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Innovations in Federal Statistics

Author : National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher : National Academies Press

Page : 151 pages

File Size : 41,53 MB

Release : 2017-04-21

Category : Social Science

ISBN : 030945428X

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Book Description

Federal government statistics provide critical information to the country and serve a key role in a democracy. For decades, sample surveys with instruments carefully designed for particular data needs have been one of the primary methods for collecting data for federal statistics. However, the costs of conducting such surveys have been increasing while response rates have been declining, and many surveys are not able to fulfill growing demands for more timely information and for more detailed information at state and local levels. Innovations in Federal Statistics examines the opportunities and risks of using government administrative and private sector data sources to foster a paradigm shift in federal statistical programs that would combine diverse data sources in a secure manner to enhance federal statistics. This first publication of a two-part series discusses the challenges faced by the federal statistical system and the foundational elements needed for a new paradigm.





The Politics of Numbers

Author : William Alonso

Publisher : Russell Sage Foundation

Page : 491 pages

File Size : 34,18 MB

Release : 1987-09-09

Category : Social Science

ISBN : 1610440021

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Book Description

The Politics of Numbers is the first major study of the social and political forces behind the nation's statistics. In more than a dozen essays, its editors and authors look at the controversies and choices embodied in key decisions about how we count—in measuring the state of the economy, for example, or enumerating ethnic groups. They also examine the implications of an expanding system of official data collection, of new computer technology, and of the shift of information resources into the private sector. A Volume in the Russell Sage Foundation Census Series





Statistics and Public Policy

Author : Bruce D. Spencer

Publisher : Clarendon Press

Page : 306 pages

File Size : 27,46 MB

Release : 1997-02-13

Category : Political Science

ISBN : 0191591238

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Book Description

Statistics — meaning statistical data, statistical methods, and statistical thinking — play important and fascinating roles in public issues. Yet, these roles are sometimes unknown to statistics students and even professional statisticians. This book indicates some connections between statistics and public issues such as government policy- or decision-making, public administration, law, and public debate. This book describes examples of statistics in public policy areas as disparate as national defence, AIDS diffusion, DNA fingerprinting, human rights violations and scientific manpower among other areas. Although a small amount of statistical training is assumed—a minimum of a half year of undergraduate level statistics—the emphasis is on ideas rather than technical detail or mathematical generality. This low technical content makes it accessible to not only statisticians but social scientists as well. It will also be a useful resource for teachers of first year statistics.



Principles and Practices for a Federal Statistical Agency

Author : National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher : National Academies Press

Page : 219 pages

File Size : 31,42 MB

Release : 2017-08-27

Category : Social Science

ISBN : 0309461677

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Book Description

Publicly available statistics from government agencies that are credible, relevant, accurate, and timely are essential for policy makers, individuals, households, businesses, academic institutions, and other organizations to make informed decisions. Even more, the effective operation of a democratic system of government depends on the unhindered flow of statistical information to its citizens. In the United States, federal statistical agencies in cabinet departments and independent agencies are the governmental units whose principal function is to compile, analyze, and disseminate information for such statistical purposes as describing population characteristics and trends, planning and monitoring programs, and conducting research and evaluation. The work of these agencies is coordinated by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Statistical agencies may acquire information not only from surveys or censuses of people and organizations, but also from such sources as government administrative records, private-sector datasets, and Internet sources that are judged of suitable quality and relevance for statistical use. They may conduct analyses, but they do not advocate policies or take partisan positions. Statistical purposes for which they provide information relate to descriptions of groups and exclude any interest in or identification of an individual person, institution, or economic unit. Four principles are fundamental for a federal statistical agency: relevance to policy issues, credibility among data users, trust among data providers, and independence from political and other undue external influence. Principles and Practices for a Federal Statistical Agency: Sixth Edition presents and comments on these principles as they've been impacted by changes in laws, regulations, and other aspects of the environment of federal statistical agencies over the past 4 years.



