SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Office of Management and Budget clearance is being sought for the BLS Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery. This information collection activity will be used to garner customer and stakeholder feedback in accordance with the commitment to improving service delivery. The feedback sought is information that provides useful insights on perceptions and opinions, but are not used as statistical surveys that yield quantitative results that can be generalized to the population of study. These collections will: provide insights into customer or stakeholder perceptions, experiences, and expectations; provide an early warning of issues with service; focus attention on areas where communication, training, or changes, in operations might improve delivery of products or services; provide ongoing, collaborative, and actionable communications between BLS and its customers and stakeholders.

These collections will also allow feedback to contribute directly to the improvement of program management. Feedback collected under this generic clearance will provide useful information, but it will not yield data that can be generalized to the overall population.

This type of generic clearance for feedback information will not be designed to yield reliably actionable results such as, for example, monitoring trends over time or documenting program performance. Those sorts of data usages 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; ( printed page 23310) the protocols for data collection; and any testing procedures that were or will be undertaken prior 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.

This information collection is subject to the PRA. A Federal agency generally cannot conduct or sponsor a collection of information, and the public is generally not required to respond to an information collection, unless the OMB approves it and displays a currently valid OMB Control Number. In addition, notwithstanding any other provisions of law, no person shall generally be subject to penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information that does not display a valid OMB Control Number. See 5 CFR 1320.5(a) and 1320.6.

BLS seeks PRA authorization for this information collection for three (3) years.

Desired Focus of Comments

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is particularly interested in comments that:

• Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility.
• Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used.
• Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected.
• Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology,e.g., permitting electronic submissions of responses.

Title of Collection: BLS Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery.

OMB Number: 1220-0NEW.

Type of Review: New collection.

Affected Public: Individuals and Households; Private Sector; not-for-profit institutions; State, Local and Tribal Governments.

Annual Number of Respondents: 80,000.

Total Annual Responses: 80,000.

Estimated Annual Total Burden Hours: 8,000.

Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget approval of the information collection request; they also will become a matter of public record.