B -- QUALITATIVE RESEARCH -- CUBAN TRAVELERS

Notice Date

December 20, 2001

Contracting Office

Broadcasting Board of Governors, Associate Director for Management, Office of Contracts (M/CON), 330 C Street, SW, Room 2500, Washington, DC, 20237

ZIP Code

20237

Solicitation Number

CON-02-0003

Response Due

January 10, 2002

Point of Contact

Gloria Sweetney, Contracting Officer, Phone 202-619-1623, Fax 202-205-1921, Email gsweetney@ibb.gov

Description

This is a written Request for Quotation (RFQ) No.CON-02-0003 pursuant to procurement of the required services described below using the Simplified Acquisition Procedures specified in Part 13 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). Price quotations submitted in response to this RFQ that exceed the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (as specified in FAR Subpart 2.101, Definitions) will not be considered as responsive to this RFQ. The Broadcasting Board of Governors, International Broadcasting Bureau (BBG/IBB) has a requirement for a contractor to obtain qualitative information on media habits and evaluations of Radio Mart? broadcasts by its regular or occasional listeners among Cubans traveling to the United States of America. Scope of Work: The contractor shall obtain the qualitative information through focus groups with recently-arrived Cuban travelers in the Greater Miami area, identifying and recruiting participants, arranging transportation to the contractor's focus group facility, professional moderation and analytical reporting of the results. This qualitative research will provide BBG, IBB and Radio Mart? management with: (a) audience reaction to and suggestions for improving Radio Mart? programs; and (b) in-depth analysis of attitudes toward foreign and domestic media, sources of news and information, and Radio Mart? programs. 1. General Specifications. The contractor shall conduct a total of four focus group sessions, each with 8-10 participants and lasting approximately 2 hours. Each group shall include roughly equal numbers of women and men, and at least two participants in each group shall be from each of the following age ranges: 18-29, 30-39, and 40 and older (if possible three participants each from the 18-29 and 30-39 groups). All participants must be Cuban citizens with at least complete secondary education, and none shall have left Cuba more than 3 months prior to participation in a focus group (as many as possible of the participants should have arrived in the U.S. within the previous two months). The contractor shall screen to minimize participation of recent political prisoners or others with outspoken political views whose involvement might bias group discussions. As many of the groups as possible shall be composed of recently-arrived travelers who listened regularly (weekly) to Radio Mart? programs prior to leaving the island. If it is not possible to recruit sufficient travelers who were recent regular listeners, regular radio listeners who have listened to Radio Mart? programs in the last 12 months (occasional listeners) may be recruited as necessary. Separate groups shall be held with regular and occasional listeners (if sufficient numbers of regular listeners can be recruited). The same moderator shall conduct all groups. Participants will be given a self-completion questionnaire during sessions, and they will listen to brief in-session stimulus tapes of 20 to 30 minutes total duration. The tapes will be supplied to the contractor by the IBB prior to the focus group sessions. 2. Discussion Guide. IBB will provide the contractor with a draft discussion guide, in Spanish, which will specify questions of basic interest and suggested sequencing. These issues shall include: daily lifestyle and media habits in Cuba, evaluation of the production style, presentation quality, and content of specific Radio Mart? programs, discussion of topic areas of interest to radio listeners, reasons for listening (and not listening) to Radio Mart? programs, and participant suggestions of possible strategies for improving Radio Mart? programs. The contractor shall review and suggest revisions for final approval by IBB's Office of Research (P/NR). 3. Identification and Recruitment of Participants. The contractor will identify arriving Cuban travelers who meet recruitment criteria through direct contacts at Miami International Airport and/or other points of entry, or through referrals from public or private organizations that work with recent arrivals from Cuba. The contractor shall contact those identified, by phone and in person as necessary, to explain the confidential qualitative research being conducted on media in Cuba and recruit participants. Based on previous experience, the contractor should expect that a significant percentage of those identified will not agree to participate when contacted, and should make efforts to address the concerns of these persons recently arrived from a repressive society, who may have family in Cuba and whose host relatives in Miami may discourage their participation. Steps such as prior visits to the home, provision of transportation to the groups, use of pseudonyms for identification during discussions, and payment of incentives in cash will maximize successful recruitment and participation. 4. Transportation. The contractor shall be responsible for providing timely round-trip transportation in insured vans for focus group participants between their places of residence and the contractor's facility. In order to avoid requiring participants to spend excessive time in transit, the contractor shall hire a minimum of two vans to transport up to 12 persons to and from the session (occasionally a family member may insist on accompanying a participant to the facility). No buses shall be used. In exceptional circumstances (e.g., a very widely-dispersed group of participants for the same group), it may be necessary to hire more than two vans in order to provide acceptable transportation. The recruiter who has worked with the participants shall accompany the van when they are picked up on the day of the session. 