Youth Driver Survey

This Sources Sought Notice is for planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The purpose of this Notice is to identify potential sources that may be interested in and capable of performing the work described herein. The NHTSA welcomes Corporate Capability Statements from all individuals and organizations. The NHTSA does not intend to award a contract on the basis of responses nor otherwise pay for the preparation of any information submitted or NHTSA's use of such information. Acknowledgement of receipt of responses will not be made, nor will respondents be notified of NHTSA's evaluation of the information received. As a result of this Notice, the NHTSA may issue a Request for Proposals (RFP). However, should such a requirement fail to materialize, no basis for claims against the NHTSA shall arise as a result of a response to this Notice. Young people 16-to-20 years old are especially vulnerable to crash injury or death, with motor vehicle crashes being the leading cause of death for that age range. It is essential that NHTSA be proactive in addressing young driver traffic safety. As a data-driven organization, this means collecting and analyzing quality data to identify the nature of young driver traffic safety problems, to guide development of intervention approaches, and to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions. While crash and fatality databases are invaluable sources of data applicable to these tasks, they do not tell the entire story. Attitudes, perceptions, knowledge, beliefs, preferences, and related factors can play a key role in how the circumstances underlying a crash evolved. By necessity, much of this information will need to come from self-report by young drivers. NHTSA has determined that electronic self-report should be the primary mode of information collection, both because this mode reduces pressures to respond in a socially desirable way as well as the preference of young people to use newer information technology. However, including a second response mode option has been shown to enhance response rates of surveys that use the Web. The objective of this project is to carry out all Tasks associated with testing, implementation, monitoring, data management, and reporting requirements for a multi-mode young driver (ages 16 through 20) survey with Web as the primary response mode and mail as a second response mode. There also will be a backup telephone option for young drivers who indicate they don't have Web access and want to take the survey by telephone. The sampling frame will be driver license databases of States that choose to participate in the project. NHTSA will contact the States, solicit their participation, and obtain systematically selected samples from them. NHTSA has developed the questionnaire (which is divided into two versions), but it was designed for Web administration and will need to be adapted to multi-mode administration. The project will be divided into two phases, with Tasks apportioned as follows: Phase 1 - 1. Kick-off Meeting - 2. Prepare Project Management Plan - 3. Adapt Questionnaire Versions to Multi-Mode Administration - 4. Develop Web Site for Survey Administration - 5. Conduct Usability Testing of the Web Questionnaire and Paper Questionnaire - 6. Obtain Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval - 7. Prepare for Implementation of Pilot Test - 8. Conduct Pilot Test (1 State) - 9. Report on Results of Pilot Test Phase 2 - 1. Determine Changes to Survey Questionnaires and Survey Methods - 2. Revise Web Site and Questionnaires - 3. Obtain Approval of Final Survey Methods from IRB - 4. Prepare for Implementation of Full Survey - 5. Conduct Full Survey (Minimum 8 States) - 6. Submit Database Important aspects of the project include: Creating unique PINs for system access, completely protecting against a respondent being able to access data submitted by other respondents, and meeting all other security requirements; Applying principles of heuristics that people follow when laying out the visual format of the questions; Developing user assistance tools; Engaging in a comprehensive series of system tests to assure the Web site is operating properly; Conducting a series of mailings to contact prospective respondents, augmented by email contact if email addresses are available; Coordinating PIN numbers across mailings so that any young driver in the sample is always sent the same PIN; Obtaining parental consent for respondents ages 16 and 17; Apportioning sample to the two different questionnaire versions; Developing a Spanish language version of the questionnaires; Implementing different test conditions for the pilot test, to include providing contingent and non-contingent monetary incentives. Format of Corporate Capabilities Statement: Any interested organizations should submit the Corporate Capability Statement which demonstrates the firm's ability and interest in no more than 10 pages to perform the key requirements described above. All proprietary information should be marked as such. All respondents are asked to indicate the type and size of their business organization, e.g., Large Business, Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, Women-Owned-Business, 8(A), Historically Black College or University/Minority Institution (HBCU/MI), educational institution, profit/non-profit organization, in their response.