APDU Call for Board Nominations
Once again it is time to think about next year’s APDU leadership. This year our president, vice-president and one at-large board member position are up for election. If you are interested in running for one of these positions, please speak with one of the nominating committee members. More details can be found here.
News Items
Census Bureau Re-Releases PUMS Files
The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey Office has published two notices regarding corrections to 1- and 3-year PUMS files. Specifically:
Bureau of Economic Analysis Publishes Research Agenda
At the semi-annual meeting of BEA’s Advisory Committee, the agency provided an outline of its
2011 research agenda. Of interest to regional data users: prototype GDP by county, R&D as investment in GDP by state, spatial price indices, and faster release of local personal income data.
2010 Census Advisory Committee Meeting Report
The 2010 Census Advisory Committee (CAC) met October 21-22, with APDU representative Ken Hodges and alternate representative Bill O’Hare in attendance.
The meeting included a recap of 2010 Census operations, but with 2010 Census responses now in house, and work focused on the preparation of data products, there is growing focus on 2020. The CAC learned of organizational changes reflecting the 2020 focus, and heard a presentation on plans for 2020 research and testing. It is clear that an overriding goal for the 2020 Census is cost containment. The Census Bureau remains committed to a complete and accurate census count, but increases in Census costs are considered unsustainable, and the goal is to hold the per household cost of the 2020 Census at the 2010 level. Options including limited address canvassing and expanded use of administrative data are being considered, and there was extended discussion of the extent to which there might be tradeoffs between costs and data accuracy.
Census Director Robert Groves noted that the 2010 Census Advisory Committee’s charter expires in February 2011 and asked for the reps’ advice in restructuring the CAC in advance of the 2020 Census. Restructuring could lead to changes in the composition of the CAC, as well as its agenda, and how it interacts with the Census Bureau.
The meeting also featured presentations on new tests of a voluntary ACS, redistricting data products, and a congressional update.
The full meeting report is available
here.
Notable Data Publications
Each week, the APDU Data Update usually identifies recent statistical agency data releases and discussions of interest to APDU members.
Calls for Comment
APDU maintains a list of open calls for comment on proposed federal data collections (http://www.apdu.org/advocacy.asp). We periodically alert APDU members to newly added calls for comment. Over the last several weeks, calls for comment on the following proposed data collections were published in the Federal Register (with due date):
Bureau of Labor Statistics
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American Time Use Survey (December 6, 2010)
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Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages – Green Goods and Services Survey (January 10, 2011)
Institute of Education Sciences
National Science Foundation
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Institute of Museum and Library Services
APDU encourages its members to take advantage of these opportunities to make their voices heard. All comments, whether a simple affirmation or detailed suggestions on instrument design, are helpful in seeing that data users have access to the statistics we need.
