The Future of Federal Household Surveys Summary of a Workshop (2011) / Chapter Skim
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7 Survey Content
7 Survey Content
Pages 77-88
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From page 77... ...
, the avail ability of a substantial body of research on the disability measures provides a strong foundation for developing consistency in areas in which there are no statutory constraints. Another motive for pursuing consistency is the hope that coordinated measures will allow researchers to gain deeper insight into various dimensions of disability and related policies -- for example, such topics as health, housing, and transportation, which are often measured separately by different agencies.
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From page 78... ...
. The Cen sus Bureau assembled an interagency group, which included, among others, researchers from the Veterans Administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Education, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, as well as various agencies in the Department of Health and Human Services.
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From page 79... ...
DIFFERENT MEASURES FOR DIFFERENT PURPOSES: THE CASE OF INCOME AND POVERTY MEASURES Charles Nelson (Census Bureau) discussed income and poverty estimates produced by the Census Bureau to illustrate situations in which a variety of complementary measures may be most appropriate.
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From page 80... ...
and broadens the concept of income beyond money income. The Cen sus Bureau has been researching alternative poverty measures for the past few years, and content flexibility in existing surveys has become an increasingly rel evant issue as part of this work.
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From page 81... ...
$53,000 $52,500 Median Household Income $52,000 $51,500 $51,000 $50,500 CPS $50,000 ACS $49,500 $49,000 $48,500 $48,000 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 Year FIGURE 7-2 Current Population Survey and American Community Survey median household income, 2000-2009. SOURCE: Workshop presentation by Charles Nelson.
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From page 82... ...
The Census Bureau has also been placing emphasis on releasing documentation about the surveys' methodology concurrently with the data in order to assist data users in interpreting the numbers. This includes a fact sheet summarizing the differences between the CPS and the ACS income and poverty estimates, a guide for when to use the ACS and when to use the CPS income data, and information about additional sources of income and poverty estimates produced by the Census Bureau.
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From page 83... ...
An alternative goal for the survey would be to serve as a sampling frame for other surveys in the system. This would involve limiting the small-area data produced on the basis of the ACS to possibly only a core set of demographic variables, focusing instead on collecting data that would primarily be useful for building sampling frames.
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From page 84... ...
discussed the role of OMB in the federal statistical system and shared his thoughts on the concept of official statistics. He remarked that OMB is a powerful institution, with authority over budgets and surveys, yet it has not assumed an active role in many years in some of the areas discussed, including greater integration in the federal statistical system and shaping official statis tics.
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From page 85... ...
For example, even though the Census Bureau publishes poverty data, it does not define what poverty is -- that is defined by society. This underscores the importance of considering the roles of OMB, statistical agencies, and others not only in the development of what should constitute official data, but also in defining the concepts that are measured.
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From page 86... ...
The inclination may be to dismiss these data as less accurate than federal statistics, but it may be more productive to acknowledge these trends. Federal statistical agencies could help data users, the media, and the public better understand the data available from these additional sources.
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From page 87... ...
Daniel Kasprzyk (National Opinion Research Center) agreed with Bowie that the ACS is a national treasure, observing that the owner of that treasure has the duty to plan ahead for the ACS in ways that benefit the entire federal statistical community.
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