ID09180048_-_Analytical_Support_for_Research_Surveys_and_Statistics__Request_for_Information_Amend_1.pdf

General Services Administration (GSA)

Federal Acquisition Service

Request for Information (RFI) in support of

Office of People Analytics (OPA) Analytical Support for Research, Surveys, and Statistics

ID09180048

1. Introduction

General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Acquisition Service, Region 9, is releasing this Request for Information (RFI) on behalf of the Defense Human Resources Activity (DHRA), Office of People Analytics (OPA), Centers for Health & Resilience (H&R) and Retention & Readiness (R&R) to conduct both web-based and paper surveys and analysis that supports the personnel information needs of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and

Readiness (OUSD [P&R]).

The purpose of this RFI is to determine small and large business capabilities to perform the requirements listed herein. This RFI is seeking responses from businesses that can provide services under NAICS codes 541720. The applicable small business size standard is $20.5M in average annual receipts.

If this requirement is set aside or reserved for small business concerns, it should be noted that any resultant contract or task order for services will require at least 50 percent of the cost* of the contract performance incurred to be expended for employees of the concern proposing as a prime. Please see FAR Clause 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting (JAN 2017) for prescription and complete version of the clause. *Contractors should note that “cost” refers to the total burdened labor costs expected to be expended under the effort.

Interested respondents are requested to complete the following items below:

a. Section I, Corporate Description

b. Section II, Corporate Experience

c. Section III, Corporate Capabilities/Feedback

Responses will allow the Government to conduct an initial review of market capabilities in support of requirements identified in this RFI. This RFI is issued for market research purposes only, and is not meant to imply there will be a follow-on solicitation for this requirement issued by GSA. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this announcement, or any follow-up information requests. This notice is for

ID09180048 – Analytical Support for Research, Surveys, and Statistics planning purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government.

Reponses that do not conform to instructions in this RFI, may not be considered.

2. Background

OPA is part of the Defense Human Resources Activity (DHRA), a DoD Field Activity tasked with enabling DoD policy offices to make decisions based on sound administrative/personnel record data and survey data. OPA H&R and R&R focus on providing these offices with survey data. Sponsoring DoD offices and non-DHRA customers require personnel policy- and program-relevant information: attitudes, opinions, behavioral intentions, and self-reported experiences and outcomes. These data analytics are used to formulate, monitor, and refine policies and programs affecting the morale, health, compensation, benefits, training, selection, assignments, and readiness of DoD personnel and their families. As new policies and programs are developed, DoD requires research and studies that quickly analyze survey and administrative data to assess the expected or actual effectiveness of those policies and programs.

H&R/R&R staff design survey procedures, sampling and weighting plans, and questionnaires, and through analyses, generate documentation including datasets, tabulations, briefings, infographics, and white papers. H&R/R&R use four Government-owned, Government developed software packages.

a. The SRT is a visual basic user-interface that uses Microsoft products including Excel, Word, Access, and PowerPoint to develop survey questionnaires and produce automated, publication-ready tabulation volumes, briefing charts, and trend charts. SRT-developed survey questionnaires can be converted into a number of formats (.txt, .doc, etc.) and imported into survey software to create paper- and web-based surveys.

The SRT allows the analyst to document the specification of data coding and cleaning in the production of Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) datasets, for specification of variables. Upon initial entry of survey questions in the SRT there is never again a need to retype (risking errors) for creation of the survey on the Web, for creating labeling data variables and values in the dataset, and for including the wording of the items in the automated production of tabulation volumes and briefing charts.

b. The Survey and Variable Authoring System (SURVANT), is an Internet-based tool that is used to develop surveys (web/paper survey creation, testing, editing), for survey database development (variable name, format and value creation), and for documentation (dataset and codebook creation). SURVANT is used to store survey information (variable names, formats, etc.), to test the survey instrument during quality control procedures, to store analysis recodes as well as maintain and produce survey documentation. It is also used to create basic-use (public) and confidential datasets.

c. The Sampling Tool provides efficient samples for H&R/R&R surveys, using Microsoft Excel and Access. The Sampling Tool allows RSSC to estimate the minimum sample size needed to achieve desired precision and confidence goals, given population size, cost, and response rate constraints.

d. The Survey Analysis Macro (SAM) produces estimates and tests of significance within one survey administration. SAM uses SAS, SUDAAN and Microsoft products. H&R/R&R currently use SAS in database creation but also create final datasets in IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (IBM/SPSS) software.

