Cognitive Recruitment Materials

Appendix B:

2023 Census of Medical Examiner and Coroner Offices Cognitive Testing Recruitment Materials

Appendix B-1: Email Invitation

Appendix B-2: Reminder Email

Appendix B-3: Telephone Script for Recruiting Cognitive Interview Participants

Appendix B-4: Scheduling Email

Appendix B-5: Confirmation Email

Appendix B-6: Thank You Email

 

Appendix B-1: Email Invitation

Email Subject: Invitation to Participate in Interview for the 2023 Census of Medical Examiner and Coroner Offices (CMEC)

Dear [NAME],

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is preparing to conduct the third Census of Medical Examiner and Coroner Offices (CMEC) in 2024. This survey was last conducted in 2018 and is designed to gather data on administrative practices, personnel/staffing, budgets, workload, and resources of medical examiner and coroner offices (MEC).

With input from subject matter experts and MEC stakeholders, BJS and RTI international (BJS’s data collection agent for this survey) have developed a new questionnaire and we are asking for your help to refine the instrument. The perspectives you share will give us the information we need to revise the CMEC instrument to reduce burden while producing meaningful, relevant, and timely statistics to serve the MEC community.

If you agree to assist, we will provide you with a copy of the revised survey and ask that you participate in a 60-minute interview with RTI’s staff. During the interview, you and the RTI staff member will review the questionnaire together to discuss the clarity, meaning, and your understanding of the questions and answer categories. You will not be asked to complete the survey. BJS is merely testing to see if the questions and answer categories make sense, and if it would be possible for you to answer the questions. The feedback you provide will be carefully considered by BJS and used to improve the survey.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Kathryn Greenwell (kgreenwell@rti.org) at RTI International (also copied on this email) If you have questions or comments about the project in general, you can also contact Connor Brooks (connor.brooks@usdoj.gov; 202-598-1864) at BJS.

Thank you for your time and consideration of this important study.

Sincerely,

Appendix B-2: Reminder Email

Email Subject: Reminder: Invitation to Participate in Interview for the Census of Medical Examiner and Coroner Offices (CMEC)

Dear [NAME],

Recently we emailed you to ask for your assistance in evaluating the revised Census of Medical Examiner and Coroner Offices (CMEC) survey from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) that will be conducted in 2024. We are asking for your feedback to help BJS refine the survey to reduce burden while producing meaningful, relevant, and timely statistics to serve the MEC community.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Kathryn Greenwell (kgreenwell@rti.org) at RTI International (also copied on this email).

If you are willing to assist, we will send you a copy of the revised survey and ask you to participate in a 60-minute interview with RTI’s staff. During the interview, you and the RTI staff member will review the questionnaire together to discuss the clarity, meaning, and your understanding of the questions and answer categories. You will not be asked to complete the survey. BJS is merely testing to see if the questions and answer categories make sense, and if it would be possible for you to answer the questions. The feedback you provide will be carefully considered by BJS and used to improve the survey.

If you have questions or comments about the project in general, you can also contact Connor Brooks (connor.brooks@usdoj.gov; 202-598-1864) at BJS.

Thank you for your time and consideration of this important study.

Sincerely,

Appendix B-3: Telephone Script for Recruiting Cognitive Interview Participants

Hello. May I please speak with [Cognitive Interviewee]?

[REPEAT INTRODUCTION AS NECESSARY FOR NUMEROUS GATEKEEPERS.]

My name is [Recruiter Name] and I work for RTI International, an independent nonprofit research organization. I am calling you on behalf of the Bureau of Justice Statistics to ask if you’d be willing to participate in an interview that will help us to revise to the 2023 Census of Medical Examiner and Coroner Offices, also called CMEC.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is preparing to conduct the third CMEC in 2024. This survey was last conducted in 2018 and is designed to gather data on administrative practices, personnel/staffing, budgets, workload, and resources of medical examiner and coroner offices.

We would like you to participate in an interview with the new version of the survey and share your feedback on it. This will help us ensure that next year’s data collection is successful in gathering data that is helpful both to BJS and to your offices and jurisdictions.

If you agree, we will ask you to take part in an hour-long interview. The interview will be virtual and will involve going through the survey with a member of the research team who will ask for your feedback on the survey. The feedback you provide will be carefully considered by BJS and used to improve next year’s survey.

Would you be willing to participate?

IF YES: Great! Thank you! Let’s go ahead and schedule you now for the interview.

[SCHEDULING DISCUSSION BASED ON AVAILABILITY].

IF NO: Thank you so much for your time!

If you have any follow-up questions you can contact [ME/INTERVIEWER] at [NUMBER] or [EMAIL]. I will also be sending you a confirmation email with more information and a meeting invitation. If you have any questions about the study in general, you can contact Connor Brooks at BJS. (PROVIDE CONTACT INFORMATION IF REQUESTED - Connor.Brooks@usdoj.gov; 202-598-1864)

Thank you for your time and consideration!

Appendix B-4: Scheduling Email

Dear [NAME],

Thank you for agreeing to participate in a Census of Medical Examiner and Coroner Offices (CMEC) Cognitive Interview. These interviews will be conducted via Teams. Would you be available at any of the following three times for that interview?

[LIST POTENTIAL TIMES]

If you have any questions about the interview process or if none of these times work for you, you can contact me at [EMAIL].

Best,

Appendix B-5: Confirmation Email

Dear [NAME],

Thank you for agreeing to participate in a Census of Medical Examiner and Coroner Offices (CMEC) Cognitive Interview. We have scheduled your interview on

[MM/DD/YYYY at 00:00 am/pm] with [INTERVIEWER NAME].

The interview will be conducted via Teams. To join the meeting, please click on the link below:

[INTERVIEWER PERSONAL MEETING LINK]

I am also attaching two documents for your review. The first document is a copy of the Census of Medical Examiner and Coroner Offices (CMEC) questionnaire. The attached survey instrument is being provided to you only for reference ahead of your scheduled interview session. You do not need to complete the survey before the scheduled interview, but please feel free to review it ahead of time to gather any preliminary thoughts or comments you would like to share with us. The second document provides more information about the study, your rights as a participant, and the measures we are taking to keep the feedback you share during your interview private.

If you have any questions about the interview process or attached documents, or if you need to reschedule for any reason, you can contact me at [EMAIL].

Best,

Appendix B-6: Thank You Email

Dear [NAME]:

On behalf of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and RTI International, thank you for participating in the interviews to test the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ draft instrument for the Census of Medical Examiner and Coroner Offices (CMEC) on DATE. We know that you have many demands on your time, so we are very grateful that you generously offered your time and expertise to assist us.

Your perspectives, along with those of the other subject matter experts, medical examiners and coroner stakeholders we interviewed, will help us refine the CMEC instrument in a way that will reduce burden while producing meaningful, relevant, and timely statistics to serve the community.

You have our deepest appreciation for your invaluable insight, time, and expertise, we extend our deepest appreciation.

Should you have any questions about CMEC or have further thoughts to share, please do not hesitate to contact us.

With many thanks,