cbowen@urban.org www.clairemckaybowen.com @ClaireMKBowen

Claire McKay Bowen, Ph.D. 

Principal Research Associate and Statistics Methods Group Lead

October 26, 2023

The Motivation and Vision for Assessing the 

Health of the Federal Statistical Agencies

Measuring the Health of the Federal Statistical System
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State of the U.S. Data Infrastructure: 2023 - 2025

▪ Team

▪ PIs: Jonathan Auerbach and Steve 

Pierson

▪ May Aydin, Claire McKay Bowen, 

Connie Citro, Nancy Potok, and 

Zachary Seeskin

▪ Funded by the Alfred P. Sloan 

Foundation

▪ http://bit.ly/AssessingFedStatHealth
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State of the U.S. Data Infrastructure: At Risk!

Even as their importance 

has increased over the 

centuries, the agencies 

producing the data have 

been neglected, lost 

important autonomy and 

statutory protections, and 

been pushed deeper into 

the federal bureaucracy.
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Examples of Recent Challenges and Threats

▪ 2020 Census meddling

▪ Economic Research Service staffing gutted

▪ Bureau of Justice Statistics publication delays

▪ National Center for Education Statistics (non-contract) staffing 

shortage 

▪ Shrinking budgets (i.e., declining purchasing power)

▪ Growing costs (e.g., declining response rates)

▪ Needs for more granular or frequent data without added budget

▪ “Schedule F” – Would politicize statistical agency leadership
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Threats to Federal Statistics Not New

▪ 1972 — During the Nixon administration, press conferences held by 

the Bureau of Labor Statistics were canceled after the Bureau 

presented a conflicting interpretation of the unemployment rate.

▪ 1995 — The Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives threatened 

to withhold funding from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics unless it 

reduced its estimate of the inflation rate.

▪ 2006 — In the George W. Bush administration, the director of the U.S. 

Bureau of Justice Statistics was removed after he declined to 

minimize data concerning racial profiling in traffic stops.
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Longstanding Examination of Federal Statistics by ASA 

and Other Organizations: A Reactive Approach

▪ 1937 — ASA & Social Science Research Council Committee on 

Government Statistics and Information Services – following Roosevelt 

centralization of coordination function

▪ 1973 — ASA & Federal Statistics Users' Conference Committee on the 

Integrity of Federal Statistics – following interference in the reporting 

of economic indicators

▪ 2021 — ASA Task Force on 2020 Census Quality Indicators – following 

attempted interference in the decennial census
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Rare Implementation of Key Recommendations

▪ Recommendations to increase visibility

▪ Executive Office of Statistical Policy (see Bonnen TAS 1981)

▪ Council of Statistical Advisers (see Fienberg TAS 1983)

▪ Recommendations for regular reporting

▪ Review of methods/operations (see Rathbun, Wallis, et al. 

TAS 1972) — led to CNSTAT

▪ Monitoring by professional associations (see Joint Ad Hoc 

Committee on Government Statistics, TAS 1976 

Recommendation 6) – COPAFS organized in 1981
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State of the U.S. Data Infrastructure: Proactive Design

Goals:

▪ Enhancing the Visibility of Federal Statistics and Statistical Agencies

▪ Offering Information to Inspire Stakeholder Action 

(e.g., securing funding for currently unfunded mandates)

By collectively establishing an effective framework for monitoring the 

federal statistical system, we can more effectively recognize and highlight 

potential threats and challenges to policymakers and the public, 

preempting any actual harm they might cause.