Data Quality: Census Bureau Needs to Accelerate Efforts to	 
Develop and Implement Data Quality Review Standards (17-NOV-04,  
GAO-05-86).							 
                                                                 
Data from the decennial census are used to apportion and	 
redistrict seats in the House of Representatives, distribute	 
billions of dollars of federal funds, and guide the planning and 
investment decisions of the public and private sectors. Given the
importance of these data, it is essential that they meet high	 
quality standards before they are distributed to the public.	 
After questions arose about the quality of certain data from the 
2000 Census, the requesters asked GAO to review U.S. Census	 
Bureau (Bureau) standards on the quality of data disseminated to 
the public.							 
-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   GAO-05-86						        
    ACCNO:   A13536						        
  TITLE:     Data Quality: Census Bureau Needs to Accelerate Efforts  
to Develop and Implement Data Quality Review Standards		 
     DATE:   11/17/2004 
  SUBJECT:   Census						 
	     Data collection					 
	     Data integrity					 
	     Decision making					 
	     Government information dissemination		 
	     Quality control					 
	     Standards and standardization			 
	     Standards evaluation				 
	     Statistical data					 
	     2000 Decennial Census				 
	     2010 Decennial Census				 
	     Census Bureau American Community Survey		 
	     1990 Decennial Census				 

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GAO-05-86

     

     * Report to Congressional Requesters
          * November 2004
     * DATA QUALITY
          * Census Bureau Needs to Accelerate Efforts to Develop and
            Implement Data \Quality Review Standards
     * Contents
          * Results in Brief
          * Background
          * Scope and Methodology
          * Professional Judgment Drove Data Dissemination Decisions
               * The Bureau Lacked Agencywide, Written Standards and
                 Guidelines on the Qu\ality of Census Data Disseminated to
                 the Public
               * Lack of Data Quality Review Guidelines Led to Inadequate
                 Analysis of Pot\ential Errors and Release of Data without
                 Adequate Disclosure
               * The Bureau Made Conflicting Dissemination Decisions on Data
                 with Similar\ Quality Problems
          * The Bureau Has Made Limited Progress in Publicly Issuing New
            Standards o\n the Quality of Data Disseminated to the Public
            since the 2000 Census
               * The Bureau Has Taken Steps to Expand Its Guidance on Data
                 Quality Review\
               * Bureau Working Group Has Begun Developing Additional
                 Standards on Data Q\uality Review, but None Have Been Issued
          * Greater Commitment to New Standards for Public Dissemination of
            Data Cou\ld Help Bureau Avoid Problems in Disseminating 2010
            Census and Other Dat\a
               * Developing and Implementing Bureau-Wide Data Quality Review
                 Standards Ar\e Not Part of Official Bureau Plans
               * Data Quality Review Standards Could Also Aid Other Data
                 Programs before \2010
          * Conclusions
          * Recommendations for Executive Action
          * Agency Comments and Our Evaluation
     * Comments from the Department of Commerce
     * cover4.pdf
          * http://www.gao.gov

                 United States Government Accountability Office

Report to Congressional Requesters

GAO

November 2004

DATA QUALITY

Census Bureau Needs to Accelerate Efforts to Develop and Implement Data Quality
                                Review Standards

                                       a

Highlights of GAO-05-86, a report to
congressional requesters

Data from the decennial census are used to apportion and redistrict seats
in the House of Representatives, distribute billions of dollars of federal
funds, and guide the planning and investment decisions of the public and
private sectors. Given the importance of these data, it is essential that
they meet high quality standards before they are distributed to the
public. After questions arose about the quality of certain data from the
2000 Census, the requesters asked GAO to review U.S. Census Bureau
(Bureau) standards on the quality of data disseminated to the public.

GAO recommends that the Bureau

     o accelerate its effort to establish a comprehensive set of data quality
       review standards by developing and making public a detailed plan,
       including interim milestones for developing such standards and
       procedures, and
     o include the implementation of data quality review standards in the
       Bureau's plans for the 2010 Census, and test new draft guidelines on
       data quality review using the annual American Community Survey or
       other surveys.

Commerce agreed with our second recommendation but not the first. However,
because the Bureau has yet to approve and make public data quality review
standards, we continue to believe that it needs to accelerate its effort.

www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/ getrpt?GAO-05-86.

To view the full product, including the scope and methodology, click on
the link above. For more information, contact Patricia A. Dalton at (202)
512-6806 or [email protected].

November 2004

DATA QUALITY

Census Bureau Needs to Accelerate Efforts to Develop and Implement Data
Quality Review Standards

The Bureau did not have detailed agencywide standards for the review of
data from the 2000 Census to determine if the data were of sufficient
quality for public dissemination. Instead, analysts and managers in
different parts of the Bureau primarily used their own judgment and
unwritten, program-specific guidance to decide when and whether data
should be released and what supporting information should accompany the
data. The lack of sufficient data quality review standards led to a
variety of problems, including missed opportunities for correcting data
before release, inconsistent decisions on disseminating data with similar
quality issues, and inadequate communication to users about the reasons
for dissemination decisions. As a result, some users of data from the 2000
Census lost confidence in the quality of the data and in the Bureau's
review procedures.

In the 4 years since the 2000 Census, the Bureau has publicly issued
general information quality guidelines, including eight performance
principles, and one new standard that allows individuals to request
correction of certain errors in data disseminated by the Bureau. Both of
these documents resulted from the enactment of the Information Quality Act
in 2000 and the subsequent guidelines issued by the Office of Management
and Budget in 2002. However, except for the one standard, the Bureau did
not provide any specific guidelines or procedures on the implementation of
the general guidelines. The Bureau also began work on other standards,
including one on minimal information that must be provided with data and
another on discussion of errors in data released to the public. Neither
has been issued in final form. In response to our earlier recommendations,
the Bureau created an interdirectorate working group charged with
developing and publicly issuing Bureau-wide standards for quality in data
releases. The working group has taken some steps, but the Bureau has not
provided information on the scope or the time frame for its efforts to
develop these standards.

The standards that the Bureau has under development and the activities of
the working group are encouraging. However, it will be important for the
Bureau to proceed with greater urgency to ensure that fully tested
standards are in place for the 2010 Census. Until spring 2004, no
additional resources were provided to support the working group, and over
a year after it began, it has not issued any new standards or said when it
will be ready to do so.

