Information Collection Supporting Statement B
Focus Group Review of Advanced Alcohol Detection Technology
Submitted by
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Table of Contents
B.2. Describe procedures for the collection of information B-2
B.3. Describe
methods to maximize response rates and to deal with issues of
non-response
B-3
B.4. Describe tests for procedures or methods to be undertaken B-3
B.5. Provide name and telephone number for point of contact B-3
Attachments
A: Screening Questions for DADSS Focus Group
B: Moderator’s Guide
INFORMATION COLLECTION
SUPPORTING STATEMENT
Focus Group Review of Advanced Alcohol Detection Technology
B. Statistical Methods (As this information collection request involves focus groups and no statistical analyses, we are responding only to the pertinent questions.)
NHTSA plans to conduct the focus groups in the following locations: Boston, MA; Albuquerque, NM: Milwaukee, WI; and Portland, OR. NHTSA selected these four locations because of the diversity of their laws with regard to driving under the influence of alcohol, and their various geographical locations within the United States. There will be a total of 24 focus group sessions; 12 in each of the two phases. For each phase, there will be three sessions at each location and each session will involve a maximum of eight participants. All participants will be licensed drivers who are at least 21 years of age. In each location, one focus group will be conducted with nondrinkers, one with social drinkers, and one with heavy episodic drinkers. It is desirable to conduct separate discussions with each group in order to gauge the independent reaction of each group to the new advanced alcohol detection technology.
NHTSA’s contractor for this effort will engage the services of professional focus group facilities in each of the target locations. The focus group facility will be responsible for recruiting participants in accordance with the attached screening questions (Attachment A). The screening questions are designed to identify the candidate’s drinking pattern and to eliminate anyone whose opinions may be biased because of his or her profession. Because the response of the three types of drinkers is important to understand, separate focus groups will be held with individuals based on their drinking patterns.
NHTSA feels that the focus group methodology is the best way to gain an in-depth understanding of how people feel about new technology. The focus group format will allow respondents to comment on the areas that they think are most important. The focus group format will also permit the facilitator to provide schematics of the technology to assist the participants in understanding how the technology would function. The nondirective and open-ended nature of the focus group questions encourages participants to comment and share opinions. Because focus groups are a qualitative research method, this collection of information will not require statistical methodology. For each phase, the same questions will be used with each focus group in each of the four locations. However, the questions may be different for phase 1 and phase 2 focus groups.
The attached screening questions (Attachment A) will be used to select focus group participants for both phase 1 and phase 2 focus groups. The attached moderator’s guide (Attachment B) contains questions for the phase 1 focus groups. The moderator’s guide for phase 2 will be based on the specific technology and prototypes resulting from the phase 1 technical work as well as the experiences of the phase 1 focus groups.
Focus groups are typically composed of 5 to 10 people. The group must be small enough for everyone to have an opportunity to share their opinions, yet large enough to provide for a range of opinions. NHTSA will recruit 11 participants, but plans to seat eight (8) in each focus group. Over-recruiting will allow for no-shows and last minute cancellations. If more than eight participants show up, those arriving after the initial eight (8) will be paid but will not participate in the focus group session.
No formal test procedures are planned. However, both NHTSA and the contractor will review the moderator’s guide, and the contractor will conduct a pilot focus group with a few members of the contractor’s staff. After the first set of three focus groups, NHTSA and the contractor will modify the wording of any questions that did not produce meaningful discussion among the focus group participants.
This study involves only focus groups drawn from volunteers. No statistical analysis will be performed; therefore, Section B.5 does not apply.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | judy.gertler |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-02-01 |