Pretesting of Office of Cancer Communications Messages; Proposed Collection; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health

Pretesting of Office of Cancer Communications Messages; Proposed

Collection; Comment Request

Summary: In compliance with the requirements of Section

3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, for opportunity

for public comment on proposed data collection projects, the National

Cancer Institute (NCI), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will

publish periodic summaries of proposed projects to be submitted to the

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval.

Proposed Collection

Title: Pretesting of Office of Cancer Communications Messages.

Type of Information Collection Request: EXTENSION (OMB # 0925-0046,

expires 8/31/97).

Need and Use of Information Collection: In order to carry out NCI's

legislative mandate to educate and disseminate information about cancer

prevention, detection diagnosis, and treatment to a wide variety of

audiences and organizations (e.g. cancer patients, their families, the

general public, health providers, the media, voluntary groups,

scientific and medical organizations), the Office of Cancer

Communications (OCC) needs to pretest its communications strategies,

concepts, and messages while they are under development. The primary

purpose of this pretesting, or formative evaluation, is to ensure that

the messages, communications materials, and information services

created by OCC have the greatest capacity of being received,

understood, and accepted by their target audiences. By utilizing

appropriate qualitative and quantitative methodologies, OCC is able to

(1) Understand characteristics of the intended target audience--their

attitudes, beliefs and behaviors--and use this information in the

development of effective communications tools; (2) produce or refine

messages that have the greatest potential to influence target audience

attitudes and behavior in a positive manner; and (3) expend limited

program resources dollars wisely and effectively. Frequency of

Response: On occasion. Affected public: Individuals or households;

Businesses or other for

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profit; Not-for-profit institutions; Federal Government; State, Local

or Tribal Government. Type of Respondents: Adult cancer patients;

members of the public; health care professionals; organizational

representatives. The annual reporting burden is as follows: Estimated

Number of Respondents: 13,780; Estimated Number of Responses per

Respondent: 1; Average Burden Hours Per Response; 1458; and Estimated

Total Annual Burden Hours Requested: 2,010. There are no Capital Costs,

Operating Costs and/or Maintenance Costs to report.

Request for Comments

Written comments and/or suggestions from the public and affected

agencies are invited on one or more of the following points: (1)

Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the

proper performance of the function of the agency, including whether the

information will have practical utility; (2) 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; (3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the

information to be collected; and (4) Ways to 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 their forms of information

technology.

For Further Information Contact: To request more information on the

proposed project or to obtain a copy of the data collection plans and

instruments, contact Ellen Eisner, Communications Research Manager,

Health Promotion Branch, OCC, NCI, NIH, Building 31, Room 10A03, 9000

Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892, or call non-toll-free number (301)

496-6667 or E-mail your request, including your address to

[email protected]

Comments Due Date: Comments regarding this information collection

are best assured of having their full effect if received by June 3,

1997.

Dated: March 27, 1997.

Nancie L. Bliss,

Project Clearance Liaison, NCI.

[FR Doc. 97-8595 Filed 4-3-97; 8:45 am]

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