A comprehensive, Bureau-wide data quality framework, with interrelated
standards, and specific implementing procedures could help ensure
consistent decisions about the quality of the data from the next decennial
census and conditions under which the data will be disseminated. Moreover,
the benefits the Bureau can achieve by developing and effectively
implementing comprehensive data quality standards would not be limited to
the decennial census. Because they would apply to all data disseminated by
the Bureau, it will be important for any new standards to be developed
promptly, implemented across the Bureau, and released to the public.

Contents

  Letter 1

Results in Brief 2 Background 5 Scope and Methodology 7 Professional
Judgment Drove Data Dissemination Decisions 9 The Bureau Has Made Limited
Progress in Publicly Issuing New

Standards on the Quality of Data Disseminated to the Public since

the 2000 Census 14 Greater Commitment to New Standards for Public
Dissemination of

Data Could Help Bureau Avoid Problems in Disseminating 2010

Census and Other Data 19 Conclusions 21 Recommendations for Executive
Action 22 Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 23

  Appendix

              Appendix I: Comments from the Department of Commerce

This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright
protection in the United States. It may be reproduced and distributed in
its entirety without further permission from GAO. However, because this
work may contain copyrighted images or other material, permission from the
copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce this material
separately.

A

United States Government Accountability Office Washington, D.C. 20548

November 17, 2004

The Honorable Wm. Lacy Clay Ranking Minority Member Subcommittee on
Technology,

Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations

and the Census Committee on Government Reform House of Representatives

The Honorable Danny K. Davis The Honorable Carolyn B. Maloney The
Honorable Charles A. Gonzalez House of Representatives

As one of the nation's principal statistical agencies, the U.S. Census
Bureau (Bureau) collects and disseminates data that are used to apportion
and redistrict seats in the House of Representatives, distribute billions
of dollars of federal funds, and guide the planning and investment
decisions of the public and private sectors. Given the importance of
Bureau data to our economy and system of governance, census information,
like other federal statistics, must be of high quality before it is
released to the public. Specifically, the data must be accurate, timely,
accessible, relevant, and objective. Failure to meet this threshold could
impair decision making and erode public confidence in the information and
the Bureau's credibility.

Producing high-quality data is a continuing challenge, in part because the
methods used to collect and process census data are complex and subject to
some degree of error. Consequently, the Bureau must decide if and when the
quality of each set of data is high enough for it to be released and what
caveats, if any, are needed to inform users of any shortcomings that could
affect whether and how the data are used. The development and use of
comprehensive data quality review standards-if they are well documented,
transparent, clearly defined, and consistently applied-help statistical
agencies make such decisions and communicate the results of the decisions
to the public.

After the reliability of certain publicly released data from the 2000
Census was called into question, concerns were raised about the adequacy
of the Bureau's data quality review standards. Chief among these concerns
was that the Bureau did not routinely and consistently include an adequate

                                Results in Brief

discussion of limitations to the data it disseminates or provide
information on how it reaches its dissemination decisions.

At your request, we reviewed the Bureau's data quality review standards.1
Specifically, as discussed with your offices, we (1) examined the review
standards that the Bureau had in place to guide decisions to disseminate
2000 Census data, (2) determined if the Bureau has subsequently developed
additional review standards to guide decisions about data quality, and

(3) assessed whether any such standards are likely to address for the 2010
Census the data quality review concerns raised after the release of
certain data from the 2000 Census.

To meet these objectives, we interviewed Bureau officials, reviewed
relevant documents prepared both before and after the enactment of the
Information Quality Act of 2000, and examined the guidelines other
statistical agencies and organizations have developed governing the public
dissemination of data. We did our audit work in Washington, D.C., and at
the Bureau's headquarters in Suitland, Maryland, from August 2003 through
October 2004, in accordance with generally accepted government auditing
standards.

The Bureau did not have detailed agencywide standards for reviewing data
from the 2000 Census to determine if the data were of sufficient quality
for public dissemination. Instead, analysts and managers within the
different parts of the Bureau primarily used their own judgment and
unwritten, program-specific practices to decide when and whether data
should be released and what supporting information about data limitations,
if any, should accompany them. This led to (1) the dissemination of data
with uncorrected and undisclosed quality problems, (2) inconsistent
decisions on disseminating data with similar quality problems, and (3)
inadequate communication to users about the reasons for dissemination
decisions. As a result, some users of data from the 2000 Census lost
confidence in the quality of the data and in the Bureau's quality review
procedures.

1 The terms "standards" and "guidelines" are often used without clear
definition and sometimes interchangeably. The Bureau defines standards as
methodological procedures that are required for all Bureau program areas
and guidelines as procedures that are recommended for all Bureau program
areas. We follow that distinction in discussing Bureau guidance. However,
the term "guidelines" is also used, particularly in reference to
governmentwide requirements, to refer to a broad set of related standards,
guidelines, or a combination of these, and we follow that usage where
appropriate.

In the 4 years since the 2000 Census, the Bureau has publicly issued
information quality guidelines that contain general quality goals and
principles and one new standard that allows individuals to request
correction of errors in data disseminated by the Bureau. Both of these
initiatives came as a result of the enactment of the Information Quality
Act in 20002 and the subsequent guidelines issued by the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) in 2002.3 However, except for the one
standard, the Bureau did not provide specific guidelines or procedures on
the implementation of the general principles articulated in the
information quality guidelines.

Since the 2000 Census, the Bureau has also initiated work on several other
standards and guidelines on the quality of data released to the public.
Some have been approved for internal use but have not yet been made
publicly available. For example, one such standard specifies minimal
information that must accompany any report of Bureau data. Additionally,
the Bureau has identified several other initiatives on data quality review
standards, which are in earlier stages of development. For example, the
Bureau is working on a Bureau-wide standard for discussion and
presentation of errors in data disseminated to the public that will be
based on an existing working paper on the subject. Bureau officials said
that the Bureau plans to make completed standards publicly available on
its Internet site by the end of 2004.

