Attachments and Supporting Documentation for Pre-Test

Survey of Jail Administrative Records Pre-test Attachments
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
J.
K.

Paper version on the Survey of Jail Administrative Records INCLUDED AS A SEPARATE DOCUMENT
Selected screenshots from web-based survey data collection tool
Interview Protocol
Initial invitation letter
Initial invitation email
Follow-up email reminder
Follow-up telephone call script
Interview scheduling script
Letter of project approval from Abt IRB
SILJ fact sheet
SJAR fact sheet

Attachment B. Selected screenshots from web-based survey data collection tool

Attachment C. BJS SJAR Pre-test Telephone Interview Protocol
Hello, I’m [Name] from Abt Associates. Thank you for your willingness to participate in today’s discussion about the Survey of Jail Administrative
Records (SJAR). I am working with my colleague [introduce the note-taker, if appropriate] who will be taking notes while we speak. We are
conducting this interview on behalf of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) to enhance the design of the SJAR which will ultimately help BJS
assess the feasibility of collecting and then using jail administrative data to support the next Survey of Inmates in Local Jails (SILJ) anticipated to
be collected in 2020 or 2021. We will be asking you questions about any challenges you may have encountered while taking the survey. This
discussion should take approximately 45 minutes to an hour. Do you have any questions before we begin?
[If no, proceed to interview]
1. Did you experience any technical difficulties while trying to access the survey or while taking the survey?
2. Do you understand the difference between the Survey of Jail Administrative Records (SJAR) and the Survey of Inmates in Local Jails
(SILJ)? [If no, please explain the differences in the data collections. Refer to the SJAR and SILJ fact sheets]
3. On a scale of 1-5, with 1 being not challenging at all, and 5 being extremely challenging, how challenging did you find the SJAR survey?
a. Were there any specific questions or sections that were more challenging than others?
b. Where there any specific questions or sections that were unclear to you?
4. Were you able to answer most of the questions yourself or did you have to consult with others?
a. [If consult with others]With whom? What are their positions in your jail?
b. What proportion would you say you had to consult with others? For 10% of the survey? 50%?
c. Do you remember any particular questions or sections that you had to consult with others on?
5. Approximately how long did it take for you to complete the survey?
Now I’d like to go through each section to talk about issues that may have come up. Do you have the copy of the survey in front of you that we
emailed to you? If not, I can describe each section as we go through to refresh your memory.
Section I – Data Elements
In this section we asked if you would be able to provide several different types of inmate-level data for inmates confined in your facility during a
specified period of time including individual characteristics, current commitment, criminal justice status, current offense information, pre-trial
and trial information, and sentencing information.
6. Did this section make sense to you?
7. Did you need help answering any of these questions?
8. Was any of the terminology unclear?
9. [Review SJAR responses] Ask any clarifying questions based on respondent’s answers in each subsection, i.e. responded no to a majority
of the section items.
a. Probe understanding of questions pertaining to criminal justice status versus current offense information.
b. Probe/follow up on any missing responses.
c. Probe/follow up on type of data not willing to provide.

Section II – Obtaining Administrative Data
In this section, we asked you about the processes and procedures for BJS to obtain administrative data, as well as costs associated with providing
the data.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

Did this section make sense to you?
Did you need help answering any of these questions?
Was any of the terminology unclear?
Was it clear that these questions were pertaining to the process for obtaining administrative data?
[Ask any clarifying questions based on respondents answers here, i.e. responded no to a majority of the section items]
a. Probe on specific requirements to share administrative data, limitations, length of process, internal review process
b. Follow up on any non-responses without sufficient explanation
15. Can you briefly describe the process for releasing administrative data?
a. Have you shared data in the past? What type of data? Were there any challenges?

Section III – SILJ Roster and Administration
In this section we asked you about inmate roster information that will inform planning for the administration of the future Survey of Inmates of
in Local Jails (SILJ). In order to determine how BJS can best collect data on in inmates selected in the SILJ, consistent with previous iterations, the
SILJ will require a roster for all those housed the night before the start of data collection to support survey administration. This list will include
all inmates who were assigned a bed or slept at the facility the previous night.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.

Did this section make sense to you?
Did you need help answering any of these questions?
Was any of the terminology unclear?
Was it clear that these questions pertained to the SILJ survey administration and obtaining a roster?
Did our description of the roster process make sense to you?
Would you anticipate any challenges generating a roster in for BJS?
[Review SJAR responses and ask any clarifying questions based on respondent’s answers here, i.e. responded no to a majority of the
section items]
a. Probe/follow up on any missing responses

That is all of our questions. Is there anything else you’d like to share with us before we finish today? Thank you for your time. If you have any
questions about SJAR or SILJ you can contact Todd Minton of BJS at (202) 305-9630 or Todd.Minton@usdoj.gov.

