Joseph Salvo, 2010 Program Chair, Social Statistics Section
Lisa Blumerman, Program Chair, Government Statistics Section

The Social Statistics and Government Statistics sections have together organized sessions covering a range of topics that are bound to whet the statistical appetites of section members. So as you navigate through all that Vancouver, British Columbia, has to offer, consider some of our meeting offerings in the form of invited sessions. We have done our best to schedule these sessions each day from Sunday through Thursday, so plan now to attend. Future columns will highlight contributed sessions and the roundtables.

This is the second year of the GSS-sponsored poster contest, which was initiated to encourage the quantity and quality of poster submissions to the JSM. Winner of the best poster will receive $500 plus two years of free membership in GSS. Honorable mentions will receive $250. Winning posters will be redisplayed at the GSS business meeting and social.

The SSS and GSS are also cosponsoring a myriad of invited panel and paper sessions. Visit the JSM online program here to develop your full itinerary. If you have any questions or need additional information, contact Joseph Salvo, 2010 SSS program chair, at jsalvo@planning.nyc.gov or Lisa Blumerman, 2010 GSS program chair, at lisa.m.blumerman@census.gov.

Invited Sessions

This panel discusses the role statistical societies can play in building statistical capacity, both within their geographical region and also globally. The panelists are current leaders in the American Statistical Association, Statistical Society of Canada, International Statistical Institute, Royal Statistical Society, and Statistics Without Borders, with each discussing current and planned capacity building efforts within their society. As a group, the panel will discuss global needs and how capacity building efforts can be more effective and better coordinated.
Organizer: Nilupa S. Gunaratna, International Nutrition Foundation
Chair: Juanita Tamayo Lott, Tamayo Lott Associates
Denise Lievesley, King’s College London
Bovas Abraham, University of Waterloo
Sally Morton, RTI International
Neville Davies, Royal Statistical Society Centre for Statistical Education
James J. Cochran, Louisiana Tech University

Can You Maintain Confidentiality and Have Useful Data at the Same Time? (Panel)

One of the biggest issues facing those in the public and private sectors collecting survey and census data is the need to maintain confidentiality and deliver useful information. Clearly public trust has declined substantially in the past few decades. At the same time, the need has increased dramatically to better understand the economy, our social structure, and medical information for health purposes. The panelists will explore how confidentiality is maintained under various scenarios of data collection. These will include the implications of data linking; the need to protect DNA information; analyzing small-area data; federal statistical agency cooperation; and using secure remote access locations.
Organizer/chair: Edward Spar, Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics
Michael Link, The Nielsen Co.
Jennifer Madans, National Center for Health Statistics
Elaine Murakami, Federal Highway Administration
Marilyn Seastrom, National Center for Education Statistics
John Thompson, National Opinion Research Center

How Government Statistics Make a Difference (Panel)

Governments typically put a goodly number of resources into producing statistics about the societies under their responsibility. A proportion of the statistics produced are widely disseminated in the media, but others generate little interest from reporters. One can question the role of government statistics and the value of the profession (government statisticians) who put them together. Questions that arise may include the following: Does it really matter that we have been able to measure the various phenomena that affect our society? Is it a government responsibility to do so, or should it be left to the private sector, associations, and the like? Why should a student enroll for a statistics degree and consider governments as an employer of choice? A panel of five heads of statistical organizations will address these questions and others.
Organizer: Robert Lussier, Statistics Canada
Chair: Sally Morton, RTI International
Keith Hall, Bureau of Labor Statistics
Munir Sheikh, Statistics Canada
Jil Matheson, UK Statistics Authority
Brian Pink, Australian Bureau of Statistics
Cynthia Clark, National Agricultural Statistics Service

The U.S. Federal Statistical System 2.0: Future Directions (Panel)

During the spring through fall of 2009, the ICSP, comprised of the heads of 14 statistical agencies and chaired by the U.S. Chief Statistician, began an informal strategic planning process. This session will describe that process but primarily emphasize the outcome of those discussions: the ICSP’s vision of directions for the Federal Statistical System. The vision emerging from that process involves building on the tradition of collaboration to achieve new levels of efficiency, data quality, and utility for data users through innovative efforts, such as a systemwide approach to statistical uses of administrative records and more common data dissemination strategies and tools. Members of the ICSP will discuss these activities and how they hope to implement them in the coming years.
Organizer: Rochelle (Shelly) Wilkie Martinez, U.S. Office of Management and Budget
Chair: Katherine K. Wallman, U.S. Office of Management and Budget
Steve Landefeld, Bureau of Economic Analysis
Robert M. Groves, U.S. Census Bureau
Edward J. Sondik, National Center for Health Statistics

