Volume 1 - B&B 2016-2017 SOGI Items Probing

National Center for Education Statistics

Volume I

Supporting Statement

2016/17 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:16/17) SOGI Item Probing

OMB# 1850-0803 v.217

November 2017

Attachment:

Appendix F B&B 2016-2017 Instruments

Submittal-Related Information

The following material are being submitted under the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) generic clearance agreement (OMB# 1850-0803), which provides NCES the capability to improve methodologies, survey questions, and/or delivery methods of its study materials by conducting testing, such as usability tests, focus groups, or cognitive interviews.

Background

The 2016/17 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:16/17) is conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), within the U.S. Department of Education (ED). B&B is designed to follow a cohort of students who completed the requirements for their bachelor’s degree during the same academic year. Data from B&B are used to help researchers and policymakers better understand the experiences of bachelor’s degree recipients in the years following their degree completion. B&B-eligible cohorts are initially identified during the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS). The B&B:16 cohort was selected from NPSAS:16, the base year, with a follow-up interview underway in 2017 and additional follow-up interviews planned for 2020 and 2026. The B&B:16/17 survey builds upon previous B&B follow-up interviews and will collect information about the year that has elapsed since award of the baccalaureate degree in 2015-16. The request to conduct the B&B:16/17 Main Study was approved in May with the latest change request approved in July 2017 (OMB# 1850-0926 v. 3-5) and another one being submitted simultaneously with this request.

This request is to conduct item probing as part of the ongoing B&B:16/17full-scale data collection. RTI International is collecting the B&B:16/17 data on behalf of NCES under contract to the U.S. Department of Education. A separate change request is being submitted to OMB at this time (OMB# 1850-0926 v.6) requesting revisions to B&B:16/17 materials and procedures, including for the described here item probing on two survey questions (BB17FGENDER & BB17FLGBTQ) related to gender identity and sexual orientation. Data gathered in responses to this probing is intended to assist the SOGI working group with additional information on how gender identity and sexual orientation questions should be asked. Responses from these additional text boxes will not be disseminated beyond the SOGI working group.

The Federal Interagency Working Group on Improving Measurement of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Federal Surveys (SOGI) requested that additional definitional information be captured for respondents who do not self-identify with the gender and sexual orientation normative polarization. In other words, respondents who do not self-identify as “heterosexual”, “gay”, “cisgender”, or “transgender” will be asked for additional information. For the reminder of the B&B:16/17 full-scale data collection, we will collect open text string self-identifying information for those who do not describe themselves as fitting into the above categories. Because this is the full-scale data collection, no new response categories will be created at this point. We only plan to collect additional information if certain response options are selected (see the Design, Context, and Anticipated Response Rates section of this document).

On the restrictive use data files that will be produced based on the data collected in B&B:16/17, each respondent will be coded as one of the already OMB-approved item response options; no recoding will occur nor will the additional text string data be disseminated beyond the SOGI working group.

The B&B:16 cohort is comprised of a sample of 27,444 students who completed requirements for the bachelor’s degree during the 2015-16 academic year. Approximately, 67 percent of the sample participated in the NPSAS:16 base year interview and were confirmed eligible for membership in the B&B cohort. The B&B:16/17 first follow-up data collection is being conducted in two modes – web, self-administered interviewing, and telephone interviewing. To date, 57 percent of base year respondents and 22 percent of base year nonrespondents have completed the interview (46 percent overall response rate).

The B&B:16/17 data collection began in July 2017 and is scheduled to end in March 2018. Given that we anticipate a 78% response rate and 46% of eligible sample members have responded to date, we anticipate 9,108 additional interviews between now and the end of data collection. The table below provides the current distribution of responses to the BB17FGENDER and BB17FLGBTQ items to which text boxes will be added, and the estimated number of responses before the end of data collection.

Table: Current number and percent of responses to survey items to which text box will be added

Item	Current number of responses	Current number of completed interviews	Percent	Anticipated number of remaining interviews	Anticipated number of additional responses
BB17FGENDER
Genderqueer/nonconforming	80	12,8721	0.62	9,108	57
Different gender identity	15	12,872	0.12	9,108	11
Questioning or unsure	37	12, 872	0.29	9,108	26
BB17FLGBTQ
Another sexual orientation	138	12, 872	1.10	9,108	100
Questioning or unsure	149	12, 872	1.16	9,108	106
TOTAL	419	12, 872	3.26		300

Administered count as of last time frequencies were pulled. Date was prior to date response rates were calculated.

