2011-21863. Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Title: Pre-testing of Evaluation Surveys.

OMB No.: 0970-0355.

Description: The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), intends to request approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a generic clearance that a will allow OPRE to conduct a variety of data gathering activities aimed at identifying questionnaire and procedural problems in survey administration. Over the next three years, OPRE anticipates undertaking a variety of new surveys as part of research projects in the fields of cash welfare, employment and self-sufficiency, Head Start, child care, healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood, and child welfare, among others. In order to improve the development of its research and evaluation surveys, OPRE envisions using a variety of techniques including field tests, respondent debriefing questionnaires, cognitive interviews and focus groups in order to identify questionnaire and procedural problems, suggest solutions, and measure the relative effectiveness of alternative survey solutions.

Following standard OMB requirements, OPRE will submit a change request to OMB individually for every data collection activity undertaken under this generic clearance. OPRE will provide OMB with a copy of the individual instrument or questionnaire, as well as other materials describing the project and specific survey pretest.

Respondents: The respondents will be identified at the time that each change request is submitted to OMB. Generally they will be individuals who are representative of the target groups for the public assistance research or evaluation project in question.

Annual Burden Estimates

Instrument	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Average burden hours per response	Total annual burden hours
Survey development field tests, respondent debriefing questionnaires, cognitive interviews and focus groups	6000	1	.5	3000

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 3000.

Additional Information: Copies of the proposed collection may be obtained by writing to the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW., Washington, DC 20447, Attn: OPRE Reports Clearance Officer. All requests should be identified by the title of the information collection. E-mail address: [e-mail].

OMB Comment: OMB is required to make a decision concerning the collection of information between 30 and 60 days after publication of this document in the Federal Register. Therefore, a comment is best assured of having its full effect if OMB receives it within 30 days of publication.

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent directly to the following: Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project, Fax: [phone], Attn: Desk Officer for the Administration for Children and Families.

Dated: August 22, 2011.

Steven M. Hanmer,

Reports Clearance Officer.