Theory of Change Showing Value of 

ERS Statistical Data 

Spiro E. Stefanou

Administrator, Economic Research Service 

Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology

2023 Research and Policy Conference 

October 24-26, 2023
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Data as a Product Innovation

Specific Focus:

How are specific datasets being used in 

scientific and public research?

‒ Agricultural Resource Management Survey

‒ Rural Urban Continuum Codes

Specific Application:

‒ Internal investment decisions

‒ USDA policy and strategies

‒ Congressional decision making

Better Information For:

‒ Think tanks

‒ Researchers

‒ International agriculture statistics community

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Theory of Change Model

Inputs

• Assessing the need 

for the data asset

• Survey 

development, 

piloting, execution

• Integrating survey 

data with 

proprietary data

• Curation

Activities

• Natural language 

processing

• API

• Dashboards

• Notebooks 

Outputs

• Research and 

analysis

• Stronger 

communities

• Networks 

• More information 

that can be used

Outcomes

• Respondents 

respond more

• Policy makers and 

stakeholders have 

evidence-based 

insights 

• Stimulate 

connections with 

interdependent 

systems

Final Outcomes

• Congressional 

policy action

• Reassess scope of 

potential users 

• Refine and 

innovate data 

assets

• Gain insights into 

emerging trends

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Assessing the Value of Public Data Assets

Costs and Risks

‒ Acquisition, collection, curation, protection, 

storage

‒ Risk of disclosure, re-identification, & reputation 

to the agency

Reward (or Utility) – more anecdotal

‒ Real value of these data to society, researchers 

and policy makers is yet to be determined

‒ Public provided data and information are special 

goods and offer a special challenge

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Project in Progress

‒ Develop an approach for evaluating the value of 

publicly available datasets and the potential value 

of free public access to these data

‒ Start with a proof of concept developing the basic 

methodology and then applying it to two distinct 

data sets

‒ Infometrics approach based on information theory

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Democratizing the Data

Webinar – March 28

‒ ERS & NASS approach to understanding how their data are used that provides a more in-depth look that can 

help inform decision-making around their data investments and improve the quality of data that are collected.

Workshop May 1, 2023 (in-person)

‒ Goal: Gather community input into the usage statistics being developed in response to the Evidence-based 

Policymaking Act. 

‒ Participants had the opportunity to network with other users, as well as work hands-on in small groups to 

provide feedback on the new tools that USDA has developed – usage dashboards, Jupyter Notebooks & an API. 

‒ Using the information about authors, institutions, and topics to find related literature and other experts, 

participants could discover how those datasets are being used in scientific and public research.

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Data Users Workshop: Early Lessons

1. Expansion

– Include more data

– Combine new data sources (GIS) with USDA data

– Expand corpus of publications beyond scholarly

2. Engage the Community to Improve Data Quality

– Gamify identifying parent datasets & provide fingerprint as part of the data system

– Input on traceability/lineage/fingerprinting of data

– Develop human-computer interaction to update the corpus

– Engage MSIs through target workshops and dashboard updates

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Data Users Workshop: Early Lessons

“How to build your own dashboard”

1. Develop and Deliver Training on Building Dashboard

2. Engage in Proactive Marketing
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Advancing DEIA with Data Democratization

Inclusion and Accessibility:

‒ Lowering the cost to finding networks

‒ MSI Scholars

‒ Stakeholders

‒ Data providers

‒ State and local Governments

‒ Extension 

‒ Commodity groups

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Expanding Data Accessibility

Advancing Access to ERS Data (ERS and NYU)

• Goal: engage with external partners to understand how ERS data are used, constraints 

with using the data, and ways to encourage greater access across diverse stakeholder 

groups. 

• Extension Foundation, 

• state agencies, 

• academic institutions, and 

• other organizations 

• ERS and NYU will engage in a set of intentional activities with specific organizations, 

including Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to determine how to support and expand 

their use of USDA statistical data. 
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