SUPPORTING STATEMENT - PART A
Male Survivors of Sexual Assault – Investigating Challenges around seeking help (MOSAIC) – 0703-MSIC
1. Need for the Information Collection
The Naval Health Research Center is requesting Office Management and Budget (OMB) clearance for the project entitled “Male Survivors of Sexual Assault – Investigating Challenges around seeking help (MOSAIC).”
Given the devastating effects of Military Sexual Trauma (MST) and limited information on male MST specifically, the U.S. Congress specified a requirement to improve the prevention of and response to sexual trauma affecting male service members in Section 538 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (Pub. L. 114–92). Furthermore, the Department of Defense (DoD) developed a formalized plan of action to improve prevention and response efforts for male MST. Despite these efforts and consistent with prior research, DoD reports found that active duty men are substantially less likely to report MST relative to active duty women counterparts. As part of the DoD-wide effort to promote help-seeking for sexual assault survivors, the Department of Navy (DoN) Office of Force Resiliency (OFR) developed and recently updated the Prevention Plan of Action (aka Prevention Plan of Action 2.0, 2022-2024; PPoA 2.0). The PPoA 2.0 is a strategy framework leveraging public health science in military environments to prevent sexual assault in the military and improve response efforts. As part of this initiative, OFR commissioned this study (Agreement #NMR-24-11717) to investigate the help-seeking among men who experienced military sexual violence (i.e., sexual assault or sexual harassment). The present study addresses this requirement by conducting interviews with men who have experienced military sexual violence.
2. Use of the Information
Respondents will include up to 20 active duty and/or veteran U.S. Navy servicemen who report experiencing MST. Potential respondents will be invited to participate in a telephone narrative/semi-structured interview about their MST experience(s) and whether they sought help following MST. Recruitment will be completed via DMDC email outreach (included in package) or online and paper flyers (included in package), which will include a link or Quick Response (QR) code, respectively, to direct potential respondents to an online form (included in package). This online form contains an informed consent statement, eligibility confirmation questions, and a sign-up page. Once potential participants provide consent and confirm eligibility, they will be prompted to enter a nickname for their interviewer to use when the participant is contacted, their phone number, email address, and general availability (including general days/times and time zone). Participants will be asked if they prefer communication (i.e., to schedule their interview) via text, and if they prefer a female or male interviewer.
Online sign-up data will be handled in a confidential, controlled-access manner on a password protected website, Qualtrics (www.qualtrics.com) under the Naval Health Research Center’s Qualtrics account. Qualtrics has Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FEDRAMP) authorization and uses SSL encryption. Only personnel assigned to assist with interview data management will have access to these data via the Qualtrics server. All study staff will have current human subjects protection and HIPAA privacy training. Once data collection is complete, all online records will be deleted.
Following a respondent’s submission of the online sign-up form, an interviewer will contact the respondent via their preferred contact method (email, phone call, or text) to schedule the interview. Should the respondent not respond within two days from first contact, the interviewer will reach out up to four times total, with two days between each contact. Email, telephone, and text templates for contacting potential study participants are included in this package. The content of the interview guide (included in package) is guided by the study objectives, comprising of open-ended questions followed by prompts designed to elicit rich, first-hand descriptions of relevant experiences. Audio files will be transcribed by a professional transcription service that guarantees confidentiality (www.SDTranscription.com). Transcripts will be stored on a secure, password protected server space, with access limited to personnel listed on the approved Institutional Review Board protocol through Common Access Card-enabled systems. The corresponding audio file will be deleted.
These data will provide insight into decision-making processes, help-seeking intentions, and help-seeking behaviors among male MST survivors. Findings may be useful to inform refinement of existing training materials, campaigns, and programs to better support military members following sexual victimization. Results may also inform the DoD on what factors impact service member commitment and retention. Information gleaned from this collection will bring important issues to the surface by elucidating barriers and facilitators of help-seeking for an underserved population.
3. Use of Information Technology
100% of the sign-up forms for the study will be collected electronically using the online Qualtrics survey platform. The online sign-up form can only be accessed via unique emailed link (for DMDC email recruitment) scanning the QR code on our flyer (for flyer recruitment). The online sign-up begins with an informed consent form and participants must provide consent before signing up for the interview study. The informed consent form uses a checkbox system for acknowledgement rather than asking participants to print and sign their names to reduce the risk of participant identification and protect participant confidentiality.
100% of the interviews will take place over the phone and be audio recorded and transcribed (with participant consent).
4. Non-duplication
The information obtained through this collection is unique and is not already available for use or adaptation from another cleared source.
5. Burden on Small Businesses
This information collection does not impose a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small businesses or entities.
6. Less Frequent Collection
Information collection will only occur at two points for each respondent, once during the online sign-up for the interview study, and second during the scheduled interview. There will be no follow-up data collections from participants after the completion of their interview.
7. Paperwork Reduction Act Guidelines
This collection of information does not require collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the guidelines delineated in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2).
8. Consultation and Public Comments
Part A: PUBLIC NOTICE
A 60-Day Federal Register Notice (FRN) for the collection published on Tuesday, April 2, 2024. The 60-Day FRN citation is 89 FR 22701.
No comments were received during the 60-Day Comment Period.
A 30-Day Federal Register Notice for the collection published on Monday, August 5, 2024. The 30-Day FRN citation is 89 FR 63423.
Part B: CONSULTATION
No additional consultation apart from soliciting public comments through the Federal Register was conducted for this submission.
9. Gifts or Payment
Interviews will be completed during off-duty hours, and all participants will be remunerated with a $40 Amazon gift card code to compensate them for their contribution to the study.
