1024-0224 Programmatic Review Form - THRO

NPS Form 10-201 (Rev. 09/2016) OMB Control No. 1024-0224

National Park Service Expiration Date 5/31/2019

PROGRAMMATIC REVIEW AND CLEARANCE PROCESS

FOR NPS-SPONSORED PUBLIC SURVEYS

The scope of the Programmatic Review and Clearance Process for NPS-Sponsored Public Surveys is limited and will only include individual surveys of park visitors, potential park visitors, and residents of communities near parks. Use of the programmatic review will be limited to non-controversial surveys of park visitors, potential park visitors, and/or residents of communities near parks that are not likely to include topics of significant interest in the review process. Additionally, this process is limited to non-controversial information collections that do not attract attention to significant, sensitive, or political issues. Examples of significant, sensitive, or political issues include: seeking opinions regarding political figures; obtaining citizen feedback related to high-visibility or high-impact issues like the reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone National Park, the delisting of specific Endangered Species, or drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

SUBMISSION DATE: 4/18/2018

PROJECT TITLE: Evaluating Visitor Preferences for Social Media and Access to Technology at Theodore Roosevelt National Park

ABSTRACT: (not to exceed 150 words)

With the increasing levels of NPS visitation, and diversity of visitors, park managers feel it is important to understand visitor perceptions of mobile technology and the role social media will play in long-term strategic management of natural and social resources of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. This survey is designed to collect data about current and desired preferences for access to social media, and interpretive opportunities through technology; and natural and social resource impacts of mobile technology. Data will be used to help inform ongoing and future planning processes related to visitor use management and the implementation of technology related materials and programs.

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR CONTACT INFORMATION:

Name: Ryan Sharp, PhD

Affiliation: Kansas State University

Address: 2021 Throckmorton, Manhattan, KS 66506

Phone: 785-532-1665

Email: ryansharp@ksu.edu

PARK OR PROGRAM LIAISON CONTACT INFORMATION:

Name: Chad Sexton

Park: Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Address: 315 2^nd Ave, Medora, ND 58645

Phone: 701-623-4730

Email: chad_sexton@nps.gov

PROJECT INFORMATION:

Where will the collection take place? Theodore Roosevelt National Park (THRO)

Sampling Period Start Date: May 25, 2018 Sampling Period End Date: October 1, 2018

Type of Information Collection Instrument: (Check ALL that Apply)

 Mail-Back Questionnaire  Face-to-Face Interview  Focus Groups

 On-Site Questionnaire  Telephone Survey

 Other (List): online survey

Will an electronic device be used to collect information?

 No  Yes – Type of Device: tablet computer (e.g., iPad)

SURVEY JUSTIFICATION:

Social science research in support of park planning and management is mandated in the NPS Management Policies 2006 (Section 8.11.1, “Social Science Studies”). The NPS pursues a policy that facilitates social science studies in support of the NPS mission to protect resources and enhance the enjoyment of present and future generations. NPS Research Mandate (54 USC 100702) states that social science research will be used to provide an understanding of park visitors, the non-visiting public, gateway communities and regions, and human interactions with park resources. Such studies are needed to provide a scientific basis for park planning and development.

The use of technology in our society continues to impact our everyday lives in positive and negatives ways. National Parks are not immune to this technology. As the proliferation of smart phones, smart watches, tablet computers and the cell towers and satellites that enable their use continues, the public may start to request these amenities in National Parks. Additionally, many National Park visitors may be visiting these location to “get away” from the technology present in their everyday lives. Thus, understanding visitors perceptions towards technology in parks is critical in either meeting visitors demands, or providing informed responses as to why in some parks (or parts of some parks), technology is not appropriate (e.g. Wilderness).

Managers at Theodore Roosevelt National Park (THRO) have requested this visitor survey because they are interested in understanding how park visitors use mobile technology and social media during their visit. This information will contribute to the development of park planning and management decisions to provide access to Wi-Fi and the development of a park-wide mobile app to enhance visitor experiences.

This collection will provide empirical data to evaluate visitor preferences for how, when, and where they would use mobile technology while visiting THRO. It is assumed that the possible increase in access to technology could lead to increased visitation which could in turn, impact the desired experiential conditions that people may be coming to the park enjoy. By understanding the features and experiences related to the social media and technology that are most desirable to visitors, park managers will be able to develop technology-based interpretive opportunities to provide different and unique opportunities for visitors to connect to the park.

The key objectives of this study are to:

1. Evaluate current and desired visitor preferences for features, uses, and access to social media and technology.

2. Identify current and desired interpretive opportunities related to social media and technology.

3. Assess experiential impacts associated with visitors’ use of social media and technology.

SURVEY METHODOLOGY:

1. Respondent Universe:

The respondent universe for this collection will be a systematic sample of all adult visitors (age 18 and older), at the following intercept locations within THRO during the study period (May to October, 2018).

