ATTACHMENT A: Protocol Summary
CDC Message Testing: Radiation Risk Scale
(Focus Group)
Background:
People need to know if a situation involving radiation or radioactive materials is “safe” for them or their family. The radiation protection community continues to struggle addressing this need. To address this need, Dr. Armin Ansari, from CDC’s Radiation Studies Branch has created the Radiation Risk Scale as a communication tool for the public.
Goal:
Explore the effectiveness of the Radiation Risk Scale among the public.
Objectives:
Evaluate the extent to which the Radiation Risk Scale effectively communicates radiation risk.
Evaluate the extent to which the Radiation Risk Scale is relevant, comprehensible, credible, appealing & motivates desired action.
Target Audience: The target audience for this research is the public.
All participants will:
Be at least 18 years of age
Have at least a High School Diploma
Be comfortable conversing in English
The respondents will provide approximate representation reflective of the community in terms of:
Gender
Age
Education
Race/ethnicity
It is understood that with the small number of respondents per group, & the relatively small number of respondents per city, it will not be possible to have respondents representing all combinations of characteristics in one group or even across groups for that city.
OMB Approval:
CDC will seek OMB approval through an amendment to its existing broad-based agency approval for message testing [Health Message Testing System (HMTS)]. CDC is encouraged to use questions from a pre-approved question bank in developing data collection instruments. Questions from the pre-approved question bank will focus on the following areas:
Comprehension
Initial Impressions
Believability
Persuasiveness
Self-protection motivation/Self efficacy
Content & Wording
Appearance
Methodology:
Data will be collected using focus groups with up to 96 total participants recruited by commercial market research firms. Three focus groups will be held in 4 major metropolitan cities (a total of 12 focus groups).
Each focus group will have between 6 & 8 participants & is expected to last about 90 minutes. A professional moderator will guide the discussion of the focus groups. During the beginning of the focus group, the moderator will provide an overview of the study and ground rules for the focus groups and introductions. Next, the moderator will show a video to introduce the Radiation Risk Scale. After the introduction video, the moderator will show another video which will explain a hypothetical high-risk radiation emergency scenario. After the high-risk scenario, participants will be asked questions regarding the message and the radiation scale in the video. Once they have completed their discussion about the high risk scenario, participants will also be shown another video which will explain a hypothetical low-risk radiation emergency scenario. After the low-risk scenario, participants will be asked questions regarding the message and the radiation scale in the video. The focus group will conclude with questions about information sources, such as spokespersons and communication channels.
The focus groups will be audio-recorded & transcripts will be prepared from these recordings. Interested observers may choose to attend focus groups in person or view them with Focus Vision.
Type of Respondents |
Form Name |
Number of Respondents |
Number of Responses per Respondent |
Burden per Response (in hr) |
Total Burden (in hr) |
Public |
Eligibility Screener |
192 |
1 |
15/60 |
48 |
Moderator’s Guide |
96 |
1 |
90/60 |
144 |
|
TOTAL |
|
192 hrs |
Distribution of Respondents
Audience Segment |
Type of Respondent |
Atlanta, Georgia |
Houston, Texas |
Phoenix, Arizona |
St. Louis, Missouri |
Total Number of Groups |
Total Participants |
Public |
Eligibility Screener Only Participant |
48 |
48 |
48 |
48 |
12 |
192 |
Focus Group Participant |
3 Groups (8 participants/ group) |
3 Groups (8 participants/ group) |
3 Groups (8 participants/ group) |
3 Groups (8 participants/ group) |
96 |
||
TOTAL |
|
24 Participants |
24 Participants |
24 Participants |
24 participants |
12 |
192 |
File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
File Title | The Response to a Nuclear Detonation: Messages for the First 72 Hours |
Author | adminla |
File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
File Created | 2021-01-25 |