U.S. Information Agency, International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Personnel and Administration, Contracts and Procurement Division, B/PA/AC, Room 1645, 330 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, DC 20547

B -- AUDIENCE SURVEY IN IRAN SOL n/a POC Contact Point/Contracting Officer: Technical Point Contact: Scott Michael PHONE: (202) 619-2200. Contracting Officer: Lorraine Mullen PHONE: (202)260-2933. This is a Request for Quotation No. B/PA-98-16 Using Simplified Acquisition Procedures in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13. Quotes that exceed the simplified acquisition threshold ($100,000) will not be considered. The United States Information Agency's International Bureau of Broadcasting has a requirement, subject to the availability of funds, for a contractor (1) to obtain quantitative data on media habits among adults in Iran, in particular on the size, composition and media usage patterns of the audience for Voice of America (VOA) programming; and (2) to obtain qualitative information on international radio listening and evaluations of VOA's broadcasts by international radio listeners and non-listeners among Iranian adults. Vendors may submit bids for both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of this project, or for the quantitative phase only. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH Scope of Work: The contractor will obtain the quantitative data through a survey of Iranian citizens traveling abroad, developing an availability sampling frame that efficiently and reasonably approximates principal demographic characteristics of the Iranian population and conducting in-person interviews on media access, awareness and usage. 1. Design of an Availability Sample of Iranian Travelers. Based on up-to-date and comprehensive information on the locations and circumstances of foreign travel by Iranian citizens, the contractor shall develop a plan to contact and interview this traveling population in conditions that assure confidential, candid participation. The plan will be designed to achieve a final sample size of at least 1,000 adults (15 or older), meeting overall quotas by age group (35% ages 15-24, 25% ages 35-34, 20% ages 35-49, and 20% ages 50 and older) and sex (equal proportions within each age group). To the extent possible, the sample shall include within each age and gender group an ethnic representation roughly equivalent to the overall population as follows: 50% Persian, 25% Azerbaijani, and 25% from all other groupings. Given specialized knowledge of characteristics of the available traveling population, the contractor may propose a sample design that differs from the specified ideal (including additional quotas deemed feasible, e.g., region, urban/rural), presenting fixed quotas or ranges and the rationale behind such revisions. Only one person per household may participate in the survey, and no respondent shall have been out of Iran for more than 30 days at the time of the interview, nor have participated in other market or opinion research in the six months prior to the date of interview. 2. Questionnaire Development and Pre-testing. IBB Research will provide the contractor a set of approximately 80 questions (in English), up to five of which may be open-ended, to be administered in interviews estimated to last between 40 and 60 minutes each. Questions will cover: access to and use of electronic media among respondents (radio, television, VCR, cable, satellite reception systems, computer, Internet); regular usage patterns (yearly, monthly, weekly or daily) for radio and television broadcasts available in Iran; typical hourly usage patterns for radio and television; demographic characteristics of respondents (sex, exact age, educational level, occupation, place of residence, and language background and comprehension); awareness among respondents of international broadcasts available in Iran; and audience opinions as to the accuracy, reliability, quality and relevance of programming from major radio and television broadcasters. The contractor shall be responsible for reviewing and suggesting revisions to the draft questionnaire based on its knowledge of special cultural or political issues related to the Iranian traveling population and the planned interviewing environments. The contractor shall conduct necessary media environment research to update and correct the list of pre-coded radio and television stations (terrestrial broadcast station names/frequencies/ channels, cable/satellite stations) available in Iran as supplied by IBB Research in the draft questionnaire. The contractor shall prepare a Farsi translation of the revised questionnaire, which shall be submitted to IBB Research for approval prior to fieldwork. The contractor shall conduct at least 30 pre-test interviews using the approved questionnaire with Iranian travelers prior to commencement of the fieldwork. The contractor will advise IBB Research of the results of this pre-test, detailing any problems encountered and suggesting remedies, prior to commencement of the fieldwork. 