Taking Her Time
Gordon recently cashed in on the vacation time she accrued over the past decade, during which she was too busy to think about traveling for fun. In 2008, she took several cruises, traveling to Iceland, Ireland, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, China, Malaysia, India, and the United Arab Emirates. Describing herself as a “people person,” Gordon said she enjoys music, good food, fine wine, and spending time with friends and family.

Today and the Future

In 2005, Gordon moved into her current position and shifted her focus from collecting data to finding innovative ways to disseminate them, as well as directing the development of the bureau’s strategic plan—which defines its mission, long-term goals, and objectives. “It is harder now to release information about people due to confidentiality concerns. The information on the Internet about specific, identified individuals makes the disclosure avoidance requirements of statistical agencies harder to meet,” said Gordon. At first, the Census Bureau reduced the amount of data released, but it was clear more sophisticated statistical methods had to be developed so information the country needs could be released without disclosing personal data. Gordon explained that two of these methods are to add noise and to create synthetic data. Put simply, these methods modify the data in systematic ways so individual responses are not identifiable, but the aggregated data are reliable.

These state-of-the-art methods to protect confidentiality have allowed the LED and other programs to release valid data for small geographic areas beyond traditional boundaries for public use on the Internet. For instance, the LED flagship product—Quarterly Workforce Indicators—provides information about trends in employment, hiring, job creation and destruction, and earnings with unprecedented detail concerning geography, age, gender, and industry. Another LED product, OnTheMap, is a mapping and reporting tool showing where people work and live. It is the first synthetic data product released by the Census Bureau and was presented at the United Nations this year as an example of U.S. statistical innovation.

Making a Difference

Gordon sums up her job as “providing information so people can make informed decisions.” For example, bureau data have been used extensively by many organizations to analyze the effects of federal policy options for social security and housing programs. “These decisions really matter,” said Gordon. “They affect millions of people, so we want the best possible information to be available in a timely fashion. You can’t have information if you don’t have easy access to the underlying data, which is why I enjoy being at the Census Bureau so much.”

Gordon encourages new statisticians to consider working for a federal statistical agency. “The technical challenges and statistical issues we are facing are real and interesting,” she said. “Just as long ago, when Morris Hansen was pioneering the idea of taking a survey and transformed statistics, we’re in a similar period now. The problems statistical agencies are working on are important, hard, and fun.”