Interviews to Collect Customer Feedback Regarding SSA's Earnings Submission Process.

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0960-0788)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Interviews to Collect Customer Feedback Regarding SSA’s Earnings Submission Process.

DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITY:

Background: The Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Information Technology Modernization (ITMOD) Earnings Domain wants to gather in-depth customer input from employers/third-parties. This activity will serve to supply the earnings domain with a detailed information critical to providing and improving electronic filing services that meet the needs of this customer base.

Objectives: The ITMOD Earnings Domain is responsible for transforming the business processes and systems used to process earnings information. Improving electronic filing is key to this transformation.

The earnings domain is seeking to gather valuable insight regarding improving features of our electronic services. We will use this insight to improve our processes and systems so that more choose to utilize our electronic services.

Methodology: We will solicit a portion of our customers through recognized organizations who submit annual wage data to SSA. SSA will send a solicitation to a sample of this customer base. The Earnings Domain and User Experience Group will hold group and/or individual sessions (remotely and/or in person) to obtain feedback on ideas for new, or improved electronic services for earnings.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software) [ ] Small Discussion Group

[ X ] Focus Group [ X ] Other: Solicitation plus one-on-one interviews

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

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

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name: Naomi Sipple, Reports Clearance Team Leader, Social Security Administration

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X] No

2. If Yes, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [X] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [X] No

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time (minutes)	Burden (hours)
Individuals	10	3,120	520

BURDEN HOUR COMPUTATION (Number of responses (X) estimated response time

(/60) = annual burden hours):

FEDERAL COST: The estimated cost to the Federal Government is $37,655.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list, or something similar, that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [X] Yes

[ ] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan). If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

The participant selection criterion for this research is as follows:

SSA will select representative samples

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ x ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ x ] Telephone

[ x ] In-person

[ x] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain - Survey Sheet/Questionnaire

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [X] Yes [ ] No

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

USE OF RESULTS:

SSA seeks assessments and recommendations concerning ways to harness and build business relationships with the general public, advocacy and other third party organizations. The ultimate goal is the development of an overall strategy that strengthens communications and external partnerships.

Attached are copies of the focus group questions for each group.

NAME OF CONTACT PERSON: Naomi Sipple

PHONE NUMBER: 410-965-4145