Supporting Statement
Approval Request to Conduct Customer Satisfaction Research (OMB #1545-1432)
Identity Theft Customer Satisfaction Mail Survey
JUSTIFICATION
Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) enlists a balanced measurement system consisting of business results, customer satisfaction, and employee satisfaction. This initiative is part of the Service-wide effort to maintain a system of balanced organizational performance measures mandated by the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act (RRA) of 1998. This is also a result of Executive Order 12862 that requires all government agencies to survey their customers.
We want to target identity theft victims to understand their issues, and get their perspective on the services they received in dealing with IRS and SB/SE as to where improvement opportunities might lie.
Purpose and Use of the Information Collection
In addition to the objective of measuring customer satisfaction to meet a balanced measures requirement, Identity Theft management is motivated to use survey results to identify improvement opportunities and as the basis for enacting improvements.
Consideration Given to Information Technology
The Identity Theft survey will be administered by mail as a one-time survey, with one option year that may be exercised.
Duplication of Information
This survey will provide valuable information that is not available in any internal IRS data source.
Reducing the Burden on Small Entities
N/A
Consequences of Not Conducting Collection
If the survey is not approved, SB/SE will not have the knowledge needed to help identity theft victims with their issues, and will not be able to help prevent taxpayers from becoming identity theft victims.
Special Circumstances
There are no special circumstances. The information collected will be voluntary. These statistics could be used in making management decisions such as in business improvement opportunities.
Consultations with Persons Outside the Agency
N/A
Payment or Gift
N/A
Confidentiality
The data returned to IRS will have no identifying information relating specific records to individual taxpayers. Nonetheless, IRS will ensure that privacy to the extent allowed by law and security of the aggregated results will receive the utmost attention. Public and official access to the information will be tightly controlled. The computer files containing this tabulated information will remain password protected at all times. We will apply fair information and record-keeping practices to ensure protection of all taxpayers. The criterion for disclosure laid out in the Privacy Act, the Freedom of Information Act, and section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code, provides for the protection of taxpayer information as well as its release to authorized recipients.
Sensitive Nature
No questions will be asked that are of a personal or sensitive nature.
Burden of Information Collection
The survey interview is designed to minimize burden on the taxpayer. The time that a respondent takes to complete the mail survey is carefully considered and only the most important areas are being surveyed. The average time of participation is expected to be 7 minutes. The questions are generally one sentence in structure and on an elementary concept level.
Based on a sample of potential respondents of 2,000 and a response rate of 20%, we expect 400 survey participants, leaving 1,600 non-participants. The contact time to determine non-participants could take up to two minutes to read the pre-contact letter, with the resulting burden for non-participants being 1,600 x 2 minutes = 3,200/60 minutes = 53.3 burden hours.
Participation time is expected to be 7 minutes. This reflects the time to read the pre-notification letter (2 minutes) and time needed to complete the survey (5 minutes maximum). The time burden for participants is 400 x 7 = 2,800/60 minutes = 46.7 burden hours.
The total burden hours for the survey is (53.3 + 46.7) = 100 burden hours
Minor revisions, that will not impact the burden hours, may be made to the survey questionnaire. If changes are made to the questionnaire, only minor changes are expected. Revising the coding scheme for open-ended questions is one example.
Identity Theft Mail Survey
Category of Respondent |
No. of Respondents |
Participation Time |
Burden |
Identity Theft Non-participant |
1,600 |
2 min |
53.3 |
Identity Theft Expected Participants |
400 |
7 min |
46.7 |
Totals |
2,000 |
|
100 |
Estimated Response Rate: 20%
Total Burden Estimate = 100 hrs
Costs to Respondents
N/A
Cost to Federal Government
The estimated cost is $19,453.
Reason for Change
N/A
Tabulation of Results, Schedule, Analysis Plans
The survey data is collected via mail questionnaire. If changes are made to the questionnaire, they are expected to be minor. Revising the coding scheme for open-ended questions is one example. The survey includes several questions evaluating service received from the IRS and provides space for comments or suggestions for improvement.
Survey scoring for this contract is based on the Customer Satisfaction Survey Score response average to the keystone question – “Overall, the way the IRS handled your Identity Theft case?” Questions utilize a 5-point rating scale, with 1 being very dissatisfied and 5 being very satisfied. All survey responses will be released only as summaries. The contractor shall hold the identities, of the taxpayers responding to the survey, private to the extent permitted by law. The contractor ensures that taxpayers responding to the survey are guaranteed anonymity. The contractor will not provide the IRS with data or status updates that are linked to individual respondents. Upon completion of data collection and cleaning, the contractor will provide de-identified survey data to the IRS. This data will not include any individually identifying information such as name, address, or taxpayer identification number.
Display of OMB Approval Date
N/A
Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions
N/A
Dates collection will begin and end
August 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014
B. STATISTICAL METHODS
Universe and Respondent Selection
Survey participants are randomly selected via a stratified random sample using the Masterfile secured database, using ID Theft cases from the last 6 months.
Procedures for Collecting Information
The vendor will administer the survey by mail. Standard procedures will be used in order to obtain the highest response rate possible for the mail survey. These will include: 1) a pre-notification letter on IRS letterhead about the survey, 2) cover letter and questionnaire, 3) a postcard reminder, and 4) a cover letter and a copy of questionnaire to non-respondents.
Methods to Maximize Response
The questionnaire length is minimized to reduce respondent burden; thereby, tending to increase response rates. Respondents are assured anonymity of their responses. Also, weighting procedures can be applied to adjust aggregated data from those who do respond.
Testing of Procedures
The questionnaire is an established and tested survey instrument. If changes are made to the questionnaire, only minor changes are expected. Revising the coding scheme for open-ended questions is one example.
Contacts for Statistical Aspects and Data Collection
For questions regarding the study or questionnaire design or statistical methodology, contact:
Sharon Luckett or Joann McDowell
SB/SE, Policy Analyst SB/SE, Policy Analyst
240-613-6466 240-613-6467
sharon.l.luckett@irs.gov joann.m.mcdowell@irs.gov
Survey instruments include the following and are included as a separate file.
Pre-notification letter on IRS letterhead
Cover letter and questionnaire
Postcard reminder
Cover letter for non-respondents
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Title | DOCUMENTATION FOR THE GENERIC CLEARANCE |
| Author | 558022 |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-30 |