60-day Federal Register Notice

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ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED BURDEN HOURS
Average
burden per
response
(in hours)

Number of
responses per
respondent

Number of
respondents

Total burden
(in hours)

Type of respondents

Form name

International Panel Physicians ..........

TB Indicators REDCap web form ....

333

1

3

999

Total ...........................................

...........................................................

........................

........................

........................

999

Jeffrey M. Zirger,
Lead, Information Collection Review Office,
Office of Scientific Integrity, Office of Science,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2021–11148 Filed 5–25–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163–18–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention
[60Day-21–0222; Docket No. CDC–2021–
0051]

Proposed Data Collection Submitted
for Public Comment and
Recommendations
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS).
ACTION: Notice with comment period.
AGENCY:

The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), as part of
its continuing effort to reduce public
burden and maximize the utility of
government information, invites the
general public and other Federal
agencies the opportunity to comment on
a proposed and/or continuing
information collection, as required by
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
This notice invites comment on a
proposed information collection project
titled the Collaborating Center for
Questionnaire Design and Evaluation
Research (CCQDER). This generic
clearance request, requests approval for
collection of information that
encompasses general questionnaire
development, pre-testing, and
measurement-error reduction activities
to be carried out in 2021–2024.
DATES: CDC must receive written
comments on or before July 26, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments,
identified by Docket No. CDC–2021–
0051 by any of the following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal:
Regulations.gov. Follow the instructions
for submitting comments.
• Mail: Jeffrey M. Zirger, Information
Collection Review Office, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, 1600
SUMMARY:

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Clifton Road NE, MS–D74, Atlanta,
Georgia 30329.
Instructions: All submissions received
must include the agency name and
Docket Number. CDC will post, without
change, all relevant comments to
Regulations.gov.
Please note: Submit all comments
through the Federal eRulemaking portal
(regulations.gov) or by U.S. mail to the
address listed above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To
request more information on the
proposed project or to obtain a copy of
the information collection plan and
instruments, contact Jeffrey M. Zirger,
Information Collection Review Office,
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, MS–
D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; phone:
404–639–7118; Email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA)
(44 U.S.C. 3501–3520), Federal agencies
must obtain approval from the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for each
collection of information they conduct
or sponsor. In addition, the PRA also
requires Federal agencies to provide a
60-day notice in the Federal Register
concerning each proposed collection of
information, including each new
proposed collection, each proposed
extension of existing collection of
information, and each reinstatement of
previously approved information
collection before submitting the
collection to the OMB for approval. To
comply with this requirement, we are
publishing this notice of a proposed
data collection as described below.
The OMB is particularly interested in
comments that will help:
1. Evaluate whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the
functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have
practical utility;
2. Evaluate the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information,
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
3. Enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected;

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4. Minimize the burden of the
collection of information on those who
are to respond, including through the
use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology,
e.g., permitting electronic submissions
of responses; and
5. Assess information collection costs.
Proposed Project
The Collaborating Center for
Questionnaire Design and Evaluation
Research (CCQDER) (OMB Control No.
0920–0222, Exp. 08/31/2021)—
Revision—National Center for Health
Statistics (NCHS), Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC).
Background and Brief Description
Section 306 of the Public Health
Service (PHS) Act (42 U.S.C. 242k), as
amended, authorizes that the Secretary
of Health and Human Services (DHHS),
acting through NCHS, shall undertake
and support (by grant or contract)
research, demonstrations, and
evaluations respecting new or improved
methods for obtaining current data to
support statistical and epidemiological
activities for the purpose of improving
the effectiveness, efficiency, and quality
of health services in the United States.
The Collaborating Center for
Questionnaire Design and Evaluation
Research (CCQDER) is the focal point
within NCHS for questionnaire and
survey development, pre-testing, and
evaluation activities for CDC surveys
such as; the National Survey of Family
Growth (NSFG) (OMB Control No.
0920–0314), the Research and
Development Survey (RANDS),
including RANDS COVID (OMB Control
No. 0920–1298), and other federallysponsored surveys. The CCQDER is
requesting three additional years of
OMB Clearance for this generic
submission.
The CCQDER and other NCHS
programs conduct cognitive interviews,
focus groups, in-depth or ethnographic
interviews, usability tests, field tests/
pilot interviews, and experimental
research in laboratory and field settings,
both for applied questionnaire
development and evaluation, as well as

