NEARFP12-15 Development of 2012 SPPA Summary Report and Development of 2012 SPPA User Guide final.pdf

August 6, 2012

Reference: Two (2) Opportunities: Development of 2012 SPPA Summary Report and Development of 2012 SPPA User's Guide, Data Dictionary and Combined Data File

Subject: Request for Proposal Solicitation Number RFP 12-15 Small Business Set-Aside

Dear Prospective Offeror:

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) invites contractors to submit proposals for the services described in the attached statements of work, under the authority of Part 12 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

Enclosed you will find two (2) Statement of Work/solicitations that each requests proposals for Development of 2012 SPPA Summary Report and Development of 2012 SPPA User's Guide, data dictionary and combined data file. QUESTIONS concerning this proposal shall be submitted only via email to CONTRACTS@ARTS.GOV by 5:00 pm (EST) on August 16, 2012. Please SUBMIT your PROPOSALS by FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. (EST). This RFP in no way obligates the U.S. Government to award a contract, nor does it commit the U.S. Government to pay any cost incurred in preparing and submitting your proposal.

The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer, conforming to the solicitation; will be most advantageous to the Government. Price and other factors will be considered. In order to select the winning offeror, NEA will rank offerors from best to worst. In addition to the narrative assessments prepared by the Evaluation Team for each evaluation factor, a point scoring system will be used to rank all technical and price proposals. The point scoring system uses a rating scale of 100%. However, NEA will not select an offeror for award on the basis of a superior capability without consideration of the amount of its price. In order to select the winning proposal, NEA will rank each offeror by making a series of paired comparisons between them, trading off the marginal differences in capability with the marginal difference in price. NEA intends to make one award or multiple awards under this solicitation.

This procurement is a small business set aside. The NAICS code for this solicitation is 541720. The Government’s estimate is approximately $60,000.00 for Development of 2012 SPPA Summary Report and $40,000.00 for Development of 2012 SPPA User's Guide, Data Dictionary and Combined Data File.

The actual period of performance will be determined at the time of award; however we anticipate awarding an 11 month contract for Development of 2012 SPPA Summary Report and a 9 month contract for Development of 2012 SPPA User's Guide, Data Dictionary and Combined Data File.

Offerors are encouraged to pursue collaborations in order to provide the NEA with the expertise required for this evaluation.

The precise period of performance will be determined at the time of award; through submission of the final reports due no later than June 28, 2013 and August 30, 2013.

mailto:harrisl@arts.gov http://www.census.gov/eos/www/naics/htmls/5/541370.htm

Proposals that are faxed will not be accepted. Proposals must be received by the closing date and time stated above via email to CONTRACTS@ARTS.GOV. Please refer any questions concerning this request to Latonca M. Harris via email at CONTRACTS@ARTS.GOV.

Sincerely, Latonca M. Harris

Latonca M. Harris Contracting Officer Grants & Contracts Office

Enclosures:

Section B, Supplies/Service and Prices Section C, Description/Specifications/Statement of Work Section D, Preservation, Packaging and Marking Section E, Inspection and Acceptance Section F, Deliveries or Performance Section G, Contract Administration Data Section H, Special Contract Requirements Section I, Contract Clauses Section J, List of Attachments Section K, Representations, Certifications and Other Statements of Offerors Section L, Instructions, Conditions and Notices to Offerors Section M, Evaluation Factors for Award

SECTION B

SUPPLIES/SERVICES AND PRICES

B.1. GENERAL

As part of its Strategic Plan for 2012-2016, the NEA has pledged "To promote public knowledge and understanding about the contributions of the arts" (Goal 3).1 In pursuit of this goal, the NEA's Office of Research & Analysis (ORA) seeks to: (1) investigate the value of the U.S. arts ecosystem and the impact of the arts on individuals and communities; and (2) identify, cultivate, and publish new and existing data sources in the arts. The development of a 2012 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA) Summary Report and User's Guide will strengthen ORA's ability to achieve these goals.

The Agency seeks a contractor(s) to prepare analyses of the data from the 2012 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA). There are two solicitations in this announcement. Vendors may offer proposals for one or both solicitations.

Solicitation 1: Development of a Summary Report, including executive summary; discussion of findings; trend analysis; inclusion of charts, graphs, and other visualizations; and technical appendixes.

Solicitation 2: Development of User's Guide, data dictionary, and combined data file.

These materials will provide the necessary instructions for researchers to properly conduct analyses of the 2012 SPPA data.

B.2. PRICING

Applicants can submit proposals for one or both elements of this solicitation (i.e., for either the Summary Report, including an executive summary; or the User's Guide, data dictionary, and combined data file; or for both).

All unit prices are firm fixed rates.

Solicitation 1: Development of 2012 SPPA Summary Report

Period of Performance: Date of Award through submission of final deliverable due no later than August 30, 2013.

ITEM

No.

