Appendix II

Scope and Methodology

We surveyed 103 federal agencies that had 1,000 or more employees or annual outlays in excess of $500 million. All but one agency-the Federal Bureau of Investigation-responded. These agencies covered 87 percent of all federal employees and 92 percent of total outlays in fiscal year 1991. Respondents to the survey were generally located in their agency's planning, policy, or evaluation offices or in the office of the agency head.

We asked agencies to self-report on which, if any, of a listed variety of performance measures they used in all or part of their operations. We also asked how these measures were related to their efforts to monitor their progress in their long-term strategic planning efforts and to assess individual job performance. We visited 11 of the 102 agencies to validate the responses provided in the questionnaire and to obtain a greater understanding of how they used the program performance measures they reported. We also visited 3 programs considered to have model programs that were not covered by the survey. These were the Job Training Partnership Act in the Department of Labor, the Unit Cost Resourcing Project in the Defense Department, and the Healthy People 2000 project in the Department of Health and Human Services. We selected these agencies and programs because they represented a wide spectrum of different approaches agencies were taking in developing and using performance measures. In our interviews, we asked what activities were measured; who developed the measurements; who used the measurements; and if the measurements were tied to agency goals, standards, or objectives.

In verifying the general validity of the results of the survey, we found a
variety of interpretations regarding some of the terms used in the survey.
For example, agencies differed in their understanding of what were
"outcomes of products or services." As a result, we found that 3 of the 11
agencies we visited were not able to support the responses they provided in
certain categories. We expanded the verification for one key question-the
existence of a single report of performance measures-to 22 agencies
responding "yes," and found 2 changed their response to "no;" 11 others
failed to provide the supporting documentation requested. Nevertheless,
given the aggregate responses in our interviews and follow-ups, we believe
the general results are indicative of the overall status of performance
measures in federal agencies.

Appendix III

Survey of Federal Agency Program
Performance Measures

П. TYPES OF MEASURES

1. For the following types of performance measures, please indicate whether the measure is currently in use in your organization. whether it is under development in your organization, or whether it is neither in use nor under development in your organization. (PLEASE CHECK ONE BOX FOR EACH PERFORMANCE MEASURE.)

Appendix III

Survey of Federal Agency Program
Performance Measures

2. For those performance measures that currently exist in your organization, please list four of the largest programs, services. or organizational units for which the measures are produced. (Please avoid using abbreviations whenever possible.)

(Cross out any measures in column 1 that do not currently exist in your organization and list the programs for which measures are produced)

Appendix III

Survey of Federal Agency Program
Performance Measures

3. For those performance measures that currently exist in your organization, who are the current users?

(Cross out all measures in column 1 that do not currently exist in your organization and check all boxes that apply for each measure that does exist in your organization.)