OMB Memo

Generic Information Collection Request

Usability Evaluation of National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses

Request: The U.S. Census Bureau plans to conduct additional research under the generic clearance for questionnaire pretesting research (OMB number 0607-0725). We propose to conduct a usability evaluation for the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses. We are seeking approval for this project.

Background: The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Health and Human Services has developed a revision of the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses, a nationally representative survey of Registered Nurses (RN) in the United States. This web questionnaire will be administered to a selected sample of RN’s in 2018.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to conduct a comprehensive usability test that will identify issues that are problematic or frustrating to the user. Sixteen usability sessions will be conducted. Testing will evaluate the usability of the screen design for different types of devices including personal computers (PCs), tablets and smartphones. The NSSRN will offer a mobile-optimized design in 2018 for smaller devices in addition to the traditional optimized design for PCs. This is the first time these questions will be tested using the mobile-optimized design.

Population of Interest: Actively licensed Registered Nurses.

Language: The evaluation will be conducted in English.

Timeline: The evaluation will be conducted from October 2, 2017 to October 26, 2017.

Project scope: The usability evaluation of the web questionnaire of NSSRN will be carried out as scheduled in Table 1.

Table 1. Estimated Project Schedule

Activity	Start	End	Duration
Participant recruitment	September 11, 2017	10/15/17
Usability testing	Officially 10/02/17	10/26/17	18 days
Quick report	November 2, 2017	November 2, 2017	5
Accessibility report	November 2, 2017	November 2, 2017	18

General Protocol: Participants will first be asked to complete a demographics questionnaire. Then participants will complete the NSSRN questionnaire online while thinking aloud. After completing the tasks, each participant will be asked to complete a satisfaction questionnaire, and asked debriefing questions.

Sample: Sixteen actively licensed RNs will participate.

Recruitment: Participants will be recruited using a combination of word-of-mouth, flyers, online and paper advertisements. Sponsor’s assistance may be sought by contacting their sources.

Use of Incentive: For this research, we request an increase in the typical incentive. The Census Bureau typically uses an incentive of $40 per one-hour interview. Because we expect the NSSRN cognitive interviews to last longer than one hour, and this population is highly educated and therefore may be hard to recruit for a research study, we propose offering up to $100 for their participation. There is a precedence for researchers (at the National Center for Health Statistics) giving a $100 incentive for cognitive interviews of medical professionals.

Below is a list of materials to be used in the current study.

1. Sample testing protocol (Enclosure 1)

2. Demographic questionnaire (Enclosure 2) - (Previously approved by OMB for usability testing in the spring of 2015 for the 2015 Census Test.)

3. PowerPoint slide shows with debriefing probes -- Placeholder screen shots from the paper questionnaire are shown (Enclosure 3)

4. Satisfaction questionnaire (Enclosure 4) - (Previously approved by OMB for usability testing in the spring of 2015 for the 2015 Census Test.)

5. Additional recruitment questions and recruiting announcement (Enclosure 5)

6. Draft 2018 NSSRN paper questionnaire to show the questions which will be included in the online survey (Enclosure 6)

Length of interview: We estimate 90 minutes per participant. In general, for Census Bureau staff, it requires four screener conversations to recruit one participant. Each screener conversation lasts approximately three minutes. We estimate it will take 3 hours to screen and recruit 16 participants. The estimated time for each cognitive interview usability testing session is 1.5 hours. For 16 participants, the estimated burden for the interviews is 24 hours, bringing the total burden to 27 hours.

The contact person for questions regarding data collection and statistical aspects of the design of this research is listed below:

Elizabeth May Nichols
Center for Survey Measurement

U.S. Census Bureau

Room 5K020A

Washington, D.C. 20233

(301) 763-1724

elizabeth.may.nichols@census.gov

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