1. Loop Road – South Unit Entrance Station

2. Oxbow Overlook – North Unit

3. Riverbend Overlook – North Unit

(B) Sampling Plan / Procedures:

According to the NPS visitor use statistics, approximately 708,003 people visited THRO in 2017. Our sample sizes across the spring, summer, and fall seasons, is intended to capture a representative sample of visitors at each location. The numbers provided in the tables below are estimates based on 1) previous studies, 2) areas of high, medium and low use, and 3) park manager input.

In order to accurately gauge experiences, all visitors will be approached at the end of their experience as they are exiting the sampling areas. Sampling will occur at the entrance station in the South Unit and the overlooks at each of the locations listed below from 9am to 5pm during each 7-day sampling periods: spring (May 25-31, 2018), summer (August 9-15, 2018) and fall (Sept. 13-19, 2018), for a total of 21 sampling days at each location. Table 1 below provide an example of the proposed sampling schedule.

Table 1. Example Sampling Schedule

	Sampling Days Per Site
Location	Spring	Summer	Fall	Total
Loop Road South Unit Entrance Station	7	7	7	21
Oxbow Overlook	7	7	7	21
Riverbend Overlook	7	7	7	21

We expect to contact at least 600 visitors during the sampling period (Table 2). Based upon our sampling methods we anticipate contacting at least 100 visitors at the Loop Rd and 50 visitors Oxbow and Riverbend Overlooks (during each seven day sampling period, for a combined total of 600 people at the end of the sampling period).

Table 2. Expected Contacts by Season and Location

	Estimated Number of Visitor Contacts
Location	Spring	Summer	Fall	TOTAL
Loop Road South Unit Entrance Station	100	100	100	300
Oxbow Overlook	50	50	50	150
Riverbend Overlook	50	50	50	150
Total	200	200	200	600

*Note – This survey “VISITOR THRESHOLDS” will be administered concurrently on the same days and at the same sites as the “TECHNOLOGY PREFERENCES” survey. Sampling will be such that one person from every other randomly group will receive either a visitor thresholds or a technology preferences survey.

(C) Instrument Administration:

The initial contact with visitors will be used to explain the study and determine if visitors are interested in completing a questionnaire (see script below). This initial contact will take less than one minute. If a group is encountered, the survey interviewer will ask the individual within the group with the next birthday to serve as the respondent. All visitors that refuse to participate will be asked if they would be willing to take 1 minute to respond to non-response bias questions. The number of refusals will be recorded and used to calculate the overall response rate for the collection. Additionally, all visitor contacted that refuse to complete the full survey will be asked if they would be willing to answer the non-response bias check questions that will be used in the final analysis (see item E below).

Visitors approached during the initial contact will be read the following script:

“Hello, I am conducting a survey for the National Park Service to better understand visitor’s use of mobile technology and how it may have impacted your experience at the park today. Your participation is voluntary and all responses will be kept anonymous. Would you be willing to take a 10-minute survey and give it back to the interviewer?”

If YES – then ask, “has any member of your group been asked to participate in this survey before?”

If “YES” (already asked to participate) then, “Thank you for your participation in this study. Have a great day.”

If “NO” (have not been previously asked to participate) then,

“Thank you for agreeing to participate. Who in your group is at least 18 years old and has the next birthday?” The interviewer will:

• Ask the visitor to start the process by answering the non-response bias questions (listed below).

• Record responses in spaces provided on the tracking sheet.

• Hand the tablet to the participant and ask them to return it to the administrator upon completion of the survey.

If NO– (soft refusal) - ask them if they would be willing to answer the non-response bias questions (listed below) and then thank them for their time. Record responses in spaces provided on the tracking sheet.

If NO– (hard refusal) - end the contact and thank them for their time.

(D) Expected Response Rate / Confidence Level:

The expected response rate for the collections is based on surveys at similar park sites. Based on the survey sample sizes, there will be 95% confidence that the survey findings will be accurate to within 3-5 percentage points. To achieve this, we will likely have to contact approximately 600 visitors assuming a 50% response rate (Table 3). The proposed sample sizes will be adequate for bivariate comparisons and will allow for comparisons between study sites and more sophisticated multivariate analysis. For dichotomous response variables, estimates will be accurate within the margins of error and confidence intervals will be somewhat larger for questions with more than two response categories.

The number of refusals at each location will be recorded and reported in a survey log, and will be used in calculating the overall response rate.