3. Fieldwork. The contractor shall ensure that interviews are conducted by experienced field workers who have been thoroughly trained prior to commencement of work. Such training will cover respondent selection procedures and familiarization with the structure of the questionnaire, especially routing and filtering patterns, and will include practice sessions in administering the questionnaire. The contractor shall develop procedures for back-checking at least 10% ofthe interviews and directly supervising at least 5% of the interviews. During fieldwork, information will be collected on response rates within quota categories. 4. Data Processing. The contractor shall be responsible for accurate data entry, cleaning, processing, and calculation of weighting schemes as necessary to correct where possible for imbalances between the achieved sample and known demographic characteristics of the Iranian population (by sex, age, ethnic background and education). Data shall be delivered to IBB Research on diskette in an SPSS data file (.POR, .SYS or .SAV format) with all variables and values correctly labeled, together with a codebook indicating the variables and values used and their relationship to the questions as they appear on the survey instrument. Each record in the data file will contain a unique ID number for the respondent, as well as codes identifying the interviewer, place and date of interview. 5. Technical Report. The contractor shall prepare a technical report that describes the sampling plan, interviewer training procedures, places of interviews and numbers conducted in each place, response rates and practical difficulties encountered that might be relevant to interpretation of the results, and calculation of weights and known limitations of the availability sample as contrasted to the Iranian adult population. 6. Delivery Schedule: a. Provision of detailed sampling/interviewing plan within 4 weeks of contract award; b. Submission of translated questionnaire within 2 weeks of contractor's receipt of the draft from IBB Research; Pre-testing of translated questionnaire within 2 weeks of IBB approval of translated version; c. Commencement of interviewing with tested, revised questionnaire within 2 weeks of approval of final questionnaire by IBB; d. Completion of interviews within 4 weeks of the start of fieldwork, unless otherwise agreed to by IBB Research upon contractor justification in order to fill planned sample quotas; e. Delivery of verified, cleaned data and technical report within 4 weeks of conclusion of fieldwork. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Scope of Work: The contractor shall obtain the qualitative evaluations of VOA broadcasts through focus group discussions with Iranian citizens traveling abroad, using subjects contacted during survey fieldwork. This qualitative research will provide IBB and VOA management with (a) audience reaction to and suggestions for improving VOA Farsi programs and (b) in-depth analysis of audience attitudes toward foreign and domestic media, international radio programs in general and VOA programs in particular. 1. General Specifications. Discussions lasting approximately 2 hours each shall take place among groups of 7-10 people, all of whom have at least a secondary education and are fluent in Farsi. As with participation in the survey, focus group discussants shall not have left Iran more than 30 days prior to their attendance, and only one household member may participate in a group. Quotas for age groups represented among participantswill be determined by mutual agreement of the contractor and IBB Research, based on the characteristics of the available Iranian travelers, though they should roughly follow the specified age quotas in the survey sample. All groups shall be conducted by the same moderator. Participants shall be exposed to common samples of VOA Farsi programming, through at-home listening exercises and/or in-brief session stimulus tapes, as agreed upon by the contractor and IBB Research based on the location(s) and circumstances of traveler participation in the research. 2. Number and Location of Focus Groups. Vendors are requested to submit bids for two different options for number of groups to be conducted: a. A total of 4 focus group sessions: 2 groups of regular (weekly) listeners of international radio in general, at least half of whom listen regularly to VOA Farsi broadcasts, and 2 groups of regular domestic radio listeners who do not listen regularly to international radio broadcasts; and b. A total of 6 focus group sessions: 3 groups of regular (weekly) listeners of international radio in general, at least half of whom listen regularly to VOA Farsi broadcasts, and 3 groups of regular domestic radio listeners who do not listen regularly to international radio broadcasts. Additional recruitment criteria for individual sessions may be established by agreement between the contractor and IBB Research. Vendors should specify their proposed location(s) for the groups, describing the benefits and any limitations of the proposed sites in terms of availability of travelers and circumstances that might affect successful conduct of the research. 