NOAA - HI Monk Seal Educ. Focus Group 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: Hawaiian Monk Seal Visitor Education Programming Focus Group

PURPOSE: We will be conducting a focus group with commercial lodging and tour operators on the island of Oahu. This focus group will help inform the development of future Hawaiian monk seal educational programming for the visitor audience. The information gained from the focus group discussions will help NOAA Fisheries understand effective ways that they can partner with commercial lodging and tour operators to reach their educational goals for the conservation and recovery of the endangered Hawaiian monk seal.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

The respondents will be a mix of commercial lodging and tour operators on the island of Oahu that regularly engage with the visitor target audience in a marine-related setting. The participants may or may not be actively educating their clients about the Hawaiian monk seal.

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: Jennifer Metz

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

Refreshments will be offered to participants.

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden Hours
Private sector	10	2 hours	20
Totals	10		20

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is: $100.

Note: These focus groups will be conducted by NOAA Affiliate, Jennifer Metz. She works for the Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (JIMAR) and is funded by NOAA Fisheries PIRO through a cooperative agreement. The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is solely based on Jennifer’s time incurred for conducting the focus group, setting up or cleaning up at the focus group location, and reimbursement for travel to and from the focus group location.

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?

Respondents will represent commercial tour or lodging companies that have previously reached out to NOAA Fisheries for assistance with education efforts regarding the Hawaiian monk seals or have been recommended by NOAA Fisheries staff or partners.

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

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