Fast Track Request iCURE Focus Group

Request for Approval under the

“Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback”

(OMB#: 0925-0642, Expiration Date: 05/31/2020)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

Participant and Mentor Focus Groups for the Intramural Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences (iCURE) Program

PURPOSE:

The Intramural Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences (iCURE) program supports mentored research experiences and promotes career progress for qualified post-baccalaureate (including post masters) individuals, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows in the multidisciplinary National Cancer Institute (NCI) intramural research environment. iCURE fosters and sustains diversity in the NCI, and strongly encourages the participation of individuals from underrepresented populations in alignment with NCI’s interest in diversity.

There will be three focus groups, consisting of up to six iCURE scholars each. The three focus groups will involve postbacs, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, respectively.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

The respondents of the focus groups will include current iCURE scholars (CRTA fellows).

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:______Alison Lin_______________

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, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No N/A

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No N/A

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants?

[ ] Yes [X] No

ESTIMATED BURDEN HOURS and COSTS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	No. of Responses per Respondent	Time per Response (in hours)	Total Burden Hours
Individuals – Focus Group	15	1	90/60	23
Totals		15		23

Category of Respondent	Total Burden Hours	Hourly Wage Rate*	Total Burden Cost
Individuals - Focus Group	23	$23.52	$ 540.96
Totals			$540.96

*Source of mean Hourly Wage Rate based on the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Research Training Award average stipend for fellows in Categories 2 (0-3 years of experience), 3 (0-2 years of experience), 4 (within 2 years) and 5 (0-4 years of experience). (https://www.cancer.gov/grants-training/training/at-nci/crta/crta.pdf)

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $290.88

Staff	Grade/Step	Salary**	% of Effort	Fringe (if applicable)	Total Cost to Gov’t
Federal Oversight
Health Science Administrator	13/5	$116,353	.0025%		$290.88
Contractor Cost					$0
Travel					$0
Other Cost					$0
Total					$290.88

**The salary in the table above is cited from https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/pdf/2020/DCB.pdf

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

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?

This will be an inclusing sampling of all current iCURE scholars. They will be divided into three groups based on their training level (e.g., Postbaccalaureates, Graduate (including Masters) Students and Postdoctoral Fellows).

Administration of the Instrument

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

[ ]Web-based or other forms of Social Media (surveys)

[ ] Telephone

[X] In-person (focus groups)

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [X] Yes [ ] No

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

5