Marine Spatial Planning Supplemental/Part B Questions and Answers

Supplemental Questions for DOC/NOAA Customer Survey Clearance
(OMB Control Number 0648-0342)

1. Explain who will be conducting this survey. What program office will be conducting the survey? What
services does this program provide? Who are the customers? How are these services provided to the
customer?
This survey will be conducted by staff at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal
Services Center to assess customer views and related needs regarding www.msp.noaa.gov, our Marine Spatial
Planning web site . The Coastal Services Center serves the needs of coastal and marine natural resource
management programs and professionals (e.g., state natural resource management agencies and staff, conservation
organization staff) through development and delivery of data and information products, decision-support tools,
professional development training, and technical assistance on a variety of topics. Data and information products
and decision support tools are delivered per customer requests via online systems (e.g., clearing house, direct
download). Technical assistance is conducted via telephone or electronically or remotely (on-site) depending on the
needs of the specific customer and the specific technical assistance topic.
2. Explain how this survey was developed. With whom did you consult during the development of this survey
on content? Statistics? What suggestions did you get about improving the survey?
This survey instrument was developed by reviewing the list of cleared questions, and through consultation from
NOAA Coastal Services Center staff with expertise in assessing customer needs. A list of draft questions was
discussed with the project team responsible for generating www.msp.noaa.gov content. Suggestions included asking
respondents about specific uses and usefulness of the website and keeping the list of questions as short as possible.
3. Explain how the survey will be conducted. How will the customers be sampled (if fewer than all customers
will be surveyed)? What percentage of customers asked to take the survey will respond? What actions are
planned to increase the response rate? (Web-based surveys are not an acceptable method of sampling a
broad population. Web-based surveys must be limited to services provided by Web.)
The survey will be created using SurveyMonkey and administered using a pop-up window on www.msp.noaa.gov.
Users of the website will be sampled randomly until 100 responses are recorded. The minimum expected response
rate is 70%, based on past information collections conducted by the Coastal Services Center related to training and
other information and service-oriented products. The number of questions will be limited to 3 in an effort to achieve
a higher response rate relative to more lengthy surveys.
4. Describe how the results of this survey will be analyzed and used. If the customer population is sampled,
what statistical techniques will be used to generalize the results to the entire customer population? Is this
survey intended to measure a GPRA performance measure? (If so, please include an excerpt from the
appropriate document.)
There will be qualitative analysis of survey data as well as basic descriptive statistics (e.g., percent, mean scores).
This information collection seeks to assess general customer feedback to inform improvements to
www.msp.noaa.gov. The respondent universe will include all users of www.msp.noaa.gov. Data from this
information collection will not be aggregated with other data for GPRA reporting.

B. COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS
1. Describe (including a numerical estimate) the potential respondent universe and any sampling or other
respondent selection method to be used. Data on the number of entities (e.g. establishments, State and local
governmental units, households, or persons) in the universe and the corresponding sample are to be provided
in tabular form. The tabulation must also include expected response rates for the collection as a whole. If the
collection has been conducted before, provide the actual response rate achieved.
We currently do not have an accurate means of determining the respondent universe. The total number of website
visits from October 15, 2009 (initial launch date) to December 31, 2009 was 2,121. The average monthly visit rate
is 848.
This survey will be distributed via a pop-up window on the NOAA Marine Spatial Planning website, and will
inquire about respondents’ perceptions of the usefulness of this web resource. This survey will be administered to a
simple random sample of site users. The estimated time necessary for each respondent to complete the questionnaire
is 2 minutes, based on trials with Center staff. Total estimated public burden associated with this information
collection is 3 hours and 40 minutes (100 X 2 minutes). The minimum expected response rate is 70%, based on past
information collections conducted by the Coastal Services Center related to training and other information and
service-oriented products. The computer program will keep track of the total number of solicitations and the
subsequent number of successful responses.
2. Describe the procedures for the collection, including: the statistical methodology for stratification and
sample selection; the estimation procedure; the degree of accuracy needed for the purpose described in the
justification; any unusual problems requiring specialized sampling procedures; and any use of periodic (less
frequent than annual) data collection cycles to reduce burden.
The survey will be distributed by a randomized pop-up window on the NOAA Marine Spatial Planning website
(www.msp.noaa.gov) which will direct users to the Survey Monkey website. The distribution of the pop-up window
will be accomplished through the creation of a randomizing algorithm.
Completed surveys received via Survey Monkey will be downloaded to a password protected work space at the
Coastal Services Center, only accessible by staff particular to this project. Respondents will be instructed not to
provide identifying information on the survey (names, social security numbers, dates of birth, etc.), and any
identifying information placed on surveys will be removed.
3. Describe the methods used to maximize response rates and to deal with nonresponse. The accuracy and
reliability of the information collected must be shown to be adequate for the intended uses. For collections
based on sampling, a special justification must be provided if they will not yield "reliable" data that can be
generalized to the universe studied.
The intent of this information collection is to assess general customer feedback and needs in order to inform
improvements to the NOAA Marine Spatial Planning website and associated products and services. In order to
improve response rates for this information collection, the survey has been made very brief (only three questions),
two of which are multiple choice. Nonresponse testing will be a challenge in that no identifying information will be
collected that would allow for follow-up activities; it would also not necessarily be applicable in this case, as this
website is frequently visited and used and a short survey that is potentially helpful to stakeholders should generate,
as stated earlier, at least a 70% response. While there is no way to guarantee a truly representative sample of the
respondent universe with this methodology, the information gained will be extremely valuable in making website
improvements that are direct requests from public users. This survey allows equal and independent opportunity for
all users to provide feedback on this web resource.
4. Describe any tests of procedures or methods to be undertaken. Tests are encouraged as effective means to
refine collections, but if ten or more test respondents are involved OMB must give prior approval.
Draft versions of this survey were circulated for review and comment to fellow NOAA staff with relevant content
knowledge and field expertise related to marine spatial planning and web services associated with the content of the
survey instrument. Reviewers were asked to offer feedback on the length, appropriateness and clarity of questions,

content, or other aspects to improve the questionnaire. Comments from reviewers were helpful and resulted in
design, and content changes to clarify questions and simplify instructions.

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(s), grantee(s), or other person(s) who will actually collect and/or
analyze the information for the agency.
The implementation of the information collection and data analysis will be completed by Dr. Chris Ellis at the
NOAA Coastal Services Center, available by telephone at (843) 740-1195 or by email at Chris.Ellis@noaa.gov.