SUPPLIES OR SERVICES QTY UNIT UNIT PRICE AMOUNT

1001 2012 SPPA Summary Report 1 Lot

GRAND TOTAL FFP

1 The NEA's Strategic Plan for 2012-2016 is accessible at http://www.nea.gov/about/Budget/NEAStrategicPlan2012-2016.pdf.

Solicitation 2: Development of 2012 SPPA User's Guide, data dictionary, and combined data file

Period of Performance: Date of Award through submission of final deliverable due no later than June 28, 2013.

ITEM

No.

SUPPLIES OR SERVICES QTY UNIT UNIT PRICE AMOUNT

1002 2012 SPPA User's Guide, data dictionary, and combined data file

1 Lot

GRAND TOTAL FFP

SECTION C

DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS/STATEMENT OF WORK

C.1. INTRODUCTION

The Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA) is the single most important periodic study overseen by the NEA. It produces the largest nationally representative dataset that currently exists on adults' arts participation habits in the U.S. The most recent SPPA was conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau in July 2012 as a supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS) (see Attachment 1).

Comparable national surveys of the adult population’s participation in the arts were conducted for the Arts Endowment in 1982, 1985, 1992, 1997, 2002 and 2008.

The 2012 SPPA includes many of the same questions from earlier versions of the survey in order to track trends in participation, but it also includes significant departures from how the survey was structured in the past. To allow the survey questionnaire to be more inclusive of various art forms and activities, but to retain the ability to capture long-term trends, the 2012 SPPA includes two core sets of questions (hereafter referred to as "modules"). Each core module features questions about arts attendance and reading habits. The "old core" module is identical to the core module of the 2008 SPPA, whereas the "new core" includes revised and additional questions such as those about attending a film festival and seeing buildings or neighborhoods for their historical, architectural or design value. Respondents will be randomly assigned to one of the two core modules. In addition, the 2012 SPPA now includes five separate modules that cover a range of topics including accessing art through media to arts creation and performance. Respondents will be randomly assigned to two out of the five modules.

SPPA data are typically used to conduct analyses in order to describe levels and trends in arts participation rates in the U.S. Several NEA Research Reports that have published results from the surveys are available at http://www.nea.gov/research/research.php?type=R. The results of the most recent survey, the 2008 SPPA, were summarized in Research Report #49, 2008 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts. In addition, many NEA Research Reports, Brochures, and Notes have resulted from the general findings based on SPPA data. Prominent examples are: Reading on the Rise: A New Chapter in American Literacy; State and Regional Differences in Arts Participation: A Geographic Analysis of the 2008 SPPA;

Art-Goers in Their Communities: Patterns of Civic and Social Engagement; Arts Education in America:

What the Declines Mean for Arts Participation; Age and Arts Participation: A Case against Demographic Destiny; and Beyond Attendance: A Multi-Modal Understanding of Arts Participation. It is anticipated that the report produced under this contract would be most comparable in content to Report #49, but will be broader in scope and include additional analyses on trends and new data collected in the http://www.nea.gov/research/research.php?type=R http://www.nea.gov/research/2008-SPPA.pdf

2012 SPPA. The Summary Report to be produced under this contract will provide results from the 2012 SPPA in a concise, readable form accessible to a wide readership. ORA intends to make the final deliverables available to the public through the NEA's web site.

C.2. SCOPE OF WORK

The contractor will prepare a Summary Report (approximately 50 to 60 pages of text with additional appendix material), including an executive summary. The Report will describe results from an analysis of the 2012 SPPA data, and it also will reflect the analysis of a combined data file that includes historical SPPA data. Comparisons to the 2008 SPPA results will be particularly valuable. Within 30 days of receipt of the 2012 SPPA data file from the NEA, the contractor will also receive from the Agency a draft component of the 2012 SPPA User's Guide. This document will highlight major changes between the 2008 and 2012 SPPAs; it will serve as a guide for analyses conducted and results reported on data new to the 2012 SPPA.

In addition to surveying respondents about their arts attendance and reading habits, the 2012 SPPA includes additional modules about participation through other mediums. The modules in the 2012 SPPA include the following: participation and music preferences; accessing art through media; creating art through media; creating, performing, and other activities; and arts learning. It is expected that the 2012 Summary Report will report on frequencies and trends from analyzing data collected in each module, in addition to analyzing differences by demographic and geographic characteristics. Because of the additional modules, the 2012 Summary Report will be broader in scope than the 2008 Summary Report.

ORA expects that data from the 2012 SPPA will be available between January 2 and January 30, 2013.

The results from the 2012 survey will be provided to the contractor as an electronic data file (ASCII text transport file). The combined data file, including results from the 2008, 2002, 1992, 1985, and 1982 surveys merged with the results from the 2012 survey, will be available within 30 days after receipt of the 2012 SPPA data from the NEA. These merged data will be provided to the contractor as an electronic data file (ASCII text transport file).

After receipt of the 2012 SPPA data, the ORA will conduct a preliminary analysis of the 2012 SPPA dataset and release a "first-look" report to the public. Where possible, the contractor should align the results from this first-look analysis with the contractor's own research results as displayed in the executive summary of the Summary Report.

