B08_Attch_2_Mock_SEM_TO_SOW.pdf

NPS Social Science Program Implementation of NPS Socioeconomic Monitoring Program February 4, 2025

Task Order Implementation of NPS Socioeconomic Monitoring Program

BACKGROUND AND PROJECT DESCRIPTION

A strong mandate and need for socioeconomic monitoring exists in the National Park Service (NPS).

These are expressed in the NPS strategic goals for science, in statements by the NPS leadership, in the report of the Second Century Commission, and through the Department of the Interior priorities for 2018-2022. The need for socioeconomic monitoring also was identified in an external review of the NPS Social Science Program and supported in the 2008 Interior Appropriations Bill Joint Explanatory Statement.

Based on this mandate an NPS Socioeconomic Monitoring (SEM) working group developed a statement of mission, goals, and objectives that emphasized collecting, organizing, and making available high-quality social science trend data to NPS managers. A direct result of this group was the administration, through a previous contract, of a pilot SEM program in 14 parks from 2015-2016 to determine the viability and cost of such a program. In total, over 7,000 surveys were completed providing the NPS with a rich dataset about in-park visitor characteristics. Further analyses from the pilot study indicated that 24 randomly selected parks based on a stratified sampling protocol need to be surveyed to derive reliable results for the NPS system as a whole.

The NPS Social Science Program (SSP) has begun implementation of an NPS SEM Program based on results and recommendations from the pilot study that was administered from 2015-2016 (RSG, 2018).

Data collection for Year One and Two of NPS SEM Visitor Surveys has finished and Year Three is currently in progress. SSP intends to continue this implementation of the SEM Program with a new sample of 24 parks.

Parks included in this sample will be located in a variety of locations and settings including potentially difficult to sample locations such as geographically remote parks (e.g. Alaska or the Pacific Islands), water based parks (e.g. Biscayne National Park or Gulf Islands National Seashore), or expansive open access (e.g. Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the National Mall, or Blue Ridge Parkway). Surveys will be conducted during the month of a park’s peak visitation (five-year average) identified by the NPS Visitor Use Statistics Program (https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/).

This mock task order shall procure contract services to continue implementation of the NPS SEM Program. This work is performed for the National Park Service (NPS) Social Science Program (SSP) in the Natural Resources Stewardship and Science Directorate. The NPS SSP will oversee the implementation of this program including data collection from an existing randomly generated sample of parks system-wide.

TASK ORDER REQUIREMENTS AND DELIVERABLES

Contractor shall provide and incorporate overall project management services into all tasks outlined in this task order, including:

https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/

• General Project Management – Administer the project contract, coordinate personnel and sub-consultant activities, prepare and maintain the project schedule and prepare invoicing.

• Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) – The Contractor shall assure that any submittal has passed through their QA/QC process and is ready for review. The Contractor shall provide a written copy of their QA/QC to the NPS for review and approval. Contractor shall clearly communicate project requirements to the team so team members understand the project expectations.

• Project Schedule –Prepare and maintain a project schedule throughout the life of the project.

The schedule will be used as a tool to manage the project and will be updated as specific dates are resolved.

• Project Update Meetings – The Contractor shall participate in project update progress teleconferences to review monthly schedules, milestone updates and corrective measures.

These teleconferences shall be coordinated and set-up by the Contractor.

Task 1.0 Study design and methods development

1.1 Organize and schedule project scoping phone calls

• The Contractor shall facilitate phone conference calls (up to 5 calls, 1-hour each) with the NPS Social Science Program (SSP) to understand the nature of the study and establish protocols for study development, implementation, and communication.

1.2 Develop survey instruments

• The contractor shall review the 2023 NPS Socioeconomic Monitoring survey instrument and evaluate the performance of various questions from the previous years’ implementation.

• Develop a draft and final visitor survey instrument and incorporate lessons learned from 2022 and 2023 NPS SEM surveys.

1.3 Develop data collection and data management plan. The contractor shall develop and deliver a study plan that includes sampling plan, staffing needs, and staff scheduling.

• Develop logistics plan to implement visitor survey o List of selected parks for implementation and estimated dates of collection are provided in Appendix A.

o Establish field monitoring guide for selected methods, implementation, and communication protocol with parks.

• Print final questionnaire, interview logs, and provide necessary equipment to successfully complete Task 2. Questionnaires in English and Spanish are required to be available at all intercept locations.

o Costs for survey translation for up to 25% of sample parks should be incorporated into this proposal.

• The contractor shall provide a written description of their data management plan that includes QA/QC procedures.