In response to the recommendations contained in our 2003 reports on census
counts of Hispanic subgroups4 and the homeless,5 the Bureau established an
interdirectorate working group charged with developing Bureau-wide
standards for quality in data releases. According to Bureau officials, the
working group has taken some steps to address the tasks laid

2 Consolidated Appropriations, 2001, Pub. L. No. 106-554 (2000) (enacting
H.R. 5658, S:515) referred to by the Office of Management and Budget as
the Information Quality Act.

3 Office of Management and Budget, Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing
the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information
Disseminated by the Federal Government; Republication, 67 Fed. Reg. 8452
(Feb. 22, 2002).

4 GAO, Decennial Census: Methods for Collecting and Reporting Hispanic
Subgroup Data Need Refinement, GAO-03-228 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 17,
2003).

5 GAO, Decennial Census: Methods for Collecting and Reporting Data on the
Homeless and Others without Conventional Housing Need Refinement,
GAO-03-227 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 17, 2003).

out in its charter. However, the Bureau has not provided information on
the scope or the time frame for developing these standards.

The standards that the Bureau has under development and activities of the
working group are steps in the right direction. However, the Bureau needs
to accelerate its efforts to develop and implement quality standards for
data it disseminates. Until spring 2004, no additional resources were
provided to support the work of the group, and over a year after it began,
the group has not issued any new standards or guidelines, nor indicated
when it will be ready to do so. Although Bureau officials said that 2010
Census dissemination decisions would adhere to new Bureau dissemination
guidelines, the actions the Bureau has taken to date are not enough to
ensure that it will avoid in 2010 the types of problems encountered in
disseminating data from the 2000 Census. Also, because the Bureau is
distributing data from the American Community Survey (ACS),6 development
of needed standards should not wait until 2010.

The development and implementation of a comprehensive, Bureau-wide data
quality framework, with interrelated standards, and specific procedures
will help ensure (1) the consistency of decisions about the quality of
data from the next decennial census, the ACS, and other surveys and (2)
the conditions under which the data will be disseminated. Thus, the
benefits the Bureau can achieve by implementing comprehensive data quality
review standards will not be limited to the decennial census. Because the
standards will apply to all of the data publicly disseminated by the
Bureau, the standards should be developed promptly and implemented across
the Bureau.

Therefore, we recommend that the Secretary of Commerce direct the Director
of the U.S. Census Bureau to (1) accelerate the Bureau's effort to
establish comprehensive data quality standards and (2) include the
implementation of data quality review standards in the Bureau's plans for
the 2010 Census.

6 The ACS is designed to replace the long-form census questionnaire and
provide annual data for areas with populations of 65,000 or more and
multiyear averages for smaller geographic areas using population and
housing counts from the Intercensal Population Estimates. See GAO, The
American Community Survey: Accuracy and Timeliness Issues, GAO-02-956R
(Washington, D.C.: Sept. 30, 2002), and ACS: Key Unresolved Issues,
GAO-05-82 (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 8, 2004).

Page 4 GAO-05-86 Census Bureau Data Quality Review Standards

The Secretary of Commerce provided written comments on a draft of this
report (see app. I). Commerce agreed with our recommendation that the
Bureau include the implementation of data quality review standards in its
plans for the 2010 Census, and said that the quality review standards will
be used for the 2010 Census and for all applicable Bureau programs,
including the ACS. However, Commerce did not agree with our recommendation
that the Bureau accelerate its effort to establish comprehensive data
quality standards. Commerce maintained that the Bureau has already
completed much of the work of establishing comprehensive data quality
standards and will continue to develop new standards where needed. While
these are important steps, most of these standards are not available to
the public, and the Bureau still lacks well-documented, transparent,
clearly defined quality review guidelines and standards. Thus, we stand by
our recommendation and urge the Bureau to accelerate its pace in
completing the development of these standards and effectively implementing
them.

The Bureau is best known for counting the nation's population every

  Background

10 years. In the future, the Bureau intends to collect much of the data
that have traditionally been collected during the decennial census from
the long-form questionnaire with the annual ACS. Beyond the decennial
census, the Bureau also conducts numerous other surveys and censuses that
measure changing individual and household demographics and the economic
condition of the nation. Lawmakers and agency officials at the federal,
state, and local levels rely on these data when they make decisions in a
wide range of policy areas. Private-sector decision makers also use census
data to guide their business plans.

Because of the critical and varied uses of census information, it is
important that the Bureau's published data meet minimum quality standards.
In addition, when the data are made public, it is equally important for
the Bureau to disclose what has been done to ensure the quality of the
data and identify any limitations so that potential consumers can decide
whether the data are appropriate for a particular use.

Some degree of error in the census (and in virtually any survey) is
inevitable because of limitations in enumeration, processing, and
dissemination methods and errors in responses and imputation of data for
nonresponses. Given the size and diversity of the U.S. population, the
effort to count the entire population and provide detailed demographic
characteristics every 10 years is one of the most complex of all
government operations. The Bureau devotes significant resources to
minimizing error and improving the quality of the decennial census.

Data quality standards and standardized quality control procedures can
provide a consistent basis for making data dissemination decisions and
informing the public about the quality of the data made available to it.
In 2000, Congress passed what is now known as the Information Quality Act.
This legislation directed OMB to issue governmentwide guidelines that
"provide policy and procedural guidance to Federal agencies for ensuring
and maximizing the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of
information (including statistical information) disseminated by Federal
agencies." The legislation also required each agency to issue its own
implementing guidelines that include administrative mechanisms allowing
affected persons to correct information maintained and disseminated by the
agency.

The OMB guidelines,7 issued in final form in February 2002, define quality
as encompassing utility, objectivity, and integrity. The guidelines
require agencies to issue their own implementing guidelines by October 1,
2002. Additionally, they mandate that agencies adopt a standard of quality
as a performance goal and act to incorporate data quality criteria into
their data dissemination practices. The guidelines also require agencies
to develop processes for reviewing the quality of data before they are
disseminated.

Although OMB had some general guidance for survey processes prior to the
enactment of the Information Quality Act, other than requirements for the
evaluation of selected monthly and quarterly economic indicators,8 there
were no governmentwide requirements relating to the quality of data
disseminated by the federal agencies. Some statistical agencies within the
United States developed their own extensive guidelines and standards that
apply to data disseminated to the public. In July 2001, OMB identified the
statistical agencies within the Departments of Education and Energy, the
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the Energy Information
Administration, as good examples of agencies that have

7 67 Fed. Reg. 8452.

