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Science Policy News
We are fortunate to have Constance Citro as this month’s Science Policy columnist. Having directed reports on topics ranging from
the 2000 Census and Survey of Income and Program Participation to microsimulation models for social welfare programs and the
NSF science and engineering personnel data system, Citro is one of the foremost experts on the federal statistical agencies and so carries
much authority in making the following recommendations.
~Steve Pierson, ASA Director of Science Policy, pierson@amstat.org
The Federal Statistical System:
R&D to Bolster a National Treasure
Constance F. Citro, Director, Committee on National Statistics, The National Academies
T
he U.S. statistical system is a national trea- branch felt the need for systematic information
sure—essential to maintaining a democratic about a particular aspect of the economy, society, or
form of government, facilitating a market- environment to serve specific government programs
based economy, and nourishing a thriving scientific and constituencies.
research enterprise. That treasure, while giving tre- At present, the federal statistical system compris-
mendous value, also shows signs of wear and tear. es the 14 principal statistical agencies that sit on the
Many parts of the system need refurbishing Interagency Council on Statistical Policy, chaired by
and bolstering, based not only on a proper appre- the chief statistician in the Office of Management
ciation of the resources the system and Budget (OMB) (see Principal Federal Statistical
needs, but also on sustained Agencies). These agencies are overseen by seven
research and development congressional appropriations subcommittees, as
(R&D) to guide improve- well as authorizing committees. The system also
ments and innovations. includes more than 80 research, policy, and pro-
gram agencies with budgets for statistical activities
What Is the Federal
of $500,000 or more (see Table 1, www.whitehouse.
Statistical System? gov/omb/budget/fy2008/summarytables.html). Many
Before critiquing the system,
of the principal agencies direct federal-state coop-
it is necessary to understand its
erative statistics programs. From this system come
basic contours. The United States
monthly, quarterly, annual, and less frequent indica-
has a highly decentralized system
tors of population, employment, crime, education,
in comparison with other coun-
health, poverty, prices, gross domestic product,
tries. According to Janet Norwood
and many other topics (see www.fedstats.gov). In
in Organizing to Count: Change in
addition, the system provides detailed tabulations,
the Federal Statistical System, the sys-
often for subnational geographic areas and popula-
tem grew by adding separate agencies
tion groups, and individual-level microdata, either
whenever Congress and the executive
in public-use microdata files suitably processed to
protect confidentiality or in a restricted access mode
for research use.
The statistical system is a bargain in budgetary
terms. In fiscal 2008, funding for the entire sys-
tem totaled about $5 billion (exclusive of the 2010
Census), of which about 40% represented budgets
of the 14 principal agencies. The $5 billion equaled
only about $16 for every man, woman, and child and
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