SAM.gov Entity Demographics Survey

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 3090-0297) TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: User Survey to provide entity demographics in SAM.gov.

PURPOSE: A key part of the Integrated Award Environment’s (IAE’s) mission is to reduce burden for users of our systems, minimizing barriers for doing business with the U.S. federal government. We will be collecting information to help us understand how to best streamline federal award processes for our users, lead customers through federal award processes, and provide support (help, training, etc.). Our goal is to improve efficiency, reliability, and effectiveness of IAE systems for our users.

The entity validation process in SAM.gov is required for entities that choose to obtain a “UEI Only” as well as those who choose a “Registration.” Currently, 22% of entities must upload documents proving their identifying information in SAM.gov during the entity validation process. For this segment of entities, we believe there may be a disproportionate representation of small entities who are asked to upload documents during entity validation, including sole proprietors, small businesses, small non-profit organizations, and local towns and villages. Tribal entities may also be affected.

We do not currently collect demographic information identifying the type of entity for all of the entities in SAM.gov. Only the entities that proceed through to the end of registration must provide their entity type and whether they meet small business certification criteria. Therefore, given the current data collection method in SAM.gov, there is no way to correctly determine the proportion of the entities who must document their validations. This also may contribute to many entities having difficulty completing the registration process.

The primary purpose of this survey is to solicit entity demographics from customers who have come to SAM.gov to obtain a Unique Entity ID (UEI) or register an entity with the U.S. federal government. We intend to use these survey results, combined with other information already collected in SAM.gov, to provide OMB with data describing who is having difficulty getting through the entity validation process, e.g. submitting documentation or failing documentation.

This data will be used to drive future decisions around validation including determining who we need to further engage and understand, who needs additional support, who needs alternate options, and how we resource and support the validation process.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

This survey targets a sample of SAM.gov users who begin an entity. They will first be asked to indicate the purpose of their visit in SAM.gov: to obtain a “UEI Only” or a “Registration.” The users will then be asked one to four questions about their entity demographics (depending on their user type, outlined below).

Respondents who choose “UEI Only” may include private sector and state, local, tribal, or foreign government entities. Respondents who choose “Registration” include private sector domestic and international entities, but exclude those who identify as state, local, tribal, or foreign governments.

Our sampling plan is on page 3.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey [ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software) [ ] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group [X] Other: Non-PII demographic information.

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: Christy Hermansen (703) 477-4874

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

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [X] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [ X ] No

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
(1) Private Sector* All Entities with Only a UEI (“UEI Only”) All Entities Who Choose Domestic Business Registration All Entities Who Choose International Business Registration	16,074 102,624 4,945	1 minute 1 minute 1 minute	268 hours 1,710 hours 82 hours
Totals	123,643	1 minute	2,061 hours

*Demographics do not exist in the system to separate UEI Only respondents by type of user.

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $50,012.60. This is expected to be a one-time survey.

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

1. 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?

Sampling Plan

Sample Size (n): 123,643

Sampling Discussion:

We intend to conduct a clustered random sampling, where the clusters of users are predefined based on historic entity data available within SAM.gov and sampled randomly within SAM.gov so that a representative sample of users will see the survey when they use the site.

To generate a 1% margin of error at 95% confidence, we need to secure 9,511 responses, requiring us to make the survey available to 95,110 respondents for an estimated expected 10% return rate for electronic surveys of external populations. This figure was validated by the Office of Customer Experience, and because this is a voluntary survey, they advised sending to an additional 30% to build in additional opportunities to attract the needed responses, for a final sample size of 123,643.

The sample will be distributed across identified clusters as follows:

Cluster Group	Survey Sample Size
UEI Only (may include domestic business, international business, and government)	16,074
Registration - Business (Domestic)	102,624
Registration - Business (International)	4,945

Question Logic Based on Participant Answers

This survey will be embedded into an existing SAM.gov workflow as a pop-up on the screen. There are two paths a participant can go down in SAM.gov. Depending on the path they choose, participants will see all or part of the survey and will only see the survey questions that pertain to them.

First Path: Those choosing the UEI Only option in SAM.gov will be prompted to select their entity type when the survey pops up. If they choose a government entity type, all other questions will disappear and the survey will be complete. If they choose “Business or Organization” as their entity type, they will continue to the questions asking them to identify their entity structure, profit structure, and the number of employees in their entity.

Second Path: Those choosing a Registration option in SAM.gov will skip the entity type question when the survey pops up, and be prompted to provide entity structure, profit structure, and the number of employees in their entity.

See attached question document for survey flow and items.

Administration of the Instrument

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

[X] Web-based or other forms of Social Media (Qualtrics embedded in SAM.gov) [ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

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

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

Instructions for completing Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback”

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Provide the name of the collection that is the subject of the request. (e.g. Comment card for soliciting feedback on xxxx)

PURPOSE: Provide a brief description of the purpose of this collection and how it will be used. If this is part of a larger study or effort, please include this in your explanation.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Provide a brief description of the targeted group or groups for this collection of information. These groups must have experience with the program.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: Check one box. If you are requesting approval of other instruments under the generic, you must complete a form for each instrument.

CERTIFICATION: Please read the certification carefully. If you incorrectly certify, the collection will be returned as improperly submitted or it will be disapproved.

Personally Identifiable Information: Provide answers to the questions. Note: Agencies should only collect PII to the extent necessary, and they should only retain PII for the period of time that is necessary to achieve a specific objective.

Gifts or Payments: If you answer yes to the question, please describe the incentive and provide a justification for the amount.

BURDEN HOURS:

Category of Respondents: Identify who you expect the respondents to be in terms of the following categories: (1) Individuals or Households; (2) Private Sector; (3) State, local, or tribal governments; or (4) Federal Government. Only one type of respondent can be selected per row.

No. of Respondents: Provide an estimate of the Number of Respondents.

Participation Time: Provide an estimate of the amount of time (in minutes) required for a respondent to participate (e.g. fill out a survey or participate in a focus group)

Burden: Provide the Annual burden hours: Multiply the Number of Respondents and the Participation Time then divide by 60.

FEDERAL COST: Provide an estimate of the annual cost to the Federal government.

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. Please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them. If the answer is yes, to the first question, you may provide the sampling plan in an attachment.

Administration of the Instrument: Identify how the information will be collected. More than one box may be checked. Indicate whether there will be interviewers (e.g. for surveys) or facilitators (e.g., for focus groups) used.

Submit all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

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