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Principles and Practices for a Federal Statistical Agency Sixth Edition (2017) / Chapter Skim
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Practice 2: Necessary Authority to Protect Independence
Pages 63-68

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From page 63...
... , and congressional mandates (see "Limits on Authority," below) , a statistical agency requires the following: • authority for professional decisions over the scope, content, and frequency of data compiled, analyzed, and published within the framework set by an agency's authorizing legislation; • authority for the statistical agency head and qualified staff to discuss the agency's statistics with members of Congress, congressional staff, and in appropriate public forums; • authority for selection and promotion of professional, technical, and operational staff; • authority to control information technology (IT)
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From page 64...
... , OMB statistical policy directives, and guidelines required by the Information Quality Act, all of which uphold the necessity for statistical agency independence from undue outside influence. The directive affirms the need for statistical agency autonomy in professional decisions and the obligation of departments to support their statistical agencies in this regard (see Appendix A)
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From page 65...
... to adhere to predetermined schedules for the public release of key economic indicators and to take steps to ensure that no person outside the agency has access to such indicators before the official release time except under carefully specified conditions.39 Statistical Policy Directive 38 The Energy Information Agency had its independence authorized in this regard in Section 205 of the Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977; 42 USC 7135(d)
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From page 66...
... encourages statistical agencies to use them to publicize and thereby expand the dissemination of data to the public. The directive states: "statistical press releases must be produced and issued by the statistical agency and must provide a policy-neutral description of the data." Policy pronouncements must be issued separately by executive branch policy officials and not by the statistical agency, and "policy officials of the issuing department may review the draft statistical press release [solely]
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From page 67...
... In turn, although it is standard practice for the secretary of a department or the head of an independent agency to have ultimate responsibility for all matters in the department or agency, the head of a statistical agency, for credibility, should be allowed full authority in professional and technical matters. For example, decisions to revise the methodology for calculating the Consumer Price Index, the gross domestic product, and the supplemental poverty measure40 have been and are properly made by the relevant statistical agency heads or their designees.41 40 See Interagency Technical Working Group on Developing a Supplemental Poverty Measure (2010:1, 3)
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  • statistical content
  • release statistical
  • statistical press
  • principal statistical
  • issuing statistical

  • encourages statistical
  • omb statistical
  • draft statistical
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  • press release

  • foster regular
  • including press
  • independence authority
  • population census
  • agency credibility

  • technical aspects
  • information quality
  • independent agency
  • policy interpretations
  • federal information


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