NonSub Change Memo - Measuring Human Trafficking Prevalence in Construction: A Field Test of Multiple Estimation Methods

To: Jordan Cohen

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA)

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

From: Mary Mueggenborg

Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE)

Administration for Children and Families (ACF)

Date: July 12, 2022

Subject: NonSubstantive Change Request –Measuring Human Trafficking Prevalence in Construction: A Field Test of Multiple Estimation Methods (OMB #0970-0592)

This memo requests approval of nonsubstantive changes to the survey instrument and consent form for the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) project: Measuring Human Trafficking Prevalence in Construction: A Field Test of Multiple Estimation Methods (OMB #0970-0592).

Background

OMB approved the study Measuring Human Trafficking Prevalence in Construction: A Field Test of Multiple Estimation Methods on 06/06/2022. Programming and testing of the survey with construction workers (n=5) has resulted in the need for modifications to improve the quality of survey administration.

Overview of Requested Changes

This memo requests the following nonsubstantive changes:

• Changes to the Survey Consent Form

• Changes to the Construction Worker Survey

These proposed changes do not affect burden estimates or meaningfully alter the survey content for the respondent.

Survey Consent Form

We are requesting to provide additional detail in the consent language to comply with requests made by the Privacy Impact Assessment and the IRB review. We wish to clearly convey how the survey will be administered (on a tablet provided by the study team or online later on a personal device), sensitive questions that may be asked (experiences about workplace exploitation), and how respondents’ contact information and that of others who work in construction will be used (to understand social connections among construction workers); to this end, we are requesting the addition of sentences in the consent language section, “What Will I Be Asked to Do” to clarify these issues.

We also wish to clearly convey that we will not share any information about participation in the study with the respondent’s employer; to this end, we are requesting the addition of three sentences in the consent language section, “What Are the Possible Risks and Discomforts” to clarify this. We also wish to clearly convey that, despite our best efforts, email communication is not 100% private and that we have procedures to limit who will be able to connect their name to their answers when the data is archived; to this end, we are requesting the addition of sentences and clarifying language in the consent section, “Who Will See the Information I Give?”

These requested consent changes were made in consultation with RTI International’s Office of Research Protection.

Construction Worker Survey

We are requesting to add a question to the Construction Worker Survey that allows the respondent to provide their email address or phone number in order to retrieve their study PIN if they lose it.

Slight wording changes are requested to correct typos and provide clear instructions and offer adequate response options that adhere to online survey conventions Proposed changes include the following:

• Replace “Check all that apply” with “Select all that apply” throughout the instrument.

• In question 12, replace “Cash app” with “Mobile payment service”.

• In question 18, add “Other” as a response option.

• In questions 21_currency and 32_currency, specify the currencies included in the dropdown menu.

• In question 24, switch the order of sentences so that all of the examples precede the survey question.

• Remove question 56, which was redundant with question 55.

• Move question X earlier in the instrument (now question 60a).

• Add a “Don’t Know” option to questions 60b-66.

• Reword question 70 for clarity.

• Remove questions 71-72 because they are highly sensitive and not necessary for prevalence estimation.

• In question 75, add the list of languages.

• Add a question that clarifies where college attendance occurred (now question 80aa).

• Add follow-up questions to gather more detail about physical or cognitive disabilities (questions 81a and 81b).

• Reword question 86 for clarity and to correct a typo.

We also request changes throughout the instrument that were made to aid in programming the web survey. These included adding question numbers to items that were included in the “Follow-up Prompts/Skip Logic” column and also adding these questions to the “Questions and Responses” column.