[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 245 (Wednesday, December 22, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80540-80542]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-32155]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of Labor Statistics


Proposed Collection, Comment Request

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to 
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a pre-clearance 
consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies 
with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing 
collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c) (2)(A)]. This program helps to 
ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, 
reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, 
collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of 
collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. The 
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is soliciting comments concerning the 
proposed revision of the ``National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 
1997.'' A copy of the proposed information collection request (ICR) can 
be obtained by contacting the individual listed in the ADDRESSES 
section of this notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
Addresses section below on or before February 22, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Carol Rowan, BLS Clearance Officer, 
Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 4080, 
2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Washington, DC 20212. Written comments 
also may be transmitted by fax to 202-691-5111 (this is not a toll free 
number).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carol Rowan, BLS Clearance Officer, 
202-691-7628 (this is not a toll free number). (See ADDRESSES section.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) is a 
nationally representative sample of persons who were born in the years 
1980 to 1984. These respondents were ages 12-17 when the first round of 
annual interviews began in 1997; the fifteenth round of annual 
interviews will be conducted from September 2011 to May 2012. The 
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) contracts with the National Opinion 
Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago to conduct the 
NLSY97. The primary objective of the survey is to study the transition 
from schooling to the establishment of careers and families. The 
longitudinal focus of this survey requires information to be collected 
from the same individuals over many years in order to trace their 
education, training, work experience, fertility, income, and program 
participation.
    One of the goals of the Department of Labor (DOL) is to produce and 
disseminate timely, accurate, and

[[Page 80541]]

relevant information about the U.S. labor force. The BLS contributes to 
this goal by gathering information about the labor force and labor 
market and disseminating it to policymakers and the public so that 
participants in those markets can make more informed, and thus more 
efficient, choices. Research based on the NLSY97 contributes to the 
formation of national policy in the areas of education, training, work 
experience, fertility, income, and program participation. In addition 
to the reports that the BLS produces based on data from the NLSY97, 
members of the academic community publish articles and reports based on 
NLSY97 data for the DOL and other funding agencies. To date, 
approximately 160 articles examining NLSY97 data have been published in 
scholarly journals. The survey design provides data gathered from the 
same respondents over time to form the only dataset that contains this 
type of information for this important population group. Without the 
collection of these data, an accurate longitudinal dataset could not be 
provided to researchers and policymakers, thus adversely affecting the 
DOL's ability to perform its policy- and report-making activities.

II. Current Action

    The BLS seeks approval to conduct round 15 of annual interviews of 
the NLSY97. Respondents to the NLSY97 will undergo an interview of 
approximately 65 minutes during which they will answer questions about 
schooling and labor market experiences, family relationships, and 
community background.
    During the fielding period for the main round 15 interviews, about 
2 percent of respondents will be asked to participate in a brief 
validation interview a few weeks after the initial interview. The 
purpose of the validation interview is to verify that the initial 
interview took place as the interviewer reported and to assess the data 
quality of selected questionnaire items.
    The BLS plans to record randomly selected segments of the main 
interviews during round 15. Recording interviews helps the BLS and NORC 
to ensure that the interviews actually took place and that interviewers 
are reading the questions exactly as worded and entering the responses 
properly. Recording also helps to identify parts of the interview that 
might be causing problems or misunderstanding for interviewers or 
respondents. Each respondent will be informed that the interview may be 
recorded for quality control, testing, and training purposes. If the 
respondent objects to the recording of the interview, the interviewer 
will confirm to the respondent that the interview will not be recorded 
and then proceed with the interview.
    During round 15, the BLS proposes to administer a noninterview 
respondent questionnaire to sample members who have missed at least 
five consecutive rounds and who do not complete the round 15 interview 
on first approach. Responses to this questionnaire will enable the BLS 
and NORC to learn more about long-term nonrespondents and therefore 
understand attrition patterns and any nonresponse bias. Other changes 
in round 15 include collecting permission forms from respondents to 
obtain their college transcripts. Permission forms were sought in round 
14 from respondents who had received a high school diploma or GED 
credential or completed coursework in a postsecondary degree program. 
During round 15, BLS and NORC plan to seek permission forms from 
individuals who have not yet provided one, primarily those who did not 
complete the round 14 interview or who completed it by phone rather 
than in person.
    The round 15 questionnaire includes questions on work schedules for 
respondents and their spouses or partners. The round 15 questionnaire 
also includes questions about the lowest wage at which a respondent 
would accept a job offer (known to labor economists as the reservation 
wage) and about the hours of desired work for such an offer. Questions 
will be asked about respondents' handedness, or left/right dominance, 
which is of interest to psychologists and neurologists, who have 
documented handedness as predictive of later neurological conditions. 
In addition, handedness has been studied as a predictor of workplace 
injuries.
    As in prior rounds of the NLSY97, round 15 will include a pretest 
conducted several months before the main fielding to test survey 
procedures and questions and resolve problems before the main fielding 
begins. The Round 15 pretest will include a trial collection of birth 
certificates on a small number of survey respondents. Birth 
certificates are the optimal source of information about birth weight, 
a measure of considerable research interest given its relationship with 
child development, lifetime obesity, and other outcomes. This trial 
collection of birth certificates will provide insight into respondent 
reactions and concerns regarding the release of administrative records 
and the logistical issues surrounding the handling, acquiring, and 
coding of such documents. The round 15 pretest also will include a 
trial Internet collection of selected information used to locate 
respondents for interviews. The purpose of the trial is to determine 
whether Internet collection yields information of higher quality when 
compared to the current method of collecting the information as part of 
the interview. The Internet trial also will be used to assess 
respondent acceptance of Internet collection generally and whether such 
collection can reduce respondent burden without reducing the quality of 
the survey information.

III. Desired Focus of Comments

    The Bureau of Labor Statistics is particularly interested in 
comments that:
    <bullet> 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.
    <bullet> 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.
    <bullet> Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected.
    <bullet> 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.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    Title: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997.
    OMB Number: 1220-0157.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.

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                                    Total                            Total        Average time   Estimated total
             Form                respondents      Frequency        responses     per  response        burden
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NLSY97 Pretest: July-August               150  Annually.......             150  65 minutes.....  163 hours.
 2011.

[[Page 80542]]

 
Collection of birth                       135  Once...........             135  1.5 minutes....  3.4 hours.
 certificates in the NLSY97
 Pretest: July-August 2011.
Main NLSY97: September 2011-            7,400  Annually.......           7,400  65 minutes.....  8,017 hours.
 May 2012.
Round 15 Validation Interview             147  Annually.......             147  4 minutes......  10 hours.
Noninterview Respondent                   130  Annually.......             130  10 minutes.....  22 hours.
 Questionnaire.
College Transcript Release              2,500  Once...........           2,500  1.5 minutes....  62.5 hours.
 Form.
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    TOTALS...................           7,680  ...............          10,462  ...............  8,278 hours.
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The difference between the total number of respondents and the total number of responses reflects the fact that
  about 2,500 are expected to complete the main interview and the college transcript permission form. In
  addition, about 147 respondents will be interviewed twice, once in the main survey and a second time in the 4-
  minute validation interview. Finally, the 135 pretest respondents expected to provide birth certificates or
  permission forms are included among the 150 respondents expected to complete the Round 15 pretest.

    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $0.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): $0.
    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.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 16th day of December 2010.
Kimberley D. Hill,
Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
[FR Doc. 2010-32155 Filed 12-21-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-P