Generic Information Clearance for CDC/ATSDR
Formative Research and Tool Development
Customer Discovery Interviews with Five NIOSH Audiences
Supporting Statement B
August 7, 2024
Contact Information:
Garrett Burnett
CDC/NIOSH/OD
513-533-8229
fxc7@cdc.gov
Table of Contents
Respondent Universe and Sampling Selection
Procedures for Collecting Information
Methods to Maximize Response Rates and Deal with No Response
Tests of Procedures or Methods to Be Undertaken
Individuals Consulted on Statistical Aspects and Individuals Collecting and/or Analyzing Data
Respondent Universe and Sampling Selection
The respondent universe in the U.S. varies by audience:
Volunteer firefighters – There were approximately 676,900 volunteer firefighters in 2020.1
Home healthcare aides – There were approximately 3.6 million home healthcare and personal care aides in 2023.2
Corrections officers – There were approximately 351,420 corrections officers and jailers in 2023.3
Mental health workers – There were approximately 555,500 counselors, therapists and psychiatrists in 2022.4
State, county, and city health department employees – There were approximately 128,000 state, local, and big city public health employees in 2021.5
This data collection will utilize a convenience sample. A contractor will obtain names and contact information (phone numbers and/or emails) of prospective respondents from lists that belong to public entities, such as chambers of commerce, labor organizations, retail businesses, trade associations, and other relevant groups. If the contractor has a currently existing pool of respondents available to them for research projects, they may retrieve names from this list given that they fit the requirements for participation in the interviews.
Procedures for Collecting Information
Individual interviews will be conducted with people in each of the five audiences, for a total of 160 participants. A contractor, The Voice of Your Customer, LLC will manage recruitment, scheduling, logistics, hosting (in-person or via video chat), and participant incentives. Each participant will be provided a $50 incentive to assist in recruitment. Either a NIOSH communication specialist or the contractor will conduct interviews.
Participants must be at least 18 years of age and be willing to discuss their work experience in a one-on-one setting for 30 to 60 minutes. They must live in the greater Cincinnati area or be able to participate in a video call.
During recruitment, the person will be asked for a job title and an industry, as well as duration in at the job and in the industry. The recruiter is seeking to find a variety of people and will ask about people’s sex and race. These demographics will be collected separately from the interview responses and will simply be tied to a participant ID. Only contract staff involved with the interviews will know the identities of respondents and obtain limited PII in terms of name and contact information (e.g., personal phone number, email address) for recruitment and scheduling purposes. NIOSH staff will not have possession of PII. All contact information will be contained in a secure password-protected datafile accessible only to approved staff during the data collection process, stored separately and not linked to the research data, and deleted upon data collection completion.
Interviews will be conducted over Zoom or in person. They will be recorded with a digital audio recorder if performed in person, and using Zoom’s “record audio only” feature if performed via video call. While the interviewer and interviewee will be able to see each other, no video recording will be made, only audio. Transcripts will be generated from the audio recordings. Recordings of all interviews will be destroyed after transcripts are finalized.
The interview will follow a semi-structured format, and the interviewer will follow a written guide to explain the voluntary and confidential nature of the interview, solicit verbal consent to participate, and pose a series of open-ended questions.
Questions in the interview guide ask participants to provide feedback on: (1) job-related duties, (2) gains, or positive aspects of their job, (3) challenges related to their job, (4) where they seek out resources, and if time permits, (5) attitudes about safety and health. The interview guide is semi-structured, and interviewers may need to ask additional follow-up questions to obtain complete information.
The de-identified responses from participants within a single audience will be compiled for each interview question. For example, all the responses from volunteer firefighters about job tasks will be compiled, then all of the responses about job challenges, and so on. The data collected will not be analyzed for themes within or across audiences.
Methods to Maximize Response Rates and Deal with No Response
Interview participants will be provided remuneration of $50 cash as an incentive to encourage participation.
Tests of Procedures or Methods to Be Undertaken
The interview guide was developed by subject matter experts at NIOSH. Similar questions were used in previous customer discovery interviews (under OMB 0920-1154) with small businesses and outdoor landscaping workers. The final interview guide was reviewed and approved by NIOSH experts and research staff prior to submission to OMB.
Individuals Consulted on Statistical Aspects and Individuals Collecting and/or Analyzing Data
This information collection request does not employ statistical methods.
Consultation will be provided by the following individuals currently employed at CDC/NIOSH:
Garrett Burnett, MA, MBA; Health Communications Specialist: 513.533.8229; fxc7@cdc.gov
Emily Novicki, MA, MPH; Health Scientist: 404-498-2581; wez7@cdc.gov
1 National Fire Protection Association [2022]. U.S. fire department profile. Quincy, MA: National Fire Protection Assocation, https://www.nfpa.org/education-and-research/research/nfpa-research/fire-statistical-reports/us-fire-department-profile
2 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics [2024]. Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023, 31-1120 Home Health and Personal Care Aides. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes311120.htm
3 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics [2024]. Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023, 33-3012 Correctional Officers and Jailers. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes333012.htm
4 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics [2023]. Careers in mental health services. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2023/article/careers-in-mental-health-services.htm
5 Leider JP, Castrucci BC, Robins M, Hare Bork R, Fraser MR, Savoia E, Piltch-Loeb R, Koh HK. [2023]. The exodus of state and local public health employees: separations started before and continued throughout COVID-19. Health Affairs 42(3):338-48.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Kim Dash |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2025-05-19 |