OMB SupportingStatmt B for eval3

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

2. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods

1. Describe the Survey Procedures.

The proposed data collection is a census of all UP employees in North Platte under the scope of the C³RS demonstration project. There is no sample selection for this survey. All yard and rail employees, an estimated total of 1200, are included in the C³RS demonstration project and will be given the evaluation survey questionnaire.

The evaluation survey questionnaire will be administered by employees of UP as an integral part of the roll-out of the C³RS demonstration project during a series of town hall meetings that employees will be required to attend. BTS staff will attend the meetings and assist in the administration of the survey. UP management will schedule the town hall meetings at the end of each shift and grant employees “company time” to attend the meeting. Most of the survey administration will take place during these roll-out meetings. Employees who do not attend because they are either on vacation or sick leave will be contacted as part of ongoing C³RS implementation activities by members of the C³RS implementation team. Based on company information on absenteeism rates, we expect less that 10% of the sample will need to be contacted as part of follow-up.

2. Description of procedures for the collection of information.

There is no sample selection for this survey. This evaluation survey is a census of all employees under the scope of the C³RS project. All yard and rail workers at the North Platte facility are part of the C³RS demonstration project and will be given the evaluation survey questionnaire.

3. Describe the methods to maximize response rates, and describe how the Department deals with non-responses.

We expect less than 10% non-response rate for this survey. To maximize response rate, UP management will schedule the town hall meetings at the end of each shift, will announce that attendance is highly recommended, and grant employees “company time” to attend the meeting and fill out a evaluation survey questionnaire. Employees who choose to take the survey home will be given self-addressed postage paid envelopes to return the filled-out surveys to BTS. Employees who do not attend the meetings because they are either on vacation or sick leave will be contacted as part of ongoing C³RS implementation activities by UP management and BTS staff. Based on company information on absenteeism rates, we expect to contact less than 10% of the covered employees as part of follow-up. Follow-up will continue until a reasonable attempt has been made to achieve a 100% response rate. We anticipate completing the data collection phase within three to four weeks from the first town hall meeting.

4. Describe any tests of procedures or methods undertaken.

The evaluation survey questionnaire is comprised primarily of a series of questions aimed at ascertaining opinions and beliefs in safety culture, trust in management, and trust in self reporting of unsafe events. All these questions are well established and have been tested in other program evaluation projects done previously by the Program Evaluation team of the Volpe Center. In addition, the questionnaire was pilot tested by seven individuals at the North Platte facility. Completion time was reported to range between eleven and seventeen minutes. There were no significant changes made to the questionnaire based on the pilot testing.

5. Provide the name and telephone number of individuals consulted on the statistical aspects of the design and the name of the agency unit, contractor grantee, or other persons who will actually collect and/or analyze the information for the agency.

The team involved in survey construction and analysis is as follows:

Name	Role
Joyce Ranney, Ph.D. Joyce.Ranney@Volpe.dot.gov 617 494-2095	Implemented similar scales in other safety related evaluations done by the FRA in other railroad settings.
Mary Lee Mary.Lee@volpe.dot.gov 617-494-3157	Implemented similar scales in other safety related evaluations done by the FRA in other railroad settings.
Demetra Collia demetra.collia@bts.gov 202 366-1610	Bureau of Transportation Statistics expert – involved in assuring data privacy, data processing, and data analysis
Jonathan A. Morell, Ph.D. Jonny.morell@newvectors.net 734 302-4668	Head of C3RS evaluation team at NewVectors LLC -- prime contractor for evaluation. Involved in data analysis and interpretation
David Thompson David.thompson@newvectors.net 734 302-4675	Member of the evaluation team at NewVectors LLC -- prime contractor for evaluation. Involved in data analysis and interpretation
Liesle Ritchie, Ph.D. liesel.ritchie@wmich.edu 269.760.6778	Staff at the Evaluation Center, Western Michigan University. Subcontractor to NewVectors. Assist with data interpretation
Barbara Wygant barbara.wygant@wmich.edu 269-387-5905	Staff at the Evaluation Center, Western Michigan University. Subcontractor to NewVectors. Assist with data interpretation

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