5. Conduct of the Group Discussions. The contractor shall provide the following facilities and services: (a) A comfortable waiting area for 12 persons, available at least two hours before the session (accompanying family shall wait in the reception area during the session); (b) An air-conditioned focus group room with a one-way mirror, a table and chairs capable of accommodating 12 participants, and equipped with a sound system that provides clear sound in the observation room and in recordings of the sessions; (c) An air-conditioned observation room accommodating 10 clients with table space; (d) VHS video and audio cassette recordings (one copy each) of the session; and (e) Light refreshments and food for focus group participants and observers; Cuban coffee, a variety of sodas, Cuban sandwiches, and appropriate snacks shall be available for participants on their arrival. 6. Self-Completion Questionnaire. IBB will provide the contractor with a brief self-completion questionnaire, in Spanish, to be given to participants during a mid-session break. In addition to basic personal information (sex, age, educational level, province of residence in Cuba, date left Cuba, visa status), the questionnaire shall include closed-ended questions on media (e.g., frequency of using radio and TV, radio and TV stations tuned in regularly, rating of reception quality for Radio Mart?, level of interest in up to 15 program topics) and space for written comments on Radio Mart? programming. These questionnaires shall be collected before the discussion resumes, and the contractor's staff shall assure that participants have completely filled out their questionnaires. Questionnaires shall be delivered to IBB Office of Research along with the final report. 7. Moderation of the Group Discussions. The contractor shall provide an experienced, professionally trained focus group Moderator, who is a native speaker of Spanish, to moderate the session. The Moderator must be sensitive to the special circumstances of research with Cuban travelers, and demonstrate skill in creating and maintaining an atmosphere of security, anonymity, and openness in which participants are encouraged to share their opinions honestly and completely. Upon contract award, IBB will provide the Moderator audio tapes of test material and a guide that describes the main research questions for each program or topic. The Moderator shall review these materials and thoroughly familiarize her/himself with the basic research questions prior to conducting the focus group. 8. Analysis and Reporting. The contractor shall submit to IBB, in hard copy and on diskette in MSWord format, an English-language "Analytical Report", prepared by the Moderator, that summarizes all significant feedback on each issue addressed in the discussion guide, illustrating the points made with direct quotes from participant comments (identified by sex, age, origin, occupation and education). The Report shall draw attention to any overall patterns in participant comment/reaction by demographic characteristics and patterns of listening to Radio Mart? programs. The Report shall also include tabular summaries of data from participant self-completion questionnaires, and these responses and written comments shall be incorporated into the Moderator's analysis. The Report shall be at least 10 (single-spaced) pages and no more than 20 (single-spaced) pages in length. The contractor shall arrange to make an extra simultaneous videotape of the sessions for use by the Moderator in writing her/his Report. 9. Delivery Schedule: The contractor shall provide IBB with the following three deliverables: (a) Four focus group sessions to be conducted by the end of February 2002 per the above specifications, including recruitment of participants, facilities, participant transportation, professional moderation and light refreshments; (b) VHS video and cassette audio tapes provided to IBB's Office of Research staff attending the focus group sessions not later than the end of the session, and (c) an English-language analytical report on the results of the research not later than four weeks after the last focus group. 10. Selection Criteria: A contract (i.e., Purchase Order) award will be made by the contracting officer based on: A) the quoter's Technical Capabilities/Experience (for which there are five (5) equally weighted subcriteria); and B) the quoter's Price Quotation. Of the two Selection Criteria, Technical Capabilities /Experience is the significantly dominant criterion over the Price criterion. The Technical Capabilities/Experience subcriteria are as follows: (1) Demonstrated experience in conducting qualitative research on broadcast media. (2) Demonstrated experience in identifying and recruiting recently-arrived Cuban travelers for participation in qualitative or quantitative research. (3) Professional qualifications of key project leaders. (4) Quality and feasibility of the proposed techniques for identifying and recruiting participants. (5) Ability to complete the project in a timely manner. 11. Submission of Responses to the RFQ and Date: Each quoter's proposal shall include information on the following technical items to enable IBB to objectively evaluate the quoter's capabilities/experience to successful perform the work specified in this RFQ: (a) detailed description of the proposed research methodology (especially regarding identification and recruitment of recent arrivals); (b) Current information on the qualifications of quoter's office staff; (c) Current information on the qualifications of subcontractors' staff; (d) Specific information on quoter's and subcontractors' past experience in conducting qualitative research as described in this RFQ; (e) A schedule showing the time required for each phase of the project. Omission of any of the points of information requested will weigh against the quoter during the Contracting Officer's evaluation of the quoter's response to this RFQ. Firms interested in the above-described work are requested to submit their proposals and price quotations by Thursday, January 10, 2002 and they shall reference this RFQ No.CON-02-0003 in their transmittal letter to the Contracting Officer. All any questions (technical or otherwise) shall be submitted in writing to the Contracting Officer for this procurement, Gloria Sweetney, via facsimile at (202) 205-1921 or email at gjsweetn@IBB.GOV. The price quotation shall be submitted on a separate page from the Technical Capabilities/ Experience and Schedule information. Pursuant to FAR Subpart 19-502 (Setting Aside Acquisitions), this procurement is 100% set aside for small business concerns. See Numbered Note 1.

Web Link

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Record

Loren Data Corp. 20011224/BSOL004.HTM (D-354 SN515790)