GASP 

Government Advances in 

Statistical Programming 2018 

 

October 24th, 8:00am-4:30pm 

October 25th, 8:00-1:00pm 

 

Janet Norwood Conference and 

Training Center 

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 

2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE 

Washington, DC 20212 
Conference and Conference Center Information 

Janet Norwood Conference Center, Ground Floor 

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 

2 Massachusetts Ave, NE 

Washington, DC 

20212 

To RSVP please visit on or before October 22nd: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/gasp-governmentadvances-in-statistical-programming-tickets-50961320682

All visitors check in with the security desk and are required to show a government-issued photo ID (i.e., 

driver’s liIeミse, passport). All visitors マust pass through a metal detector. We recommend you schedule 

time to account for security screening. 

Once screened, proceed to the elevator bank and take the elevator down to the Ground Floor. The Janet 

Norwood Conference Center is around the corner to the left and through the glass doors. Please check 

in at the registration desk. 

Special thanks to our organizers and sponsors: Interagency R Users Group, the Federal 

Committee on Statistical Methodology (FCSM) Computational Statistics Interest Group, and the 

Washington Statistical Society. 
Day 1 

Early Morning Sessions: 9:00 am to 10:30 am

Theme: From Research to Reality—Rooms 7 and 8 

How do new ideas get put into place? Who creates, operates, and maintains the software and programs 

at our respective agencies? Do R programs belong in production? In this session, we look at the 

pipeline from research to production and address questions that may shape our choices of software. 

 On Implementing a New Imputation Method into Production in the 2017 Economic Census 

Illustrated through Selected Vignettes 

Jenny Thompson – US Census Bureau 

 Variance Estimation for Product Sales in the 2017 Economic Census: Challenges in 

Implementing Multiple Imputation-Based Variance Estimation 

Matthew Thompson – US Census Bureau 

 Updating a Generalized Imputation System to Include a Quadratic Program 

Laura Bechtel – US Census Bureau 

 Using R in the Production of Official Statistics at NASS 

Darcy Miller – NASS USDA 

 

Theme: Take Steps Toward Reproducibility—Rooms 9 and 10 

The talks in this session are themed around making workflows more transparent and reproducible. 

Speakers discuss the use of R, RStudio, and other open source tools to make that happen. 

 Continuous Integration and Deployment for R 

Zech Kottilil – Westat 

 Usiミg さgitざ to leverage developマeミt aミd e┝terミal IollaHoratioミ

William Sexton – US Census Bureau 

 Organizing research projects with an efficient open-source tool (emacs org-mode) 

Feiming Chen – FDA 

 Open Source Software for Automating and Ensuring Quality in Official Statistics: An Example 

Using R and RStudio for Stratified Simple Random Sampling 

Darryl Creel – RTI
Late Morning Sessions: 11:00 am to 12:30 pm

Theme: Programming for a Purpose—Rooms 7 and 8 

In this session we examine scripts, functions, and systems incorporating R to address a variety of specific 

research questions or agency needs. 

 Using Gaussian copulas to generate a synthetic population 

Yijun Wei — NISS and USDA/NASS 

 Indicator for Top-Coding Effects on a Household Survey Income Elasticity of Demand Estimates 

Danny Yang – BLS 

 Using R for Advanced Statistical Modeling in the National Energy Modeling System 

Janice Lent – EIA 

 Transparent and Reproducible Research in Agricultural Official Statistics 

Andreea Erciulescu – NISS and USDA/NASS 

Theme: Dashboards and Interactive Tools—Rooms 9 and 10 

The presenters discuss prototyping, building, and deploying dashboards and interactive tools using R 

Shiny and other related software packages. Some of the tools discussed may be public facing, others are 

being considered for internal use. 

 R shiny platforms, Statistical Web Applications from Booz Allen Hamilton 

Zach Blumenfeld – Booz Allen Hamilton 

 Polishing Analysis Tools Until They Are Shiny 

Andrew Dau — USDA/NASS 

 Spatial Analysis with R and Power BI: Mapping U.S Census Data 

Tony McGovern – em data 

 Designing, building, and deploying an interactive survey monitoring dashboard using R Shiny 

Joe Murphy – RTI 

Lunch: 12:30 to 1:30 pm (on your own)

Plenary Session: 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm 
Theme: Briefing from the Federal Data Strategy Development Team 

Afternoon Sessions: 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm

Theme: Lightning Round!—Rooms 7 and 8 

This session contains a group of short talks and poster walkthroughs on a variety of topics. Come be 

part of the discussion! 

