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

B -- HOUSEHOLD DIARY STUDY SOL 102590-98-A-0091 DUE 051598 POC CARLTON BROWN, Purchasing Specialsist,202-268-3154 WEB: W, Carlton Brown. E-MAIL: M, D. desc: THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE (POSTAL OFFICE) IS SOLICITING PROPOSALS FOR A SIX YEAR PRIMARY RESEARCH EFFORT TO SURVEY 5,300 HOUSEHOLDS PER YEAR. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE IS TO DETERMINE THE CONTENT OF MAIL GOING INTO AND OUT OF HOUSEHOLDS SO THAT INFORMED DECISIONS CAN BE MADE REGARDING THE MAIL STREAM AND HOW IT IS AFFECTED BY OUR RATE STRUCTURE. THESE SERVICES REQUIRE REVISING MAIL FLOW DIARY AND ENTRY INTERVIEW MATERIALS TO ACCOMODATE NEW RATE STRUCTURES MAIL IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENT AND RATE SCHEDULES AS THEY OCCUR; TO RESPOND TO ANALYSIS OF STUDY DATA INDICATING NEW OR EXPANDED CODING OF RESPONSES, AND TO ACCOMMODATE EVOLVING POSTAL SERVICE PRIORITIES OR AS PRIORITIES CHANGE BY NEW MATERIALS MAKE CHANGES FROM OLD MATERIALS THE STUDY PERIOD IS FOR 34 WEEKS AND 5,300 HOUSEHOLDS DIARIES MUST BE COMPLETED COMPLETING 50 DIARIES PER WEEK. FOR THE (18) EIGHTEEN WEEKS STARTING THE WEEK BEFORE LABOR DAY THROUGH THE END OF DECEMBER, TWO (200) HUNDRED DIARIES MUST BE COMPLETED EACH WEEK. THE CURRENTHOUSEHOLD DIARY SURVEY CONSISTS OF TWI PARTS -- AN ENTRY INTERVIEW AND A MAIL FLOW DIARY. TO BEGIN THE SURVEY THE CONTRACTOR'S INTERVIEWERS MUST ASK HOUSEHOLDS IDENTIFIED IN THE SAMPLE SELECTION TO PARTICIPATE IN THE STUDY, SHOWING A LETTER FROM THE POSTMASTER GENERAL AND OFFERING A NOMINAL FEE ($20), FOR THEIR PARTICIPATION.AFTER THAT THE INTERVIEWER MUST CONDUCT AN ENTRY INTERVIEW WITH THE HOUSEHOLDER FOLLOWING THE PROCESS AND USING A MODIFIED VERSION OF PREVIOUS INTERVIEW INSTRUMENTS. FOLLOWING THE ENTRY INTERVIEW THE INTERVIEWER MUST INDTRODUCE THE MAIL FLOW DIARY AND INSTRUCT THE HOUSEHOLDER IN HOW TO USE IT AND ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THEY MAY HAVE. ALTHOUGH THE MAIL FLOW DIARY IS SELF ADMINISTERED BY THE RESPONDENT, THE INTERVIEWER MSUT BE AVAILABLE TO BE CONTACTED BY TELEPHONE DURING MAIL FLOW DIARY PERIOD TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THE RESPONDENT MAY HAVE. CONTRACTOR DATA, PREPARING REPORTS AND SAMPLING PLANS AND MAIL FLOW DIARY. ESTIMATED COST IS APPROXIMATELY $6 MILLIOM FOR THE THREE YEAR PERIOD, WITH OPTION FOR 3 ADDITIONAL YEARS. SOLICITATION IS EXPECTED TO BE ISSUED ON 4/15/98. REQUESTS FOR SOL MUST BE IN WRITING AND RECEIVED BY 4/10/98. YOU MAY FAX YOUR REQUEST TO CARLTON BROWN @ 202-314-7035 OR BY SENDING VIA E-MAIL TO CBROWNO1@EMAIL.USPS.GOV. (0083)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0021 19980326\B-0007.SOL)