Task 1 Deliverables

• Draft survey instrument

• Final survey instrument

• Draft data collection/data management plan

• Final data collection/data management plan

Task 2.0 Survey administration, data collection, and data entry

Twenty-four (24) parks have been randomly selected, based on previously developed stratification criteria, to be included in the second year of SEM survey implementation. All surveys will be administered on-site to visitors during their trip while recreating throughout the park. The information collected through this survey is intended to broadly understand visitors’ experience, activities, information sources used, spending patterns, and demographics.

A list of the planned Twenty-four (24) parks will be attached the contract. These are a sample of the planned parks and are subject to change to a similar park that is within the same category and requires the same amount of effort at the need of the NPS.

2.1 Coordinate with park unit point of contact. Obtain a park research permit, organize logistics of visitor survey, and ensure that the operations of survey administration do not conflict with park and park partner operations.

• Organize and schedule project scoping phone calls (up to 3 calls, 1-hour each) with park staff to coordinate field administration of survey.

2.2 Field implementation. Administer survey at 24 national park units.

• Administer survey with a target of 400 completed surveys per park for 10 days at each park, assume a 50% response rate for a total survey distribution of 800-1,000 surveys per park.

• Assume parks with lower visitation (i.e. < 50,000 visits) will require extended sampling period to achieve survey distribution targets. The Contractor shall work with these parks to determine additional vendor or NPS staffing for distributing surveys beyond the standard 10-day sampling schedule.

• Provide staffing to implement field operations at up to 5 sites per park for the hard copy mail-back survey. One Spanish-English speaking interview specialist shall be available onsite per park. In addition (not in lieu), an online survey will be developed, administered and managed to allow for visitors to populate mailback survey responses via a web platform.

• Assume up to three (3) park units will have a target of approximately 1,600 questionnaires distributed onsite, and 800 completed questionnaires with up 10 sites per park.

• Collect data from non-respondents to conduct “non-response” bias analysis.

• Administer an onsite survey during initial contact using an electronic tablet to collect information from respondents that do not require completion of their trip (e.g. demographics, group size, etc.).

• The Contractor shall print and mail one reminder postcard to voluntary park visitors intercepted for the study that have yet to complete the initial questionnaire. Reference to these methods can be found via the Tailored Design Methods used in historical NPS survey research and other applications (RSG, 2018; Dillman, Smith & Christian, 2014).

2.3 Data entry and storage

• Ensure data transfer from electronic survey platform to spreadsheet format is accurate.

• Conduct data entry of the hard copy mail back surveys.

• Ensure correct data entry to electronic format of “write in” responses (i.e. responses to questions that require respondents to write words or numbers).

• Transfer data to NPS for storage within NPS DataStore (SQL compliant) platform.

Task 2 Deliverables

• Park specific field work implementation plans (24).

• Field reports for each park unit that detail survey administration (i.e. number of visitors contacted, number of tablet completed surveys, number of distributed mailback surveys).

• Processed dataset from tablet survey.

• Park specific dashboards and presentations (24) that report preliminary results from the tablet survey during initial contact, participation rates, response rates, and observations and recommendations for future survey administration.

• Formatted visitor survey dataset.

TASK 3.0 Data analysis and reporting

3.1 Data analysis. Include meta-data for transfer and understanding by NPS for visitor survey study.

• Conduct non-response bias analysis.

• Conduct statistical analysis of visitor survey data and compile summary statistics (e.g., mean, median, mode, quantiles, correlations (Pearson’s rho), Chi-square, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), factor analysis, and scale reliability analysis), as applicable.

• Original, hardcopy surveys shall be preserved for a minimum of 3 years from the end of the period of performance of this task order.

3.2 Results report. Develop draft and final reports summarizing findings of results independently per park unit and collectively for the 24 park units. This would include national-level results in aggregate for the 24 parks and provide appropriate caveats for limitations and representativeness.

• Draft reports will be reviewed and commented on by the NPS Social Science Program (SSP) and park unit staff before proceeding with the finalization of the report. NPS review to be completed within 21 calendar days.

• Final reporting shall be delivered to park units in hard copy (four copies) and to the SSP in electronic formats (PDF and Word). Electronic reports shall be 508 Compliant and conform to the Natural Resource Report Series.

Task 3 Deliverables:

• Draft and final reports summarizing findings of results for each of the parks where the SEM survey was administered.

https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/ https://www.nps.gov/im/reports-nrr.htm

In-person presentation to NPS staff in Fort Collins, CO that summarizes the collective effort and national level findings of the Year 3 study.

Data management:

Clearly outline data management protocols that conforms to SQL Server Compliant database use that can easily be transferred to the SSP and other users of these raw data. Database architecture shall be reviewed and approved by NPS SSP for ease of transference and querying.