8 Office of Management and Budget, Statistical Policy Directive Number 3:
Compilation, Release and Evaluation of Principal Federal Economic
Indicators (Washington, D.C.: July 1985).

Page 6 GAO-05-86 Census Bureau Data Quality Review Standards

  Scope and Methodology

developed specific guidelines to implement their broad principles and
diverse professional standards.9

Statistical agencies in other countries have also developed good examples
of comprehensive guidelines for ensuring the quality of data disseminated
to the public. Since 1985, Statistics Canada, the central statistical
agency of the Canadian government, has published quality guidelines for
its statistical activities. Subsequently, it added guidelines on quality
assurance processes and management context and developed a policy and
standards on informing users about data quality. More recently, the
European Union recognized the importance of comprehensive, well-documented
guidelines and standards to support its task of developing high-quality,
comparable statistics from member countries. All members of the European
Statistical System (ESS)10 have signed a quality declaration and approved
22 recommendations for quality for future work within the system.11

To address our first question on the standards that the Bureau had in
place to guide its data dissemination decisions, we interviewed census
officials, reviewed relevant agency documents, talked to data users, and
reviewed various complaints about the quality of 2000 Census data. We
built on our prior reports about the quality of data from the 2000 Census
on Hispanic subgroups12 and the homeless13 and the Bureau's
decision-making processes for its decisions on whether to release those
data. We also reviewed other GAO reports addressing aspects of the
Bureau's procedures

9 Office of Management and Budget, Statistical Policy Working Paper 31:
Measuring and Reporting Sources of Error in Surveys (Washington, D.C.:
June 2001).

10 ESS includes Eurostat, the statistical directorate of the European
Union; national statistical institutions of member countries; and a
variety of academic and other statistical institutes.

11 European Statistical System, Quality Declaration of the European
Statistical System (Brussels: September 2001).

12 GAO-03-228.

13 GAO-03-227.

for assessing the quality of disseminated data.14 From these reports, we
identified examples of several types of problems the Bureau encountered
with 2000 Census data, which might have been alleviated if the Bureau had
implemented data quality standards and procedures. Our examples of data
quality problems are not comprehensive, but illustrative.

To determine whether the Bureau has since developed Bureau-wide data
quality standards, and, if so, whether they would likely address for the
2010 Census the data quality problems raised after the 2000 Census, we
interviewed census officials responsible for developing agencywide
standards, examined documents related to the development of new standards
on data quality review, and reviewed the agency's Internet site for
information on data quality review standards available to the public. We
also reviewed OMB guidelines on the quality of data disseminated by
federal agencies as well as the action taken by the Department of Commerce
and the Bureau in response to the guidelines. We attended meetings of the
Secretary of Commerce's Decennial Census Advisory Committee, the National
Academy of Science Panel on Research on Future Census Methods, and the
Washington Statistical Society's conference on Quality Assurance in the
Government, all of which examined issues related to the quality of the
data disseminated by the Bureau. We also discussed information quality
standards and guidelines with officials in Eurostat, the statistical
directorate of the European Union.

Additionally, we considered how the Bureau's actions in developing
dissemination guidelines could improve the quality of data disseminated
after the 2010 Census and for other Bureau data collection programs, such
as the ACS that among other things, is intended to replace the long-form
census questionnaire. To benchmark the Bureau's progress in developing
data quality review standards with that of other statistical agencies, we
also reviewed documents from entities that have developed standards for
the quality of data disseminated to the public, including NCES; Statistics
Canada, the central statistical agency of Canada; and ESS. However, we did
not evaluate the implementation or effectiveness of these guidelines and
standards or their specific applicability to the Bureau.

14 See GAO, 2000 Census: Refinements to Full Count Review Program Could
Improve Future Data Quality, GAO-02-562 (Washington, D.C.: July 3, 2002)
and 2000 Census: Coverage Measurement Programs' Results, Costs, and
Lessons Learned, GAO-03-287 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 29, 2003).

Page 8 GAO-05-86 Census Bureau Data Quality Review Standards

Our work addressed only standards and guidelines on data quality review.
Although OMB's information quality guidelines and the Bureau's guidelines
and performance principals cover all the key steps in data collection,
analysis, and dissemination, we did not look at the Bureau's guidelines or
standards for ensuring quality during the planning and data collection
stages. Instead, as requested, we looked at Bureau guidance on steps taken
after data collection, that is, guidance related to processing data,
assessing their quality, and making them available to the public. We
looked for documents spelling out standards, guidelines, procedures, and
other criteria to guide decisions about identifying and correcting errors,
determining if and when to release data, and revising data after release.

Our audit work was conducted in Washington, D.C., and at the Bureau's
headquarters in Suitland, Maryland, from August 2003 through October 2004.
Our work was done in accordance with generally accepted government
auditing standards.

We requested comments on a draft of this report from the Secretary of
Commerce. On September 27, 2004, the Secretary provided written comments
on the draft. The comments are reprinted in appendix I.

The Bureau had no agencywide standards or guidelines in place to guide
decisions about disseminating data from the 2000 Census. Instead of
agencywide, written guidance, professionals within the different parts of
the Bureau primarily used their judgment and program-specific practices to
decide when and whether data should be released and what supporting
information, if any, should accompany them. This led to instances when

(1)
           data were released with uncorrected and undisclosed quality
           problems,

(2)
           inconsistent decisions were made on whether to release data sets
           with similar quality problems, and (3) the reasons for certain
           data dissemination decisions were inadequately communicated.

  Professional Judgment Drove Data Dissemination Decisions

    The Bureau Lacked Agencywide, Written Standards and Guidelines on the
    Quality of Census Data Disseminated to the Public

At the time the Bureau was making decisions about disseminating data from
the 2000 Census, it did not have written, agencywide guidelines or
standards to help inform its decisions on whether the data were of
sufficient quality to be released. Although Bureau officials emphasized
that the Bureau has a long tradition of high standards and procedures that
yield quality data, they acknowledged that these practices were primarily
part of the agency's institutional knowledge. According to one official,
key

    Lack of Data Quality Review Guidelines Led to Inadequate Analysis of
    Potential Errors and Release of Data without Adequate Disclosure

individuals in each program area, relying primarily on professional
judgment, determined whether the quality of the data was acceptable for
release to the public. The official explained that the program areas
develop their own guidance and procedures for ensuring data quality.
Sometimes their guidance and procedures were written, but more often they
were not. Further, the Bureau had no central inventory or repository of
the guidance and practices of the different divisions.

