APDU Weekly

Features

APDU website gets a new face
This week, a new, redesigned APDU.org launched. The new site features a sleeker, more modern layout, a mobile-friendly structure, and some new features. One such feature is the Agency Feed, a running stream of updates from the federal statistical agencies. Stay tuned for new pages, resources, and content on our upgraded home. (Not to be outdone, Census unveiled their new Census.gov on the same day this week).

Data takes center stage in Washington DC
It’s been a busy week in data-related issues in Washington DC. From the APDU blog, here’s a look at legislation, budgets, and reports including Census FY 2015 funding levels, the enduring flatness of the BTS budget, the DATA Act and the White House’s new US Open Data Action Plan, and more.

News

Data journalism’s golden age, or TMI?
The Upshot, Vox, and FiveThirtyEight: In data, as in journalism, one is an example, two’s a coincidence, and three is a trend; it may be a good time to look at the state of the enterprise.

Next revolution in ag may center on big data
Agribusiness companies such as Monsanto and DuPont are introducing new services to do just that. But questions remain over whether it’s a smart move for farmers to share information with agribusiness.

Farming, drones, and data
This week in North Dakota, the FAA began allowing tests of drones for agricultural purposes. The drones collect huge amounts of data, and modern farming is a data-driven business.

Using data to further a community school
The Family-Community Resource Centers in Vancouver WA, illustrate how data can be used beyond tracking and sharing student-level information.

New BLS info in O*NET websites
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released wage estimates for 2013 and an update of its Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH). The latest wages are now included in career reports within O*NET OnLine, My Next Move, and My Next Move for Veterans.

Census and accurate numbers on gay marriages
Meanwhile at Census, as the legality of gay marriage spreads, the ability to collect data on such marriages becomes harder, according to Pew.

Visualization of the Week

How temperatures in America have changed

Since consistent record-keeping began in 1895, the average temperature in the United States has increased by 1.3 to 1.9 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 to 1.1° Celsius), and most of that change has happened since 1970. The warmest year on record for the United States was 2012

Notable Data Publications

GOVERNMENT

• Bureau of Justice Statistics – Jail Inmates at Midyear 2013 – Statistical Tables
• Bureau of Labor Statistics – Consumer Expenditure Survey Update – Americans’ Aging Autos
• Census Bureau – Modes Less Traveled – Bicycling and Walking to Work in the United States: 2008-2012
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Adverse Family Experiences Among Children in Non-parental  Care, 2011-2012
  • Injury-Related Emergency Department Visits by Children and Adolescents: United States, 2009-2010
  • State Variability in Supply of Office-based Primary Care Providers: Unites States, 2012
• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
  • Post-Discharge Follow-Up Visits and Hospital Utilization by Medicare Patients,2007–2010
  • What Influences the Awareness of Physician Quality Information? Implications for Medicare
• Department of Agriculture – Census of Agriculture
• Federal Bureau of Investigation – Full-Time Law Enforcement Employees, by State, by City, 2012
• Health and Human Services – 2014 Poverty Guidelines
• National Center for Education Statistics
  • The Nation’s Report Card: 2013 Mathematics and Reading Grade 12 Assessments
  • State of Preschool 2013: First Look
• National Science Foundation – Survey of Doctorate Recipients

NON-PROFITS & FOUNDATIONS

• Asian Americans Advancing Justice – A Community of Contrasts: Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in the United States, 2014
• Demographic Research – Variance in Age at Death Equals Average Squared Remaining Life Expectancy at Death
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – Investing in America’s Health 2014: A State-by-State Look at Public Health Funding
• World Health Organization – Exposure to Small particle Air Pollution: Mapped by City (Follow provided link to spreadsheet)

Did you work on a great report that you want your colleagues to know about?  Just email us and we’ll include it here.

Calls for Comment

APDU maintains a list of open calls for comment on proposed federal data collections. 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):

Census Bureau

• Generic Clearance for Data User Evaluation Surveys (June 9, 2014)
• BC-170 Census Employment Inquiry (July 14, 2014)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study (June 9, 2014)

Department of Education

• National Household Education Survey (NHES 2015)
• Full Scale Data Collection (July 7, 2014)

Department of Health and Human Services

• HIPAA Covered Entity and Business Associate Pre-Audit Survey (June 11,2014)

Energy Information Administration

• Natural Gas Data Collection Program Package (July 7, 2014)
• Winter Heating Fuel Telephone Survey (July 7, 2014)

Federal Trade Commission

• Fuel Economy Consumer Study, Project No. P134202 (July 7, 2014)

May 15, 2014

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