Guidelines Provided to Federal Agencies

GUIDELINES TO AGENCIES CONDUCTING SURVEYS UNDER OMB CLEARANCE 1090-0007

OBJECTIVE: Agencies conducting surveys under this clearance work through the Federal Consulting Group in the Department of Interior to measure citizen satisfaction with a program or service using the ACSI Methodology. The content of such surveys fall into two general areas – modeled and non-modeled questions – and must meet the guidelines described below.

MODELED QUESTIONS:

Surveys covered under this clearance will capture information from citizens about their experiences with various programs or services. The preponderance of the questions will be asked on a 10-point scale (typically “poor” to “excellent” or “very dissatisfied” to “very satisfied”). Using the ACSI methodology, the responses will be used to develop a “cause-and-effect” structural equation model to measure the existing level of satisfaction (score) for each driver of satisfaction, satisfaction itself, and behaviors or outcomes of satisfaction. In addition, the model estimates the leverage (or impact) that each driver has on satisfaction, and in turn, satisfaction on citizen behavior. Together, the scores and impacts provide a framework for agencies to set priorities for managing programs and services to increase satisfaction and desired citizen behavior in the most cost-effective manner.

Drivers of Satisfaction: The drivers of satisfaction depend on the specific program or service provided by the agency, but generally will include 3-5 rated questions for each of the following areas that are relevant: service, information, process (e.g., application, complaint handling, problem resolution, etc.), and communication

Satisfaction: The 3 attributes of satisfaction: 1) overall satisfaction , 2) satisfaction compared to expectations, and 3) satisfaction compared to the ideal.

Outcomes of Satisfaction(Behavior): Typical outcomes for government are: 1) use program or service in the future, 2) recommend, 3) trust, and 4) confidence

NON-MODELED QUESTIONS:

Demographic or Segmentation: These questions are used to help agencies understand differences in the major types of citizens affected by the program or using services. These would typically include age, gender, education, location, etc.

Other: Occasionally there is benefit in asking other questions to provide additional context around the scaled questions used for modeling. However, these questions should specifically address the citizen’s experience with the service/program being measured in the survey. Such questions should not address policy issues or opinions not based on actual experience. In other words, these questions should be kept to a minimum and asked only when responses provide meaningful additional insight to agencies’ understanding of citizens’ experiences beyond the modeled questions results.