As noted earlier, decennial census data are used to apportion and
redistrict Congress. As release of data for each of these purposes is
required by statute, they are known collectively as "public law" data. The
Bureau had a number of quality assurance programs and procedures for
assessing the accuracy of, and correcting errors in, public law and other
data prior to their release. However, the lack of standard procedures and
guidelines for dealing with quality problems contributed to lost
opportunities to correct errors in the count of the population identified
before the data were disseminated.

One such quality assurance program we reviewed was known as Demographic
Full Count Review, in which analysts were to identify, investigate, and
document suspected data discrepancies or "issues" in order to clear census
data files and products for subsequent processing or public release.15 The
Bureau contracted out some of the analysts' work because it lacked
sufficient staff to conduct the Full Count Review on its own. Bureau
reviewers were to determine whether and how to correct the data by
weighing quality improvements against time and budget constraints.
Analysts identified 4,809 possible discrepancies, such as instances when
the location, population count, demographic characteristics, or a
combination of these for housing units and group living facilities
differed from what analysts expected. According to Bureau officials, only
5 of the 4,809 issues were investigated and corrected prior to the release
of the public law data. All five involved group living facilities the
Bureau calls "group quarters" for which the Bureau had the correct
population counts, but placed the living facilities in the wrong places.
The Bureau did not investigate most of the remaining issues prior to the
release of the data in large part because they were insufficiently
documented and the Bureau lacked the time and people to further
investigate these issues.

15 GAO, 2000 Census: Refinements to Full Count Review Program Could
Improve Future Data Quality, GAO-02-562 (Washington, D.C.: July 3, 2002).

Page 10 GAO-05-86 Census Bureau Data Quality Review Standards

Subsequently, according to Bureau officials, the remaining issues that
contained sufficient documentation were investigated as a part of the
Count Question Resolution program, which ended in September 2003.

As we noted in our July 2002 report, the fact that public law data were
released with over 4,800 unresolved data issues of unknown validity,
magnitude, and impact is cause for concern. To the extent these unresolved
discrepancies were in fact true errors in the population count or
geography, they could have affected the drawing of congressional districts
as well as other purposes for which census data are used.

The existence of data quality review guidelines could have helped the
Bureau in this situation. For example, we found that the Bureau's lack of
clearly defined requirements for documenting data issues resulted in a
significant number of cases with inadequate documentation that the Bureau
could not use to resolve the issues. Additionally, the Bureau had no
mechanism for setting priorities for resolving these potential data
errors. A sufficient set of guidelines could have helped the Bureau to
ensure that the documentation of potential errors was adequate for
decision making and to maximize the use of scarce resources in addressing
the various data issues, giving top priority to investigating
discrepancies likely to have the most adverse affect on the data.

The quality of certain data from the census long-form questionnaire have
been called into question as well. In its 2004 comprehensive review of the
2000 Census, a panel of the National Research Council of the National
Academy of Sciences assessed the quality of the long-form data using
various benchmarks, and found that the overall quality of the information
was less than that of the short-form questionnaire and had deteriorated
since the 1990 Census.16 For example, at least 32 percent of the
respondents failed to provide information on their property taxes, and 30
percent did not respond to all or some of the questions relating to income
(compared with 12 and 13 percent, respectively, in 1990). Additionally,
the panel noted that the Bureau did not measure and report the impact of
some of the steps it took to address problems with missing data and
recommended that the Bureau develop such measures and inform users about
the need for caution in analyzing and interpreting these data.

16 National Research Council, The 2000 Census: Counting Under Adversity
(Washington, D.C.: 2004).

Page 11 GAO-05-86 Census Bureau Data Quality Review Standards

    The Bureau Made Conflicting Dissemination Decisions on Data with Similar
    Quality Problems

Even more significant quality problems plagued the data for residents of
group quarters. The panel found these data to be poor in comparison with
the data for household residents, and also in comparison with data for
group quarters from the 1990 Census. In 2000, missing data rates for some
items were over 25 percent-one item was over 50 percent-for all residents
of group quarters, and as high as 75 percent for prison inmates. Given the
prevalence of missing data from residents of group quarters, the panel
questioned whether the Bureau should have published these data at all for
some or all types of group quarters.

Our earlier work on Hispanic subgroups and the homeless showed that the
Bureau's approach to data quality review led to inconsistent decision
making. Faced with similar quality problems in data from the 2000 Census,
Bureau officials made different decisions about disseminating data and did
not explain the reasons for their decisions.

For example, in an effort to improve the count of Hispanics and simplify
the questionnaire, the Bureau redesigned its 2000 Census question on
Hispanic origin and dropped a list of examples of Hispanic subgroups
included in the 1990 Census. In May 2001, the Bureau released data on
Hispanics and Hispanic subgroups as part of its first release summarizing
the results of the 2000 Census. The Bureau also published The Hispanic
Population, a 2000 Census brief that provided an overview of the size and
distribution of the Hispanic population in 2000 and highlighted changes in
the population since the 1990 Census. For the first time, the Bureau
released data on Hispanic subgroups as a part of its release of the Full
Count Review data even though it had not fully tested the impact of
questionnaire changes on the subgroup data and provided little discussion
of the potential limitations of the data.

