Disaster Survey Supporting Statement B

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods.

1. The target population for this survey is the disaster loan applicants and borrowers who contact the Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center weekly. While actual call volume fluctuates based on the number and severity of disasters in any given year, the DACSC has averaged just over 200,000 calls annually between 2007 and 2008. Typically, the DACSC provides service to upwards of 4,000 callers on a weekly basis for which this survey would apply. In order to achieve a 90% level of confidence with a 10% margin of error, 67 customers would need to be surveyed daily at this benchmark level of activity. The survey will be administered via the phone with a successful contact rate estimated at 50%. Therefore the survey list will include the names of approximately 134 randomly selected customers who contacted the DACSC within the previous 72 hours. This survey is intended to be on-going in nature, therefore a similar statistical sample of the population will be contacted every week or so to assess the effectiveness of the service being provided by the DACSC. For surveys conducted on behalf of the Field Operations Centers (FOCs), an additional 132 customers would be surveyed weekly. Assuming a 50% successful contact rate, a randomly generated list of 264 customers would be generated for the FOC portion of the survey.

2. Three members of the Quality Assurance staff will be responsible for conducting the survey using a scripted format to ensure uniformity in explaining the purpose of the survey, as well as the questioning, recording of results, and survey closure. The list of survey subjects will be taken from a random sample of callers to the DACSC within the previous 72 hours. There are no plans to stratify the population of callers to the DACSC for purposes of this survey. The results of this survey are intended to be used internally to measure the effectiveness of service at the DACSC and identify any potential areas for improvement. A 90% confidence level with a 10% margin of error is deemed acceptable for this purpose. While this survey is designed to measure customer satisfaction on an on-going basis, safeguards will be implemented to ensure the same customer is not surveyed more than once during a twelve-month period.

3. Survey participants will be contacted at their residence (or the contact number provided by the applicant) during reasonable hours being mindful of time zone differences. Business applicants will be contacted at the number provided for their business during customary business hours (8:00 am – 5:00 pm). The survey questions are simple and direct, and will enable easy tabulation. To ensure completion of the requisite 67 surveys, a random sample of 134 customer contacts from the preceding 72 hours will be extracted from the DACSC database based on the estimated 50% successful contact rate. To ensure completion of the surveys conducted on behalf of the Field Operations Centers (FOCs), an additional 132 customers would be surveyed weekly. Assuming a 50% successful contact rate, a randomly generated list of 264 customers would be generated for the FOC portion of the survey.

4. The staff conducting the survey will be trained in the proper procedure for administering the survey questions and will be required to rehearse the survey with training personnel prior to conducting the actual surveys. This training will ensure a standardized survey process and improve the reliability of the data obtained by the three Government employees conducting the survey.

5. Perry Pedini, Customer Service Supervisor, and his staff will be responsible for collecting and summarizing the survey data on behalf of Center Director, William E. Leggiero, Jr.