U.S. Postal Service, Headquarters Purchasing, Room 4541, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260-6230

B -- HOUSEHOLD DIARY STUDY SOL None DUE 081597 POC Jewell R. Powell, 202-268-4307 The United States Postal Service has conducted a survey and developed a report called the Household Diary Study every year since 1987 using the services of Chilton Research Services of Radnor, PA. The study has used an annual random sample of 5,300 households in zip codes throughout the 48 contiguous states to be interviewed by the contractor and to track their incoming and outgoing mail for a week in a "diary". The primary emphasis of the study is to provide a continuous comprehensive description of mail originating and destinating in households, but the survey also asks a number of questions that address issues of importance to the Postal Service. Information collected includes a record of every piece of mail that comes into the household in a one week time period, broken down by class and subclass, identity (by sector and industry) of mail senders and recipients, content, household attitude towards mail, and household demographics. The survey asks personal questions such as the types of activities that the household enjoys, whether they own a personal computer or have plans to own one, what method they use to pay bills, how they order products, whether they have credit cards, the types of bank accounts they have, and the usual demographics such as age, sex, race and economic status. The study has provided valuable information on mailing trends over the past nine years as well as information contributing to the projection of future mail composition and volume. For the first nine years of the project, thhe 5,300 household annual sample has been divided into clusters of between four and twelve households within a randomly selected zip code, and the clusters are dispersed throughout the nation. For eighteen weeks, 200 households are surveyed and, for the remaining thirty-four weeks, 50 households are surveyed. Chilton Research Services contracts with trained interviewers to meet the needs of this widely dispersed survey. The interviewers announce their presence to the local postmaster, solicit participation from households in the selected neighborhood using a letter from the Postmaster General and an offer of $20, and interview and train those householders who assent. The data from the interview and diary is entered,, cleaned, weighted according to U.S. Census demographics, and put into report format by the contractor on a quarterly and annual basis. At the end of the year the contractor produces the Household Diary Study, an extensive report (currently about 700 pages) available to the public which contains summary data from the most current year as well as previous years. The contractor also provides ongoing technical assistance and provides data in electronic form to Postal Service Headquarters. The Postal Service intends to award Chilton Research Services a five-year contract extension unless other contractors can show that they can deliver these products in a technologically superior or more economical manner. If there are other firms who possess the necessary capabilities to conduct this survey, they may submit a DETAILED statement of capabilities to the U.S. Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Washington DC 20260-6237; Attn: Jewell R. Powell, no later than 8/15/97. Those deemed qualified will be invited to compete with Chilton Research Services for the five-year contract. If no other firms prove to be capable, the Postal Service intends to negotitate a contract with Chilton Research Services. This notice of intent is not a request for proposals and there are NO solicitation documents available. (0209)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0024 19970730\B-0004.SOL)