Shortly after the Hispanic and Hispanic subgroup data from the 2000 Census
were released to the public, questions were raised about the counts for
specific Hispanic subgroups. For example, the reported count of Dominican
Hispanics was significantly lower than counts reported in other Bureau
surveys. Representatives of affected Hispanic subgroups asked for an
investigation and explanation of why the Bureau reported data that these
subgroups considered to be of questionable quality. We found that a key
factor behind the Bureau's release of apparently less-than-accurate
Hispanic subgroup data appeared to be a lack of adequate guidelines
governing decisions on quality considerations that should be addressed
before making data publicly available.17

In contrast, the Bureau, citing quality problems, decided not to
separately report certain information on people without conventional
housing, including those commonly referred to as "homeless." Enumerating
this segment of the population has been an ongoing challenge for the
Bureau. To help locate and count these people in 2000, the Bureau
partnered with organizations providing services to the homeless and with
local governments, some of which put considerable resources into the
effort. When the Bureau decided not to separately report the number of
people in transitional and emergency shelters as originally planned
because of data quality problems, some of the organizations and local
governments, which had expected to use the data for directing services to
the homeless, questioned the Bureau's process for making that decision.
Additionally, we found that the decision about when and whether to release
data on people in emergency and transitional shelters changed several
times. Decisions about the release of data with identified quality
problems were not well documented and communicated with some Bureau
partners and other stakeholders.18

As a result, outside parties interested in both the Hispanic and homeless
data from the 2000 Census questioned the quality of the data, the
procedures the Bureau used to determine what data to release, and the
value of their own participation in helping the Bureau prepare for the
2000 Census. Because the Bureau's reasons for data release decisions were
not obvious, and it had no guidelines or standards that spelled out
criteria for decisions, the Bureau left itself open to questions about the
objectivity of its decisions and risked loss of public confidence.

In our reports on Hispanic and homeless Census 2000 data, we recommended
that the Bureau (1) develop agencywide guidelines for its decisions on the
level of quality needed to release data to the public, how to characterize
any limitations in the data, and when it is acceptable not to release data
and (2) ensure that these guidelines are documented, transparent, clearly
defined, and consistently applied. We also recommended that the Bureau
ensure that its plans for releasing data are

17 GAO-03-228. 18 GAO-03-227.

Page 13 GAO-05-86 Census Bureau Data Quality Review Standards

  The Bureau Has Made Limited Progress in Publicly Issuing New Standards on the
  Quality of Data Disseminated to the Public since the 2000 Census

clearly and consistently communicated to the public. The Bureau agreed
with each of our recommendations and asked its Methodology and Standards
Council19 to review existing statistical and quality guidelines, bring
them together in one place, and develop data quality standards. We discuss
the Bureau's actions later in this report.

Since the first results of the 2000 Census were released, the Bureau has
publicly issued a set of information quality guidelines and one new
standard on the quality of data disseminated to the public. As required by
the Information Quality Act and the OMB guidelines, the Department of
Commerce20 and the Bureau published Information Quality Guidelines, but
the guidelines contain only general quality goals and principles and do
not provide any specific guidelines or procedures on the implementation of
the general principles. Also as required by the Information Quality Act
and the OMB guidelines, the Bureau published a standard that described a
procedure allowing individuals to seek correction of certain errors in
data disseminated by the Bureau. Additionally, the Bureau has begun
developing several other standards on the quality of data disseminated to
the public, but none have been publicly released in final form.

In March 2003, in response to our recommendations, the Bureau established
an interdirectorate working group charged with the broad mandate of
developing Bureau-wide standards for quality in data releases. The working
group has taken some steps to address the tasks laid out in its charter.
However, the Bureau has not provided information on the scope or the time
frame for developing these standards.

19 The Bureau's Methodology and Standards Council sets standards for the
Bureau's surveys and censuses. It is chaired by the Associate Director for
Methodology and Standards and includes division chiefs from across the
Bureau.

20 Department of Commerce, Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the
Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Disseminated Information,
67 Fed. Reg. 62685 (Oct. 8, 2002). The Department of Commerce took a
distributed approach, requiring its operating units (including the Bureau)
to document and make available to the public their own information quality
standards.

    The Bureau Has Taken Steps to Expand Its Guidance on Data Quality Review

Recognizing the paucity of Bureau-wide written standards on the quality of
data disseminated to the public, the Bureau established a Quality Program
in 1999 to develop consistent processes for producing quality products
across the Bureau. The Bureau's Associate Director for Methodology and
Standards with input from chiefs in a number of divisions compiled an
inventory of data quality review documents used in different divisions21
and developed a Bureau-wide quality framework. The resulting quality
framework was adopted to serve as a vehicle through which "the
demographic, economic, and decennial areas can share and support common
principles, standards, and guidelines." This framework provides the
organization for documents in the intranet portal known as the Quality
Management Repository (QMR). Additionally, the Bureau's description of the
quality framework spells out the process for developing, reviewing, and
approving quality framework documents. The document describing the quality
framework and most of the documents in the QMR are internal documents not
available to the public through the agency's Internet site. However,
Bureau officials indicated that they intend to make some of the standards
available through the Internet later in calendar year 2004.

The Bureau has publicly issued two data quality review documents and made
them available through the Internet. In October 2002, in response to the
requirements of the OMB guidelines, the Bureau published a set of
information quality guidelines in eight performance areas, including the
establishment of review procedures. The Bureau's guidelines identify broad
quality goals and principles, but do not provide specific guidance to
ensure consistent decisions. For example, the guideline on
predissemination review of data says that "all documents released by the
Census Bureau undergo extensive review that encompasses the content,
statistical and survey methodology, and policy implications of the
document," and that this review "ensures that the data and text of the
document meet Census Bureau standards for quality" or the Bureau reserves
the right to withhold the data from the public. However, the guideline
does not indicate what the Bureau "standards for quality" are, how the
Bureau will know if the data meet the standards, or who within the Bureau
is responsible for the review.

21 Some Bureau programs have their own data quality guidance and report
extensively on the quality and limitations of the data. For example, for
the 2003 Annual Social and Economic Supplement of the Current Population
Survey, the Bureau provides information on the limitations, including a
recommendation on using cells with a small number of respondents. See U.S.
Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2003 Public Use File Technical
Documentation (Washington, D.C.: 2003), G-7.

Page 15 GAO-05-86 Census Bureau Data Quality Review Standards

The second document issued and made available on the Bureau's Web site is
Census Bureau Standard: Correcting Information That Does Not Comply with
Census Bureau Section 515 Information Quality Guidelines in March 2002.
This standard was also issued in response to the specific requirements of
the Information Quality Act and the OMB guidelines that agencies provide
procedures for correcting certain errors identified in data they
disseminated and post these guidelines on their Web sites. The standard
established procedures that allow individuals to request a correction of
information they believe is erroneous and the Bureau to review the
evidence and determine whether a correction is warranted.

