Note to Reviewer - Year 2 Adjustments

Note to Reviewer of 1220-0183

As outlined in the original OMB clearance package for the Green Goods and Services (GGS) survey, there were several factors identified in the supporting statements that may cause non-substantive changes to the data collection instrument and methods for the upcoming 2012 data collection effort. Those factors include the results from a planned Response Analysis Survey (RAS), the implementation of technology to ease respondent burden, anticipated changes to our industry scope due to the effects of the conversion to NAICS 2012, and conducting a new RAS with the remaining burden hours from year one.

We would like permission to make these non-substantive changes to our information collection effort for OMB 1220-0183:

1. Revise the instructions on the data collection forms to provide the respondent with a clearer understanding of the information we are requesting. BLS conducted a RAS and determined that the cover letter to the data collection forms need to be reformatted; the instructions to question 4 needs to be improved; and the examples listed in question 4 for form type H need to be more specific. We are not collecting additional information from the respondent, only improving the wording of the instructions and examples.

2. Introduce a web-based data collection instrument that essentially copies the paper form and provide a format for email responses. During this past collection cycle, several large employers requested we utilize email for data collection to ease their reporting burden. We anticipate requests for using email again this year for larger employers. We are not collecting additional information from respondents by introducing these new technological improvements.

3. Increase the sample size slightly from approximately 120,000 to approximately 122,500 to accommodate for the industrial classification changes necessitated by the NAICS 2012 conversion’s impact on the GGS sampling frame and estimating processes.

4. Conduct a Response Analysis Survey (RAS) to gauge the respondents’ understanding of the percent of GGS revenue or employment questions on the survey forms using the remaining burden hours from the initial RAS conducted at the end of year one collection (approximately 1,500 hours remain from the original 3,000 approved).

The RAS conducted in 2011 concentrated on the advanced notification letters and cover letters to determine if respondents understood the instructions regarding responses from both green and non-green establishments.  Other questions about the general understanding of the form also were asked. As a result of this RAS, we changed the format of the cover letter and made slight modifications to the instructions for question 4 of all surveys.

For the RAS we would like to conduct for this survey cycle, the RAS sample will be stratified by form type (14 form types), by size (small/medium/large), and by response method (mail or internet/edit call/ non-response call). We will select 50 respondents from each category combination, resulting in a RAS sample size of 6,300 units (14x3x3x50 = 6,300).

Establishments selected to participate in the RAS are chosen randomly from completed surveys providing answers indicating the establishment is Green.   Non-green units are not selected because they do not have revenue associated with green products or services.

We estimate the time to complete the RAS is approximately 5 minutes.  Total possible burden is 6,300 units x 5min=31,500 minutes, or 525 burden hours.

For those units in the edit call or non-response call categories, the contractor will conduct the RAS as part of the edit reconciliation and NRP process.  No separate calls for this group will be made for RAS purposes – this reduces the burden on the respondent, allows us to collect the RAS information as the interview happens, and it is cost effective for the contractor and government.