DTEM-ATB Sat Surveys SS Part B 8-17-07

SUPPORTING STATEMENT PART B

OF THE REQUEST FOR

OMB REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF

Evaluation of Customer Satisfaction with the
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Internet Home Page and Links

August 17, 2007

Project POC:

James E. Tullos, Jr., MS

Public Health Advisor

ATSDR/DTEM

1600 Clifton Road, NE MS F-32

Atlanta, GA 30333

JTullos@cdc.gov

770-488-3498 (phone)

770-488-4178 (fax)

B. STATISTICAL METHODS

1. Respondent Universe and Sampling Methods

The project will seek to gain its survey respondent segment from the consumer base that visits ATSDR’s website, its homepage, and product-specific linked pages selected for sampling within this project. Prominently placed survey announcement links will be positioned near the font enlarged webpage title such as a product title if it is for one of the selected product-specific homepages, or in some other prominent location on the ATSDR Website Homepage. Reading the short announcement phrase/sentence and clicking on the link will transport the respondent to one of the six surveys proposed by this project. Choosing to complete the survey is voluntary. Each survey will result in the production of an anonymous record. Completing the survey and clicking the “Submit Button” will cause a record to be created which implies that the respondent has consented voluntary participation in this survey project.

2. Procedures for the Collection of Information

Analyses of the information collected will answer questions such as “Was the Home and link pages accessible?” “Was the link pages useful with up-to-date information?” “Was it easy to find information you needed?” “Was the content viewed clearly written in plain language?” In addition, results from these data are likely to assist us in answering more far-reaching questions, including: “Was the Web page load/response time satisfactory?” “Did you receive prompt response to requests submitted via the Web?” and finally, “What improvements or revisions should be made, if any?” Continuation of the project and use of the information collected will substantially increase our output evaluation capability and help address broader programmatic questions in the future.

As cited in section A.2.0 herein, CDC/ATSDRs strives to achieve the Presidents’ “e-Government” Initiatives has presented unforeseen challenges for this project in the form of webpage activation delays for some of the product-specific surveys. The ATSDR website homepage survey was temporarily removed from active status for a period and most of the database structures were declared inappropriate for realignment with CDC. Some of the database substructures failed the new data security tests. All project databases have been returned to the ATSDR database test server awaiting re-engineering assignments. The ATSDR WSUS Survey will require back-end reconstruction in order to capture data correctly under the new CDC IT approach. Four of the five product-specific surveys were returned to live status on the ATSDR website, in August 2006, with an interim fix for capturing survey data received. Until the databases are re-engineered, the interim fix will stream captured data into script files similar to the type used for “Listserv Activity Logs.” This method applies to data collected from August2006-February 2007, the expiration date for each survey. This method will store each participant survey record by date and time received, delimited string listing of participant responses, and the name of the survey receiving the data. For the data to be considered useable by the project, the streaming file would have to be connected to its re-engineered database allowing the “data-download” to occur with line-by-line continuity comparison to validate each record received.

The survey data collected, normally, would be downloaded quarterly for analysis. During the analysis, if respondent comments reflect highly intuitive suggestions or pointed negative concerns the project team will release a “Quarterly Spot Report” reflecting the insights gained. If a message were received of a distressing nature, purporting harm to self or others it would be passed on to management for immediate consideration of appropriate action. Spot reports can also be used to reflect survey activity counts and other basic mathematical derivations, but without full analytical discussions or summative findings. On a bi-annual basis data retrieved from each survey would be fully analyzed, to the extent allowed by project design goals and objectives, reflecting summary findings for management review and program improvement. Ultimately, copies will be forwarded on to ATSDR’s Website Development Committee to support future website designs and IT resource enhancements.

3. Methods to Maximize Response Rates and Deal with Non-response

As previously cited in our reinstatement application, the protocol described herein has been developed to provide maximum response rate among potential participants. Since the survey is expected to take only five minutes to complete, the short length of time is expected to act as an incentive for completion. The survey will be marketed to site visitors as a way of valuing their input to the site’s improvement.

4. Tests of Procedures or Methods to Be Undertaken

This survey has been tested among staff for readability, comprehensibility, and time to complete. The procedures are standard to numerous customer satisfaction studies focused on the internet. In fact, the survey is very similar to the one approved by OMB for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (OMB No. 3150-0197). The “ATSDR Web Site User Satisfaction Survey “ and product-specific linked surveys will receive no additional testing or evaluation beyond the reviews stated above and agency clearance requirements provided for previous approved OMB clearance documents.

5. Individuals Consulted on Statistical Aspects

The individuals listed are the members of the project and are actively involved in project accountability, instrument design, and the statistical aspects relevant to the objectives of this project.

James E. Tullos, Jr., BS, MS	Cassandra V. Smith, BS, MS
Public Health Advisor (Project POC)	Environmental Health Scientist
Environmental Medicine Team	Applied Toxicology Branch
Environmental Medicine and Education Services Br.	Division of Toxicology and Environmental Medicine
Division of Toxicology and Environmental Medicine	Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry	Phone: 770-488-3319
Phone: 770-488-3498	E-mail: CVSmith@cdc.gov
E-mail: JTullos@cdc.gov

Ed Murray, PhD	Michael T. Hatcher, DrPH (Project Consultant)
Chief, Applied Toxicology Branch	Chief, Environmental Medicine and
Division of Toxicology and Environmental Medicine	Education Services Branch
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry	Division of Toxicology and Environmental Medicine
Phone: 770-488-3317	Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
E-mail: EMurray#cdc.gov	Phone: 770-488-3489
	E-mail: MHatcher@cdc.gov

Renee Peters
Computer Programmer I/Lock Mart
Applied Toxicology Branch
Division of Toxicology and Environmental Medicine
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Phone: 770-488-3329
E-mail: RPeters1@cdc.gov

References

“President’s Management Agenda”; Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget; 2002; Accessed 2 December 2006;
available online at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2002/mgmt.pdf

“The E-Government Act of 2002”; Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget; (H.R. 2458/S. 803); Accessed 2 December 2006;
available online at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/egov/g-4-act.html

“Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA)”; Office of Management and Budget; 2002; Accessed 2 December 2006; available online at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/egov/a-1-fea.html

“Consolidated Reference Model (CRM) Version 2.0”; Office of Management and Budget; 2006; available online at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/egov/documents/FEA_CRM_v20_Final_June_2006.pdf

“Policy Statement on Inclusion of Race and Ethnicity in DHHS Data Collection Activities”; 1997; Accessed May 31, 2007; available online at: http://aspe.hhs.gov/datacncl/inclusn.htm

List of Attachments:

1. Authorizing Legislation – CERCLA

2. ATSDR Cooperative Agreement Program Description

3. ATSDR Vision, Mission, and Strategic Goals

4. Government Performance Results Act of 1993 (GPRA)

5. 60-day Federal Register Notice

6. Public Comments to the 60-day FRN and ATSDR Response to Public Comments

7. ATSDR Web Site User Satisfaction Survey (WSUS)

8. Toxicological Profiles User Satisfaction Survey (TPUS)

9. ToxFAQs^TM User Satisfaction Survey (TFUS)

10. Public Health Statements (PHS) User Satisfaction Survey (PHSUS)

11. Toxicology Curriculum for Communities Training Manual User Satisfaction Survey (TCCUS)

12. ToxProfiles^TM CD-ROM User Satisfaction Survey (TP-CDUS)

13. ATSDR Website Privacy Policy Notice

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