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Supporting Statement for Paperwork Reduction Act Generic Information Collection Submissions for

• Goal of the study: Since 1994, CDC’s National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) has provided funding and technical assistance to state and jurisdictional cancer registries to collect population-based cancer incidence data under Public Law 102-515, the Cancer Registries Amendment Act. CDC produces U.S. Cancer Statistics, the official federal cancer statistics, using data from NPCR recipients.

U.S. Cancer Statistics data provide cancer information on the entire U.S. population. The data are made available to the public in various data products including researcher public use databases, which can be accessed at https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/public-use.

The purpose of this evaluation project is to get feedback from U.S. Cancer Statistics public use database users from the private sector on their satisfaction with factors including the databases’ accessibility, content, and ease-of-use. Feedback will also be sought on the clarity of the online technical documentation.

• Intended use of the resulting data: The database user’s feedback will be used by CDC program staff in future development plans for the databases and the online technical documentation.

• Methods to be used to collect: Customer feedback will be collected through focus groups and personal interviews.

• The subpopulation to be studied: The subpopulation will be individuals from the private sector (e.g., researchers from academic and medical institutions) who have requested access to the U.S. Cancer Statistics researcher public use databases and have used the databases to run statistical analyses in the last 4 years.

• How data will be analyzed: The qualitative data will be analyzed using thematic methods to identify themes and patterns related to the users’ opinions.

“Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery”

1. JUSTIFICATION

1. Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary

Executive Order 12862 directs Federal agencies to provide service to the public that matches or exceeds the best service available in the private sector. In order to work continuously to ensure that our programs are effective and meet our customers’ needs, CDC (hereafter “the Agency”) seeks to obtain OMB approval of a generic clearance to collect qualitative feedback on our service delivery. By qualitative feedback we mean information that provides useful insights on perceptions and opinions, but are not statistical surveys that yield quantitative results that can be generalized to the population of study.

This collection of information is necessary to enable the Agency to garner customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, timely manner, in accordance with our commitment to improving service delivery. The information collected from our customers and stakeholders will help ensure that users have an effective, efficient, and satisfying experience with the Agency’s programs. This feedback will provide insights into customer or stakeholder perceptions, experiences and expectations, provide an early warning of issues with service, or focus attention on areas where communication, training or changes in operations might improve delivery of products or services. These collections will allow for ongoing, collaborative and actionable communications between the Agency and its customers and stakeholders. It will also allow feedback to contribute directly to the improvement of program management.

For this project, the feedback from U.S. Cancer Statistics public use database users on the databases’ accessibility, content, and ease-of-use as well as the clarity of the online technical documentation are needed in order to assess the quality of the data product and areas for improvement.

2. Purpose and Use of the Information Collection

Improving agency programs requires ongoing assessment of service delivery, by which we mean systematic review of the operation of a program compared to a set of explicit or implicit standards, as a means of contributing to the continuous improvement of the program. The Agency will collect, analyze, and interpret information gathered through this generic clearance to identify strengths and weaknesses of current services and make improvements in service delivery based on feedback. The solicitation of feedback will target areas such as: timeliness, appropriateness, accuracy of information, courtesy, efficiency of service delivery, and resolution of issues with service delivery. Responses will be assessed to plan and inform efforts to improve or maintain the quality of service offered to the public. If this information is not collected, vital feedback from customers and stakeholders on the Agency’s services will be unavailable.

The Agency will only submit a collection for approval under this generic clearance if it meets the following conditions:

• Information gathered will be used only internally for general service improvement and program management purposes and is not intended for release outside of the agency (if released, procedures outlined in Question 16 will be followed);

• Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions ¹;

• Information gathered will yield qualitative information; the collections will not be designed or expected to yield statistically reliable results or used as though the results are generalizable to the population of study ; 

• The collections are voluntary;

• The collections are low-burden for respondents (based on considerations of total burden hours, total number of respondents, or burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents and the Federal Government;

• The collections are non-controversial and do not raise issues of concern to other Federal agencies;

• Any 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 near future; and

• With the exception of information needed to provide renumeration for participants of focus groups and cognitive laboratory studies, personally identifiable information (PII) is collected only to the extent necessary and is not retained.

If these conditions are not met, the Agency will submit an information collection request to OMB for approval through the normal PRA process.

