Online Program Home
  My Program

Abstract Details

Activity Number:
Register
188 - Government Statistics Section P.M. Roundtable Discussion (Added Fee)
Type: Roundtables
Date/Time: Monday, July 31, 2017 : 12:30 PM to 1:50 PM
Sponsor: Government Statistics Section
Abstract #324158
Title: What Is the Future of the Sample Survey for Government Statistics?
Author(s): Peter Miller*
Companies: US Census Bureau
Keywords: survey ; administrative records ; Big Data ; government statistics
Abstract:

The sample survey has been central to the creation of government statistics for decades. The now well-known problems of declining response rates and rising costs have led many to argue that the era of the survey is over. The increasing availability of alternative data sources (administrative records, "Big Data") reinforces this claim. A recent report of the Committee on National Statistics seeks to foster alternatives to the "survey paradigm." It urges federal statistical agencies to research and invest in combinations of data from non-survey sources to create the statistics that have been gleaned from sample surveys heretofore.

Is it time to abandon the sample survey? Are nonresponse and rising costs intractable problems, as some allege, or are they issues susceptible to new ways of thinking? On the other hand, can administrative records and "Big Data" be shaped into products that satisfy the requirements of government statistics and the needs of data users who are accustomed to what surveys provide? Participants in this roundtable will discuss such questions and debate the future of the sample survey for government statistics.


Authors who are presenting talks have a * after their name.

Back to the full JSM 2017 program

 
 
Copyright © American Statistical Association