Federal government statistics provide critical information to the country and serve a key role in a democracy. For decades, sample surveys with instruments carefully designed for particular data needs have been one of the primary methods for collecting data for federal statistics. However, the costs of conducting such surveys have been increasing while response rates have been declining, and many surveys are not able to fulfill growing demands for more timely information and for more detailed information at state and local levels. Innovations in Federal Statistics examines the opportunities and risks of using government administrative and private sector data sources to foster a paradigm shift in federal statistical programs that would combine diverse data sources in a secure manner to enhance federal statistics. This first publication of a two-part series discusses the challenges faced by the federal statistical system and the foundational elements needed for a new paradigm.

The environment for obtaining information and providing statistical data for policy makers and the public has changed significantly in the past decade, raising questions about the fundamental survey paradigm that underlies federal statistics. New data sources provide opportunities to develop a new paradigm that can improve timeliness, geographic or subpopulation detail, and statistical efficiency. It also has the potential to reduce the costs of producing federal statistics. The panel's first report described federal statistical agencies' current paradigm, which relies heavily on sample surveys for producing national statistics, and challenges agencies are facing; the legal frameworks and mechanisms for protecting the privacy and confidentiality of statistical data and for providing researchers access to data, and challenges to those frameworks and mechanisms; and statistical agencies access to alternative sources of data. The panel recommended a new approach for federal statistical programs that would combine diverse data sources from government and private sector sources and the creation of a new entity that would provide the foundational elements needed for this new approach, including legal authority to access data and protect privacy. This second of the panel's two reports builds on the analysis, conclusions, and recommendations in the first one. This report assesses alternative methods for implementing a new approach that would combine diverse data sources from government and private sector sources, including describing statistical models for combining data from multiple sources; examining statistical and computer science approaches that foster privacy protections; evaluating frameworks for assessing the quality and utility of alternative data sources; and various models for implementing the recommended new entity. Together, the two reports offer ideas and recommendations to help federal statistical agencies examine and evaluate data from alternative sources and then combine them as appropriate to provide the country with more timely, actionable, and useful information for policy makers, businesses, and individuals.

This book provides a comprehensive and up to date treatment of theory and practical implementation in Register-based statistics. It begins by defining the area, before explaining how to structure such systems, as well as detailing alternative approaches. It explains how to create statistical registers, how to implement quality assurance, and the use of IT systems for register-based statistics. Further to this, clear details are given about the practicalities of implementing such statistical methods, such as protection of privacy and the coordination and coherence of such an undertaking. This edition offers a full understanding of both the principles and practices of this increasingly popular area of statistics, and can be considered a first step to a more systematic way of working with register-statistical issues. This book addresses the growing global interest in the topic and employs a much broader, more international approach than the 1st edition. New chapters explore different kinds of register-based surveys, such as preconditions for register-based statistics and comparing sample survey and administrative data. Furthermore, the authors present discussions on register-based census, national accounts and the transition towards a register-based system as well as presenting new chapters on quality assessment of administrative sources and production process quality.