National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES)
2017 Web Test Debriefing Interviews for Parents of Homeschoolers
OMB# 1850-0803 v.187
Attachments 1 and 2
Communication Materials and Protocol
January 2016
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Recruitment Phone Script 2
Recruitment Email 3
Recruitment Letter 4
Informed Consent 5
Debriefing Interview Protocol 6
Hello, my name is <Interviewer name>. I am a researcher with <Activate Research/Sanametrix> who is supporting the National Center for Education Statistics, or NCES, which is part of the U.S. Department of Education, on a project related to trying to learn more about different types of schooling.
Recently you may have participated in a web-based study for the U.S. Department of Education. I am part of a team that is conducting follow-up research regarding parents’ experience with the survey and how your child’s educational situation may have impacted your experience with that survey. Our goal with this follow-up study is to make the survey better and to help make sure it is able to gather important information about all types of families. I am calling to ask if you would be willing to participate in our follow-up research by answering some questions in a <telephone/in-person> interview.
Your participation in our follow-up research will help us understand the different types of educational approaches that families take for their children and will improve the quality of education research conducted in the future. In appreciation of your participation we are offering a $25 incentive that will be paid at the conclusion of your interview. The interview itself should take no more than 40 minutes of your time.
Would you like to participate in this research?
[If Yes] Would now be a good time to conduct the interview?
[If Yes – begin protocol]
[If No] What would be a good day and time for the interview? [write in]
______________________________________________________
[If No] Thank you for your time.
Dear <Title> <Last Name>:
Recently you may have participated in a web-based research study for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), within the U.S. Department of Education. We are conducting follow-up research regarding parents’ experience with the survey and how your child’s educational situation may have impacted your experience with that survey. Our goal with this follow-up study is to make the survey better and to help make sure it is able to gather important information about all types of families. I am writing to ask if you would be willing to participate in our follow-up research by answering some questions in a <telephone/in-person> interview.
Your participation in our follow-up research will help us understand the different types of educational approaches that families take for their children and will improve the quality of education research conducted in the future. In appreciation of your participation we are offering a $25.00 incentive that will be paid at the conclusion of your interview. The interview itself should take no more than 40 minutes of your time.
The U.S. Office of Management and Budget has approved the data collection under OMB #1850-0803. Your participation in this study is entirely voluntary. NCES is authorized to conduct this study under the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (20 U.S. Code, Section 9543). The data provided may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose except as required by law (20 U.S. Code, Section 9573). Reports of the findings from the study will not identify you individually. Individual responses will be combined with those from other participants to produce summary statistics and reports.
If you would like to participate in this research, please contact me between <start time> and <end time> at <Interviewer phone> or <Interviewer email> to set up a time for the interview.
Thank you for your time and support.
Sincerely,
<Interviewer Name>
<Activate Research/Sanametrix>
<Date>
<Title> <First Name> <Last Name>
<Address 1>
<Address 2>
<City>, <State> <Zip code>
Dear <Title> <Last Name>:
Recently you may have participated in a web-based research study for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), within the U.S. Department of Education. We are conducting follow-up research regarding parents’ experience with the survey and how your child’s educational situation may have impacted your experience with that survey. Our goal with this follow-up study is to make the survey better and to help make sure it is able to gather important information about all types of families. I am writing to ask if you would be willing to participate in our follow-up research by answering some questions in a <telephone/in-person> interview.
Your participation in our follow-up research will help us understand the different types of educational approaches that families take for their children and will improve the quality of education research conducted in the future. In appreciation of your participation we are offering a $25.00 incentive that will be paid at the conclusion of your interview. The interview itself should take no more than 40 minutes of your time.
The U.S. Office of Management and Budget has approved the data collection under OMB #1850-0803. Your participation in this study is entirely voluntary. NCES is authorized to conduct this study under the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (20 U.S. Code, Section 9543). The data provided may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose except as required by law (20 U.S. Code, Section 9573). Reports of the findings from the study will not identify you individually. Individual responses will be combined with those from other participants to produce summary statistics and reports.
If you would like to participate in this research, please contact me between <start time> and <end time> at <Interviewer phone> or <Interviewer email> to set up a time for the interview.
Thank you for your time and support.
Sincerely,
<Interviewer Name>
<Activate Research/Sanametrix>
Thank you for your interest in helping us test a survey for a study we are conducting for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), part of the U.S. Department of Education.
Today’s session will involve answering some questions regarding your recent experience completing the NHES1 2017 Web Test. The feedback will help us to develop recommendations for improving the survey.
For this study, I will interview you for no more than 40 minutes. At the conclusion of the interview, you will be mailed a $25 check to thank you for your time and participation.
With your permission, your responses will be audio-recorded and the information collected during this study will be used only to improve our web surveys. This interview has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB# 1850-0803). The information you give us will be combined with the responses of others in a summary report that does not identify you as an individual. Your answers may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose except as required by law (20 U.S.C. § 9573).
Your participation is voluntary, you can skip any question you do not want to answer, and you may request to stop at any time during the session. We do not anticipate that any of the questions will make you uncomfortable or upset. However, you may refuse to answer any question or take a break at any time. The interview is designed to help us develop and improve the materials for the very important NHES study.
