anyone have any questions?

Let’s all plan to be back in 10 minutes, even if you haven’t finished the user test.

After participants return to the virtual meeting room:

3. What do you think of the online harvest survey process? How could we make it easier?

Possible probes: What did you like about the online harvest survey process? What did you dislike about the online harvest survey process?

4. Were there steps in the process you had difficulty completing? If so, what made them difficult?

5. What do you think of the online harvest survey registration process? How could we make it easier?

6. Thinking about your own specific hunting experiences (NOT the user testing information you just used), how easily do you think you could recall the information needed to answer the harvest survey questions?

7. Would you prefer to report the number of birds you shot as daily harvest totals or season harvest totals? Why?

8. Think about the number of times you go bird hunting during a typical season. Would needing to enter your harvest totals after each hunt affect your participation in the survey?

9. Are there ways (other than this online survey) that you would prefer to provide harvest information, and why would that be more appealing to you?

10. Would you prefer to receive the survey before hunting season starts, right at the beginning of the season, mid-way through the season, or after the season is over?

11. How would the timing of when you receive the survey affect your choice to provide season totals or daily harvest totals?

Wrap-Up

12. We know from the survey data collected in previous years that some hunters have not entered accurate information. Can you think of any reasons why this might happen?

Possible Probes: Have you ever heard of hunters underestimating their harvests because they fear large numbers might reduce next year’s bag limits? Have you ever heard of hunters reporting harvests for their entire party and not just themselves?

13. Now that we’ve talked about the HIP Certification and the National Migratory Bird Harvest Survey for almost 2 hours, are there any additional comments or observations about either that you’d liked to share?

Those are all the questions I have for you. Any final thoughts, or additional things you’d like to add?

Thank you, everyone! I know you are busy, and we appreciate your taking the time to chat with us tonight.

Appendix: 1 User Testing Scenario/Instructions

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: We are collecting this information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501) to assess hunter attitudes toward the Harvest Information Program (HIP) and Migratory Bird Harvest Survey. Your response is voluntary and we will not share your response publicly. We may not conduct or sponsor and you are not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB Control Number. OMB has reviewed and approved this focus group and assigned OMB Control Number 1090-0011.

Estimated Burden Statement: We estimate it will take 1 hour 45 minutes for the interview and 15 minutes for the testing, including time to read instructions and gather information. You may submit comments on any aspect of this information collection to the Service Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB (JAO/3W), Falls Church, VA 22041-3803, or via email at [email protected].