Federal Statistics, Multiple Data Sources, and Privacy Protection

Author : National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher : National Academies Press

Page : 195 pages

File Size : 26,18 MB

Release : 2018-01-27

Category : Social Science

ISBN : 0309465370

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Book Description

The environment for obtaining information and providing statistical data for policy makers and the public has changed significantly in the past decade, raising questions about the fundamental survey paradigm that underlies federal statistics. New data sources provide opportunities to develop a new paradigm that can improve timeliness, geographic or subpopulation detail, and statistical efficiency. It also has the potential to reduce the costs of producing federal statistics. The panel's first report described federal statistical agencies' current paradigm, which relies heavily on sample surveys for producing national statistics, and challenges agencies are facing; the legal frameworks and mechanisms for protecting the privacy and confidentiality of statistical data and for providing researchers access to data, and challenges to those frameworks and mechanisms; and statistical agencies access to alternative sources of data. The panel recommended a new approach for federal statistical programs that would combine diverse data sources from government and private sector sources and the creation of a new entity that would provide the foundational elements needed for this new approach, including legal authority to access data and protect privacy. This second of the panel's two reports builds on the analysis, conclusions, and recommendations in the first one. This report assesses alternative methods for implementing a new approach that would combine diverse data sources from government and private sector sources, including describing statistical models for combining data from multiple sources; examining statistical and computer science approaches that foster privacy protections; evaluating frameworks for assessing the quality and utility of alternative data sources; and various models for implementing the recommended new entity. Together, the two reports offer ideas and recommendations to help federal statistical agencies examine and evaluate data from alternative sources and then combine them as appropriate to provide the country with more timely, actionable, and useful information for policy makers, businesses, and individuals.



Private Lives and Public Policies

Author : Panel on Confidentiality and Data Access

Publisher : National Academies Press

Page : 261 pages

File Size : 15,65 MB

Release : 1993-01-15

Category : Computers

ISBN : 9780309086516

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Book Description

Americans are increasingly concerned about the privacy of personal data--yet we demand more and more information for public decision making. This volume explores the seeming conflicts between privacy and data access, an issue of concern to federal statistical agencies collecting the data, research organizations using the data, and individuals providing the data. A panel of experts offers principles and specific recommendations for managing data and improving the balance between needed government use of data and the privacy of respondents. The volume examines factors such as the growth of computer technology, that are making confidentiality an increasingly critical problem. The volume explores how data collectors communicate with data providers, with a focus on informed consent to use data, and describes the legal and ethical obligations data users have toward individual subjects as well as toward the agencies providing the data. In the context of historical practices in the United States, Canada, and Sweden, statistical techniques for protecting individuals' identities are evaluated in detail. Legislative and regulatory restraints on access to data are examined, including a discussion about their effects on research. This volume will be an important and thought-provoking guide for policymakers and agencies working with statistics as well as researchers and concerned individuals.



Principles and Practices for a Federal Statistical Agency

Author : National Research Council

Publisher : National Academies Press

Page : 73 pages

File Size : 46,17 MB

Release : 2001-02-22

Category : Computers

ISBN : 0309073146

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Book Description

Since 1992, the Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) has produced a book on principles and practices for a federal statistical agency, updating the document every 4 years to provide a current edition to newly appointed cabinet secretaries at the beginning of each presidential administration. This second edition presents and comments on three basic principles that statistical agencies must embody in order to carry out their mission fully: (1) They must produce objective data that are relevant to policy issues, (2) they must achieve and maintain credibility among data users, and (3) they must achieve and maintain trust among data providers. The book also discusses 11 important practices that are means for statistical agencies to live up to the four principles. These practices include a commitment to quality and professional practice and an active program of methodological and substantive research.



Transparency in Statistical Information for the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics and All Federal Statistical Agencies

Author : National Academies Of Sciences Engineeri

Publisher : National Academies Press

Page : pages

File Size : 14,25 MB

Release : 2022-08-18

Category : Science

ISBN : 9780309270458

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Book Description

Widely available, trustworthy government statistics are essential for policy makers and program administrators at all levels of government, for private sector decision makers, for researchers, and for the media and the public. In the United States, principal statistical agencies as well as units and programs in many other agencies produce various key statistics in areas ranging from the science and engineering enterprise to education and economic welfare. Official statistics are often the result of complex data collection, processing, and estimation methods. These methods can be challenging for agencies to document and for users to understand. At the request of the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), this report studies issues of documentation and archiving of NCSES statistical data products in order to enable NCSES to enhance the transparency and reproducibility of the agency's statistics and facilitate improvement of the statistical program workflow processes of the agency and its contractors. Transparency in Statistical Information for the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics and All Federal Statistical Agencies also explores how NCSES could work with other federal statistical agencies to facilitate the adoption of currently available documentation and archiving standards and tools.