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Principles and Practices for a Federal Statistical Agency Sixth Edition (2017) / Chapter Skim
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Practice 11: Professional Advancement of Staff
Pages 109-112

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From page 109...
... To retain and make the most effective use of its staff, an agency should provide opportunities for work on challenging projects in addition to more routine, production-oriented assignments. An agency's personnel policies, supported with sufficient resources, should enable staff to extend their technical capabilities through appropriate professional and developmental activities, such as attendance and participation in professional meetings, participation in relevant training programs, rotation of assignments, and involvement in collaborative activities with other statistical agencies.
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From page 110...
... . • Interaction with other professionals inside and outside the agency is fostered through opportunities to participate in technical advisory committee meetings, establish and be active in relevant listservs and blogs, interact with contract researchers and research consultants on substantive matters, interact with visiting fellows and staff detailed from other agencies, take assignments with other relevant statistical, policy, or research organizations, and regularly receive new assignments within the agency.
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From page 111...
... The prestige and credibility of a statistical agency is enhanced by the professional visibility of its staff, which may include establishing high-level nonmanagement positions for highly qualified technical experts. An effective statistical agency considers carefully the costs and benefits -- both monetary and nonmonetary -- of using contractor organizations, not only for data collection, as most agencies do, but also to supplement inhouse staff in other areas, such as carrying out methodological research.86 Outsourcing can have benefits, such as: providing experts in areas in which the agency is unlikely to be able to attract highly qualified in-house staff (e.g., some information technology functions)
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From page 112...
... , as well as to the agency's own policies and practices regarding such matters as the protection of confidentiality, respect for privacy, and standards for data quality. It endeavors in other ways to ensure that its staff are fully cognizant of the ethics that must guide their actions in order for the agency to maintain its credibility as a source of objective, reliable information for use by all.
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Key Terms

  • federal statistical
  • professional activities
  • statistical agencies
  • ethical standards
  • data quality

  • personnel policies
  • professional ethics
  • agency maintains
  • census bureau
  • including leadership

  • quality assessment
  • service contracts
  • strong professional
  • technical work
  • survey contractors

  • fair treatment
  • statistical institute
  • leadership positions
  • statistical association
  • survey researchers

  • technology functions
  • mathematical statisticians
  • industry practices
  • bureau maintain
  • using contractor

  • methodological research
  • inaccurate interpretation
  • include technical
  • adequate budget
  • data users


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