Employment and Training Administration, Department of Labor Internal Revenue Service, Department of the Treasury Environmental Protection Agency Energy Information Administration, Department of Energy Core Multipurpose Analysis Agencies Economics, Statistics, and Cooperatives Service (economics units), Department of Agriculture Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce Office of Research and Statistics, Social Security Administration, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Research and Special Programs Administration, Department of Transportation Federal Reserve Board Program Collection and Analysis Agencies Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Center for Disease Control Food and Drug Administration Health Care Financing Administration Health Resources Administration Health Services Administration National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Department of the Treasury Office of the Secretary, including Office of Revenue Sharing and Office of Tax Analysis National Science Foundation U. S. International Trade Commission The Basic Roles of Statistical Agencies In the abstract, data needs for a particular program, subject matter, or functional area should be clearly identified by the decisionmaker who requires the information. Further, the needs of individual agencies should be closely coordinated before specific plans for collection are developed so that duplication will be minimized and so that a wide spectrum of needs will be addressed. After the needs for data are identified, alternative strategies should be considered for collecting the information through statistically acceptable data collection procedures designed to minimize cost and to minimize burden on the data providers. Centers staffed with statistical personnel should collect the data and prepare them for: National Institutes of Health National Institute of Education Office of Education governmentwide role for establishing statistical policy. The first grouping of statistical agencies is called Core Multipurpose Collection. Core Multipurpose Collection agencies collect data of broad interest both across departments and across functional areas. There are only three such agencies. These are the statistical units in the Economics, Statistics and Cooperatives Service in the Department of Agriculture, the Bureau of the Census in the Department of Commerce, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the Department of Labor. All three have data collection efforts as a major part of their overall programs, which are not limited to needs in a particular functional area. The budgets of these three agencies combined effectively equal nearly 50 percent of the total statistical budget for current programs and 100 percent of the total statistical budget for periodic programs. The second grouping of statistical agencies is labeled Subject Matter Multipurpose Collection. There are two types of agencies which sponsor one or more major data collection efforts in a particular subject matter area of general interest, i.e., across departments, in one or two particular subject matter areas. There are seven agencies which do actual data collection and three which are primarily sponsors. The seven in the former category include the Energy Information Administration (EIA) in the Department of Energy, the National Centers for Education and Health Statistics in HEW (NCES and NCHS), the Bureau of Mines in the Department of the Interior, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the Department of Justice, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the Department of the Treasury, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The three agencies which sponsor major collection efforts are the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research (PD&R) in the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) in the Department of Justice, and the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) in the Department of Labor. The Energy Information Administration focuses on energy statistics, the National Center for Education Statistics basically concentrates on collection efforts in the education area; the National Center for Health Statistics on health and population; the Bureau of Mines on production and distribution of minerals and energy statistics; the FBI on criminal justice; the Internal Revenue Service on national economic and business financial accounts and income, wealth and consumption; the Environmental Protection Agency on environmental statistics; Policy Development and Research in HUD concentrates on construction and housing and community development; the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration on criminal justice; and the Employment and Training Administration on labor statistics and national economic and business financial accounts. The third grouping of statistical agencies is designated as Core Multipurpose Analysis. These agencies fulfill analysis needs in more than one functional area for more than one department. There are only five such agencies. These are: the economics. units in the Economics, Statistics, and Cooperatives Service in the Department of Agriculture, the Bureau of Economic Analysis in the Department of Commerce, the Social Security Administration (the Office of Research and Statistics) and the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, both in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the Federal Reserve Board. For example, the Bureau of Economic Analysis analyzes data in the functional areas of prices and price indices, production and distribution, national economic and business financial accounts, environmental statistics, and income, wealth and consumption. One agency, the Research and Special Programs Administration in the Department of Transportation, is primarily involved in analysis in a specific subject matter area which is of interest across departments. The last group encompasses the largest number of statistical agencies. They are the Program Collection and Analysis agencies. The 18 agencies in this