TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Focus Groups for Traffic and Motor Vehicle
Safety Programs and Activities
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 a new public service campaign designed to reduce fatalities and injuries that result from distracted driving. The campaign focuses on texting and driving behavior and targets U.S. drivers, age 18-34.
The goal of this research is to help NHTSA develop its communications strategy for the campaign. We propose conducting qualitative focus group sessions among U.S. drivers, age 18-34, to help assess creative concepts and to identify their level of awareness of existing distracted driving messages, as well as key attitudes and behaviors surrounding distracted driving. We intend to use this research to help create a communications strategy that will be most effective in influencing the driving choices of our target audience. Focus groups will play an important role in gathering 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 for NHTSA to develop and distribute effective messages to our target audience.
Focus groups will be conducted by Good Run Research, a qualitative vendor who employs moderators who also specialize in the young adult target. Talking to our target audience will help Good Run understand attitudes, beliefs and motivations, and which types of messages would be most effective at changing their behavior related to this issue.
DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:
Our recommended data collection method is qualitative focus groups among U.S. drivers, age 18-34. Screening criteria will require that all respondents hold a driver’s license, drive at least 3 days per week, and currently use the texting function on their cell phones while driving.
We recommend conducting a total of 4 focus groups. Each will be 75 minutes in length. The focus group discussions will be conducted in two geographically diverse locations (Kansas City, MO and Boston, MA) and will be segmented by age group (i.e. 18-24 and 25-34). For each focus group, we will recruit four participants and 1-2 of their friends whom they text with on a regular basis. This recruitment strategy will encourage accountability and honesty among individuals who typically engage in texting behavior together. Especially with younger respondents, this type of discussion that includes friends fosters an environment where respondents are more open to sharing their opinions more quickly than when they are among a group of only strangers.
We will recruit 11-12 participants to seat a maximum of 9 participants per group. Extra recruits are to account for potential late cancellations or “no-shows. Should more than 9 participants show up at the research facility, extra recruits will be dismissed and each person will receive the full incentive as a thank you for their time. Determining who to dismiss will depend on the overall mix of participants and friendship groups in attendance.
The breakdown is outlined in the chart below.
Kansas City, MO |
Boston, MA |
Group 1: 9 respondents, ages 18-24 |
Group 3: 9 respondents, ages 18-24 |
Group 2: 9 respondents, ages 25-34 |
Group 4: 9 respondents, ages 25-34 |
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:
The collection is voluntary.
The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.
The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.
The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.
Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.
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:
Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X] No
If Yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No
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
Respondent Type |
No. of Respondents |
Average Burden per Response |
Total Burden Hours |
Unqualified/Refusal Respondents: total number of individuals who will be contacted, but screened out or refuse participation |
240 |
2.5 minutes |
10 hrs |
Screened Respondents: total number of individuals fully screened to participate in the focus group discussion |
48 |
10 minute phone interview |
8 hours |
Focus Group Respondents: total number of individuals screened in and participating in the focus group discussion |
36 |
75 minute discussion + 15 minute wait time (1.5 hours) |
54 hours |
Recruited “No-Shows”: total number of individuals screened in but do not show or participate during research period |
4
|
5 minutes |
20 minutes |
Extra Friendship Pair Recruit: Extra recruits who show up for the focus group but are no longer needed due to max capacity |
4 |
30 minutes |
2 hours |
|
|
|
TOTAL BURDEN HOURS: 72 hours and 40 minutes
On average, incidence of qualified respondents for any project is about 25% success. Given this is a more sensitive topic, we estimate that incidence will be slightly lower at approximately 20%.
FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $30,000
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
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?
Please see recruitment screener attached. Good Run will work with focus group facilities in both markets to screen and recruit participants using their own databases of participants who have signed up to be part of their database of local adults who are willing to be contacted for potential participation in focus groups. These focus group facilities will call potential respondents on the phone, and, using the screener attached, will find participants and schedule their focus group times. During the focus groups, moderators from Good Run will walk respondents through the discussion guide.
We will target participants based on these demographics:
Gender (recruiting a mix)
Not employed in industries that would make them overly knowledgeable about the topic (e.g. marketing, law enforcement, government)
Haven’t participated in other focus groups within past 6 months (to avoid ‘professional respondents’)
Age (recruiting a mix of ages 18-34)
Ethnicity (Hispanic or not; recruit a mix)
Race (accepting multiple responses for race; recruit a mix)
Educational attainment (recruit a mix of levels above Grade 8)
Possession of valid driver’s license (recruit only those with valid license)
Driving behavior (drive 3+ days/week)
Possession of cell phone and type (recruit only those who have a cell phone)
Cell phone behavior (recruit those who send or receive text messages)
Cell phone behavior while driving (recruit those who 1+ times in the past 12 months have read or sent a text while driving)
Texting and driving attitude (recruit those who believe “it is not a big deal to sometimes text while driving if you can do it” or “it is okay to text while safely stopped at a red light, but never while driving.”)
Household income (recruit a mix)
Administration of the Instrument
How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)
[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media
[X] Telephone
[X] In-person
[ ] 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.
Please see discussion guide and screener.
File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
Author | Culbreath, Walter (NHTSA) |
File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
File Created | 2021-01-16 |