Attachment D. Online Survey of Jail Administrative Records (SJAR) Pre-test Invitation to Participate

U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Washington, D.C. 20531

Dear <Last Name>,
I am writing to invite you to participate in a pre-test of the online Survey of Jail Administrative Records (SJAR). Abt Associates is conducting the
pre-test on behalf of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) to assess the feasibility of collecting and then using jail administrative data to support
the next Survey of Inmates in Local Jails (SILJ), which BJS expects to field in 2020 or 2021. Please see the attached fact sheets for detailed
information on the SJAR and SILJ.
The SJAR asks about administrative data available to jail administrators, and your willingness to provide these data. The goal of the SJAR is to
determine whether administrative data could be reliably used to supplement or replace some of the SILJ survey questions to reduce burden in
the sampled facilities. The SJAR pre-test has two parts. The first is taking the online survey. The second part includes a follow-up interview with
Abt staff to discuss your responses to the survey items and your experience taking the survey. The SJAR pre-test and follow-up interview will
help BJS identify technical or other difficulties with the SJAR, identify areas for revision to improve the survey, and inform estimates of response
time. Your responses to the pre-test will be combined with approximately 39 other jails and will be used for improving the SJAR.
In the next week, you will receive an email from Abt with a link to complete the SJAR online. The survey should take you approximately 25
minutes to complete. You may complete the survey in a single session or in multiple sessions. You will also have the option to forward the survey
link to colleagues within your agency if you feel they can help you complete the survey. After taking the survey, you will be contacted by Abt
staff to schedule a telephone interview to discuss the SJAR. We anticipate the conversation will last between 45 minutes to an hour. Your
participation is completely voluntary. Your feedback is important to BJS so that we can continue to refine and improve our surveys.
For any questions, please contact Todd Minton of my staff at Todd.Minton@ojp.usdoj.gov or (202) 305-9630 or Meg Chapman, Abt Associates
Project director at Meg_Chapman@abtassoc.com or (301) 634-1740.
Thank you very much for your participation.
Sincerely,
Jeri Mulrow
Acting Director, Bureau of Justice Statistics
Enclosures

Attachment E. Subject: BJS Pre-test of the Survey of Jail Administrative Records (SJAR)
Dear <Title><Last Name>,
On behalf of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), we invite you to participate in a pre-test of the Survey of Jail Administrative Records (SJAR).
You should have also received a formal invitation in the mail a few days ago. Abt Associates is conducting the pre-test of the SJAR for BJS to
evaluate its design, which will ultimately help BJS assess the feasibility of collecting and then using jail administrative data to support the next
Survey of Inmates in Local Jails (SILJ). Please see the attached fact sheets for detailed information on the SJAR and SILJ. The pre-test will consist
of taking an online survey, and participating in an interview with Abt staff to discuss your responses to the survey items and your experience
taking the survey.
The online survey should take you approximately 25 minutes to complete, and focuses on data elements you collect and maintain in your jail
data management systems as well as your ability to provide inmate-level data to BJS for statistical purposes. You can complete the survey in
more than one session, and you have the option to forward this email to colleagues within your agency if you feel they can help you complete
the survey. After taking the online survey, you will be contacted by Abt staff to schedule a telephone interview to discuss the survey. We will be
asking you questions about the difficulty of the survey questions and the terminology, as well as some clarifying questions about your responses.
We anticipate the conversation will last between 45 minutes to an hour. Your participation in this pre-test is completely voluntary; however, we
ask for your assistance in conducting this survey as your response will allow BJS to improve the SJAR. Please complete the survey online by
clicking on the following link:
<survey link>
If you need help with the survey, please contact Kamala Smith at kamala_smith@abtassoc.com or (617) 520-3624.
For any questions or concerns, please contact Meg Chapman, Abt Associates Project director at Meg_Chapman@abtassoc.com or (301) 6341740; or Todd Minton, BJS Program Manager at Todd.Minton@ojp.usdoj.gov or (202) 305-9630.
Thank you very much for your participation.
Sincerely,
Meg Chapman
Project Director
Abt Associates
Enclosures