SUDAAN, M-Plus, and/or STATA and/or other software packages may also be used to handle the correct estimation of variances.

3. Scope

This effort will provide OPA with analytical support to plan and analyze Department of Defense (DoD)-wide surveys and focus groups and to conduct in depth analysis using various data sources. The Contractor shall provide all personnel management, equipment and supplies as necessary to perform the following requirements. Projects are likely to involve simultaneous performance of multiple task areas. See attached draft PWS for further breakdown of tasks.

Task 1 Project Management Support

The contractor shall provide project management capabilities including scheduling meetings (e.g Inter Service Survey Coordinating Committee-ISSCC), developing monthly progress reports, agendas, documenting meeting minutes, and coordinating survey review packages. The contractor shall track all data requests and coordinate the completion and dissemination of research results within OPA and to external clients through Web publication and email notification.

The contractor shall provide Monthly Progress Reports to the COR that address the extent to which any problems or circumstances will cause conflicts with program schedules, and present and discuss the reports in quarterly Senior Management Reviews (SMRs). Reports and discussions shall include (1) summary of activities, actions, and progress for the prior quarter; (2) status of each deliverable; (3) financial review for billing purposes, (4) pending issues; (5) analysis of any potential problems, risks/challenges, and risk mitigation plan; and (6) summary of projected activities for the next period. Submit minutes of the SMR to the COR within 5 days following each meeting.

The contractor shall apply all applicable professional styles and standards of Offices of the

Secretary of Defense and USD (P&R), and OPA to technical documentation and survey notes produced for evaluations, studies, and analyses, as well as memos, information papers, and briefings related to DoD personnel policies and programs. All editing shall be done according to the publication manual of OPA, “Guidelines for Preparing and Submitting Technical Documentation for Publication.” In addition, technical editing by the contractor must be consistent with the latest edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA). The contractor maintains OPA Word and PowerPoint templates and maintains the OPA report tracking system.

Task 2 Research, Survey, and/or Statistical Consultation

The contractor shall provide research, survey, and/or statistical consultation, advice and support to OPA and other OSD and Secretary of Defense stakeholders (e.g. Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, Defense Civilian Personnel Advisory Service (DCPAS), and Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO)). Anticipated products include briefings, infographics, technical reports, information papers, management (executive) reports, overview reports and papers for presentation at professional conferences or submitted to professional journals containing analysis relevant to DoD actions, policies, or procedures. Other products include user manuals for personnel or manpower policy/program implementation, documentation of surveys and codebooks, and maintenance/enhancements of computer program/web site applications supporting the OPA mission.

Task 3 Sample and Survey Design Support

The contractor shall: provide statistical support by designing complex, stratified samples, and weighting survey data to account for differential selection probabilities and response propensities, and post-stratification; use software (e.g., SUDAAN) to appropriately make variance estimates from complex sample designs; use and modify H&R/R&R statistical software programs to perform appropriate statistical tests to determine whether differences in estimates across subgroups (e.g., Service) or time are statistically significant; perform nonresponse bias analyses and serve as technical expert on nonresponse bias methods; work with government staff to develop an automated production system to impute for missing data, and serve as technical expert on missing data methods. In addition, disclosure analysis shall be conducted on datasets to be delivered outside of OPA.

The contractor shall support survey design, construction, and execution of survey studies using self-administered web-based and paper and pencil questionnaires, as well as local, nationwide, or worldwide focus groups; world-wide computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI);

nationwide in-person interviewing protocols; and pretesting protocols including those requiring cognitive pretesting. This can include the analyses and reporting of existing and/or new data and/or survey methodologies.

