statistics
CNSTAT Releases Eighth Edition of Principles & Practices for a Federal Statistical Agency
The Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has released the eighth edition of Principles and Practices for a Federal Statistical Agency, a report released every four years to coincide with presidential terms. The consensus study report provides an explanation of the federal statistical system and offers guiding principles and best practices for federal statistical agencies. While the practices and principles remain largely the same as past versions (see previous COSSA coverage), the most recent report includes updated information on the changes made to the federal statistical system in the past four years. The…
2024 Joint Statistical Meetings
The Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM) is the largest gathering of statisticians and data scientists in North America. It is held jointly with the following organizations: *Indicates the founding societies of JSM It is also one of the broadest, with topics ranging from statistical applications to methodology and theory to the expanding boundaries of statistics, such as analytics and data science. JSM also offers a unique opportunity for statisticians in academia, industry, and government to exchange ideas and explore opportunities for collaboration. Beginning statisticians (including current students) are able to learn from and interact with senior members of the profession.
Dr. Alexis Piquero Departs BJS, Dr. Kevin M. Scott to Serve as New Director
Dr. Alexis R. Piquero, Director for the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) within the Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs (OJP) has stepped down from his position and returned to academia effective August 17. Piquero was sworn in August 2022 (see previous COSSA coverage). During his time at BJS, Piquero focused on disseminating justice statistics to the public in an easy-to-read and timely manner. Piquero developed Just the Stats, a report series for the public. Dr. Piquero has been a vocal champion for the agency and the use of social and behavioral science research to policymaking. COSSA thanks him for his service. …
CNSTAT Releases Second Data Infrastructure Report in Series Intended to Modernize Data Collection
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) has released its second in an ongoing series of data infrastructure reports intended to modernize and enhance data collection (previous COSSA coverage). This latest report, Toward a 21st Century National Data Infrastructure: Enhancing Survey Programs by Using Multiple Data Sources, builds off the first by discussing how using multiple data sources beyond sample surveys could improve the data collection for statistics and social and economic research, as well as data equity. The report acknowledges several data sources that could improve data collection, including probability samples, administrative…
COSSA Featured in AmStat News
On February 1, the American Statistical Association (ASA) interviewed Wendy Naus of the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) in a Q&A article of AmStat News, the membership magazine of ASA. The Q&A centered around the advocacy work of COSSA, the benefits of COSSA membership, and the various tools COSSA uses to advocate for the social and behavioral sciences. You can read the full article on the ASA website.
Federal Statistical Agencies Launch Standard Application Process for Accessing Restricted Federal Data
The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) within the National Science Foundation and the Interagency Council on Statistical Policy (ICSP) have launched a Standard Application Process (SAP) to improve access to restricted federal data. As previously reported, the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 called for the development of a process to provide streamlined access to confidential federal data. The recently announced SAP was developed in response to this directive. The agencies released an Applicant Instruction Manual for the process and are available for questions or comments at singleportal@nsf.gov.
COSSA Featured in Practical Significance Podcast
COSSA Executive Director Wendy Naus was featured in the latest episode of the American Statistical Association (ASA) podcast, Practical Significance (the ASA is a COSSA governing member). Naus discusses COSSA’s efforts to promote the social, behavioral, and statistical sciences to policymakers and ways that researchers can engage in the advocacy process. Check out the episode on the ASA website or wherever you get your podcasts.
CNSTAT Nominations for Workshop on Improving Measurement of Death by Suicide of Law Enforcement Officers
The Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) within the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Statistics is calling for nominations for members of an organizing committee to create a public workshop on strategies to measure death by suicide of law enforcement and correctional officers. CNSTAT is seeking experts in criminal justice research and statistics, mental health and occupational health, administrative data, and integrating federal, state, tribal, and local government data systems. They are also seeking law enforcement and correctional officers for the event. Nominations will close on November 10, 2022.
CNSTAT Releases Report on a 21st Century National Data Infrastructure
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) recently released the report Toward a 21st Century National Data Infrastructure: Mobilizing Information for the Common Good. The report offers an ambitious vision and roadmap for bringing the U.S. data infrastructure in line with the nation’s need for reliable, accessible statistics and social and economic research. During a recent seminar celebrating CNSTAT’s 50th anniversary, CNSTAT Chair Robert Groves of Georgetown University offered additional context for the report, noting the convergence of increasing survey costs, all-time low response rates, and the unprecedented amount of digital data now…
Bureau of Justice Statistics Announces Innovative Newsletter
After being appointed as the Director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) in August 2022, Dr. Alexis Piquero expressed his commitment to making justice statistics and data more accessible to the public, including by releasing data more quickly and in easy-to-read formats. To this end, BJS has announced “Just the Stats,” a series of short reports that will modernize the process of releasing data to the public. The timeline for releasing the first report is not yet known; however, stakeholders have been invited to subscribe here.