category include the following: In the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare: The Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health The Center for Disease Control The Assistant Secretary for Human Development The Assistant Secretary for Housing and the Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development, both in the Department of Housing and Urban Development; the Federal Highway Administration, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, both in the Department of Transportation; the Office of the Secretary, including the Office of Revenue Sharing and the Office of Tax Analysis in the Department of the Treasury; and three independent agencies which are the National Science Foundation, the U.S. International Trade Commission, and the Veterans Administration. All 18 collect and analyze data, usually in only one subject matter area. Only one of these agencies, the Veterans Administration, collects and analyzes data in more than two subject matter areas. The foregoing discussion may leave the impression that each agency fits neatly into one of these five classifications. In fact, this is not true. Agencies have been classified by their major mission, even though they clearly may perform other missions, i.e., most collection agencies may well do analysis and analysis agencies do collect data. Principles for Organization and Operations of Statistical Agencies The debate over centralization or decentralization of statistical activities oversimplifies the practical problems of effectively operating a national statistical program. It is clear that regular program administration requires an information base which will generate statistical information as a byproduct and that it would require excessive duplication to collect all such information in a central agency (unless those responsible for the day-to-day management of programs are to be forbidden the opportunity to collect administrative information concerning their programs). At the same time, however, it should be recognized that the U.S. Federal Statistical System is relatively concentrated, with over 50 percent of statistical activities (as defined in the fiscal year 1978 special analysis on Principal Federal Statistical Programs of The Budget of the U.S. Government when reimbursable budgets are assigned to the agency undertaking the work) being undertaken by three agencies. It is highly desirable to encourage such centralization of basic data collection since this makes it possible to control definitions and concepts and to develop samples from compatible sampling frames. It is anticipated that the analysis of the roles and missions of the individual statistical agencies should be an ongoing activity with the goal of simplifying and improving the existing statistical organization of the United States Government. For this reason, role and mission statements for the major statistical agencies are included in this chapter. Several principles have been developed to serve as a basis for evaluating existing organizational arrangements. There appears to be wide agreement on these principles, yet they too are subjects for further review and refinement. For the present time, it is hoped that they will serve to stimulate evaluation of appropriate organizational settings for agencies which play a significant role in developing U.S. statistics. These operating and organizational principles are outlined below in relation to the major categories which have been described: Governing Principles for Statistical Organization and Operations Planning and Coordination Function 1. The function of a central policy group which coordinates various subject matter groups is critical to effective planning and coordination. This is presently the responsibility of the Office of Federal Statistical Policy and Standards in the Department of Commerce. Under Section 103 of the Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950 this office has the govermentwide responsibility for arbitrating policy differences. It is assisted by the Statistical Policy Coordination Committee which is composed of the Cabinet, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. 2. There should be policy groups, often interdepartmental, with responsibility for defining statistical needs and priorities in important subject areas. Program agencies should work through these coordination bodies to ensure that administrative and statistical data collection contributes as much as possible to multiple needs. Subject area coordination groups must work closely with the overall coordinating unit described in 1. above. Statistical Centers Multipurpose and subject matter statistical data collection must be undertaken by a limited number of well qualified statistical centers which are designated to serve as focal points for the individual subject areas except that: a. Collection of administrative data from Federal applicants and beneficiaries for the direct purpose of making determinations about individuals and economic entities should remain with the program agencies. b. Data collection for specific regulatory purposes (as opposed to the compilation of aggregated information) should remain with regulatory agencies. Further exceptions should be granted: c. When, because of the type of analysis to be conducted, the sponsoring agency must have access to an identifiable information record about a person, company or institution (this does not include access to anonymous individual records). d. when it can be demonstrated that the data collection can be better conducted by a company or institution outside of the Federal Government. 2. To the extent that suitable statistical concepts have been followed, regulatory data should be utilized by statistical centers to provide statistical estimates without requiring duplication in data collection. (Data collection which is used to determine if an organization or institution is in compliance is called regulatory data collection if that is the primary purpose of the data collection effort.) 