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Principles and Practices for a Federal Statistical Agency: Fourth Edition (2009)

Chapter: Committee on National Statistics

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Suggested Citation:"Committee on National Statistics." National Research Council. 2009. Principles and Practices for a Federal Statistical Agency: Fourth Edition. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12564.
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COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL STATISTICS The Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) was established in 1972 at the National Academies to improve the statistical methods and informa- tion on which public policy decisions are based. The committee carries out studies, workshops, and other activities to foster better measures and fuller understanding of the economy, the environment, public health, crime education, immigration, poverty, welfare, and other public policy issues. It also evaluates ongoing statistical programs and tracks the statistical policy and coordinating activities of the federal government, serving a unique role at the intersection of statistics and public policy. The committee’s work is supported by a consortium of federal agencies through a National Science Foundation grant.

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Since 1992, the Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) has produced a book on principles and practices for a federal statistical agency, updating the document every 4 years to provide a current edition to newly appointed cabinet secretaries at the beginning of each presidential administration.

This fourth edition presents and comments on four basic principles that statistical agencies must embody in order to carry out their mission fully:

(1) They must produce objective data that are relevant to policy issues,

(2) they must achieve and maintain credibility among data users,

(3) they must achieve and maintain trust among data providers, and

(4) they must achieve and maintain a strong position of independence from the appearance and reality of political control.

The book also discusses 11 important practices that are means for statistical agencies to live up to the four principles. These practices include a commitment to quality and professional practice and an active program of methodological and substantive research. This fourth edition adds the principle that statistical agencies must operate from a strong position of independence and the practice that agencies must have ongoing internal and external evaluations of their programs.

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