Design, Context, and Anticipated Response Rates

The purpose of this request is to conduct item probing for selected responses by adding a conditional “Please describe: ___” text box to survey items BB17GENDER and BB17FLGBTQ. If radio button response options 5, 6, or 7 are selected for BB17GENDER and/or options 4 or 5 are selected in response to BB17FLGBTQ, a Please describe… open text box will appear for respondents to provide additional information (if they wish to). Furthermore, additional help text was provided to explain the purpose of the text box. The revised items are shown below and can be found on pages F-97 through F-98 in Appendix F that is part of the B&B:16/17 Main Study Change Request (OMB# 1850-0926 v.6) being submitted at this time. Appendix F is also part of this submission to reflect the two items and the survey context surrounding them.

The text highlighted below in yellow was added to items BB17FGENDER (page F-97) and BB17FLGBTQ (page F-97 to F-98) in the included Appendix F.

BB17FGENDER

What is your gender?

Your gender is how you feel inside and can be the same or different from your biological or birth sex.

1=Male

2=Female

3=Transgender, male-to-female

4=Transgender, female-to-male

5=Genderqueer or gender nonconforming

[If selected] Please describe: _____________________

6=A different gender identity

[If selected] Please describe: _____________________

7=Questioning or unsure

[If selected] Please describe: _____________________

Help Text:

Gender includes gender identity and gender expression. Gender identity means one's inner sense of one's own gender, which may or may not match the sex assigned at birth. Different people choose to express their gender identity differently. For some, gender may be expressed through, for example, dress, grooming, mannerisms, speech patterns, and social interactions. Gender expression usually ranges between masculine and feminine, and some transgender people express their gender consistent with how they identify internally, rather than in accordance with the sex they were assigned at birth.

Transgender: When a person's birth sex and gender do not match, they might think of themselves as transgender.

Gender queer and gender nonconforming: These are terms used to identify people whose gender may not conform to the sex they were assigned at birth. Often these terms may be used by people who identify their gender as something other than "male" or "female." Their gender may fall somewhere between male and female, or may fall outside the traditional male/female gender distinctions.

If you are presented with a Please describe textbox, please define how you would self-describe your gender if the selected response option is not an exact match with how you identify your gender. Text responses will not be released. The data are being collected to better inform relevant response options in future surveys.

BB17FLGBTQ

Do you think of yourself as...

1=Lesbian or gay, that is, homosexual

2=Straight, that is, heterosexual

3=Bisexual

4=Another sexual orientation

[If selected] Please describe: _____________________

5=Questioning or unsure

[If selected] Please describe: _____________________

Help Text:

Sexual orientation is someone's emotional or physical attraction to the same and/or opposite sex.

If you are presented with a Please describe textbox, please define how you would self-describe your sexual orientation if the selected response option is not an exact match with how you identify your sexual orientation. Text responses will not be released. The data are being collected to better inform relevant response options in future surveys.

Estimated Respondent Burden

The addition of the “Please describe:___” text boxes is expected to add less than 15 seconds to items BB17FGENDER and BB17FLGBTQ. That said, the average total time is not expected to exceed the already OMB-approved respondent burden estimates (OMB# 1850-0926 v.1-5).

Estimate of Costs for Recruiting and Paying Respondents

No additional incentive will be provided to respondents for the added item prompts.

Estimate of Cost Burden

There are no direct costs to respondents.

Cost to Federal Government

The cost of specifying and programming the additional text boxes and modifying the study data tables and files is estimated to be approximately $6,760. This additional amount is covered by the existing contract outlays (covered by OMB# 1850-0926 v.3-6) and so no additional cost will be incurred by the federal government.

Assurance of Confidentiality

Assurances of confidentiality are made at the start of the interview and via materials provided to sample members in advance of data collection (as approved in OMB# 1850-0926 v.3-5). None of this collected text string data will be released publicly. Outside of NCES, the data will only be shared with the SOGI working group.

Schedule

Modifications to the current B&B:16/17 interview will be made immediately upon OMB approval. As stated above, full-scale data collection is expected to continue through March 23, 2018.