3. Identifiable data on specific firms or individuals should not be released by the statistical centers except to other protected enclaves, unless prescribed by existing law at the time the individual response is collected. (This concept is discussed in detail in the Framework chapter on confidentiality.) 4. Data collection requirements for repetitive programs and single-time projects should be explicit concerning purpose, methods, and expected release date. (Obviously, all efforts should be made to assure the timely release of statistical results.) 5. Statistical centers should have a methodology development and evaluation capability to ensure the implementation of high quality standards. Releases should always include indicators of data quality, possibly including discussion of sources. (This is discussed further in the Framework chapter on statistical methodology.) In the Spring of 1978, the Statistical System Project in the President's Reorganization Project was initiated. It is likely that this review of Federal statistical agencies will lead to further refinement of these principles and will result in proposals for improvement of the institutional character of statistical organizations. Since that study has just been initiated, it is not appropriate to further develop organizational principles in this Framework. Rather, the 1979 revision of the Framework should take into account the results of the recommendations of the President's Reorganization Project. In effect, the chapters which have been referenced with specific proposed principles should serve as important inputs to the Statistical System Project. The balance of this organizational chapter will be devoted to a description of existing roles and missions for the 38 important agencies which have been selected for consideration and review. Policy Coordination and Planning General Coordination Agency Office of Federal Statistical Policy and Standards The Office of Federal Statistical Policy and Standards was established in October 1977 in the Department of Commerce as the result of President Carter's Reorganization Plan No. 1. The Office functions with general guidance from the Statistical Policy Coordination Committee which includes all Cabinet departments, the Federal Reserve Board, the Council of Economic Advisers and the Office of Management and Budget. Under the Executive Order which establishes the Office, its responsibilities include review of the budget submissions of the major statistical agencies and substantive review on behalf of the Office of Management and Budget (under the Federal Reports Act) of all agency data collection proposals for statistical information gathering from the public. The Office staff chairs many interagency committees which consider statistical issues of interest across departments, such as the Federal Agency Council on Demographic Censuses. In addition, the Office is an ex-officio member of such coordinating bodies as the Subcommittee on Economic Statistics of the Economic Policy Group. The Director of the Office is also the U.S. representative on the United Nations Statistical Commission. Mission. The Office's primary mission is that of statistical planning and coordination of statistical programs, agencies, and issues across all departments and across all subject areas. It is charged with developing a coordinated statistical program for the entire U.S. Federal Statistical System. The basic authority in this area comes from Section 103 of the Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950. The Office ensures that planning for statistical programs is an interagency matter. It takes the lead in formulating recommendations to the Director of OMB on statistical budgets. These recommendations are presented in a coordinated fashion after priorities for improvement have been carefully studied over a period of several months. The other major missions of Office include: (1) review of statistical data gathering proposals as required by the Federal Reports Act of 1942, (2) establishment of statistical standards and definitions, and (3) international statistical liaison. The Federal Reports Act requires review of all new or revised forms for gathering information from ten or more respondents, so as to coordinate Federal information. requests and to minimize public reporting burden and governmental costs associated with Federal reports. The tax forms of the Treasury Department and data collection by Federal independent regulatory agencies are exempt from such reviews. The Office has been given responsibility for the substantive review of statistical reporting requirements by the Office of Management and Budget which has final responsibility under the Federal Reports Act. Development of statistical standards is a continuing activity. Among statistical standards, the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) is probably the best known. A companion, the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC), was released near the end of 1977. The critical functions of international liaison are those of articulating the U.S. needs for data from other countries and international organizations, specifying needs for improvement and greater international comparability, and providing for an international discussion of common statistical problems. The focal points for the Office's international efforts are the United Nations and its affiliated organizations, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Subject Area Coordination Bodies At present, there are seven major coordinating bodies which concentrate their efforts in one or more subject areas. These bodies are described below, by department: Executive Office of the President Subcommittee on Economic Statistics of the Department of Commerce Federal Agency Council on Demographic Department of Health, Education and Welfare- Advisory Council on Education Statistics U.S. National Committee on Vital and Health Department of Energy— Federal Interagency Council on Energy Information. The Subcommittee on Economic Statistics of the The Economic Policy Group, which is concerned with developing overall economic policy for the |