Awareness, attitudes, behaviors and norms of American users of e-cigarette, or vaping, products

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention intends to award a sole source firm fixed price purchase order to YouGov. YouGov has existing data for 15 states about the public's engagement in patterns of use of THC-containing e-cigarette, or vaping, products and awareness of potential harms related to use of these products. These data will inform the ongoing multi-state outbreak of lung injuries associated with use of e-cigarette, or vaping, products. We conducted an extensive and exhaustive Internet search of survey companies to determine what companies currently collect the necessary data from a nationally representative sample of US adults. In addition, we consulted with subject-matter experts (SMEs) in survey research to identify potential vendors that may not have appeared in our Internet queries. Once potential vendors were identified, we compared the vendors based upon several factors including sample selection methods, data at the national and state levels, and survey items. To be of use for the lung injury response and ongoing efforts to understand risks and harms associated with e-cigarette, or vaping, product use, survey items had to capture essential elements and concepts related to patterns of use of these products, awareness about potential harms such as lung injury, and behaviors associated with awareness of potential harms. We identified YouGov as the only company that could conduct this work as they are the only company that is collecting the necessary data needed for this work. In addition, YouGov was the only company that has a sufficient sample to allow us to collect these data from a geographically diverse set of states. Other vendors considered include Porter Novelli Health Styles, NORC, Neilsen, Scarborough, Qualtrics, Survey Sampling International (SSI), and Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Porter-Novelli was not acceptable because their panel is small (~50,000, compared to YouGov's 1.8 million participants) and is unable to provide sufficient sample for the 15 states. Similarly, the panel size for NORC was also insuffiicent to meet our needs. Neilsen was not willing to disclose the size of their opt-in panel. Scarborough uses a random-digit-dial to select their sample with mail follow-up; this method has become problematic due to non-response and increased reliance on cellphones. Both Qualtrics and SSI allow researchers to set up demographic quotas in order to ensure sample diversity but the result is a convenience sample which is not sufficient for our needs. MTurk has a highly skewed sample (i.e., disproportionately male, well educated, and liberal), thus this sample is also not sufficient for our purposes. This contract action is for supplies or services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b) (SAP) and 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1). Interested persons may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement or submit proposals. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotations; however, all quotations/responses received within fifteen (15) days of the issuance of this notice will be considered by the government. A determination by the government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Any quotation/response should be emailed to contract specialist at [email protected] by COB 23, December 2019.