The final draft of the Summary Report will be due within 7 months of the NEA's delivery of the 2012 data to the contractor, and completed within 14 days of receipt of the NEA's comments on the final draft.

This timely release of these results will enhance their utility to arts administrators, researchers, policy makers, journalists, and the American population in general.

At the start of this contract, the contractor and the NEA will hold an in-person meeting. At this meeting, the NEA and the contractor will discuss the goals and purposes of the project.

Report Structure Requirements: The final product from this contract will include an electronic version of the report, including a comprehensive executive summary reporting key findings with the text in Microsoft Word, analysis codes and outputs in ASCII text format, and tables and graphs in either Excel or JPEG formats. All details regarding analyses and other technical information, including copies of all data collection instruments and protocols, should be located in the appendices.

Consistent with other Arts Endowment publications, this report should follow The Chicago Manual of Style and the Arts Endowment style guide2. Furthermore, the Arts Endowment is particularly interested in displaying quantitative information in new and innovative ways. When appropriate, the contractor is encouraged to go beyond the traditional display of quantitative information using tables and univariate graphs, and exercise skills in data visualization. The Arts Endowment engages in extensive review of all documents that are to be published. The contractor should be prepared to be responsive to multiple rounds of feedback, while maintaining the integrity of all reported findings.

Project Communications:

Meetings

• Meetings may be conducted by phone and/or video conference

• Upon award of the contract, an in-person meeting will be held within 3 weeks (September-

October 2012) to discuss the contract work plan (Deliverable C.3.1).

Additional meetings may be held between this time and the NEA's delivery of the data file.

• Following receipt of the data files, project update meetings will be conducted on a monthly basis (or as needed, based on the Project Director's determination).

• After each meeting, the contractor will distribute meeting minutes within 3 business days to all project team members.

C.3 DETAILED SPECIFICATIONS

Below are the detailed specifications/tasks the Contractor will perform for this project:

C.3.1

Launch an in-person meeting with the Project Director to discuss the project’s purpose and goals. Submit for approval a schedule for completing the project tasks.

C.3.2

Submit a detailed work plan, including the proposed contents of the Summary Report and plans for converting data results into descriptive, easily-read text, tables, and graphs. (ORA will provide a combined file of the 1982, 1992, 2002, 2008, and 2012 SPPA data, and a document comparing the 2008 and 2012 SPPA questionnaires.)

C.3.3

Submit a preliminary draft of the Summary Report and technical appendices for approval by the Project Director. (ORA will provide a summary of its "first-look analysis" of the 2012 SPPA data.)

2 The Arts Endowment Style Guide will be provided to the contractor upon award of the contract.

C.3.4

Submit a preliminary draft of an executive summary that aligns with the ORAs "first-look analysis" of the 2012 SPPA data, for approval by the Project Director.

C.3.5

Submit a revised draft of the Summary Report and technical appendices for approval by the Project Director.

C.3.6

Submit a final draft copy of the Summary Report, technical appendices, and executive summary.

C.3.7

Submit a final copy of the Summary Report, technical appendices, and executive summary.

SECTION D

PRESERVATION, PACKAGING AND MARKING

Not Applicable.

SECTION E

INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

E.1 52.252-2 CLAUSES Incorporated by Reference (FEB 1998)

This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available.

Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at this address:

https://www.acquisition.gov/far/

(END OF CLAUSE)

E.2 52.246-4 Inspection of Services—Fixed-Price (AUG 1996)

E.3 Inspection and Acceptance

FAR Clause 52.246-4 Inspection of Services – Fixed Price, will govern inspection and acceptance of all services performed by the Contractor. The Contractor is responsible for carrying out its obligations under this contract by controlling the quality of all services rendered and ensuring performance of all contract requirements.

https://www.acquisition.gov/far/

SECTION F

DELIVERIES OR PERFORMANCE

F.1 TIMELINE FOR PERFORMING CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS

DELIVERY SCHEDULE:

In carrying out this project, the Contractor will be expected to complete the DELIVERY SCHEDULE for primary task deliverables presented below:

DELIVERABLES DUE DATE TARGET DATE*

C.3.1 Meet with NEA Within 3 weeks after contract award September - October 2012

C.3.2 Submit project work plan Within 30 days of receipt of 2012 data file

February - March 2013

C.3.3 Submit preliminary draft of Summary Report and technical appendices

Within 90 days of receipt of combined data file

May - June 2013

C.3.4 Submit preliminary draft of executive summary

Within 30 days of receipt of NEA comments on preliminary draft of Summary Report and technical appendices

June - July 2013

C.3.5 Submit revised draft of Summary Report and technical appendices

Within 30 days of receipt of NEA comments on preliminary draft of Summary Report and technical appendices

June - July 2013

C.3.6 Submit final draft of Summary Report, technical appendices, and executive summary

Within 14 days of receipt of NEA comments on revised draft of Summary Report, technical appendices, and executive summary

July - August 2013

C.3.7 Submit final copy of Summary Report, technical appendices, and executive summary

Within 14 days of receipt of NEA comments on final draft of Summary Report, technical appendices, and executive summary

August 2013

*Some dates may vary, and are contingent on when the 2012 SPPA data is received by the NEA.

