Formative Data Collection (OMB Number 0970-0356)
SUPPORTING STATEMENT PART B
FOR OMB CLEARANCE
Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency Project
October 2012
Submitted By:
Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation
Administration for Children and Families
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
7th Floor, West Aerospace Building
370 L’Enfant Promenade, SW
Washington, D.C. 20447
A list of potential sites has been identified through two primary avenues: 1) ACF program office staff, who are familiar with state and local human services programs, have provided referrals to the research team 2) Staff from human services programs have expressed interest while attending presentations on the BIAS project at public meetings and conferences. After all potential sites are identified, based on referral and/or interest; we will review available information such as marketing and recruitment materials program manuals, and organization charts.
The research team and ACF will select up to 12 organizations for fieldwork to ensure a mix of program areas, populations, locations, and service approaches. We are targeting focus groups of approximately eight people and anticipate conducting two focus groups in 12 locations. The review of marketing and recruitment materials, program manuals, and organization charts will help determine the administrative staff or clients to include in focus groups or interviews. There will be an estimated total of 156 participants per year, for a grand total of 312 participants over two years.
We plan to conduct focus groups and telephone and in-person interviews. Three instruments will be used for these data collections (one for program staff, one for administrative staff, and one for clients). There are three separate protocols: one protocol to use for interviews and focus groups with staff; one protocol to use for interviews & focus groups with administrators; and one protocol to use for interviews and focus groups with clients. The instruments in Appendix A provide questions and the expected flow of conversation for the focus groups and interviews. The nature of the focus groups will be exploratory. Human services program staff and clients possess procedural and tacit knowledge that will be vital for identifying areas where behavioral insights may have a high impact. Focus groups and interviews will be facilitated by at least two individuals.
Not all questions will be asked of each respondent, based on the participant’s background or experience. We will reduce burden by asking only relevant questions.
We expect to obtain a high response rate among sites. Several factors will help ensure a high rate of cooperation among respondents. First, ACF federal staff have pre-existing collaborative relationships with many program sites. Additionally, since the ultimate aim of the BIAS project is to provide program sites with lessons to improve their on-the-ground operations, we anticipate that respondents will be eager to engage in these conversations. Because the project team will work collaboratively with sites to schedule the field visit and interviews, we expect a high participation rate. The research team will work with administrators and staff on recruitment strategies for gathering clients to the focus group, particularly to make sure we gather a group that reflects a mix of experiences.
There are no plans to test the procedures.
Brendan Kelly
Senior Social Science Research Analyst
Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation
Administration for Children and Families
370 L’Enfant Promenade, SW
Washington, DC 20024
(202) 401 – 5695
Emily Schmitt
Social Science Research Analyst
Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation
Administration for Children and Families
370 L’Enfant Promenade, SW
Washington, DC 20024
(202) 401 – 5786
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Molly Buck |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-29 |