0704-XXXX_DAFR_SSB Field Research 6.27.2023

Supporting Statement B for Paperwork Reduction Act Generic Information Collection Submissions for: Independent Analysis and Recommendations on Domestic Abuse in the Armed Forces: Field Research – 0704-DAFR

B.  COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS

1.  Description of the Activity

The activities under this clearance may involve statistical samples, self-selected participants, (i.e., convenience samples), and quota samples, with respondents selected to cover a broad range of participants. Participants will include the military population, which may include those on Active-Duty status (i.e., Title 10), Reserve (i.e., Title 32), as well as civilian personnel. Participants may also include civilian employees of the DoD, including those employed by the military Departments or the National Guard Bureau. The specific sample planned for each individual collection and the method for soliciting participation will be described fully in each collection request.

To identify participants for the Field Research’s interviews, we will first select a set of 8-12 installations. Selection will be purposeful based on service (proportionate to the size of the active-duty population of each service) and risk for domestic abuse (low or high).

Based on concern that some installation FAP offices may be overtasked with research requirements, we will first select an oversample of installations. Next, we will consult with FAP headquarter offices to determine if any of the installations in the proposed sample have been overtasked with research responsibilities in the past year. Installations that have been overtasked will be replaced with the next installation that met the same criteria (i.e., branch by domestic abuse risk).

Once the final set of 8-12 installations have been selected, we will send emails to key POCs at each installation (e.g., FAP managers, affiliated service providers/practitioners) to request that they consider participating in a voluntary interview. We will use snowball sampling to identify other key stakeholders with expertise on the topic by asking each of the key POCs to nominate individuals with knowledge about the topic who will be subsequently invited to participate in an interview. If a given category of provider is not well represented (e.g., leaders who have managed domestic abuse cases), we will work collaboratively with DoD FAP and the service FAP offices to identify individuals within the category to interview. Scholars in each topic area will be recruited directly by identifying prominent authors in the published literature and inviting them by email. 2.  Procedures for the Collection of Information

Data collection methods and procedures will vary and the specifics of these will be provided with each collection request. Mixed-methods (quantitative and qualitative) research is a method used to conduct research to inform improvements to programs and policies, or to support the process, outcome, or impact evaluations of interventions, programs, or policies related to the recommendations on Domestic Abuse in the Armed Forces.

The field research will gather perspectives from military practitioners, leaders, and allied professionals on each research question. RAND will select 8-12 installations from which we will recruit interviewees. Installations will be selected based on level of domestic abuse risk (high, medium, low) with the number of installations per service proportionate to the size of the service branches. For example, there will be more Army than Marine Corps installations because the Army is larger. RAND will work with the services to ensure that the selected installations are not already overburdened with other tasks.

Once the installations are selected, RAND will work with the sponsor and with the point of contact at each installation to identify and recruit key stakeholders from the installation. Potential interviewees include:

1. U.S. military program or service providers/practitioners including FAP staff members and allied health professionals. (Research Questions A-E)

2. U.S. military commanders or senior noncommissioned officers with recent experience managing a domestic abuse case or cases. (Research Questions A-E)

3. DoDEA and community school administrators, teachers, and counselors. (Research Question D)

The RAND research team will email identified stakeholders to invite them to participate in an interview. The email will include informed consent information including any relevant information around permission to record. Those who choose to volunteer will be provided the full, detailed informed consent again verbally at the time of the interview. They will be asked explicitly whether they agree to participate in the interview and have an opportunity to ask questions before the interview begins.

Potential interviewees will be sent an initial email invitation, followed by up to two reminder emails to any individuals who do not respond. Interviewees who request phone contact may be contacted by phone instead. Phone conversations would use the text of the email recruitment as a template script for introducing the study.

Interview scheduling will take place over phone or email. RAND researchers will send the interviewee a calendar invitation for the agreed upon time and include a link, call-in number (for interviewees without internet access or who prefer phone) and instructions for joining the interview.

Interviews will be conducted by a trained research team member and a notetaker (in case the participant declines to be recorded). All interviews will take place virtually, for example using Zoom.gov. This enables us to minimize participant burden by scheduling the interviews for a time that is convenient to them.

The interviews will be approximately 60 minutes in length.

Once the interview is completed, we will de-identify any notes and upload the recording and the notes (MS Word document) to the internal, encrypted and password protected RAND MS Teams page to which only the study team has access. If the interview was recorded, the recording will be destroyed within 1 day of ensuring the notes are complete and accurate.

Interview responses will be analyzed using qualitative data analysis to extract key themes.

3.  Maximization of Response Rates, Non-response, and Reliability

Maximizing Response Rates: In RAND research with installation domestic abuse providers, using this same methodology, 95% of the providers who we invited to share their professional experiences and expertise during a one-hour interview agreed to participate in the study (Farris, Tankard, Iyiewuare et al., 2019). We believe this strong response rate is related to:

• The interview topic is salient to the recruited participants

• The unique expertise of potential participants is acknowledged and valued

• Scheduling is flexible and prioritizes the participant’s convenience

Non-Response: Although we expect response rates to be high, we will still plan to analyze non-response bias by comparing respondents and non-respondents to identify any characteristics that are associated with non-response (e.g., service branch, installation, work role). Given the qualitative nature of the research, we cannot statistically control for any observed non-response bias. However, we will report the analyses of non-response bias and acknowledge the research limitations associated with any observed bias.

Reliability: In qualitative research, the goal is to document the breadth of experiences. As the results begin to coalesce toward saturation, or repetition of themes without uncovering new themes, the sample size is deemed to be sufficient. Saturation is typically achieved in 20 to 40 interviews.¹ Based on this research we plan to recruit up to 40 interviewees of each participant type.

4.  Tests of Procedures

Interview protocols will be revised based on initial interviews for flow or relevance. Revisions could include reordering topics to improve flow or removing topics once saturation has been achieved. To ensure continued compliance with human subjects approvals, we will not make any revisions to the topics covered by interview.

5.  Statistical Consultation and Information Analysis

a. Individuals consulted on statistical aspects of the design.

Lynsay Ayer, RAND Corporation, (703) 413-1100, [email protected]

Julia Rollison, RAND Corporation, (703) 413-1100, [email protected]

Coreen Farris, RAND Corporation, (412) 683-2300, [email protected]

b. Individuals who will actually collect and analyze the collected information.

Lynsay Ayer, RAND Corporation, (703) 413-1100, [email protected]

Coreen Farris, RAND Corporation, (412) 683-2300, [email protected]

Julia Rollison, RAND Corporation, (703) 413-1100, [email protected]

Trained qualitative interviewers will conduct interviews accompanied by a note taker. Drs. Ayer, Rollison, and Farris will supervise the interviews and oversee qualitative coding of the interviews by RAND research assistants.

Each additional information collection will include consultation from social scientists, statisticians, and/or subject matter experts (SMEs) in the development, design, conduct, and analysis of the research, when appropriate. This research design and statistical expertise will be available from DoD personnel, contractors, or SMEs from outside of the Department. The DoD will include the names and contact information of persons consulted in the specific information collection requests submitted under this generic clearance.

1 Hennink, M. and Kaiser, B. N. (2022). Sample sizes for saturation in qualitative research: A systematic review of empirical tests. Social Science and Medicine, 292. Last accessed December 19, 2022: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953621008558.

2