CNSTAT Celebrates 50 Years with Seminar and Data Infrastructure Report
The National Academies Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) is hosting a public seminar celebrating 50 years of CNSTAT on October 13, 2022 in Washington, DC. The event will be webcast for those unable to attend in person. The seminar will include a brief review of notable accomplishments and current efforts. CNSTAT will also be discussing their recent report, Toward a Vision for a New Data Infrastructure for Federal Statistics and Social and Economic Research in the 21st Century. This report details the importance of creating a new data infrastructure that both modernizes the processes and addresses the various challenges facing…
Biden Administration Names DOD’s Karin Orvis as Chief Statistician
On April 29, it was announced that President Biden would name Karin Orvis as the permanent Chief Statistician of the United States at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), a position that has been vacant for more than two years. Orvis comes to OMB with experience from the Department of Defense (DOD), having previously served as the director of DOD’s Defense Suicide Prevention Office, as acting principal director of military community and family policy, and as director of DOD’s Transition to Veterans Program Office. The role of Chief Statistician has not had a permanent director since Nancy…
ASA Task Force Releases Report on Quality of 2020 Census State Totals
The Task Force on 2020 Census Quality Indicators convened by the American Statistical Association (ASA), a COSSA governing member, released its final report on September 14. That task force, chaired by former U.S. Chief Statistician Nancy Potok, was formed in September 2020 to assess the quality of data from the 2020 Census, given the challenges of conducting the census during the pandemic and concerns about political interference from the Trump Administration. The task force evaluated a set of 10 state-level “process statistics” relevant for evaluating the quality of census state-level totals used for apportionment and concluded that it found “no…
OMB Seeks Feedback on Length of Executive Branch Comment Prohibition for Release of Economic Indicators
Statistical Policy Directive No. 3 recommends Executive Branch employees refrain from commenting on the release of principal federal economic indicators for 60 minutes after their release. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is seeking public comment on whether that 60-minute window is still appropriate given the many changes in the information landscape since the policy directive was issued in 1985. OMB is not considering changes to the embargo on the release of any information or comment about federal statistics before their official release by the statistical agencies, only whether policy officials should be allowed to comment earlier than 60…
Puerto Rico’s Statistical Agency Spared from Reorganization (For Now)
Legislators in Puerto Rico have backed away from a plan to dismantle Puerto Rico’s statistical agency, the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics (PRIS). The proposal had been included in drafts of a government reorganization bill being considered by the commonwealth’s Legislative Assembly; it would have moved the independent agency to the Department of Economic Development and Commerce and outsourced many of its activities to the private sector. COSSA joined a letter led by the American Statistical Association (ASA), a COSSA governing member, to call for PRIS to maintain its independence. The provision was ultimately removed in the final conferenced version…
2020 Census to Ask About Citizenship; COSSA Releases Statement and Action Alert
On March 26, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross directed the Census Bureau to include a question about respondents’ citizenship in the 2020 Decennial Census. The decision was made in response to a request by the Department of Justice to add the question in order to support its enforcement of the Voting Rights Act, although it is unclear why current data is inadequate. Citizenship was last asked as part of the decennial census in 1950; since then it has been included on the census “long form,” which later became the American Community Survey (these differ from the decennial census in that…
ASA Launches New “Count on Stats” Initiative
The American Statistical Association (ASA), a COSSA governing member, has launched a new initiative called Count on Stats to “enhance awareness about the importance, reliability, and trustworthiness of government data” and defend the federal statistical system against political attacks. ASA’s partners in the initiative include COSSA governing members the American Association for Public Opinion Research, the American Educational Research Association, and the American Sociological Association. More information about the program is available on ASA’s website. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
Chief Statistician Seeks Information on Combining Data
The Chief Statistician of the United States has issued a Request for Information on how best to integrate data from multiple sources to inform the development of standards for using combined data for federal purposes. Specifically, the request is seeking information on: “(1) Current and emerging techniques for linking and analyzing combined data; (2) on-going research on methods to describe the quality of statistical products that result from these techniques; (3) computational frameworks and systems for conducting such work; (4) privacy or confidentiality issues that may arise from combining such data; and (5) suggestions for additional research in those or…
CNSTAT Issues Report on Federal Statistics, Multiple Data Sources, and Privacy Protection
The Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recently issued a consensus report entitled Federal Statistics, Multiple Data Sources, and Privacy Protection: Next Steps. The report was produced by the Panel on Improving Federal Statistics for Policy and Social Science Research Using Multiple Data Sources and State-of-the-Art Estimation Methods, chaired by Robert Groves of Georgetown University. The Panel’s first report, Innovations in Federal Statistics: Combining Data Sources While Protecting Privacy, was published in January 2017, and described some of the challenges currently facing the federal statistical system’s current paradigm of heavy reliance on…
Former Census Director to Lead Statistics Group
John Thompson, who resigned as Director of the Census Bureau last month, has been appointed Executive Director of the Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics (COPAFS), effective July 24. Before being appointed to lead Census in 2013, Thompson was the President and CEO of NORC at the University of Chicago. He succeeds Katherine Smith Evans, who served as Executive Director since October 2012 and has been named the Washington Area Representative for the American Economic Association. COSSA looks forward to continuing to work closely with COPAFS on issues affecting federal statistical agencies and welcomes Thompson in his new role….