The Bureau has also approved several additional Bureau-wide data quality
review documents for implementation and internal distribution through the
QMR on its intranet. On March 18, 2003, the Bureau issued Census Bureau
Standard: Minimal Information to Accompany Any Report of Census Bureau
Data for a 6-month trial period. The standard identifies 13 specific items
that the Bureau should report for every survey or census and specifies who
is responsible for ensuring adherence to the standard. An accompanying
memorandum from the Associate Director for Methodology and Standards to
program associate directors said that implementation issues would be
documented during the trial period and appropriate changes made prior to
the final release of the standard. Even though the trial period is over,
the Bureau has not made such changes or publicly issued the standard in
final form. However, the standard is still in effect on a trial basis,
according to one Bureau official.

The Bureau also released its Census Bureau Guideline: Quality Profiles on
March 9, 2004, through the QMR. The document outlines a standardized
quality profile, recommended for all recurring surveys and certain other
programs, which is intended to present a consistent set of information on
the quality of each program. As a guideline rather than a standard, this
guidance is recommended rather than mandatory.

In addition, the Bureau has also initiated work on several proposals for
additional standards. For example, a standard for discussion and
presentation of errors in data disseminated to the public is under
development. This standard is based on a technical paper that was issued
in 1974 and revised in 1987. The Bureau said it would be issued in the
near future, but has not provided a specific date.

    Bureau Working Group Has Begun Developing Additional Standards on Data
    Quality Review, but None Have Been Issued

In response to our recommendations from reports on both homeless and
Hispanic subgroup data from the 2000 Census, the Bureau established an
interdirectorate working group on March 3, 2003, with the broad mandate to
develop Bureau-wide standards for quality in data releases. However, the
working group has not yet issued any draft or final standards or developed
a time frame for doing so.

The working group is composed primarily of assistant division chiefs from
the program areas-decennial, demographic, and economic. An assistant
division chief from the Demographic Statistical Methods Division chairs
the group.

According to the working group's charter, its mission is to

     o "Document current Census Bureau data review procedures,
     o "Benchmark Census Bureau review procedures with that of other
       agencies,
     o "Document Census Bureau situations where review of data indicates data
       does not meet "quality requirements" and the outcome of those
       situations,
     o "Propose standards for quality in Census Bureau data products,
     o "Benchmark quality requirements for data release with other agencies,
     o "Develop Census Bureau Standard: Quality in Census Bureau Data
       Releases."

Bureau officials told us that the working group has reviewed the published
detailed guidelines from NCES and the Canadian national statistical
office. Benchmarking discussions have taken place with the Bureau of Labor
Statistics and the National Center for Health Statistics. Additionally,
the working group met with an official from the New Zealand national
statistical office to discuss its standards. The group is also planning
meetings with additional federal agencies. These organizations have
published detailed guidance on how broad principles on data quality are to
be put into practice, notably the organizational responsibilities and
internal control mechanisms for applying them.

For example, Statistics Canada, the central statistical agency of the
Canadian government, has developed an extensive and detailed set of
quality guidelines that covers the quality of data disseminated to the
public and the quality control processes that are supposed to be applied
to ensure the quality of the data.22 In March 2000, Statistics Canada
published its Policy on Informing Users of Data Quality and Methodology,
which specifies the organization's responsibilities to inform users about
the concepts and methodology for collecting, processing, and analyzing its
data; the accuracy of these data; and any other features that affect their
quality or fitness for use. By detailing mandatory documentation
standards, guidelines for additional documentation, and examples of
mandatory standardized summary documentation, the policy enhances the
likelihood of consistent decision making throughout the organization.
Additionally, making this information public ensures that any data user
can determine what has been done to ensure the quality of the data and
Statistics Canada's reasons for its decisions about release.

NCES has developed detailed standards designed to implement its broader
policies on dissemination of statistical data. An NCES standard includes a
section entitled "Establishment of Review Procedures," which includes a
table showing the required reviews for each type of product and an
illustration of the key steps in the review and adjudication process. As
with the Statistics Canada policy, the NCES standard provides information
on the quality assessments and reviews that data must undergo before being
released to the public.23

According to the Bureau's Associate Director for Methodology and
Standards, the working group is making progress in conducting the work
laid out in its charter. She said that the working group has reviewed
different practices in divisions across the Bureau and benchmarked these
practices against appropriate organizations. It has moved on to the task
of identifying quality problems that have resulted from data quality
review practices in different parts of the Bureau and assessing what could
have been done differently. However, the Bureau did not provide any time
frame for the working group's activities, information on how the Bureau
intends

22 Statistics Canada, Statistics Canada Quality Guidelines, 3rd ed.
(Ottawa: October 1998), and Statistics Canada's Quality Assurance
Framework (Ottawa: 2002).

23 As noted earlier in this report, we did not evaluate the implementation
or effectiveness of these guidelines and standards or their specific
applicability to the Bureau.

Page 18 GAO-05-86 Census Bureau Data Quality Review Standards

  Greater Commitment to New Standards for Public Dissemination of Data Could
  Help Bureau Avoid Problems in Disseminating 2010 Census and Other Data

to use the benchmarking exercises, or the intended scope and content of
the Bureau-wide standard on quality in Bureau data releases.

The working group's charter indicates that its schedule should reflect an
expeditious effort to complete its tasks. The Associate Director for
Methodology and Standards, to whom the working group reports, emphasized
that setting standards is a long-term process and pointed out that the
Bureau has never issued a standard in less than a year. She noted that
participation in the working group is added to the other responsibilities
of its members and that initially the working group had no dedicated
staff.24 Additionally, she said that the working group does not have a
time frame for completing these activities.