Before you are eligible to participate, verbal consent is required. I am going to record your response to the following question. [start recording] Do you agree to participate in this study? [end recording after response]
If you have questions at any time and would like to contact the principal investigator for this research, please contact Stephen Wenck of Sanametrix at 202-600-8346.
I. Introduction
[Read only if scheduled call]
Hi, my name is <name> and I am with a research firm called <Activate Research/Sanametrix> who is supporting the National Center for Education Statistics, or NCES for short, which is part of the U.S. Department of Education, on a project related to different types of schooling. Is <P1> at home? We had <spoken/emailed> previously and had scheduled a time to talk about his/her experiences with completing an online survey <time reference (for instance last week, two weeks ago)>. [Pause if you are not speaking with P1]
Hello, <P1>.
Thank you for taking the time to talk with me about your child’s education. Before I begin, I am going to read a document to you that discusses the purpose of the interview and your rights regarding this interview – it’s call an informed consent. [Read informed consent document.]
Your participation is incredibly helpful to us because your experiences and insights will help us better understand the educational experiences of children in the United States. The information that you share with us will be extremely useful as we work to improve our survey so that it more accurately captures the actual experiences of children and families like your own.
Before we start, do you have any questions for me? [Listen and answer respondent’s questions. If necessary, provide Stephen Wenck’s contact information: Stephen Wenck, Project Director, NHES Survey Development. Email: swenck@sanametrix.com; Phone: 202-600-8346; NHES website: www.nces.ed.gov/nhes]
With your permission, we will record this conversation. Are you comfortable with us recording? [If yes, restart recording. If no, do not record.]
Ok, let’s get started. We very much appreciate you taking the time to participate in our survey <time period, (for instance: last week, two weeks ago)>. The Department of Education wants to improve the survey by getting a better understanding of how the survey questions fit students’ real-life schooling situations. Do you have any impressions or thoughts about the survey about <child> that you would like to share right away?
II. Schooling Experience
I would like to start our conversation by asking you some questions regarding <child>’s schooling. As you know, each family’s approach to schooling is unique and your responses will help us to develop a detailed portrait of schooling experiences in the U.S. today.
Background/Motivation
Walk me through a typical week of schooling for <child>.
[Probe for details about the schools mentioned (physical location or virtual, public/ private) and co-ops mentioned (other homeschoolers? Affiliated with a church/neighborhood/other?) Affiliated with a public charter school?]
[Probe for details about child’s activities. About how much time does the student spend on educational activities, overall and in particular environments (e.g., how much at home, how much online, how much in a brick-and-mortar facility)? Who provides instruction? Does the child leave the home at all for school or extracurricular activities?]
How long has your child been <homeschooling/ in a virtual school/in that public/private school>? [If child went to another type of school before homeschooling ask about previous schooling experiences]
C) How did you first learn about <homeschooling/the child’s virtual school/ the child’s school>?
D) Why did you choose <homeschooling/virtual schooling/a particular brick-and-mortar school> for this child?
E) [If parent uses the word “homeschool” only:] When you first began thinking that you might want to homeschool <child>, where did you turn for information about getting started? [Probe for books, friends, online sources, religious community, co-ops, homeschooling fairs]
F) [If parent indicates that students are mainly or exclusively virtual/online/cyber students:] When you first began thinking that you might want to enroll <child> in this online school, where did you turn for information about getting started?
G) [If parent indicates that student attends only brick-and-mortar school:] When you first began thinking that you might want to enroll <child> in his/her school, where did you turn for information about getting started?
III. Survey Questions
Now I would like to turn your attention to the survey you took on <date>. Again, your feedback will be helpful to us as we work to improve the survey’s quality and ensure that it captures an accurate picture of today’s families and how they go about educating their children.
A) [For those who did not complete the survey] According to our records, you began but did not complete the online survey regarding <child>’s schooling. What was the main reason why you stopped taking the survey? [Probe for length, comprehension, relevance, didn’t want to share that type of information]
[For those who did not complete the survey] What, if anything, would make you more likely to have completed the survey?
[For those who were “switched” from one topical to the other] Can you tell me about your survey experience – especially whether you felt the questions you were answering were applicable to your child’s schooling? [Probe: Did it seem like the questions were not relevant at first, but then they started to make more sense? Did the survey seem to go back and forth between relevant and irrelevant questions?]
E) Do you have any recommendations regarding how we can improve the survey?
F) Do you have anything else you would like to add about your experience with the homeschooling survey?
IV. Concluding remarks
<P1>, thank you very much for taking the time to speak with me. Your contribution has helped to enhance our understanding of different choices that parents may make about schooling in the United States. The Department of Education appreciates your assistance.
You should expect to receive a $25 check within one week through the mail. Do you have any questions for me before we end the call? [Listen for and answer questions.] If you have any additional questions, you can feel free to reach out to Stephen Wenck at Sanametrix at swenck@sanametrix.com or 202-600-8346.
Thanks again, and have a wonderful day.
1 NHES stands for the National Household Education Surveys
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | BFS |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-22 |