Responses to Questions Submitted under Request for Proposals for
Minnesota Department of Health
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)
Vendor #1
1. What interview length should proposers budget for 2014?
Approximately 25 minutes for both landline and cell phone interviews.
2. What interview length should proposers budget for 2015?
We expect the interview length to be the same as 2014.
3. What is the minimum font size that may be used for tables and figures?
Font size for tables and figures should be a minimum of 10.
4. Please clarify what the CATI pre-test involves mentioned under
Deliverables?
A copy of the questionnaire for both landline and cell phone after they have
been programmed, tested, and ready for interviewer training.
5. Please clarify the proposal length. Under Proposal Submission, it states
that the technical proposal cannot be longer than 32 double spaced
pages while the Proposal Content gives instructions for 31 pages
(including the cost section) but does not say they must be double-spaced.
Please provide detailed instructions as to length and proposal format
requirements.
The technical proposal should be no longer than 31 pages, including the cost
proposal, which should be submitted separately. The proposal should use a
Times Roman font, with a minimum size of 12 and double-spaced.
6. The RFP mentions that the original should be unbound. Should the 5
copies be bound or unbound?
The original proposal should be submitted unbound and the 5 copies
submitted as bound. The technical and cost proposals must be bound
separately.
Vendor #2
7. The RFP indicates that the annual sample size over the past three years
has been roughly 13,000 interviews. Did this total sample size include
the annual effective sample sizes of at least 200 Black only nonHispanics, 200 Asian only non-Hispanics, 100 American Indian nonHispanics and 150 Hispanics/Latinos as required for the 2014 survey?
Yes, it includes interviews completed with the minority populations.
8. Appendix G provides unweighted distributions by age and race for
landline and cell phones. How many landline and how many cell phone
interviews are the distributions based on? Were the cell phone
interviews in 2012 conducted with “cell phone mostly” “cell only”, or
“any cell” phone respondents?
Appendix G for the landline distribution was based on 9191 interviews and
the cell phone distribution was based on 4396 interviews. The cell phone
interviews were completed with “any cell” respondents.
9. Will both the landline and cell phone interviews in 2014 include core
questions, optional modules and state added questions? For costing
purposes should we assume that both the landline and cell phone
interviews will average 24 minutes as in 2013?
Yes. As stated above, questionnaire length for the landline and cell phone is
expected to be approximately 25 minutes and the landline and the cell phone
will utilize the same questionnaire, i.e., core questions, optional modules,
and state-added questions.
10. Does MDH require a minimum number of cell phone interviews in
2014? Will cell phone interviews in 2014 be conducted only with “cell
phone mostly” respondents?
The number of completed interviews from cell phones, whether it is cell
phone only, cell phone mostly, or any cell phone, will depend on the vendor
proposed sample design. Because of the state’s strategic goal to obtain
BRFSS estimates for racial and ethnic groups, MDH expects the total
number of completed interviews to be about 13,000.
11. Will the vendor be responsible for Spanish translation of the state
added questions? Can you tell us approximately what percentage of
total interviews was completed in Spanish in 2012 or thus far in 2013?
Yes, the vendor will be responsible for translation. The total interviews
completed in Spanish in 2012 for cell phone was 1.05% and for landline was
0.6%.
12. Will Asthma Call Back interviews be included in the contract for
2014?
Minnesota will not participate in the Asthma Call Back survey in 2014.
13. Who is the vendor for the 2013 BRFSS and for how many years have
they had the contract?
Abt-SRBI for the last four years.
14. How many total landline and total cell phone interviews will be
completed in 2013?
About 15,000 completed interviews.
15. What is the cost per interview for landline and cell phone interviews in
2013?
The value of the contract for 2013 is $678,930.
16. What is the CASRO response rate for landline and cell phone
interviews thus far in 2013?
That information is not available yet.
17. Are advance notification letters being used in 2013? If so, can you tell
us how many letters are sent to targeted landline respondents each
month?
No, but vendors may propose the use of advanced notification letters if they
can show this will improve response.