Barry Graubard is a dedicated mentor, ASA Fellow, and pioneer in government statistics. His commitment to the profession exemplifies how passion, curiosity, and mentorship can leave a lasting legacy.
National Center for Health Statistics
The ADA: A Civil Rights and Statistical Milestone
Although much work remains, the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act has changed the landscape for people with disabilities with stronger legal protections, improved access, and more acceptance in society.
Explore US Statistical Agencies with Stats+Stories
Those interested in the work of US statistical agencies, their international counterparts, or topics related to their work might want to dive into this Stats+Stories podcast episode list.
FY23 Budgets, FY24 Budget Request Show Strong Support for Research, Statistical Agencies
The December deal to fund the US government for the current fiscal year included an increase of 14% for the National Science Foundation and 6% for the National Institutes of Health, along with double-digit percent increases for several statistical agencies. Released in March, the president’s requested budget for fiscal year 2024 (FY24) also has favorable increases for the agencies but will face the new Republican majority in the US House of Representatives, where there is a desire to reduce federal government spending to FY22 levels.
Obituaries for April 2023
ASA members Donald Young, Jane Gentleman, and Donald Guthrie passed away recently.
Establishing and Maintaining Trust in a Federal Statistical Agency: A Discussion from the National Academies
The Office of Management and Budget, Congress, and National Academies deem professional independence necessary for an agency to establish trust in its products. Professional independence includes an agency’s autonomy over its budget, information technology, hiring, publications, contracting, and data collection and analysis. To further the understanding of the importance of statistical agency autonomy, we include the autonomy portions of a discussion between Robert Groves and Hermann Habermann, James Lynch, and Charles Rothwell.
Jonaki Bose
Jonaki Bose has been a federal statistician for 27 years. She’s worked in the Education, Transportation, and Health and Human Services departments. Now, as a senior adviser, she works on interesting production challenges, mentors, and performs methodological work with like-minded colleagues interested in furthering the production and use of health statistics.
ASA, COPAFS, Partners Urge Bolstering of Federal Statistical Agencies
Federal statistics have undergirded our democracy, society, and economy since the nation’s founding. Even as their importance has increased over the centuries—especially recently with the focus on evidence-based policymaking—the agencies producing the data have been neglected, lost important autonomy and statutory protections, and been pushed deeper into the federal bureaucracy.
FY21 Federal Budget Finalized
![Figure 1 shows the budgets of the seven mid-sized statistical agencies normalized to their FY09 levels, along with the GDP deflator to account for inflation. Budget restructuring for ERS in FY15 and ORES in FY19 are accounted for in the graph to allow for comparison over this time period. One-time moving costs in FY16 for BEA are also omitted. [Key: BEA, Bureau of Economic Analysis; BJS, Bureau of Justice Statistics; BTS, Bureau of Transportation Statistics; ERS, USDA Economic Research Service; NCSES, NSF National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics; ORES, Social Security Administration Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics; SOI, IRS Statistics of Income Division]](https://magazine.amstat.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/FY_Figure1_-150x150.jpg)
The NIH, NSF, and several federal statistical agencies received increases, but many are facing fiscal challenges after years of purchasing power loss.
Federal Statistical Agencies Praised for Pandemic Response
The first half of 2020 was a busy time for the federal statistical system, requiring quick responses and nimble adaptability from agencies on several fronts.