N-Dex_Supporting Statement A

Supporting Statement for Paperwork Reduction Act Collection Submission for

“National Data Exchange (N-DEx) User Questionnaire”

1. JUSTIFICATION

1. Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary

Executive Order 12862 directs Federal agencies to provide service to the public that matches or exceeds the best service available in the private sector. In order to work continuously to ensure that our programs are effective and meet our customers’ needs, Department of Justice (hereafter “the Agency”) seeks to obtain OMB approval for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) National Data Exchange (N-DEx) to collect qualitative feedback on N-DEx service delivery. By qualitative feedback, the Agency refers to information that provides useful insights on perceptions and opinions, but is not statistical in nature and cannot be generalized to the population of study.

This collection of information is necessary to enable the Agency to garner customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, timely manner, in accordance with our commitment to improving service delivery. The information collected from N-DEx users will help ensure an effective, efficient, and satisfying experience with the N-DEx system. This feedback will provide insights into user perceptions, experiences and expectations, provide an early warning of issues with service, or focus attention on areas where communication, training or changes in operations might improve delivery of products or services. These collections will allow for ongoing, collaborative and actionable communications between the Agency and its N-DEx customers and stakeholders and will also allow feedback to contribute directly to the improvement of program management.

2. Purpose and Use of the Information Collection

Improving agency programs requires ongoing assessment of service delivery, including a systematic review of the operation of a program compared to a set of explicit or implicit standards, as a means of contributing to the continuous improvement of the program. The Agency will analyze, and interpret information gathered through this collection to identify strengths and weaknesses of current N-DEx services and make improvements in service delivery based on feedback. The solicitation of feedback will target areas such as: timeliness, appropriateness, accuracy of information, courtesy, efficiency of service delivery, and resolution of issues with service delivery. Responses will be assessed to plan and inform efforts to improve or maintain the quality of service offered to the public. If this information is not collected, vital feedback from customers and stakeholders on the Agency’s services will be unavailable.

The Agency’s collection submission for approval meets the following conditions:

• The collection is voluntary;

• The collection is low-burden for respondents (based on considerations of total burden hours, total number of respondents, or burden-hours per respondent) and is low-cost for both the respondents and the Federal Government;

• The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other Federal agencies;

• The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the N-DEx system;

• Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected only to the extent necessary¹ and is not retained;

• Information gathered will be used only internally for general service improvement and program management purposes and is not intended for release outside of the agency (if released, procedures outlined in Question 16 will be followed);

• Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions ²; and

• Information gathered will yield qualitative information; the collections will not be designed or expected to yield statistically reliable results or used as though the results are generalizable to the population of study.; 

If these conditions are not met, the Agency will submit an information collection request to OMB for approval through the normal PRA process.

3. Consideration Given to Information Technology

The Agency will collect information electronically and/or use online collaboration tools to reduce burden.

4. Duplication of Information

No similar data are gathered or maintained by the Agency or are available from other sources known to the Agency.

5. Reducing the Burden on Small Entities

Users from small entities may be involved in these efforts but the Agency will minimize the burden on them by asking for readily available information, and using short, easy-to-complete information collection instruments.

6. Consequences of Not Conducting Collection

Without these types of feedback, the Agency will not have timely information to adjust its services to meet N-DEx customer needs.

7. Special Circumstances

There are no special circumstances. The information collected will be voluntary and will not be used for statistical purposes.

8. Consultations with Persons Outside the Agency

In accordance with 5 CFR 1320.8(d), both a 30-day and 60-day notice for public comment were published in the Federal Register.

9. Payment or Gift

The Agency will not provide payment or other forms of remuneration to respondents of its various forms of collecting feedback.

10. Confidentiality

If a confidentiality pledge is deemed useful and feasible, the Agency will only include a pledge of confidentiality that is supported by authority established in statute or regulation, that is supported by disclosure and data security policies that are consistent with the pledge, and that does not unnecessarily impede sharing of data with other agencies for compatible confidential use.

