E7-20910. Proposed Collection; Comment Request; NICHD Research Partner Satisfaction Surveys

SUMMARY:

Under the provisions of Section 3507(a)(1)(D) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve the information collection listed below. The proposed information collection was previously published in the Federal Register on July 25, 2007, in Volume 72, No. 142, pages 40887-40888, and allowed 60 days for public comment. No public comments were received. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comment. The NIH may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection that has been extended, revised, or implemented after October 1, 1995, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

Proposed Collection: Title: NICHD Research Partner Satisfaction Surveys. Type of Information Collection Request: Extension without change. Need and Use of Information Collection: Executive Order 12862 directs agencies that provide significant services directly to the public to survey customers to determine the kind and quality of services they want and their level of satisfaction with existing services. With this submission, the NICHD seeks to obtain OMB's generic approval to conduct customer satisfaction surveys surrounding its research programs and activities.

The NICHD was founded in 1963. Its mission is to ensure, through research, the birth of healthy infants and the opportunity for each to reach full potential in adulthood, unimpaired by physical or mental disabilities. The NICHD conducts and supports research on the many factors that protect and enhance the process of human growth and development. The developmental focus of the NICHD means that its research portfolio is unusually broad. NICHD programs include research on infant mortality, birth defects, learning disorders, developmental disabilities, vaccine development, and demographic and behavioral sciences, among others. In addition to supporting basic research, clinical trials, and epidemiological studies that explore health processes, the NICHD forms partnerships with organizations or institutions to ensure effective use of scientific findings and research products.

The NICHD utilizes strategic assessments to support Institute planning and policy development, and to help determine programmatic and scientific objectives and priorities. Research partner surveys will augment NICHD's ongoing efforts to assess research-related activities. The two principal objectives are: (1) To measure the personal satisfaction of research partners with NICHD programs or initiatives, including both responsiveness to scientific aims and convenience of operations to support research and its effective use; and (2) to learn from research partners the ways in which the NICHD can improve the overall planning and management of it programs and initiatives. Findings will be used to improve NICHD's research programs and initiatives in the following ways: (1) To assess the effectiveness and efficiency of operations; (2) to identify opportunities for improving program performance; (3) to develop plans to incorporate innovations in program management; (4) to measure partner satisfaction and document program outcomes for governmental accountability reporting; and (5) to identify the need for creating new programs or initiatives or restructuring existing ones to respond to emerging scientific opportunities.

Frequency of Response: Annual [As needed on an ongoing and concurrent basis]. Affected Public: Members of the public, researchers, practitioners, and other health professionals. Type of Respondents: Members of the public; eligible grant applicants and actual applicants (both successful and unsuccessful); clinicians and other health professionals; and actual or potential clinical trials participants. The annual reporting burden is as follows: Estimated Number of Respondents: 28,000; Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1; Average Burden Hours per Response: Varies with survey type, see below; and Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours Requested: 5,883. The annualized cost to respondents is estimated at: $109,541.46. There are no Capital Costs to report. There are no Operating or Maintenance Costs to report.

Type of respondents	Estimated number of respondents	Estimated number of responses per respondent	Average burden hours per response	Estimated total annual burden hours requested
Web-based	24,000	1	0.167	4,008.00
Telephone	2,000	1	0.50	1,000.00
Paper	1,500	1	0.25	375.00
In-person	500	1	1.00	500.00
Total	28,000			5,883.00

Request for Comments: Written comments and/or suggestions from the public and affected agencies are invited on one or more of the following points: (1) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the function of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) 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) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

To request more information on the proposed project, contact Paul L. Johnson, NIH NICHD Office of Science Policy, Analysis and Communication (OSPAC), 9000 Rockville Pike, Bldg. 31, Rm. 2A-18, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-2425, or call non-toll-free at 301-402-3213. You may also e-mail your request to [e-mail].

Comments Due Date: Comments regarding this information collection are best assured of having their full effect if received within 30 days of the date of this publication.

Dated: October 17, 2007.

Paul L. Johnson,

Project Clearance Liaison, NICHD National Institutes of Health.