The final report must be completed and delivered within seven (7) months after the NEA has delivered the data file to the Contractor.

F.2 TERM OF CONTRACT

The contract term is from date of award through August 30, 2013. All work is expected to be completed based on the specific tasks for performing contract requirements.

F.3 NOTICE TO THE GOVERNMENT OF DELAYS

Required services shall begin at time of award in accordance with the Statement of Work. The Contractor is responsible for carrying out its obligations under this contract by controlling the quality of all services rendered and ensuring performance of all contract requirements. To this end, the Contractor shall establish, maintain, and manage quality control throughout the life of this contract. In the event the Contractor encounters difficulty in meeting performance requirements, or when the contractor anticipates difficulty in complying with the contract delivery schedule or completion date, or whenever the Contractor has knowledge that any actual or potential situation is delaying or threatens to delay the timely performance of this contract, the Contractor shall immediately notify the Contracting Officer and the NEA Project Director, in writing, giving pertinent details. The contractor shall provide these services within 24 hours of written notification, however, this data shall be informational only in character and this provision shall not be construed as a waiver by the Government of any delivery schedule or date, or any rights or remedies provided by law or under this contract.

F.4 DELIVERABLES

The contractor shall provide information regarding the content and format for each deliverable.

Acceptance of all written documents will be based upon the NEA Project Director’s review and approval.

SECTION G

CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA

G.1 NEA Project Director

G.1.1 Upon award, a NEA Project Director will be designated to coordinate the technical aspects of this contract and inspect items/services furnished hereunder; however, he shall not be authorized to change any terms and conditions of the resultant contract, including price.

G.1.2 The NEA Project Director is authorized to inspect, accept, and certify services for payment with a statement “approved for payment”, signature and date in accordance with enclosed payment terms. If the invoices should be rejected or denied, the Project Director must immediately contact the Contracting Officer and return the invoice with the rationale to reject or deny payment in accordance with the performance associated with the invoice for further processing.

G.1.3 The Project Director for this contract is:

To be determined at time of award

National Endowment for the Arts 1100 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Suite

Washington, DC 20506

(202) 682-

G.1.4 The Contracting Officer for this contract is:

Latonca M. Harris

National Endowment for the Arts 1100 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Suite 618

(202) 682-5476

Written communications shall make reference to the award contract number and shall be mailed to the above address.

G.2 Invoice Requirements

G.2.1 Payment for actual work and services rendered under this contract will be made. Payment will be made by the National Endowment for the Arts via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and in accordance with the contract clause 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions--Commercial Items (FEB 2007), and 52.232-34 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer--Other Than Central Contractor Registration (May 1999), upon submission of electronic invoices to the NEA’s Finance Office, via electronic email address to NEAINVOICES@ARTS.GOV. Additionally, invoices may be faxed to 202-682-5679.

G.2.2 The office that will make the payments due under this contract (i.e., the designated payment office) is shown below.

National Endowment for the Arts Finance Office, Suite 624

1100 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20506

To constitute a proper invoice, the following information and/or attached documentation shall be included with the invoice.

(1) Name and address of the Contractor.

(2) Invoice date.

(3) Contract number.

(4) Period covered by the invoice.

(5) Number and description, quantity, unit price and extended total for the period covered applicable to Section B, Supplies/Services and Prices.

(6) Cumulative amounts billed by to date.

(7) Name and address of Contractor official to whom payment is to be sent (must be the same as that in the contract or in a proper notice of assignment).

(8) Taxpayer Identification Number.

(9) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number.

Please note:

The successful contractor is required to have a valid, active registration in Central Contractor Registration: https://www.uscontractorregistration.com/ mailto:neainvoices@arts.gov http://www.ccr.gov/

SECTION H

SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS

H.1 CONTRACT TYPE

This is a Firm Fixed Price Commercial Item Contract.

H.2 SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS

PRIVATE USE OF CONTRACT INFORMATION AND DATA

Except as specifically authorized by this contract, or as otherwise approved by the Contracting Officer, information and other data developed or acquired by or furnished by the Contractor in the performance of this contract, shall be used by the Contractor only in connection with the work under this contract. The contractor must obtain permission through a written request to the Contracting Officer and approval from the NEA’s General Counsel Office prior to releasing any data for use outside of the performance of this NEA contract.

In accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.227-14(b) Rights in Data-General, the Contractor shall guarantee strict confidentiality of the information and data that is provided by the Government during the performance of the contract. The Government has determined that some of the information and data that the Contractor will be providing during the performance of the contract is of a sensitive nature and cannot be disclosed in any manner.