11. Sensitive Nature

No questions will be asked that are of a personal or sensitive nature.

12. Burden of Information Collection

A variety of instruments and platforms will be used to collect information from respondents. The annual burden hours requested (1,000) are based on the number of collections we expect to conduct over the requested period for this clearance .

Estimated Annual Reporting Burden
Type of Collection	No. of Respondents	Annual Frequency per Response	Hours per Response	Total Hours
FBI – Customer Satisfaction Survey	2000	2	.25	1,000
[Insert Type]	[Insert #]	[Insert #]	[Insert #]	[Insert #]
[Insert Type]	[Insert #]	[Insert #]	[Insert #]	[Insert #]

13. Costs to Respondents

No costs are anticipated.

14. Costs to Federal Government

The anticipated cost to the Federal Government is approximately $20,000 annually. These costs are comprised of: Operational expenses limited to staff time. The survey will be conducted online and there are no further anticipated costs associated with equipment, overhead, printing, or postage.

15. Reason for Change

Not applicable. This is a new request for a collection.

16. Tabulation of Results, Schedule, Analysis Plans

Feedback collected under this collection provides useful information, but it does not yield data that can be generalized to the overall population. Findings will be used for general service improvement, but are not for publication or other public release.

Although the Agency does not intend to publish its findings, the Agency may receive requests to release the information (e.g., congressional inquiry, Freedom of Information Act requests). The Agency will disseminate the findings when appropriate, strictly following the Agency's "Guidelines for Ensuring the Quality of Information Disseminated to the Public.", and will include specific discussion of the limitation of the qualitative results discussed above.

17. Display of OMB Approval Date

We are requesting no exemption.

18. Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions

These activities comply with the requirements in 5 CFR 1320.9.

B. STATISTICAL METHODS

The primary purpose of these collections will be for internal management purposes; there are no plans to publish or otherwise release this information.

1. Universe and Respondent Selection

The activities under this collection will involve a clustered, random sample of N-DEx users. The collection is a voluntary survey to request basic feedback on the N-DEx services received. The respondent is invited to participate in the collection via an e-mail invitation, which contains a link to the online instrument.

Results will not be used to make statements representative of the universe of study, to produce statistical descriptions (careful, repeatable measurements), or to generalize the data beyond the scope of the sample.

The collection will be used by program managers to change or improve N-DEx programs, products, or services. The accuracy, reliability, and applicability of the results of these surveys are adequate for their purpose.

The samples associated with this collection are not subjected to the same scrutiny as scientifically drawn samples where estimates are published or otherwise released to the public.

2. Procedures for Collecting Information

Data collection methods and procedures are provided in Supporting Statement B. The Agency expects to use commercial survey-specific software to automate its collection and analysis of feedback.

3. Methods to Maximize Response

Information collected under this effort will not yield generalizable quantitative findings; it can provide useful customer input, but it does not yield data about customer opinions that can be generalized.

4. Testing of Procedures

Pretesting may be done with internal staff, a limited number of external colleagues, and/or customers who are familiar with the programs and products. If the number of pretest respondents exceeds nine members of the public, the Agency will submit the pretest instruments for review under an additional clearance request.

5. Contacts for Statistical Aspects and Data Collection

Each program will obtain information from statisticians in the development, design, conduct, and analysis of customer/partner service surveys, when appropriate. This statistical expertise will be available from agency statisticians or from contractors and the Agency will include the names and contact information of persons consulted in the specific information collection requests submitted under this generic clearance.

1 For example, collections that collect PII in order to provide renumeration for participants of focus groups and cognitive laboratory studies will be submitted under this request. All privacy act requirements will be met.,

2 As defined in OMB and agency Information Quality Guidelines, “influential” means that “an agency can reasonably determine that dissemination of the information will have or does have a clear and substantial impact on important public policies or important private sector decisions.”