To obtain approval for a collection that meets the conditions of this generic clearance, a standardized form will be submitted to OMB along with supporting documentation (e.g., a copy of the comment card). The submission will have automatic approval, unless OMB identifies issues within 5 business days.

The types of collections that this generic clearance covers include, but are not limited to:

• Customer comment cards/complaint forms

• Small discussion groups

• Focus Groups of customers, potential customers, delivery partners, or other stakeholders

• Cognitive laboratory studies, such as those used to refine questions or assess usability of a website;

• Qualitative customer satisfaction surveys (e.g., post-transaction surveys; opt-out web surveys)

• In-person observation testing (e.g., website or software usability tests)

The Agency has established a manager/managing entity to serve for this generic clearance and will conduct an independent review of each information collection to ensure compliance with the terms of this clearance prior to submitting each collection to OMB.

The purpose of this evaluation project is to get feedback from U.S. Cancer Statistics public use database users on their satisfaction with the databases and technical documentation. Feedback will be gathered through focus groups and personal interviews. The evaluation findings will be used to guide future database development plans and the development of the technical documentation.

3. Use of Improved Information Technology and Burden Reduction

The agency will use online collaboration tools, specifically Zoom, to reduce burden of respondents participating in the evaluation.

4. Efforts to Identify Duplication and Use of Similar Information

No similar data are gathered or maintained by the Agency or are available from other sources known to the Agency.

5. Impact on Small Businesses or Other Small Entities

Small business or other small entities are not involved in this project.

6. Consequences of Collecting the Information Less Frequently

Without these types of feedback, the Agency will not have timely information to adjust its services to meet customer needs.

7. Special Circumstances Relating to the Guidelines of 5 CFR 1320.5

There are no special circumstances. The information collected will be voluntary and will not be used for statistical purposes.

8. Comments in Response to the Federal Register Notice and Efforts to Consult Outside the Agency

In accordance with 5 CFR 1320.8(d), a 60-day notice for public comment was published in the Federal Register on February 14, 2022, vol 87, p. 8259. One public comment was received.

9. Explanation of Any Payment or Gift to Respondents

The Agency will not provide payment or other forms of remuneration to respondents.

10. Protection of the Privacy and Confidentiality of Information Provided by Respondents

A confidentiality pledge has not been deemed useful and feasible.

11. Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Justification for Sensitive Questions

This project was determined not to require IRB review. None of the questions asked are of a personal or sensitive nature.

12. Estimates of Annualized Burden Hours and Costs

Respondent’s feedback will be collected using focus groups and personal interviews conducted via Zoom. The annual burden hours requested (45) are based on the number of collections we expect to conduct over the requested period for this clearance.

Estimated Annual Reporting Burden
Type of Collection	No. of Respondents	Annual Frequency per Response	Hours per Response	Total Hours
Private Sector: focus groups	30	1	1	30 hrs
Private Sector: personal interviews	15	1	1	15 hrs
Totals	45			45 hrs

13. Estimates of Other Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents or Record Keepers

No costs are anticipated.

14. Annualized Cost to the Government

The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is approximately $114,000. These costs are comprised of contractor costs for planning the 2 focus group (15 individuals in each group) and 15 interviews, recruiting and scheduling participants; conducting the focus groups and interviews; analyzing the results; and report writing approved under this generic clearance.

15. Explanation for Program Changes or Adjustments

This is a new GenIC so there are no changes.

16. Plans for Tabulation and Publication and Project Time Schedule

Feedback collected under this generic clearance provides useful information, but it does not yield data that can be generalized to the overall population. Findings will be used for general service improvement, but are not for publication or other public release.

Although the Agency does not intend to publish its findings, the Agency may receive requests to release the information (e.g., congressional inquiry, Freedom of Information Act requests). The Agency will disseminate the findings when appropriate, strictly following the Agency's "Guidelines for Ensuring the Quality of Information Disseminated to the Public.", and will include specific discussion of the limitation of the qualitative results discussed above.

This project is anticipated to be completed by December 31, 2024.

17. Reason(s) Display of OMB Expiration Date is Inappropriate

We are requesting no exemption.

18. Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions

These activities comply with the requirements in 5 CFR 1320.9.

1 As defined in OMB and agency Information Quality Guidelines, “influential” means that “an agency can reasonably determine that dissemination of the information will have or does have a clear and substantial impact on important public policies or important private sector decisions.”