H.3 PROHIBITION AGAINST SOLICITING AND PERFORMING PERSONAL SERVICES

A. The performance of personal services under this contract is strictly prohibited.

B. Personal service contracting is described in Section 37.104 of the Federal Acquisition Regulations

(FAR). There are a number of factors, when taken individually or collectively, which may constitute personal services. Each contract arrangement must be judged in light of its own facts and circumstances, but the question relative to personal services is: Will the Government exercise relatively continuous supervision and control over the contractor personnel performing this contract?

C. The government and the Contractor understand and agree that the support services to be delivered under this contract are nonpersonal services in nature that is no employer-employee relationships exist or will exist under the contract between the government and the contractor or between the Government and the contractor’s employees.

D. Contractor personnel under this contract shall not:

1. Be placed in a position where they are appointed or employed by a Federal employee, or are under the supervision, direction, or evaluation of a Federal employee.

2. Be placed in a Federal staff or policy making position.

3. Be placed in a position of supervision, direction, or evaluation over NEA personnel, or personnel of other contractors, or become a part of a government organization.

E. Employee Relationship

1. The services to be performed under this contract do not require the contractor or its employees to exercise personal judgment and discretion on behalf of the government.

2. Rules, regulations, direction, and requirements which are issued by NEA management under their responsibility for good order, administration, and security are applicable to all personnel who enter a Government installation. This is not to be construed or interpreted to establish any degree of Government control which is inconsistent with a non-personal services contract.

3. The Contractor shall immediately advise the Contracting Officer if the contractor or its employees are directed by any Government employee to perform work that the Contractor believes constitutes personal services.

H.4 FACILITY ACCESS

A. Rights of Egress and Ingress

During the life of this contract, the rights of ingress to and egress from the National Endowment for the Arts facility for the Contractor's representatives shall be made available as required.

During all operations on Government premises, the Contractor's personnel shall comply with the rules and regulations governing the conduct of personnel and the operation of the facility. The Government reserves the right to require Contractor personnel to "sign-in" upon entry and "sign-out" upon departure from the National Endowment for the Arts facility.

B. Building Access Passes

When any Contractor personnel enter a NEA building for the first time, the Contractor must notify the NEA Project Director in advance and provide the full name and purpose of visit in order to obtain approval for escorted access.

H.5 SECURITY REQUIREMENTS

Notice of Contractor Personnel Security Requirements

Compliance with Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 (HSPD-12) and Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 201 (FIPS 201) entitled "Personal Identity Verification (PIV) of Federal Employees and Contractors," Phase I.

In accordance with FAR 52.204-9, Personal Identity Verification of Contractor Personnel (January 2006), all contractor personnel assigned to work at the NEA or who will have access to NEA information systems are subject to the NEA “Identity Proofing and Registration Process,” established in compliance with HSPD-12 and subsequent guidance provided in, e.g., FIPS 201 and Office of Management and Budget “Memorandum M-05-24” (August 5, 2005).

At least ten working days before a contractor employee will begin work at the NEA or need access to NEA information systems, the contractor shall contact the Project Director to arrange an appointment for the purpose of initiating the process. All contractor personnel shall appear in person to verify their identity, provide fingerprints, and be photographed, prior to issuance of an NEA identification credential.

If a Federal agency has previously performed a background investigation of a contractor employee proposed to work on this contract, the contractor shall submit information to the Project Director to enable the NEA Office of Human Resources (OHR) to verify any previous successfully adjudicated background investigation performed by a Federal agency that meets the requirements of HSPD-12 and subsequent related Personal Identity Verification (PIV) guidance.

If a prior background investigation has not been performed and successfully adjudicated, or cannot be verified by the NEA, the contractor employee shall complete and submit the appropriate background investigation application form (in most cases SF-85: Questionnaire for Non-Sensitive Positions) to the NEA’s OHR. The OHR will – in accordance with current PIV guidance – initiate a background investigation. A credential will be issued only in accordance with the above-referenced guidance.

If the NEA receives disqualifying information on a contractor employee at any time, the NEA, at its sole discretion, may suspend or terminate access to and/or use of any or all NEA facilities and systems, and bar the contract employee from unescorted access to NEA facilities.

At the end of a contractor employee’s performance at the NEA, the contractor employee shall turn in his/her NEA identification credential to OHR prior to departure.

The denial of an agency identification credential to individual contractor employees by the NEA shall not be cause for extension of the period of performance of this contract or any contractor claim against the

NEA.

SECTION I

CONTRACT CLAUSES

I.1 52.252-2 Clauses Incorporated By Reference, (FEB 1998)

This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text may be accessed electronically at this Internet address: http://www.acquisition.gov/far/.

I.2 52.204-9 Personal Identity Verification of Contractor Personnel. (SEPT 2007)

(a) The Contractor shall comply with agency personal identity verification procedures when applicable that implement Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 (HSPD-12), Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance M-05-24, and Federal Information Processing Standards Publication (FIPS PUB) Number 201.

(b) The Contractor shall insert this clause in all subcontracts when the subcontractor is required to have physical access to a federally-controlled facility or access to a Federal information system.

