OMB Clearance Form_TO2_Toolkit_Online Survey_1 31 2014

DOCUMENTATION FOR THE GENERIC CLEARANCE

OF TOOLKIT WEBSITE ONLINE SURVEY COLLECTIONS

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

(the collection that is the subject of the 10-day review request)

Financial Aid Toolkit Website Evaluation Survey

[X] SURVEY [ ] FOCUS GROUP [ ] SOFTWARE USABILITY TESTING

DESCRIPTION OF THIS SPECIFIC COLLECTION

Following you will find:

1. intended purpose,

2. need for the collection,

3. planned use of the data,

4. date(s) and location(s),

5. collection procedures,

6. number of focus groups, surveys, usability testing sessions

7. description of respondents/participants,

Attached is a copy of the online survey questionnaire.

Purpose of the Research, Need for the Collection, and Planned Use of the Data

This study will evaluate the new Financial Aid Toolkit website (FinancialAidToolkit.ed.gov). The over-arching goal of the evaluation is to offer insights to assist in making the site a go-to and frequently visited resource for individuals and organizations who help students prepare for college and the financial aid process.

The research will assist FSA in evaluating the overall effectiveness of, and satisfaction with, the new site after Toolkit deployment. The online survey will do the following:

• Identify current sources of information used to assist in coordinating programs for and/or counseling or advising students and parents regarding financial aid options

• Measure overall impressions of the Toolkit website and satisfaction with specific aspects such as credibility, relevance, and usefulness

• Gather participant suggestions for additional content or changes to the Toolkit website

The online survey will collect feedback that will be used to validate and/or refine FSA’s Toolkit layout and strategy, in addition to evaluating how well the site meets the needs of the target audiences and identifying areas for improvement.

Dates, Locations, and Collection Procedures

This study will be conducted through an online survey taking participants no more than 5-7 minutes to complete. Invitations for the survey will be emailed to targets opting in from listserv postings, in addition to any targets for whom FSA is able to share email addresses from internal databases. The study will target 750 completed surveys.

Links to the survey will also be provided to FSA to post on various websites and in communications materials, if so desired.

Participants are assured of the anonymity of their survey responses and that their responses will be reported only in aggregate form.

Description of Respondents/Participants

Survey participants will be screened to ensure that they counsel, advise, mentor or otherwise work with students relative to their higher education goals or financial aid.

Targeted audiences for the survey include the following:

• High school counselors

• College access professionals (such as TRIO or GEAR UP staff)

• Community-based organizations (such as Boys and Girls Clubs)

Demographic and general classification information will be collected in the survey. No quotas will be set for any demographic/classification segment (such as institution/organization size, area type or participant tenure), but instead those segments will be represented as they occur naturally in the convenience sample of targets.

AMOUNT OF ANY PROPOSED STIPEND OR INCENTIVE

No stipend or incentive will be offered for participating in this survey.

BURDEN HOUR COMPUTATION (Number of responses (X) estimated response or participation time in minutes (/60) = annual burden hours):

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Participants completing a survey	750	6 minutes (average)	75 hours
Screened participants*	200	2 minutes (average)	7.5 hours
Total	950		82.50 hours

* An estimate of those who will fall outside of target segment parameters, thus not qualifying to take the survey.

BURDEN COST COMPUTATION

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Hourly Rate	Response Time	Totals
Participants completing a survey	750	$7.25/hour (federal minimum wage)	6 minutes (average)	$543.75

STATISTICAL INFORMATION

The existing contract allows for up to 750 completed survey responses, equating to a margin of error of ±3.58% at a 95% level of confidence.

Once online data collection is complete, tabulation and analysis will be conducted using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). SPSS has a complete tool kit of programming, statistical analysis, graphing and reporting capabilities for use in a variety of applications in commercial, academic, and government settings.

In addition to tabulating overall frequencies and descriptive statistics for each survey question, we will conduct advanced statistical analyses (where possible and appropriate) to assess any key relationships among survey items. Appropriateness is typically determined based on a minimum cell size of 30 respondents.

The statistical techniques used may include one or a combination of the following bivariate and multivariate analyses: regression, correlation, CHAID, factor, cluster, multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) or perceptual mapping. These advanced analysis techniques will identify relationships among survey items and provide further interpretation of complex multi-dimensional data that can then further guide Toolkit site enhancements and marketing strategy, and decision making. Thematic text analysis will be also used for the open-end and “other specify” question responses to code and categorize these qualitative data.

If sample sizes are sufficient, we will also profile survey respondents by using post hoc segmentation analysis, most likely in the form of cluster analysis (one form of multivariate analysis) to look for patterns in attitudes, perceptions, behaviors and demographics.

While complex analysis techniques are almost always interesting, they are not necessarily useful. We will apply our business and strategy background to ensure that all analyses are performed with actionable results in mind. The final analytical techniques used will be driven by the needs of the FSA team, the approved survey questions and the overall sample size.

NAME OF CONTACT PERSON: Cynthia Poole

TELEPHONE NUMBER: (703) 378-2025 x106

MAILING LOCATION:

Market Connections Inc.

14555 Avion Parkway, Suite 125

Chantilly, VA 20151

ED DEPARTMENT, OFFICE, DIVISION, BRANCH:

Vandna Wendy Bhagat

Director, Awareness & Outreach Group
Federal Student Aid
U.S. Department of Education

TEL: (202) 377-4094

Wendy.bhagat@ed.gov

830 First St. NE

Washington, DC 20202

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