 Automated Document Generation using R Markdown 

Eric Budge – Insight Policy Research 

 R Applications for Non-Data Reporting Offices 

Suzanna Stephens –Independent 

 Cleaning and Analyzing Data from the U.S House of Representatives 

M Daniel Turse – Independent 

 Analyses of Chicago Subway (L) Ridership 

M Daniel Turse – Independent 

 Attendance and Graduation Rates in High Schools Across the US

Helen Levy-Myers – Athenas Workshop 

 Using NLP, the Census' Commodity Flow Survey team

Christian Leonard Moscardi – US Census 

Theme: Pulling It Together!—Rooms 9 and 10 

R packages that put federal data in the public’s hands, methods for linking a variety of data sources, and 

environments that could change the way we survey. Come see how data gets pulled together. 

 There’s a paIkage for that? R PaIkages that “upport Aミal┞ses of Coママoミ Federal Datasets

Kelsey Gray – Insight Policy Research 

 Linking Public Data Sources to Create Localized Official Statistics 

Dipak Subedi – USDA/ERS 

 Estimating Traffic Crash Counts Using Crowdsourced Data - Pilot analysis of 2017 Waze and 

police accident reports in Maryland 

Dan Flynn – DOT 

 Encrypted processing on SGX enclave hardware in a commercial cloud

 Cavan Capps – US Census Bureau 
Day 2 

Morning: 8:30 am to 10:00 am

Theme: Applications of Machine Learning—Rooms 7 and 8 

This session examines applications of machine learning, natural language processing, computer vision 

and the software environments that support them. 

 Using Computer Vision to Process Vehicle Dashboard Displays in Transportation Safety Research 

Kristin Chen – Westat 

 Exploring Author Influence with Networks, NLP, and Trend Analysis 

Benjamin Ulloa – Independent 

 Semiparametric deep learning from crop yield modeling, using Keras/Tensorflow 

Andrew Crane-Droesch – USDA/ERS 

 Improving Estimates of Arrest Related Deaths with Machine Learning 

Peter Baumgartner – RTI 

Theme: R from Multiple Perspectives—Rooms 9 and 10 

Speakers share their perspectives and experiences on the use of R. Compare and contrast the uses of R 

in the research setting, in regulatory environments, and in a federal statistical agency. 

 MISSUITE: A Shiny Application for Clinical Trial Missing Data Analysis 

Chenguang Wang—Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University

 Using R in a regulatory environment: some FDA perspectives 

Paul Schuette- FDA 

 INCA: an R package for Integer Calibration 

Luca Sartore- NISS and USDA/NASS 

Late morning: 10:15 am to 11:45 am

Theme: Bayesian Analysis with R—Rooms 7 and 8 

In this session we examine a variety of Bayesian methods in the areas of time series, spatio-temporal 

analysis, small area estimation, and survey analysis. We explore the use of R and related software to 

facilitate those computation. 
 An Imputation Model for the Advanced Monthly Retail Trade Survey using Hierarchical Bayesian 

Regression Models in STAN 

Stephen Kaputa – US Census Bureau 

 Modeling Spatio-Temporal Trends using R 

Ali Arab – Georgetown University 

 Using R for Bayesian Analyses of Survey Data

Matthew Williams – National Science Foundation 

 Fitting a Bayesian Fay Herriot Model

Nathan Cruze – USDA/NASS 

Theme: Demonstrations—Rooms 9 and 10 

Our speakers demonstrate a variety of capabilities that have been prototyped and developed using open 

source tools. 

 Accounting for All Federal Surveys 

Jared Teeter — Independent 

 Shiny applications without Shiny 

Emily Mitchell – AHRQ 

 Shiny and Geospatial maps 

Brandon Kopp – BLS 

 Shiny Demonstration Utilizing Bootstrap Approach to the Application of First Digits Analysis

Matt Corrigan – BLS 

Plenary Session: 12:00 am-1:00 pm 

Marck Vaisman, Data Community DC 

Announcements and Adjourn