Agency Information Collection Activity: Comment Request; Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery
| Published date | 03 March 2021 |
| Citation | 86 FR 12443 |
| Record Number | 2021-04305 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Equal Employment Opportunity Commission |
Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 40 (Wednesday, March 3, 2021)
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 3, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12443-12445]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-04305]
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EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection Activity: Comment Request; Generic
Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service
Delivery
AGENCY: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces that the U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC or Commission) is submitting a request for
a three-year approval, under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA),
of a revision to the current Generic Clearance for the Collection of
Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery that the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) previously approved. This collection is
part of a Federal Government-wide effort to streamline the process to
seek feedback from the public on service delivery.
DATES: Written comments on this notice must be submitted on or before
April 2, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
For EEOC Office of Field Programs: Michelle Crew,
[email protected], (216) 306-1130;
For EEOC Office of Federal Operations: Patricia St. Clair,
[email protected], (202) 663-4922.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback
on Agency Service Delivery.
Abstract: The information collection activity will garner
qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, timely
manner, in accordance with the government's commitment to improving
service delivery. By qualitative feedback we mean information that
provides useful insights on perceptions and opinions, but not
statistical surveys that yield quantitative results that can be
generalized to the population of study. This feedback will provide
insights into customer or stakeholder perceptions, experiences, and
expectations, provide an early warning of issues with service, or focus
attention on areas where communication, training, or changes in
operations might improve delivery of products or services. These
collections will allow for ongoing, collaborative, and actionable
communications between the Agency and its customers and stakeholders.
It will also allow feedback to contribute directly to the improvement
of program management.
[[Page 12444]]
The solicitation of feedback will target areas such as: Timeliness,
appropriateness, accuracy of information, course materials, course
instructor, courtesy, efficiency of service delivery, and resolution of
issues with service delivery. Responses will be assessed to plan and
inform efforts to improve or maintain the quality of service offered to
the public. If this information is not collected, vital feedback from
customers and stakeholders on the Agency's services will be
unavailable.
The Agency will only submit a collection for approval under this
generic clearance if it meets the following conditions:
The collections are voluntary;
The collections are low-burden for respondents (based on
considerations of total burden hours, total number of respondents, or
burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents
and the Federal Government;
The collections are the only way to collect information;
there are no alternative existing sources.
The collections are noncontroversial and do not raise
issues of concern to other Federal agencies;
Any collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions
from respondents who have experience with the program or may have
experience with the program;
Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected
only to the extent necessary and is not retained;
Information gathered will be used only internally for
general service improvement and program management purposes and is not
intended for release outside of the agency;
Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of
substantially informing influential policy decisions; and
Information gathered will yield qualitative information;
the collections will not be designed or expected to yield statistically
reliable results or used as though the results are generalizable to the
population of study.
Feedback collected under this generic clearance provides useful
information, but it does not yield data that can be generalized to the
overall population. This type of generic clearance for qualitative
information will not be used for quantitative information collections
that are designed to yield reliably actionable results, such as
monitoring trends over time or documenting program performance. Such
data uses require more rigorous designs that address: The target
population to which generalizations will be made, the sampling frame,
the sample design (including stratification and clustering), the
precision requirements or power calculations that justify the proposed
sample size, the expected response rate, methods for assessing
potential nonresponse bias, the protocols for data collection, and any
testing procedures that were or will be undertaken prior to fielding
the study. Depending on the degree of influence the results are likely
to have, such collections may still be eligible for submission for
other generic mechanisms that are designed to yield quantitative
results.
As a general matter, information collections will not result in any
new system of records containing privacy information and will not ask
questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes,
religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered
private.
Pursuant to the PRA and OMB regulation 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), the EEOC
has solicited public comment on its intent to seek a three-year
approval of this revised collection: (1) Evaluate whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of
the EEOC's functions, including whether the information will have
practical utility; (2) Evaluate the accuracy of the EEOC's estimate of
the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) Enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and
(4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who
are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms
of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of
responses.
One comment was received from the public in response to the 60-day
notice published in the Federal Register of November 18, 2020 (85 FR
73479). The comment raised concerns regarding prospective employers
requesting a transgender person's previous name(s) prior to their
gender transition. Information regarding a person's previous name(s) is
not requested as part of the EEOC's information collections of customer
and stakeholder feedback on Agency service delivery. Accordingly, no
changes have been made to the Generic Clearance based upon this
comment.
In addition to clearance hours for the previously approved customer
feedback forms, the EEOC requested an additional 39,716 clearance
hours. Most of these requested hours-39,116-are for a randomly-
generated, pop-up form that will solicit feedback from a sample of
visitors to the EEOC website on the contents and performance of the web
pages. The 39,116 hours burden estimate is based on the number of web
page views in a year. The remaining 600 hours represent a reserve to
cover any additional feedback forms that may be developed over the next
three years for new trainings offered by the EEOC. The EEOC anticipates
any new potential feedback forms will be similar in length and content
to existing feedback forms. The EEOC is seeking clearance for the
additional hours so the EEOC can use the existing clearance number if
the need arises for additional training and feedback forms.
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Number of Response
Type of survey Respondent Number of responses/ Participation burden (in
respondents respondent time hours)
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Questionnaire--FEPA Training State and local 550 1.............. 2 minutes per 18
Conference Feedback. government response.
employees.
Questionnaire--Technical Private 4,500 1.............. 2 minutes per 150
Assistance Program Feedback. employers, response.
state and
local
government
employees.
Questionnaire--EXCEL Customer Private 250 1.............. 10 minutes per 42
Feedback. employers, response.
state and
local
government
employees.
Questionnaire--Respectful Private 15,900 2 (survey 10 minutes per 5,300
Workplace Training Feedback. employers, delivered response.
state and twice to same
local respondents).
government
employees.
Questionnaire--Federal Course Participants in 9,180 1.............. 2 minutes per 306
Evaluation Form. federal response.
courses and in
customer
specific
trainings.
[[Page 12445]]
Future Training Assessments.. Training Center 7,200 1.............. 5 minutes per 600
Attendees. response.
EEOC website feedback forms.. Individuals or 1,173,472 1.............. 2 minutes per 39,116
Households. response.
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Overview of Information Collection
OMB Number: 3046-0048.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Affected Public: Individuals and households; businesses and
organizations; State, Local or Tribal Governments.
Average Expected Annual Number of Activities: 6 known, up to 2 more
anticipated.
Respondents: 1,211,052.
Annual Responses: 1,226,952.
Frequency of Response: Twice per respondent for one activity, and
once for all other activities.
Average Minutes per Response: 2.2.
Burden Hours: 45,532.
For the Commission.
Charlotte A. Burrows,
Chair.
[FR Doc. 2021-04305 Filed 3-2-21; 8:45 am]
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