Report final results in draft and final iterations. Reports shall:

Fully explain the data sources, methods, results, and limitations. While this material is essentially technical in nature, the narrative will use plain English where appropriate for general audiences.

The draft and final reports are considered data deliverables. The draft and final report shall be provided electronically to the call order contracting officer with a copy to the COR or park representative defined in this task order. The reports shall be submitted in both Adobe (pdf) and Microsoft Word format (doc(x)) formats.

Raw data shall be provided to the SSP and must comply with SQL Server compliant formats. Data shall be provided via SPSS and XLS files.

Task orders issued by the National Park Service, Washington Contracting Office, Lakewood, CO shall be sent to:

Contracting Officer’s Representative: Contracting Officer:

National Park Service National Park Service NRSS, Social Science Program Washington Contracting Office Attn: Megan McBride, Social Scientist Attn: Joyce Hongell, Contracting Officer 1201 Oakridge Dr. P O Box 25287 Fort Collins, CO 80525 7333 West Jefferson Avenue, Suite 100 Phone: 970-889-3205 Lakewood, CO 80225-5287 Megan_mcbride@nps.gov joyce_hongell@nps.gov

Technical contact:

Bret Meldrum NPS Social Science Program 1201 Oakridge Drive Fort Collins, CO 80525 Phone: 970-267-7295 Email: bret_meldrum@nps.gov

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

This task order will be performed remotely at times. Site scoping and study implementation will require on-site presence at National Park Service units. The extent to which this is required is dependent on the approach and methods yet to be determined. Deliverables such as the written report may be prepared at the Contractors place of business. The Contracting Officer’s Representative will help in orienting the team to the location, provide meeting spaces and will be the Contractor’s Point of Contact.

mailto:joyce_hongell@nps.gov

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The period of performance for this task order shall commence upon award for a period of 24 months.

GENERAL SCHEDULE

● Task 1 shall begin within 30 days from Period of Performance start.

● NPS shall have 21 calendar days to review and comment on any deliverables.

● Contractor shall have 1-month to revise deliverables to incorporate NPS review comments.

ESTIMATED TASK COMPLETION AND DELIVERABLE SCHEDULE

Assumes project start date of 9/1/2025 or earlier.

Task Item/Deliverable Date

1. Task 1 - Draft survey instrument October 14, 2025

2. Task 1 - Final survey instrument November 18, 2025

3. Task 1 – Draft study and data management plan October 31, 2025

4. Task 1 – Final study and data management plan December 2, 2025

5. Task 2 - Survey administration and data collection Mar-Oct 2026

6. Task 2 – Technical report of preliminary results from tablet survey Apr-Nov 2026

7. Task 2 – Data entry June-Dec 2026

8. Task 2 – Formatted datasets Oct 2026-Jan2027

9. Task 3 – Data Analysis July 2026-Feb 2027

10. Task 3 – Reporting Sep 2026-Mar 2027

11. Task 3 – Park Webex presentations Oct 2026-April 2027

12. Task 3 – Presentation to NPS Staff (Fort Collins) May, 2027

INVOICE PAYMENTS

Deliverable Percent Payment of Task Funding

Upon Completion

Task 1.2 Develop Survey Instrument

Draft Survey Instrument 25%

Final Survey Instrument 75%

Task 1.3 Develop data collection and management plan

Draft data collection and management plan 25%

Final data collection and management plan 75%

Task 2.0 Survey administration, data collection and data entry

Field work plan memorandum (24 parks) 15%

Certified dataset from tablet survey (24 parks) 20%

Park specific dashboards (24 parks) 15%

Certified formatted visitor survey dataset (24 parks) 50%

Task 3.0 Data analysis and reporting

Draft report (24 park reports, 1 national level report) 50%

Final report (24 park reports, 1 national level report) 50%

Appendix A. List of Sample Parks

Park NPS Code Estimated Sample Month Mojave National Park MOJA March Kobuk Valley NP KOVA October Voyageurs National Park VOYA July-August Yellowstone National Park YELL July Big Cypress National Preserve BICY February-March Muir Woods National Monument MUWO July Charles Pinckney National Historic Site CHPI March-April Saint Paul's Church National Historic Site SAPA February Thomas Stone National Historic Site THST September Independence National Historical Park INDE July World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument VALR July-August San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park SAFR July-August Ninety-Six National Historic Site NISI April Pecos National Historical Park PECO July Pea Ridge National Military Park PERI July Cowpens National Battlefield COWP July-August Lewis and Clark National Historical Park LEWI July-August San Juan Island National Historical Park SAJH June-July Obed Wild & Scenic River OBED June Piscataway Park PISC May Missouri National Recreational River MNRR September Assateague Island National Seashore ASIS July-August Cape Cod National Seashore CACO August Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area CHAT June