The contractor shall support the review and approval of internally and externally generated surveys and compliance with laws, instructions, and directives (e.g,, DoDI 1100.13; DoDI 8910.01, etc. on use of surveys for data collection, use of survey data for secondary analyses, and use of human subjects in research.

The contractor shall develop coding schemes; validate and document survey findings in tabulation volumes, trend reports and briefings, and management reports; and document datasets in codebooks. See http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a476557.pdf, http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA514130 for examples of codebooks.

Task 4 Assistance with Data and Analysis http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a476557.pdf http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA514130

The contractor shall: assist in the design and development of specifications used in final products including tabulation of responses, briefings, management (executive) reports, overview reports, and survey notes; assist with preliminary and complex analyses of data including univariate and multivariate statistical analyses (e.g., logistic regression, path analysis), and structural equation modeling (SEM) using SAS and other statistical analysis package skills; assist in designing content for focus groups, conducting focus groups, and conducting analysis of focus group sessions by identifying major themes and ideas conveyed across the sessions. For each theme, include supporting comments from the focus group participants. The contractor shall assist with quick turn ad hoc analyses and requests for information regarding OPA research find ings form

OPA customers.

Task 5 Programming and Subject Matter Expertise

In support of OPA’s statistical group, the contractor shall provide expert advice and programming for performing analyses, technical notes or memorandum documenting the statistical issues considered, and recommendations made. Such reports are to be complete with equations, citations, results of analyses performed, and copies of analysis statements prepared for execution in SAS, SUDAAN, or other government approved software packages. In support of OPA’s data science group, the contractor shall provide expert advice (e.g., analysis of alternatives, etc.) and programming (i.e., documented with R markdown and Python Notebook or similar platforms) on diverse data science projects including data wrangling (e.g., extract, transform, and load operations), statistical and mathematical algorithm deployment (e.g., structured and unstructured data), document algorithm performance (e.g., hold out sample validation), using R, Python, and Spark analysis platforms on both single and multiple node platforms.

Task 6 Outreach, Distribution, and Training

The contractor shall attend conferences and meet with federal, state, and local officials as well as members of the public and constituent groups in order to remain current with industry trends relative to government surveys.

The contractor shall update and document procedures for automating survey operations including questionnaire development, briefing/trend charts, and analyses. Provide internal training for any new processes.

The contractor shall distribute datasets in response to requests for current and historical data in compliance with Freedom of Information Act requirements, Privacy Advisory or Privacy Act statements, and consistent with OPA procedures to ensure integrity and security of data.

Task 7 Quality Assurance and Tracking

The contractor shall conduct quality assurance tasks related to survey operations. Quality assurance checks and data validation shall include dataset/product/de liverable quality checks, inter-rater reliability for qualitative data, and frequency runs to verify sample and population characteristics.

The contractor shall develop and maintain a system for the tracking of both internal and external

H&R/R&R milestones and all OPA data requests.

Task 8 Technical Support and Maintenance

The contractor shall provide technical support and maintenance for OPA in-house survey tools.

OPA currently uses Survey Reporting Tool (SRT), Sampling Tool, and Statistical Analysis Macros (SAM). The contractor shall be proficient in the use of Microsoft Office ® software applications (Excel, Access, Word, Outlook, and Project) and SharePoint®. Contractor personnel shall possess strong writing and analytic skills and be well versed and able to apply knowledge of DoD personnel management policies as they relate to statistical analysis.

Government Estimate:

This requirement is estimated to cost between $50 and $100 million over five years.

4. Instructions to Respondents:

Complete and submit the questionnaires below. Follow the table formats and do not substitute, delete, or add to the questionnaires. Responses shall be prepared so that when printed, they meet the following requirements: 8.5 x11 inch paper, 1 inch margins and no smaller than 12 point Time New Roman font.

