DATE:
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June 4, 2024 |
NOTE TO THE REVIEWER OF: |
OMB CLEARANCE #1220-0141 “Cognitive and Psychological Research”
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FROM: |
Victoria Narine and Jean Fox Office of Survey Methods Research
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SUBJECT: |
Submission of Materials for BLS Classroom Page Interviews |
Please accept the enclosed materials for approval under the OMB clearance package #1220-0141 “Cognitive and Psychological Research.” In accordance with our agreement with OMB, we are submitting a description of the study.
The total estimated respondent burden hours for this study are 58 hours.
Please direct your questions regarding this project to Victoria Narine (202-691-6305; Narine.Victoria@bls.gov).
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is rebranding its Classroom site (formerly the K–12 site), which has been online since 2013 (link: http://www.bls.gov/k12/). The website contains resources to teach students in grades K–12 about BLS products and concepts in labor economics through activities, games, posters, videos, and other resources. The site also provides information about careers and career planning. The site has sections with content especially for students (e.g., the games and videos), as well as content that teachers can use in their classroom (e.g., activities and posters). Since its launch, the BLS Classroom website has been very popular, receiving approximately 300,000 visits per month in 2023.
The team has been providing new content since the site first launched but is now looking to redesign the site to better meet the changing needs of students and teachers. In addition, the team is looking to expand the audience to include adults who need to know about BLS concepts, such as members of the media. As part of this process, the Office of Survey Methods Research (OSMR), working with the BLS Classroom Rebranding Team, is planning to conduct a series of interviews with teachers, career counselors, and members of the media to learn how they use resources like the BLS site and get their ideas for the revised site.
OSMR plans to conduct a series of exploratory interviews with the target audiences to learn how they use BLS materials in their work, especially material from the BLS Classroom site. We will conduct this research in two phases. In the first phase, which is covered by this package, we will interview career counselors and teachers of relevant topics in middle school, high school, and college. We will also speak with members of the media who use or could use BLS data in their work. The second phase will focus on feedback from a more general audience and will be in a subsequent OMB package. We will determine the target audience and the topics for the second phase based on the findings from this first phase.
Interviews will be semiscripted and follow the protocol for the corresponding participant group, as shown in Attachment A
The protocols are essentially the same for participants in all the target groups. They will all have the following sections:
Introduction (10 minutes)
Participants’ background (10 minutes)
Current BLS and Classroom resources they use (10 minutes)
Feedback on specific Classroom site resources (10 minutes)
New ideas for the site (15 minutes)
Conclusion (5 minutes)
The only difference across the groups is in the feedback on specific Classroom site resources. These differences are reflected in the “Feedback on Classroom Site Resources” section of the protocol. Table 1 below shows which target audience groups will focus on which Classroom resources in that portion of the protocol.
Table 1. Current Resources to be Reviewed by Each Target Group
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Middle School |
High School |
College |
Career Counselors |
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Civics or Social Studies Teachers |
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Math or Statistics Teachers |
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Economics Teachers / Professors |
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Elementary School Teachers (K–5) |
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Media |
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After introducing themselves and the observers/notetakers, gaining informed consent, and a short explanation of the procedures, the researcher will conduct the interview. During the interview, we will discuss the participant’s background, the types of resources they use (from BLS and other organizations), their feedback on prototypes for new resources for the BLS Classroom site, and any other suggestions they have. The interviews will take place over Microsoft Teams and will last no more than an hour. We will record the sessions with the participant’s permission; if they prefer not to be recorded, we will conduct the interview without recording.
We will conduct 50 interviews with teachers, career counselors, and members of the media, as shown in Table 2.
Table 2. Distribution of Participants by Occupation.
Specialty |
Number |
Approx # Middle School |
Approx # High School |
Approx # College |
Career Counselors |
12 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
Civics or Social Studies Teachers |
8 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
Math or Statistics Teachers |
8 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
Economics Teachers / Professors |
10 |
0 |
4 |
6 |
Elementary School Teachers (Grades K–2) |
3 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
Elementary School Teachers (Grades 3–5) |
3 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
Media |
6 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
Total |
50 |
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Because these target groups may be difficult to find, we will use multiple approaches to recruit participants:
Contacting individuals who have previously expressed an interest in helping
Sending invitations through relevant BLS email lists
Advertising through organizations supporting the relevant occupations
Advertising in online marketplaces
Inviting team member contacts who work in these occupations
Placing a banner on current Classroom site
Samples of the emails for the email lists and the volunteers are shown in Attachment B. When participants volunteer, we will administer the screeners in Attachment C to those who have not already provided that information. The screeners will ensure that the volunteers are qualified and able to participate in the study. We estimate that it will take 5 minutes to conduct the screener. We estimate that we will need to screen 100 people to find 50 participants. The total burden will be 58 hours (8 hours for recruiting and 50 for the interviews). Table 3 shows the estimated burden for this study.
Table 3. Estimated Burden Hours.
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Participants Contacted |
Recruiting Time (hours per participant) |
Recruiting Total Hours |
Participants Completed |
Session Time (hours per participant) |
Total Burden Hours |
Study participants |
100 |
0.08 |
8.0 |
50 |
1 |
58.0 |
Participants will receive a $50 electronic gift card to cover the costs associated with participation including internet access and childcare.
At the beginning of the test session, participants will view an informed consent statement which includes the BLS Confidentiality statement (See Attachment A).
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, its employees, agents, and partner statistical agencies, will use the information you provide for statistical purposes only and will hold the information in confidence to the full extent permitted by law. During this research you may be video recorded or you may be observed. If you do not wish to be recorded, you still may participate in this research. In accordance with the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (44 U.S.C. 3572) and other applicable Federal laws, your responses will not be disclosed in identifiable form without your informed consent. Per the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015, Federal information systems are protected from malicious activities through cybersecurity screening of transmitted data.
In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 as amended (5 U.S.C. 552a), this study is being conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), under the authority of 29 U.S.C.2. Your voluntary participation is important to the success of this study and will enable the BLS to better understand the behavioral and psychological processes of individuals, as they reflect on the accuracy of BLS information collections. The information will only be used by and disclosed to BLS personnel and contractors who need the information for activities related to improving BLS information collection. Information on routine uses can be found in the system of records notice, DOL/BLS – 14, BLS Behavioral Science Research Laboratory Project Files (81 FR 47418).
We will inform participants of the voluntary nature of the study, the maximum length of the study (60 minutes), and that they have the right to stop participating at any time. We will also request permission to record the session. If the participant would rather not be recorded, we will continue with the interview without recording. Participants will be asked to agree with the consent statement before proceeding.
We will store notes from the interviews on BLS servers with no participant identifying information. We will store videos securely so only staff involved in the Classroom Rebranding project will have access.
Attachments
Attachment A – Interview Protocol
Attachment B – Recruitment Emails
Attachment C – Screening Questions
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Fox, Jean - BLS |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2024-09-07 |