(End of clause) I.3 Subpart FAR 9.505-4, Obtaining Access to Proprietary Information

(a) When a contractor requires proprietary information from others to perform a Government contract and can use the leverage of the contract to obtain it, the contractor may gain an unfair competitive advantage unless restrictions are imposed. These restrictions protect the information and encourage companies to provide it when necessary for contract performance. They are not intended to protect information-

(1) Furnished voluntarily without limitations on its use; or

(2) Available to the Government or contractor from other sources without restriction.

(b) A contractor that gains access to proprietary information of other companies in performing advisory and assistance services for the Government must agree with the other companies to protect their information from unauthorized use or disclosure for as long as it remains proprietary and refrain from using the information for any purpose other than that for which it was furnished. The contracting officer shall obtain copies of these agreements and ensure that they are properly executed.

(c) Contractors also obtain proprietary and source selection information by acquiring the services of marketing consultants which, if used in connection with an acquisition, may give the contractor an unfair competitive advantage. Contractors should make inquiries of marketing consultants to ensure that the marketing consultant has provided no unfair competitive advantage

FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION (48 CFR CHAPTER 1) CLAUSES

52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions--Commercial Items. (FEB 2012) 52.227-14 Rights in Data-General. (DEC 2007) 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-

Commercial Items. (MAY 2012)

(a) The Contractor shall comply with the following Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clauses, which are incorporated in this contract by reference, to implement provisions of law or Executive orders applicable to acquisitions of commercial items:

(2) 52.233-3, Protest After Award (AUG 1996) (31 U.S.C. 3553).

(3) 52.233-4, Applicable Law for Breach of Contract Claim (OCT 2004) (Pub. L. 108-77, 108-78)

(b) The Contractor shall comply with the FAR clauses in this paragraph (b) that the Contracting Officer has indicated as being incorporated in this contract by reference to implement provisions of law or Executive orders applicable to acquisitions of commercial items:

[Contracting Officer check as appropriate.]

X (26) 52.222-3, Convict Labor (August 2003) (E.O. 11755).

X (47) 52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer—Central Contractor Registration

(OCT 2003) (31 U.S.C. 3332).

I.4 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services (NOV 1999)

The Government may require continued performance of any services within the limits and at the rates specified in the contract. These rates may be adjusted only as a result of revisions to prevailing labor rates provided by the Secretary of Labor. The option provision may be exercised more than once, but the total extension of performance hereunder shall not exceed 6 months. The Contracting Officer may exercise the option by written notice to the Contractor within 30 days.

SECTION J

LIST OF ATTACHMENTS

1. 2012 SPPA Instrument

2. Wage Determinations Online - www.wdol.gov. Department of Labor Wage Determination Number:

2005-2103 REV (12) Date of Revision: 06/19/2012 Area: Washington, DC Click on the following hyperlink. http://www.wdol.gov/wdol/scafiles/std/05-2103.txt?v=12

SECTION K

52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications—Commercial Items.

As prescribed in 12.301(b)(2), insert the following provision:

OFFEROR REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS—COMMERCIAL ITEMS (APR 2012)

An offeror shall complete only paragraph (b) of this provision if the offeror has completed the annual representations and certifications electronically at http://orca.bpn.gov (Please note in your proposal that your representations and certifications are in ORCA). If an offeror has not completed the annual representations and certifications electronically at the ORCA website, the offeror shall complete only paragraphs (c) through (o) of this provision.

*Please access Offeror Representations and Certifications electronically at address:

http://www.acquisition.gov/far/ and print out the full text to complete.

SECTION L

INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS

52.212-1 INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS--COMMERCIAL ITEMS (AUGUST 2008)

(a) North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 541720 and size standard is $7.0 M.

(b) Submission of Offers. The written proposal should be no more than 16 pages (excluding resumes and work samples), single spaced, in 12-point font, and submissions should include at minimum:

• Overview of the Contractor’s Understanding of Project and Proposed Approach (Not to exceed 3 pages)

Outline your understanding of the SPPA, arts and cultural research, and relevant studies. Also include relevant experience with analyzing large quantitative data sets to provide descriptive statistics such as frequencies and trends. Provide examples of placing descriptive research into broader contexts such as changing economic and demographic trends. Present a clear understanding of the goals of this project.

• Technical Approach (Not to exceed 7 pages)

Please outline specific responses on how you would achieve each task of the project and describe the methods of quantitative data analysis you would employ to capture this information. Please make certain that all facets of the deliverables list are addressed and placed in proper sequence.

http://www.wdol.gov/wdol/scafiles/std/05-2103.txt https://www.acquisition.gov/far/current/html/Subpart 12_3.html#wp1084399 http://orca.bpn.gov/

• Work Plan (Not to exceed 3 pages)

Provide a work plan that addresses the successful completion of the tasks enumerated above. The work plan describes how the tasks will be completed. A timeline showing proposed beginning and ending dates for each task is included, as well as the name(s) of the person(s) responsible for each task. The proposal clearly identifies key personnel and includes a table outlining the number of days by tasks for each of the key personnel. Plans and schedules to assure smooth cooperation between contractor and NEA staff are evident.