3. Discussion Guide. IBB Research will provide the contractor with a draft discussion guide, in English, which will specify questions of basic interest and suggested sequencing. These issues will include: evaluation of the production style, presentation quality and content of specific VOA Farsi programs, general evaluation of the relevance, timeliness and usefulness of VOA Farsi broadcasts, qualitative comparison of VOA Farsi programs and those of other international broadcasters, views of the role and relevance of international radio and television to Iranian audiences, general topic areas of interest to radio listeners, reasons for listening (and not listening) to VOA in particular and international radio in general, and participant suggestions of possible strategies for strengthening the competitive position of VOA in Iran. The contractor shall review and suggest revisions to the draft, based on their knowledge of local conditions and sensitivities, and shall translate the guide into Farsi, subject to final approval by IBB Research. 4. Conduct of the Group Discussions. The contractor shall secure appropriate facilities in which to conduct the group discussions in a professional, candid and confidential manner; shall provide an experienced, professional moderator fluent in Farsi, who is thoroughly familiar with the discussion guide and sample VOA Farsi programs to be evaluated; identify and recruit participants according to the criteria outlined in (1) and (2) above; and make clear audio tape recordings of all sessions, which (by the moderator's use of participant's first names and matching with information gathered during recruitment) will allow identification of each speaker by sex, age, origin, occupation and education. 5. Analysis and Reporting. The contractor shall submit to IBB Research, in hard copy and on diskette in WordPerfect format, a report that reports all significant feedback on each issue addressed in the discussion guide, illustrating points made with direct excerpts from participant comments (identified by sex, age, origin, occupation and education). The report should draw attention to any overall patterns in participant comment/reaction by demographic characteristics and listenership/non-listenership to VOA and international radio. The report shall also include a methodological summary detailing the recruitment process and screening parameters, demographic characteristics of participants in tabular form, and any difficulties of issues that arose during the conduct of the research that might be relevant to interpretation of the results. 6. Delivery Schedule. a. Provision of detailed plan for the conduct of the groups (suggested revisions to screening/recruitment criteria, specific dates/locations of groups) within 4 weeks of contract award; b. Submission of translated questionnaire within 2 weeks of receipt of the draft from IBB Research; c. Completion of all focus group discussions within 3 weeks of conclusion of the survey fieldwork; and d. Delivery of Farsi and English discussion transcripts, copies of all audio tapes, and final analytical and methodological report within 4 weeks of the last discussion group. Selection Criteria: In addition to total project cost and ability to meet the proposed schedule, proposals will be evaluated and vendor selected on the basis of the following equally important technical criteria: -- demonstrated experience in conducting quantitativeand/or qualitative research on broadcast media; -- demonstrated experience in conducting survey research and/or focus groups in Iran, with Iranian travelers, in other countries of the region, or with travelers from other countries in the region; -- quality of the proposed plan for developing an availability sample of Iranian travelers, as reflected in demonstrated knowledge of the current patterns and circumstances of foreign travel by Iranian citizens and conditions for such research in third countries, as well as the plan to sample this traveling population in a way that best approximates known demographic characteristics of the Iranian adult population; -- quality of the proposed procedures for quantitative data collection, entry and verification; and -- ability to complete the project in a timely manner, and to carry out both quantitative and qualitative aspects of the research project. Each offeror's proposal shall include: -- detailed description of the proposed research methodology, including specific listing of organizations the offeror will use for fieldwork; -- current information on the qualifications of offeror's office and field staff; -- specific information on offeror's past experience in conducting media research, survey and focus group research relevant to this project; -- detailed description of the proposed plan for development of an availability sample that efficiently and reasonably approximates major demographic characteristics of the Iranian adult population, specific plans for contacting and interviewing Iranian travelers; and -- a schedule showing the time required for each phase of the project as outlined above. Submission of quotations and due date: Firm-fixed price quotations should be submitted no later than May 8, 1998 and shall reference this RFQ No. B/PA-98-16. In addition to addressing the points noted above, submissions should also provide details on any subcontractors who would be engaged to work on these projects. Omission of any of the points ofinformation requested will weigh against a proposal. Please submit any questions concerning technical requirements to Scott Michael, Office of Research, USIA/International Broadcasting Bureau at (202) 619-2200 or Fax (202) 205-3766. Proposal and price quotation should be faxed to Lorraine Mullen, Contracting Officer, at (202) 205-1921. Price quote must be on a separate page from the proposal. (0104)

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