What If the 2020 Census Was the First Census: What Would We Do? (Panel)

While we always look to the past as a means of informing present and future strategies in census work, this can be a mixed blessing. Objectives and methods frequently become fixed for no good reason, shutting out creative paths that may lead to much-needed innovation. In this session, an effort is made to start fresh and ask the most basic questions about what the goal of a 2020 census would be and how best to achieve it. Emphasis will be placed on questions as to why the data are needed, the level of precision that is needed, the level of precision that is available, and the methods that may be used to achieve these ends.
Organizer/chair: Hermann Habermann, Former Director, United Nations Statistics Division
John E. Rolph, University of Southern California
Lawrence D. Brown, University of Pennsylvania
Joseph J. Salvo, New York City Department of City Planning
David A. Swanson, University of California, Riverside

Conducting Effective Nonresponse Bias Analysis Studies in Household and Establishment Surveys (Papers)

Organizer/chair: Jenny Thompson, U.S. Census Bureau
Discussant: J. Michael Brick, Westat

“Conducting Nonresponse Bias Analysis for Business Surveys,” Joanna Fane Lineback and Katherine Jenny Thompson, U.S. Census Bureau

“Measuring Nonresponse Bias in the National Crime Victimization Survey,” Zhiwei Zhang and Louise Woodburn, National Opinion Research Center; Fritz Scheuren, NORC at the University of Chicago

“Conducting Nonresponse Bias Analyses in Federal Surveys,” Brian Harris-Kojetin, U.S. Office of Management and Budget

Implementing the Measuring American Poverty Act in States and Local Areas (Papers)

Organizer/chair: Mark Levitan, NYC Center for Economic Opportunity
Discussant: Irwin Garfinkel, Columbia University School of Social Work

“Using the American Community Survey to Implement a National Academy of Sciences-Style Poverty Measure,” Trudi Renwick, U.S. Census Bureau; Mark Levitan

“Creating a New Measure of Poverty for the State of Wisconsin,” Timothy Smeeding, Institute for Research on Poverty

“The Analysis of the TANF and Food Stamp Programs with Matched Administrative and Survey Data,” George Falco, NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance; Bruce D. Meyer, University of Chicago

“Variance Estimation Protocols for the NAS Poverty Measure: The New York City Poverty Measure Experience,” Frank Potter, Eric Grau, and John Czajka, Mathematica Policy Research Inc.; Mark Levitan

Measurement of Elusive Populations & Phenomena: Experiences and Challenges from the Human Rights Field (Papers)

Organizer: Megan Price, Benetech
Chair: Lillian Lin, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Discussant: Steven Thompson, Simon Fraser University

“Measuring Elusive Populations with Multiple Systems Estimation: A Case Study in Casanare,” Kristian Lum, Duke University; Megan Price and Patrick Ball, Benetech

“A New Method to Estimate Mortality in Crisis-Affected and Resource-Poor Settings: Validation Study,” Francesco Checchi, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

“Measuring Lethal Counterinsurgency Violence in Amritsar District, India, Using a Referral-based Sampling Technique,” Romesh Silva, Jeff Klingner, and Scott Weikart, Human Rights Data Analysis Group, Benetech

What Can You Do to Help Our Sections?

Attend our sessions in 2010. Each year, the section officers try to strengthen the SSS and GSS portions of the JSM program. You, our members, need to support these efforts and attend our sessions. Even better: Attend our sessions with your colleagues!

Help plan invited sessions for the section to sponsor in 2011. It is time to think about topics for proposed invited sessions for the 2011 JSM. More information will be in a future Amstat News article and our monthly e-newsletter. If you have any specific ideas or general suggestions, contact the SSS 2011 program chair, Nancy Clusen, at NClusen@Mathematica-MPR.com or the GSS 2011 program chair, Iris Shimizu, at ims1@cdc.gov