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Principles and Practices for a Federal Statistical Agency Seventh Edition (2021) / Chapter Skim
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Practice 5: An Active Research Program
Pages 67-74

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From page 67...
... A key and growing research concern for statistical agencies in recent years focuses on the use of administrative records and alternative data sources to enhance or potentially replace some of the information currently obtained through surveys. Current research questions being examined because of this concern include how closely statistics from 18E.g., see https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/federal-statistical-agencies-struggle-maintain-vital role-citro/?
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From page 68...
... An agency's subject-matter analysts should be encouraged and have ample opportunity to build networks with analysts in other agencies, academia, the private sector, other countries, and relevant international organizations and to present their work at relevant conferences and in working papers and refereed journal articles (see Practice 4)
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From page 69...
... Research on methodology and operations must be ongoing and geared to both current and future needs. Some current research topics include • developing methods for producing rapid statistics to respond to high-priority situations or emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic;19 • evaluating administrative records for use to replace or enhance existing surveys; • assessing uncertainty when combining data from a variety of data sources; • developing models for improved forecasting in subnational areas (e.g., Young, 2019)
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From page 70...
... . Some of the many examples of statistical agencies' use of administrative data include the Census Bureau using tax records for the economic censuses for small and nonemployer businesses,20 the National Center for Health Statistics' National Vital Statistics System drawing upon birth and death records from the states,21 and the National Center for Education Statistics' National Postsecondary Student Aid Study drawing upon federal and institutional administrative data to analyze student financial aid.22 Research is being conducted to assess whether tax records can replace income items in the American Community Survey (see NASEM, 2019a)
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From page 71...
... . Administrative records from multiple federal agencies are also being used in the decennial census to verify vacant units and, when good information exists, to fill in data if an initial nonresponse follow up visit is not successful in locating a respondent.23 Evaluating and Using Alternative Data Sources This data-rich age has a multitude of data sources beyond administrative records, including data gleaned or "scraped" from Internet websites (e.g., price quotes or social media postings)
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From page 72...
... also has been pursuing work in this area to assist agencies. Value of an Active Research Program Supporting federal agencies' in-house research staffs is critical given the challenges and opportunities posed by the increasing availability of alternative data sources.
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From page 73...
... and a willingness to implement different kinds of data collection efforts to answer different needs, while being mindful of the need for historical trend data and comparability across different levels of geography.
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Key Terms

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  • alternative data

  • methodological research
  • traditional sources
  • effective statistical
  • improving data
  • data users

  • statistical purposes
  • program agencies
  • tax records
  • relevant international
  • international organizations

  • substantive analyses
  • administrative data
  • tive data
  • multiple federal
  • improve statistical

  • information elements
  • trend data
  • evaluating administrative
  • statistical activities
  • government program

  • institutional administrative
  • national vital
  • data quality
  • data include
  • accessing administrative


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