WWA Focus Groups Submission Request

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0690-0030)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Watch, Warning, and Advisory (WWA) Focus Groups in Boulder, CO, Houston, TX, Sterling, VA, and Anchorage, AK

PURPOSE: To better understand audiences’ understanding of the National Weather Service’s (NWS) WWA system and preferences for format, presentation, graphics, labels, colors, and messaging statements to improve the current system.

NWS issues a variety of severe weather warnings, watches, advisories, and statements. They can be issued for a single forecast zone (usually one county or a part of a county) or for many forecast zones. NWS is interested in simplifying its WWA products, as it has found that many members of the public don’t understand the distinctions among the terms used in the different WWA products or their intent. In addition, these terms may not always be effectively conveying the true impact of individual hazardous weather events. The discussion groups will take place in four communities where a NWS Weather Forecast Office (WFO) is based: Sterling, VA (April 16-17 proposed), Boulder, CO (April 24-25 proposed), Houston, TX (May 1-2 proposed), and Anchorage, AK (May 5-6 proposed). We anticipate having four meetings per location: two with the public, two with different groups of NWS core partners, and one with NWS staff.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

The respondents will be small groups of citizens, emergency managers, emergency personnel, community group members, broadcast meteorologists, and NWS forecasters who use the severe weather watch, warning, and advisory WWA system.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [] Small Discussion Group

[x] Focus Group [] Other:

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The 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 future.

Name: Stephanie.Fauver, NOAA, Coastal Services Center, 843-740-1287, Stephanie.Fauver@noaa.gov

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X] No

2. If Yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the

Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ X ] Yes [ ] No

NOAA will provide $75/person as an incentive for each citizen who participates in the public focus group (two groups per location with 12 people per group). The incentive reflects the fact that individuals who participate in the group will (1) be required to travel to the location where NOAA holds the group and (2) NOAA is asking for two hours of time from each individual. Additionally, the firms that NOAA has engaged to recruit individuals for the focus groups recommend incentives of $75-$100 for focus groups of this length.

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BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent (per community; there are four communities)	No. of Respondents	Participation Time (hours)	Burden (hours)
Federal Government	12	2	24
State Local Tribal Government	12	2	24
Private Sector	36	2	72
Totals per community	60	-	120
Totals (for all four communities)	240	-	480

FEDERAL COST: The estimated cost to the Federal government is $13,805 per location or $55,220 total for all four communities.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe?

[ ] Yes [x ] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

NOAA will work with a market research firm to select participants for the citizen/public group in each location. NOAA will request that the market research firm recruit a diverse group of individuals (e.g., by gender, age, education, socioeconomics, rural/urban, ethnicity) to the extent possible. The remainder of the respondents will be selected by the individual NWS WFO in each community based on its knowledge of how risk information flows in their communities. The respondents will include core NWS partners that interact with the public during severe weather and provide hazard information to the public. Each WFO will develop its own contact list.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[X ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain.

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ X ] Yes [ ] No

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

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