• Description of Qualifications (Not to exceed 3 pages; Resumes may be submitted separately)

Discuss past performance and qualifications of your firm and personnel that will work on the contract.

Include references.

• Complete Pricing Table in Section B.

Cost proposal breakdowns shall include all direct and indirect costs, and any other factor which contributes to the total firm fixed price. In addition, provide a breakdown of project costs by personnel (including daily rate and projected time on each task), supplies, travel, etc., associated with the tasks.

Services to be purchased from other agencies or subcontractors must be specified.

The offeror’s initial proposal should contain the offeror’s best terms from a cost or price and technical standpoint. The Government reserves the right to conduct clarifications, if later determines to be necessary. Offerors may be given an opportunity to clarify certain aspects of their proposals.

• Past performance of at least two (2) references, including name and telephone number of point of contact for contracts successfully performed by the Contractor for other similar efforts.

• Product samples.

Please provide hyperlink samples of easy-to-read technical reports for a general audience, evidence of ability to conduct analyses of data sets, example(s) of data visualizations, and other work relevant to the required tasks. Product samples must be submitted at the time specified for receipt of offers. Samples must be submitted at no expense to the Government, and returned at the sender’s request and expense.

• A completed copy of the Representations and Certifications (Section K).

(c) Period for acceptance of offers. The offeror agrees to hold the prices in its offer firm for 30 calendar days from the date specified for receipt of offers, unless another time period is specified in an addendum to the solicitation.

(d) NA

(e) NA

(f) NA

(g) Contract award (not applicable to Invitation for Bids). The Government intends to evaluate offers and award a contract without discussions with offerors. Therefore, the offeror's initial offer should contain the offeror's best terms from a price and technical standpoint. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if later determined by the Contracting Officer to be necessary. The Government may reject any or all offers if such action is in the public interest; accept other than the lowest offer; and waive informalities and minor irregularities in offers received.

(h) NA

(i) NA

(j) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number. The offeror shall enter, in the block on the cover page of its offer.

(k) Central Contractor Registration. By submission of an offer, the offeror acknowledges the requirement that a prospective awardee shall be registered in the CCR database prior to award, during performance and through final payment of any contract resulting from this solicitation. Offerors may obtain information on registration and annual confirmation requirements via the internet at https://www.uscontractorregistration.com/ or by calling toll free 1-877-252-2700.

(l) Debriefing. If a post-award debriefing is given to requesting offerors, the government will do so in accordance with this provision.

(End of provision)

SECTION M

EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD

FAR 52.212-2 Evaluation--Commercial Items (Jan 1999)

(a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, taking into account price and other factors. For each evaluation factor, a point scoring system will be used to rank all proposals, using a rating scale of 100%. The evaluation will include four major areas Description of Personnel Qualifications (40%), Overview of the Contractor’s Understanding of Project and Technical Approach (30%), Work Plan (20%), and Price (10%). In order to select the winning offeror, NEA will rank offerors from best to worst by making paired comparisons, trading off the marginal differences in capability and price. If one offeror has both the better capability and the lower price, then that offeror will be the better value.

If one offeror has the better capability and the higher price, then the technical evaluation panel will decide whether the marginal difference in capability is worth the marginal difference in price. If the technical evaluation panel considers the better capability to be worth the higher price, then the more capable, higher-priced offeror will be the better value. If not, then the less capable, lower-priced offeror will be the better value. If more than two proposals are received, the technical evaluation panel will continue to make paired comparisons until s/he decided which offeror represents the best value.

(b) N/A

(c) A written notice of award, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party.

Description of Personnel Qualifications (Weight: 40%)

• Qualifications of project manager, of other project staff, and/or outside consultants or advisors, and availability of organizational supporting services and staff.

• Degree to which the personnel demonstrate knowledge and experience with analysis of large, complex data sets to provide descriptive statistics such as frequencies and trends.

• Degree to which the personnel have qualifications demonstrating data visualization expertise.

• Degree to which the personnel have qualifications demonstrating experience writing high-quality, easy-to-understand analytical reports for public dissemination to a general, non-technical audience.

Overview of the Contractor's Understanding of Project and Technical Approach (Weight: 30%)

• The proposal presents an understanding of the project's objectives and tasks; a clear understanding of relevant studies and activities in the areas of the project; describes the offeror’s approach to tasks conducted that would be appropriate to the scope of this project; and identifies potential challenges in the conduct of the project and methods to identify and solve such problems. The approach is consistent with the goals of the project and is practical in terms of producing needed information, analysis, and recommendations.

• Degree to which the proposal demonstrates knowledge and experience with large-scale survey data analysis, data visualization, and high-quality, easy-to-understand, technical report writing.

Work Plan (Weight: 20%)

• The proposal provides a detailed work plan that addresses the successful completion of the tasks enumerated above. The work plan describes how the tasks will be completed. A timeline showing proposed beginning and ending dates for each task is included, as well as the name(s) of the person(s) responsible for each task. The proposal clearly identifies key personnel and includes a table outlining the number of days by tasks for each of the key personnel.