10. Confidentiality
A Privacy Act Statement is not required for this collection because we are not requesting individuals to furnish personal information for a system of records.
A System of Record Notice (SORN) is not required for this collection because records are not retrievable by PII.
A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) is not required for this collection because PII is not being collected electronically.
Project data will be kept for six years following project completion and then destroyed.
11. Sensitive Questions
Consistent with the study’s purpose, the focal content of participant interviews will consist of questions about men’s personal experiences of sexual assault and sexual harassment victimization while in the military. Asking participants to describe their MST experiences will help to contextualize their responses regarding help-seeking, which is the primary focus of this research effort. More specifically, questions will ask about men’s reasons for seeking or not seeking help from formal or informal sources, the nature of any help sought, the people or organizations from whom help was sought, barriers to accessing help, receipt of help, and satisfaction with help received. In addition, study interviews will include questions about participants’ identification with specific groups, including racial and ethnic groups as well as groups based on gender and sexual identity. It is critical to include these questions because prior research indicates that the nature and extent of sexual victimization experiences, the impacts of these experiences, and related help-seeking behavior may all vary as a function of race/ethnicity as well as sexual and gender identity. For example, men of color, transgender men, and sexual minority men all report sexual violence at higher rates than their majority counterparts (e.g., Fedina et al., 2024; Bach et al., 2021), and these groups are underserved by formal supports (e.g., Armstrong et al., 2019; Bryant-Davis et al., 2009). Although not the primary focus of the current effort, this information is necessary to begin to understand demographic and contextual factors impacting men’s victimization and help-seeking experiences. The paucity of research specifically focusing on help-seeking among male victims of sexual violence highlights the urgent need for this research into help-seeking among male military sexual assault victims. Results of this interview study will inform changes to policy and practice to better serve the needs of male survivors.
12. Respondent Burden and its Labor Costs
Part A: ESTIMATION OF RESPONDENT BURDEN
Collection Instruments
MOSAIC study online sign-up form
Number of Respondents: 20
Number of Responses Per Respondent: 1
Number of Total Annual Responses: 20
Response Time: 10 minutes
Respondent Burden Hours: 3.33 hours
MOSAIC study interview
Number of Respondents: 20
Number of Responses Per Respondent: 1
Number of Total Annual Responses: 20
Response Time: 1 hour
Respondent Burden Hours: 20 hours
Total Submission Burden
Total Number of Respondents: 20
Total Number of Annual Responses: 40
Total Respondent Burden Hours: 23 hours
Part B: LABOR COST OF RESPONDENT BURDEN
Collection Instruments
MOSAIC study online sign-up form
Number of Total Annual Responses: 20
Response Time: 10 minutes
Respondent Hourly Wage: $15.19
Labor Burden per Response: $2.53
Total Labor Burden: $51
MOSAIC study interview
Number of Total Annual Responses: 20
Response Time: 1 hour
Respondent Hourly Wage: $15.19
Labor Burden per Response: $15.19
Total Labor Burden: $304
Overall Labor Burden
Total Number of Annual Responses: 40
Total Labor Burden: $355
The Respondent hourly wage was determined by using an average of minimum and maximum earnings for enlisted service members (E1-E4) from the following data source: https://www.dfas.mil/MilitaryMembers/payentitlements/Pay-Tables/Basic-Pay/EM/
13. Respondent Costs Other Than Burden Hour Costs
There are no annualized costs to respondents other than the labor burden costs addressed in Section 12 of this document to complete this collection.
14. Cost to the Federal Government
Part A: LABOR COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Collection Instruments
MOSAIC study online sign-up form
Number of Total Annual Responses: 20
Processing Time per Response: 15 minutes
Hourly Wage of Worker(s) Processing Responses: $55
Cost to Process Each Response: $13.75
Total Cost to Process Responses: $275
MOSAIC study interview
Number of Total Annual Responses: 20
Processing Time per Response: 8 hours
Hourly Wage of Worker(s) Processing Responses: $48.75
Cost to Process Each Response: $390
Total Cost to Process Responses: $7,800
Overall Labor Burden to the Federal Government
Total Number of Annual Responses: 40
Total Labor Burden: $8,075
Part B: OPERATIONAL AND MAINTENANCE COSTS
Cost Categories
Equipment: $0
Printing: $0
Postage: $0
Software Purchases: $1,500
Licensing Costs: $0
Other: $1,600
Total Operational and Maintenance Cost: $3,100
Part C: TOTAL COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Total Labor Cost to the Federal Government: $8,075
Total Operational and Maintenance Costs: $3,100
Total Cost to the Federal Government: $11,175
Our total award is $400,000, which covers all employee efforts, as well as the cost of participant incentives. The version of Qualtrics utilized by the research team is through the Naval Health Research Center. The contract for Qualtrics is obtained through funds from the Naval Health Research Center.
15. Reasons for Change in Burden
This is a new collection with a new associated burden.
16. Publication of Results
The results of this study will be published in the form of DoD publications and may be shared with the research community through scientific peer-reviewed journal publications.
Project timeline
Data collection - September 2024-December 2024
Data analysis - October 2024-February 2025
Manuscript/report development - February 2024
Publication of results - May 2025
17. Non-Display of OMB Expiration Date
We are not seeking approval to omit the display of the expiration date of the OMB approval on the collection instrument.
18. Exceptions to “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Submissions”
We are not requesting any exemptions to the provisions stated in 5 CFR 1320.9.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Kaitlin Chiarelli |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2024-09-06 |