Terms of Clearance

Note to Reviewer of 1220-0109 – Terms of Clearance

Terms of Clearance (10/3/2018): Terms of the previous clearance remain in effect. OMB approves the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Main National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) and the BLS

NLSY79 Young Adult Survey (YAS) information collections as outlined in this package with the following condition: the proposed final push incentive (enhanced) for the Main NLSY79 and the web appointment setting incentive for both surveys are not approved for use at this time. OMB will reconsider approval of these elements of the package after receiving additional information from BLS through a non-substantive change mechanism. In addition, BLS commits to conducting a systematic evaluation of the burden and utility of the existing and new survey questions and improving the documentation of its data access policies and procedures for these surveys (see supplemental document entitled Supplemental Terms of

Clearance_03Oct2018.docx.docx).

BLS complied with the Terms of Clearance specified by OMB on 10/3/2018. BLS submitted a nonsubstantive change on 1/10/2019 for approval of the enhanced push incentive which was approved by OMB on 2/11/2019.

Terms of Clearance (2/11/2019): OMB approves the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Main National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) and the BLS NLSY79 Young Adult Survey (YAS) information collections as outlined in this package (including the use of the final push incentive (enhanced)) with the following condition: the web appointment setting incentive for both surveys are not approved for use at this time. OMB will reconsider approval of these elements of the package after receiving additional information from BLS through a non-substantive change mechanism. In addition, BLS commits to conducting a systematic evaluation of the burden and utility of the existing and new survey questions and improving the documentation of its data access policies and procedures for these surveys (see supplemental document entitled Supplemental Terms of Clearance_03Oct2018.docx.docx).

Supplemental Terms of Clearance (03Oct2018):

OMB is committed to working with BLS to improve its public documentation of the quality, burden, confidentiality protection, and data access of these collections, consistent with the PRA. Specifically, by April 30, 2019, BLS should share with OMB a detailed plan of action (including a timeline that ensures sufficient progress is made in advance of the next round of both surveys) for (1) evaluating burden and utility of the existing survey questions on both the Main NLSY79 and the NLSY79 YAS, (2) developing criteria for new survey items for future rounds of both surveys, and (3) documenting its microdata access strategy and pre-dissemination disclosure review for both surveys. BLS should the upload the timeline into ROCIS the next time after April 30, 2019, that it submits a change request.

The timeline should ensure sufficient progress is made in advance of the next round of both surveys, but it is expected that this work will continue beyond the next round of both surveys. With respect to the YAS survey in particular, BLS is encouraged to provide more guidance in the area of question development, ensuring that the decision process for including questions is informed by approaches available to maximize the value of the resulting data (e.g., ensuring that the need of the new questions is justified and ensuring that sufficient sample size exists). As a general matter, OMB recommends that national surveys: i) ensure that new questions have undergone rigorous cognitive testing, and, if additional testing is needed, it is desirable to coordinate such testing with other agencies who seek data on similar topics; ii) work in the direction of harmonizing, to the extent meaningful, question wording for core and rotating modules with question wording on the principal nationally-representative surveys on a given topic (e.g., the National Health Interview Survey, National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the Current Population Survey, the American Housing Survey, etc.), which requires consultation with experts across the Federal Statistical System; and iii) provide empirical support for questions on the surveys. When BLS submits changes to the base questionnaire for approval under the PRA for the next round, BLS should, with OMB’s assistance, provide a crosswalk with comparable questions in existing national surveys. Duplication should be identified and justified.

BLS has complied with the Terms of Clearance specified by OMB on 2/11/2019. BLS submitted the timeline to OMB by email on 7/9/2019 for the justification to evaluate the burden and utility of the existing survey questions on both the Main NLSY79 and the NLSY79 YA and is now submitting it into ROCIS with this submission. BLS is submitting with this submission the work completed to date on the justification documents for the Main NLSY79 and the NLSY79 YA surveys.