• Degree to which the proposal demonstrates management controls to ensure appropriate coordination and quality of work, so that project tasks will be completed in a timely, cost-effective manner. Plans and schedules to assure smooth cooperation between contractor and NEA staff are evident.

Price (Weight: 10%)

• The degree to which the proposal budget is appropriate to carry out the required elements of the project. The cost proposal should make a fair and reasonable cost assessment.

SECTION C

DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS/STATEMENT OF WORK

C.1. INTRODUCTION

The Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA) is the single most important periodic study overseen by the NEA. It produces the largest nationally representative dataset that currently exists on adults' arts participation habits in the U.S. The most recent SPPA was conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau in July 2012 as a supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS) (see Attachment 1).

Comparable national surveys of the adult population’s participation in the arts were conducted for the Arts Endowment in 1982, 1985, 1992, 1997, 2002, and 2008.

SPPA data are typically used to conduct analyses in order to describe levels and trends in arts participation rates in the U.S. Several NEA Research Reports that have published results from the surveys are available at http://www.nea.gov/research/research.php?type=R. The results of the most recent survey, the 2008 SPPA, were summarized in Research Report #49, 2008 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts. In addition, many NEA Research Reports, Brochures, and Notes have resulted from the general findings based on SPPA data. Prominent examples are: Reading on the Rise: A New Chapter in American Literacy; State and Regional Differences in Arts Participation: A Geographic Analysis of the 2008 SPPA;

Art-Goers in Their Communities: Patterns of Civic and Social Engagement; Arts Education in America:

What the Declines Mean for Arts Participation; Age and Arts Participation: A Case against Demographic Destiny; and Beyond Attendance: A Multi-Modal Understanding of Arts Participation.

The Contractor will prepare and deliver a User’s Guide; data dictionary; a combined data file for the 1982, 1992, 2002, 2008, and 2012 SPPAs; and other technical documentation as provided in the Specifications section of this solicitation. These products will help enable users to understand how to use the 2012 SPPA data set to conduct analyses.

The User’s Guide to be produced under this contract will provide instructions for conducting analyses of 2012 SPPA data. Moreover, the User's Guide will provide guidance to users with limited technical knowledge of the data files (e.g., upperclass undergraduates and graduate students with some research experience). Some examples of issues related to the 2012 SPPA that will need to be addressed in the User's Guide are the following: the impact on using the data of the 2012 SPPA's modular questionnaire design; spouse/partner reporting; and proxy reporting when a respondent was unavailable; also, appropriate utilization of survey weights. The User’s Guide will contain sections for researchers who wish to conduct multivariate analyses, using data collected from multiple modules, merging data from the CPS and SPPA, and/or making comparisons to results from earlier SPPA data.

The Office of Research & Analysis intends to make the final deliverables available to the public through the NEA's web site.

It is anticipated that the deliverables produced under this contract would be most comparable in content to the 2008 SPPA User's Guide, data dictionary, and combined data file. For reference, the 2008 SPPA User's Guide, data dictionary, and combined data file, as well as other related materials may be accessed at: http://www.nea.gov/research/SPPA/index.html http://www.nea.gov/research/research.php?type=R http://www.nea.gov/research/2008-SPPA.pdf http://www.nea.gov/research/SPPA/index.html

C.2. SCOPE OF WORK

The contractor must prepare a User’s Guide (approximately 20 to 25 pages of text with additional pages of technical appendix material) describing how to use the 2012 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA) data file. The User’s Guide will be written at a technical level such that it can be understood by individuals with a minimal level of experience using SPPA data to conducts statistical analyses (e.g., upperclass undergraduates or graduate students with some research experience). The Guide will not address novice researchers without any prior experience in data analysis.

The User’s Guide will, at a minimum, include the information in the 2008 SPPA User's Guide (i.e. how to account for the survey's design, understand and impute missing data, apply the use of weights, estimate standard errors, conduct multivariate analyses, compare estimates from previous SPPAs, merge SPPA data with CPS data). In addition, the User's Guide must include an appendix (Appendix A) describing changes between different waves of the SPPA, focusing on changes between the 2008 and 2012 SPPAs, and detailing the implications of these changes for conducting trend analyses. For example, the 2012 SPPA instrument has a second set of "core" questions, an additional module, and many additional or revised questions. Moreover, the sample size is approximately double that of the 2008 collection. (See Attachment 1 for a copy of the 2012 instrument, and Attachment 2 for a copy of the 2008 instrument.)

As an appendix (Appendix B) to the User's Guide, the contractor will prepare a data dictionary that includes tabulations of each variable in the 2012 SPPA. The tabulations will include the name of the variable, the variable's label, and both the weighted and unweighted counts of the variable.

The contractor must also prepare a combined data file, including SPPA survey data from 1982, 1992, 2002, 2008, and 2012 (the data file will not include data from the 1997 SPPA since the survey differed in large respects from other versions of the survey).