Table 3. Anticipated Response Rates

Location	Initial Contacts	Acceptance 50%	Non-respondents (Soft refusals) 50%	Non-response survey 20%	Hard Refusals 80%
Loop Road South Unit Entrance Station	300	150	150	30	120
Oxbow Overlook	150	75	75	15	60
Riverbend Overlook	150	75	75	15	60
TOTAL	600	300	300	60	240

5. Strategies for dealing with potential non-response bias:

During the initial contact, the interviewer will ask each visitor four questions taken from the survey. These questions will be used in a non-response bias analysis.

1) What type of group are you traveling with today?

2) How many people are in your group?

3) How old is the person who will complete the questionnaire?

4) How important to you is the ability to get real time information about Theodore Roosevelt NP?

 Extremely unimportant,  unimportant,  neither unimportant nor important,  important,  extremely important

Responses will be recorded on a log for every survey contact. Results of the non-response bias check will be described in a report and the implications for park planning and management will be discussed.

5. Description of any pre-testing and peer review of the methods and/or instrument:

The questionnaire format and many of the questions have been used in many survey instruments previously submitted by researchers at Kansas State University and subsequently approved by OMB. The questions are taken from the currently approved list of questions in NPS Pool of Known Questions (OMB 1024-0224; Current Expirations Date: 5-31-2019) and from the 2017 Shenandoah National Park Visitor Survey (OMB approval on 9/20/17). Variations of the questions have been reviewed by THRO managers and professors from Kansas State University. The questionnaire was tested on eight voluntary members of the general public to determine completion time and clarity of the questions.

BURDEN ESTIMATES:

Overall, we plan to approach a total of 600 individuals across all sites during the sampling periods. Among which we anticipate that 300 individuals will agree to participate and complete a survey while on site which will take about 10 minutes to complete. We expect that 300 (50%) visitors will refuse to participate and for those individuals, we attempt to record their reason for refusal.

In addition to the one minute initial contact time, we expect that an additional 11 minutes will be required to complete and return the on-site questionnaire (300 responses x 11minutes = 55 hours). The burden for the on-site survey combines the initial contact plus the non-response survey with the time to complete the survey, which is estimated to be 81 hours (Table 4).

Of all the visitors refusing to accept the invitation (n= 300) we will ask if they would be willing to take one minute to answer the four questions (above) that will serve as the non-response bias check for this collection. We expect that 20% (n=60) of the on-site refusals will answer the non-response bias questions. We anticipate that it will take a minute, resulting in a total of 1 hour for the non-response survey (60 x 1 minutes = 1 hour).

The remaining 240 visitors completely refusing to accept any part of the invitation to participate will not incur a respondent burden, however, for those individuals we will also attempt to record their reason for refusal.

Table 4. Estimate Annual Respondent Burden

	Responses	Completion Time * (minutes)	Burden Hours
		Contact time added to completion time
Completed questionnaire	300	12	55
Non-response survey	60	1	1
Total burden requested:	360		56

REPORTING PLAN:

The study results will be presented in internal agency reports for NPS managers at the park. Response frequencies will be tabulated and measures of central tendency computed (e.g., mean, median, mode, as appropriate). The reports will be archived with the NPS Social Science Program for inclusion in the Social Science Studies Collection as required by the NSP Programmatic Approval Process. Hard copies will be available upon request.

NOTICES

Privacy Act Statement

General: This information is provided pursuant to Public Law 93-579 (Privacy Act of 1974), December 21, 1984, for individuals completing this form.

Authority: National Park Service Research mandate (54 USC 100702)

Purpose and Uses: This information will be used by The NPS Information Collections Coordinator to ensure appropriate documentation of information collections conducted in areas managed by or that are sponsored by the National Park Service.

Effects of Nondisclosure: Providing information is mandatory to submit Information Collection Requests to Programmatic Review Process.

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

We are collecting this information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501) and is authorized by the National Park Service Research mandate (54 USC 100702). This information will be used by The NPS Information Collections Coordinator to ensure appropriate documentation of information collections conducted in areas managed by or that are sponsored by the National Park Service. All parts of the form must be completed in order for your request to be considered. We may not conduct or sponsor and you are not required to respond to, this or any other Federal agency-sponsored information collection unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. OMB has reviewed and approved The National Park Service Programmatic Review Process and assigned OMB Control Number 1024-0224.

Estimated Burden Statement

Public Reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 60 minutes per request, including the time it takes for reviewing instructions, gathering information and completing and reviewing the form. This time does not include the editorial time required to finalize the submission. Comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form should be sent to the Information Collection Clearance Coordinator, National Park Service, 1201 Oakridge Dr., Fort Collins, CO 80525.

RECORDS RETENTION - PERMANENT. Transfer all permanent records to NARA 15 years after closure. (NPS Records Schedule, Resource Page 1 of 8

Management And Lands (Item 1.A.2) (N1-79-08-1)).