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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 100 / Wednesday, May 26, 2021 / Notices

more basic research on measurement
errors and survey response.
Various techniques to evaluate
interviewer administered, selfadministered, telephone, Computer
Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI),
Computer Assisted Self-Interviewing
(CASI), Audio Computer-Assisted SelfInterviewing (ACASI), and web-based
questionnaires are used.
The most common questionnaire
evaluation method is the cognitive
interview. These evaluations are
conducted by the CCQDER. The
interview structure consists of
respondents first answering a draft
survey question and then providing
textual information to reveal the
processes involved in answering the test
question. Specifically, cognitive
interview respondents are asked to
describe how and why they answered
the question as they did. Through the
interviewing process, various types of
question-response problems that would
not normally be identified in a
traditional survey interview, such as
interpretive errors and recall accuracy,
are uncovered. By conducting a
comparative analysis of cognitive
interviews, it is also possible to
determine whether particular
interpretive patterns occur within
particular sub-groups of the population.
Interviews are generally conducted in
small rounds totaling 40–100
interviews; ideally, the questionnaire is
re-worked between rounds, and
revisions are tested iteratively until
interviews yield relatively few new
insights.
Cognitive interviewing is inexpensive
and provides useful data on
questionnaire performance while
minimizing respondent burden.
Cognitive interviewing offers a detailed
depiction of meanings and processes
used by respondents to answer
questions—processes that ultimately
produce the survey data. As such, the
method offers an insight that can
transform understanding of question
validity and response error.
Documented findings from these studies
represent tangible evidence of how the
question performs. Such documentation
also serves CDC data users, allowing
them to be critical users in their
approach and application of the data.
In addition to cognitive interviewing,
a number of other qualitative and

In 2021–2024 NCHS/CCQDER staff
plans to continue research on methods
evaluation and general questionnaire
design research. We envision that over
the next three years, NCHS/CCQDER
will work collaboratively with survey
researchers from universities and other
Federal agencies to define and examine
several research areas, including, but
not limited to: (1) Differences between
face-to-face, telephone, and virtual/
video-over internet cognitive
interviewing, (2) effectiveness of
different approaches to cognitive
interviewing, such as concurrent and
retrospective probing, (3) reactions of
both survey respondents and survey
interviewers to the use of Computer
Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI),
Audio Computer-Assisted SelfInterview (ACASI), video-over internet/
virtual, (4) social, cultural and linguistic
factors in the question response process,
and (5) recruitment and respondent
participation at varying levels of
incentive, in an effort to establish
empirical evidence regarding
remuneration and coercion. Procedures
for each of these studies will be similar
to those applied in the usual testing of
survey questions. For example,
questionnaires that are of current
interest (such as RANDS and NIOSH)
may be evaluated using several of the
techniques described above. Or,
different versions of a survey question
will be developed, and the variants then
administered to separate groups of
respondents in order to study the
cognitive processes that account for the
differences in responses obtained across
different versions.
These studies will be conducted
either by CCQDER staff, DHHS staff, or
NCHS contractors who are trained in
cognitive interviewing techniques. The
results of these studies will be applied
to our specific questionnaire
development activities in order to
improve the methods that we use to
conduct questionnaire testing, and to
guide questionnaire design in general.
We are requesting 9,455 annualized
hours, totaling 28,365 over three years.
This is an increase of 1,672 hours per
year or 5,016 hours over three years.
The difference is due to an anticipated
increase in the number and size of
projects being undertaken. There is no
cost to respondents other than their time
to participate.

quantitative methods are used to
investigate and research measurement
errors and the survey response process.
These methods include conducting
focus groups, usability tests, in-depth or
ethnographic interviews, and the
administration and analysis of questions
in both representative and nonrepresentative field tests. Focus groups
are group interviews whose primary
purpose is to elicit the basic
sociocultural understandings and
terminology that form the basis of
questionnaire design. Each group
typically consists of one moderator and
four to 10 participants, depending on
the research question. In-depth or
ethnographic interviews are one-on-one
interviews designed to elicit the
understandings or terminology that are
necessary for question design, as well as
to gather detailed information that can
contribute to the analysis of both
qualitative and quantitative data.
Usability tests are typically one-on-one
interviews that are used to determine
how a given survey or information
collection tool functions in the field,
and how the mode and layout of the
instrument itself may contribute to
survey response error and the survey
response process.
In addition to these qualitative
methods, NCHS also uses various tools
to obtain quantitative data, which can
be analyzed alone or analyzed alongside
qualitative data to give a much fuller
accounting of the survey response
process. For instance, phone, internet,
mail, and in-person follow-up
interviews of previous NCHS survey
respondents may be used to test the
validity of survey questions and
questionnaires, and to obtain more
detailed information that cannot be
gathered on the original survey.
Additionally, field or pilot tests may be
conducted on both representative and
non-representative samples, including
those obtained from commercial survey
and web panel vendors. Beyond looking
at traditional measures of survey errors
(such as item missing rates and nonresponse, and don’t know rates), these
pilot tests can be used to run
experimental designs in order to capture
how different questions function in a
field setting. Similar methodology has
been adopted by other federal agencies,
as well as by academic and commercial
survey organizations.

ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED BURDEN TABLE
Number of
respondents

Types of respondents

Form name

Individuals or households .................

Eligibility Screeners ..........................

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Number of
responses per
respondent

Average hours
per response
(in hours)

1

5/60

4,400

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Total burden
hours
367

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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 100 / Wednesday, May 26, 2021 / Notices
ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED BURDEN TABLE—Continued
Form name

Individuals or households .................
Individuals or households .................
Individuals or households .................

Developmental Questionnaires ........
Respondent Data Collection Sheet ..
Focus Group Documents .................

Total ...........................................

...........................................................

Jeffrey M. Zirger,
Lead, Information Collection Review Office,
Office of Scientific Integrity, Office of Science,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2021–11147 Filed 5–25–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163–18–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and
Families
Proposed Information Collection
Activity; Office of Refugee
Resettlement Cash and Medical
Assistance Program Quarterly Report
on Expenditures and Obligations—
(ORR–2) (OMB #0970–0407)
Office of Refugee Resettlement
(ORR), Administration for Children and
Families, HHS.
ACTION: Request for public comment.
AGENCY:

The Office of Refugee
Resettlement (ORR) is requesting a
three-year extension of the ORR Cash
and Medical Assistance (CMA) Program
Quarterly Report on Expenditures and
Obligations (ORR–2) (OMB #0970–0407,
expiration 8/31/2021). There are no
changes requested to the form.
DATES: Comments due within 60 days of
publication. In compliance with the
requirements of the Paperwork
SUMMARY:

Number of
responses per
respondent

Average hours
per response
(in hours)

8,750
8,750
225

1
1
1

55/60
5/60
90/60

8,021
729
338

........................

........................

........................

9,455

Number of
respondents

Types of respondents

Reduction Act of 1995, ACF is soliciting
public comment on the specific aspects
of the information collection described
above.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the proposed
collection of information can be
obtained and comments may be
forwarded by emailing infocollection@
acf.hhs.gov. Alternatively, copies can
also be obtained by writing to the
Administration for Children and
Families, Office of Planning, Research,
and Evaluation (OPRE), 330 C Street
SW, Washington, DC 20201, Attn: ACF
Reports Clearance Officer. All requests,
emailed or written, should be identified
by the title of the information collection.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Description: The Office of Refugee
Resettlement (ORR) reimburses, to the
extent of available appropriations,
certain non-federal costs for the
provision of cash and medical
assistance to refugees, along with
allowable expenses for the
administration the refugee resettlement
program at the State level. States and
Replacement Designees currently
submit the ORR–2 Quarterly Report on
Expenditures and Obligations, which
provides aggregate expenditure and
obligation data. The ORR–2 collects
expenditures and obligations data
separately for each of the four CMA
program components: Refugee cash
assistance, refugee medical assistance,

Total burden
hours

cash and medical assistance
administration, and services for
unaccompanied minors. This
breakdown of financial status data
allows ORR to track program
expenditures in greater detail to
anticipate any funding issues and to
meet the requirements of ORR
regulations at CFR 400.211 to collect
these data for use in estimating future
costs of the refugee resettlement
program. ORR must implement the
methodology at CFR 400.211 each year
after receipt of its annual appropriation
to ensure that appropriated funds will
be adequate for reimbursement to states
of the costs for assistance provided to
entering refugees. The estimating
methodology prescribed in the
regulations requires the use of actual
past costs by program component. If the
methodology indicates that
appropriated funds are inadequate, ORR
must take steps to reduce federal
expenses, such as by limiting the
number of months of eligibility for
Refugee Cash Assistance and Refugee
Medical Assistance. The ORR–2 is a
single-page financial report that allows
ORR to collect the necessary data to
ensure that funds are adequate for the
projected need and thereby meet the
requirements of both the Refugee Act
and ORR regulations.
Respondents: State governments and
Replacement Designees.

ANNUAL BURDEN ESTIMATES
Instrument

Total number
of respondents

Annual
number of
responses per
respondent

Average
burden hours
per response

Annual
burden hours

ORR Financial Status Report Cash and Medical Assistance Program, Quarterly Report on Expenditures and Obligations .............................................

66

4

1.5

396

Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: 396.
Comments: The Department
specifically requests comments on (a)
whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
agency, including whether the

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information shall have practical utility;
(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate
of the burden of the proposed collection
of information; (c) the quality, utility,
and clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on respondents, including through the

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use of automated collection techniques
or other forms of information
technology. Consideration will be given
to comments and suggestions submitted
within 60 days of this publication.
Authority: 8 U.S.C. 1522 of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act)
(Title IV, Sec. 412 of the Act) for each state

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