Attachment F. Subject: REMINDER BJS Pre-test of the Survey of Jail Administrative Records (SJAR)
Dear <Title><Last Name>,
On behalf of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), a couple weeks ago we contacted you to request your participation in a pre-test of the Survey
of Jail Administrative Records (SJAR). Abt Associates is conducting this pre-test for BJS to improve the design of the SJAR before it is
disseminated more widely.
The online survey should take you approximately 25 minutes to complete and focuses on data elements that are collected and maintained in jail
data management systems and your ability to provide inmate-level data. You may complete the survey in more than one session and you have
the option to forward this email to colleagues within your agency, if you feel they can help you complete the survey. We will then contact you to
discuss whether you thought the survey was difficult to complete or have suggestions on ways to improve it. Your participation in this survey is
completely voluntary; however, we ask for your assistance in completing this survey as your response will allow BJS to improve the SJAR.
Please complete the survey online by clicking on the following link:
<survey link>
If you need help with the survey, please contact Kamala Smith at kamala_smith@abtassoc.com or (617) 520-3624.
For any other questions or concerns, please contact Meg Chapman, Abt Associates Project director at Meg_Chapman@abtassoc.com or (301)
634-1740; or Todd Minton, BJS Statistician and Program Manager at Todd.Minton@ojp.usdoj.gov or (202) 305-9630.
Thank you very much for your participation.
Sincerely,
Meg Chapman
Project Director
Abt Associates

Attachment G. BJS Pre-test of SJAR: Phone Script for Reminder to Participate in the Online Survey
Hello, my name is <name>, and I’m calling from Abt Associates on behalf of the Bureau of Justice Statistics. We sent you a letter and an e‐mail
back in <month> inviting you to participate in a pretest of the Survey of Jail Administrative Records (SJAR) to enhance its design, which will
ultimately help BJS assess the feasibility of collecting and then using jail administrative data to support its Survey of Inmates in Local Jails (SILJ).
Was the letter or e‐mail with the survey invitation received?
Yes

Is there any help I can provide you in completing the survey?
• Do you need me to provide the link for you?
• Would it be easier to complete the survey over the phone?
[IF WANT TO DO SURVEY OVER THE PHONE]
• Is now a convenient time to talk through the survey, or would you like to schedule
a time in the future? Is this the best number to reach you?

No

Thank you very much. If you have any questions, feel free to call me at <phone
number> or send me an email at <email>.
I’m sorry about that. Can I confirm your e‐mail address and send you a link to the
survey? You should receive the link in an email from me shortly.
Briefly, Abt Associates is conducting this pre-test on behalf of the Bureau of Justice
Statistics (BJS) in an effort to assess the feasibility of using jail administrative data. BJS
will use the results of the pre-test to enhance the design of the SJAR before
disseminating it more widely. Ultimately, the SJAR results will help BJS explore
whether administrative records could be collected in conjunction with the future SILJ.
The online survey should take you approximately 25 minutes to complete and focuses
on data elements that are collected and maintained in jail data management systems
and your ability to provide inmate-level data.

DECLINES TO
PARTICIPATE

Thank you very much. If you have any questions, feel free to call me at <phone
number> or send me an email at <email>.
A lot of agencies delegate this work so that the burden isn’t on one person (suggest
other analysts or data managers). We can also complete the survey with you over the
phone. It’s very important to BJS to pre-test the survey with as many of the selected
jails as possible to have a comprehensive set of information to inform the SJAR before
full implementation.
If still refuse: Thank you for your time. If you’d like to follow up, you can call me at
<phone number> or send me an email at <email>.

Attachment H. BJS SJAR Pre-test: Telephone Interview Scheduling Script
Hello, I’m [Name] from Abt Associates. Thank you for participating in the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ Survey of Jail Administrative Records (SJAR)
pre-test that we sent you on [date]. We’d like to talk to you about your experience responding to the survey and are hoping we can set up a time
to do this. The goal of our conversation is to better understand responses to the survey items and identify any revisions to the questions that
need to be made. We will be asking you questions about the difficulty of the questions and the terminology, as well as some clarifying questions
about your responses. We anticipate the conversation will last 45 minutes to an hour. Is there a time this week that works for you, or we can talk
right now?
[If participant does not answer, leave a voicemail with the information above]

Attachment I. Letter of project approval from Abt IRB

Attachment J. SILJ fact sheet

Attachment K. SJAR fact sheet

</pre><Table class="table"><tr><Td>File Type</td><td>application/pdf</td></tr><tr><Td>Author</td><td>Minton, Todd</td></tr><tr><Td>File Modified</td><td>2017-10-26</td></tr><tr><Td>File Created</td><td>2017-10-26</td></tr></table></div></div></div><hr>
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