Page Limits: A cover page is not required; however, any cover page shall not be longer than 1 page in length. Section I Corporate Description shall be no longer than 2 pages in length. Section

II Corporate Experience shall be no longer than 9 pages in length (up to 3 pages for each example of Corporate Experience). All corporate experience must be performed by the respondent as Prime contractor and shall reflect scope relevant to this acquisition. Section III Corporate Capabilities shall be no longer than 3 pages in length.

All information submitted shall be UNCLASSIFIED.

Respond no later than 11:00 AM Pacific Time on 14 March 2018. The deadline for submission of questions is 7 March 2018.

Responses shall be submitted electronically via email to matthew.schupbach@gsa.gov and dora.gayden@gsa.gov.

mailto:matthew.schupbach@gsa.gov mailto:dora.gayden@gsa.gov

Section I, Corporate Description

Please fill in the table below. Do not provide supplemental data or marketing type brochures.

Name of Company

Name of Business Unit Responding to the RFI (if applicable)

Website URL

DUNS Number

CAGE Code

Corporate Address

NAICS codes supported

Total Number of Full Time Employees

Confirm Small Business Status under

NAICS 541910 with a $15M size standard (Yes SB, or No not SB)

Confirm Small Business Status under

NAICS 541720 with a $20.5M size standard (Yes SB, or No not SB)

Type of Small Business (e.g. Woman-

Owned, Veteran Owned, Service Disabled Veteran Owned, 8(a), HUBZone)

Do you have a cost accounting system deemed adequate by a cognizant audit agency? (e.g. DCAA or ONR)

Do you have an approved purchasing system approved by DCMA (or other cognizant agency)?

Single Point of Contact Name (Enter Name, phone number and email address)

Would the company plan to submit a proposal as a prime?

Provide any applicable company GSA FSS schedule numbers, GSA Schedule

Contracts, GWAC or other GSA contracts your firm has utilizing either NAICS Codes:

541910 or 541720 or list which NAICS codes you believe to be applicable to the work outlined in the PWS and list any applicable GSA schedule, GWAC or other GSA contracts for those respective NAICS Codes.

Section II, Corporate Experience

Please provide up to three corporate references in the template below that relate to the requirements described above. (Note: If your company is divided into separate business units, responses shall be based upon the particular experiences of the business unit responding to the RFI). Only list contracts during which you have served as the prime contractor in the last five (5) years (nothing prior to February 2013). Do not provide supplemental data that is not requested.

Contract #/Vehicle

Project Name

Value at Award

Value at Completion/ Current Value (not ceiling value)

Contract Type: check the largest ($) for this contract

□ T&M/Labor Hour □ Firm Fixed Price

□ Cost Plus Fixed Fee □ Cost Plus Award Fee

□ Other:________________

Client Department or Agency

Project Description (Describe the work that your firm has performed as a prime contractor in terms of size, scope, requirements, complexity as related to the RFI task areas)

Client POC, Name, E-mail, Phone

Percentage of Services Sub-contracted

Applicable NAICS Code(s) for the requirement

Section III, Corporate Capabilities/Feedback

1. Describe your company/business unit’s experience managing multiple projects to perform research, and provide survey, and/or statistical consultation, advice, and support of a size comparable to the requirements herein.

2. Describe your company/business unit’s experience in quickly (within 30 days) obtaining personnel with highly specialized experience, as related to the RFI requirements.

Feedback:

3. Please suggest what, if any, additional information your company would need to be able to propose competitive solutions utilizing a fixed price IDIQ contract.

Additionally, please provide feedback regarding other contract/ task order types that you believe would be the best approach for administration of the type of work identified in the DRAFT PWS. Please provide the type of information that you would need in order to put together a firm fixed price type proposal including any assumptions your company would make in proposing in a fixed-price environment against the current DRAFT PWS.

4. State any general questions(s) relating to the DRAFT PWS that need to be clarified prior to release of a RFP, if an RFP is released.