The standards that the Bureau has under development and activities of the
working group are steps in the right direction. However, the Bureau has
provided limited indication that developing and implementing standards on
the quality of data it disseminates is a priority. It has no official
plans for such an initiative, and these issues are not included in the
Bureau's plan for the 2010 Census. Until spring 2004, no additional
resources were provided to support the working group, and a year and a
half after it began, the group has not developed any new standards or
guidelines or indicated when it will be ready to do so. Although Bureau
officials said that 2010 Census dissemination decisions would adhere to
Bureau dissemination guidelines, the actions the Bureau has taken to date
are not enough to ensure that it will avoid in 2010 the types of problems
encountered in disseminating data from the 2000 Census. A publicly issued,
comprehensive, Bureau-wide data quality framework, with interrelated
standards, and specific procedures (as evident in NCES, ESS, and
Statistics Canada) could help ensure consistency of decisions about the
quality of data from the next decennial census and the conditions under
which the data will be disseminated. The benefits the Bureau can achieve
by implementing data quality review standards should not be limited to the
decennial census. Because the standards could apply to all of the data
publicly distributed by the Bureau, the sooner they are developed and
implemented across the Bureau, the sooner the Bureau will begin to reap
their benefits.

24 Following our inquiries about staff support, the Bureau established a
Quality Program Staff of three individuals in the spring of 2004 to
support all of the working groups chartered by the Methodology and
Standards Council.

Page 19 GAO-05-86 Census Bureau Data Quality Review Standards

    Developing and Implementing Bureau-Wide Data Quality Review Standards Are
    Not Part of Official Bureau Plans

As noted above, the Bureau has not provided specific plans for further
developing Bureau-wide data quality review standards or for implementing
the broad data quality principles and guidelines outlined in its response
to the OMB guidelines. It has not spelled out what needs to be done, how
long it will take, what resources will be required, or how performance
will be measured.

The Bureau's evolving plans for the 2010 Census devote little attention to
data quality review issues. As it has for past decennial censuses, the
Bureau focuses its plans for the 2010 Census on ensuring the quality of
information collected during the data collection phase, rather than on how
it will address potential quality problems that might be identified before
the data are released. Bureau officials told us that whatever standards
are developed will be applied to disseminating data from the 2010 Census.
However, they said that the next decennial census is still a number of
years away, and disseminating data from the 2010 Census is still farther
in the future.

    Data Quality Review Standards Could Also Aid Other Data Programs before

The 2010 Census is to differ significantly from is predecessor. The 2010
Census, if implemented as planned, will ask the entire population to
provide only basic information on the short form necessary for
congressional apportionment. It will no longer collect more extensive
information on a longer questionnaire from a sample of the population.
Instead, the Bureau has developed the ACS that among other things, is
intended to replace the long-form census questionnaire. The detailed data
on social and economic conditions that were previously collected as a part
of the decennial census will in the future be collected annually in the
ACS. In fact, the ACS is a key component of the Bureau's plan for a
reengineered 2010 Census. The ACS data are being collected and released
annually for larger geographic areas, and data quality review standards
could help improve the quality of these data immediately.25

The Bureau has developed several measures of quality for the information
included in the ACS and began reporting these measures on its Web site in
December 2003. These reported measures are important steps in the right
direction for the Bureau, but these program-specific measures have not
been adopted as Bureau-wide standards for similar collections. A Bureau

25 See GAO-02-956R and GAO-05-82.

                                  Conclusions

official said that these measures meet the requirements for minimum
information on data quality of the Bureau's standard, which is being
piloted. The measures developed for the ACS program are being reviewed for
possible implementation in other household surveys.

Fully documented, transparent, clearly defined, and consistently applied
standards on the quality of data disseminated to the public can help
ensure that the Bureau makes consistent decisions about how it addresses
data quality problems. Additionally, such standards can help the public
understand the Bureau's reasons for its dissemination decisions, and can
help protect the Bureau from allegations that it was inappropriately
releasing or suppressing data. Because the cooperation and trust of the
public is essential to a successful census, the Bureau must work to avert
any loss of public confidence in the quality of data and in the integrity
and objectivity of the Bureau.

Taken together, the quality problems that affected certain data from the
2000 Census underscore the importance of comprehensive data quality review
guidelines for ensuring the Bureau makes more uniform decisions on data
quality review and informs the public of limitations that could affect
whether and how the data are employed.

The Bureau still has a long way to go in developing standards for the
release of data to the public that will help avoid in the 2010 Census (and
the ACS) the types of problems experienced in 2000. Additionally, since
the standards would apply to all Bureau data collections, delay in their
development and implementation means the Bureau is missing an opportunity
for improving the quality of the other data it collects and disseminates.
To avoid the problems it had with the dissemination of 2000 Census data
the Bureau should place greater emphasis on developing and implementing
data quality standards.

Although the Bureau has established a program for addressing standards
development, we identified the following causes of concern.

o  In the absence of more detailed information about the activities and
schedule of the working group, it is difficult to assess the Bureau's
progress in developing these standards. Over a year and a half after
establishing the working group, the Bureau has publicly issued no new
standards and has not publicly released plans that provide information on
its schedule and agenda for developing the standards. Also the Bureau has
not publicly sought comments on the working group's

initiatives through its advisory committees.

     o Plans for the 2010 Census do not address procedures for dealing with
       data quality problems that are identified during the data quality
       review phase.
     o The Bureau has not publicly announced any comprehensive plans for
       developing and implementing written, Bureau-wide quality standards and
       quality control processes.

A number of statistical agencies in the United States and elsewhere have
developed comprehensive data quality review standards and quality control
procedures that could serve as models for the Bureau. A Bureau-wide set of
quality standards on data disseminated to the public covering both the
quality of the data and quality control procedures would apply not only to
the decennial census, but also to all other data collected by the Bureau
and released to the public. Such standards could help the Bureau avoid
some of the problems it experienced in disseminating data from the 2000
Census. Much of the data that were previously collected during the
decennial census are now being collected under the ACS. Because these data
are collected and released annually, the ACS, or other annual household
surveys, could serve as a test for proposed standards.

To ensure that the 2010 Census, the ACS, and other Census data products

  Recommendations for

will provide public data users with more complete, accurate, and useful
information, we recommend that the Secretary of Commerce direct the
Director of the U.S. Census Bureau to take the following two actions:

 1. Accelerate the Bureau's effort to establish comprehensive data quality
       standards by developing and making public a detailed plan, including
       interim milestones, for developing such standards and procedures.
 2. Include the implementation of the data quality review standards in the
       Bureau's plans for the 2010 Census, and test new draft guidelines on
       data quality review using the annual ACS test program and other
       surveys.

  Agency Comments and Our Evaluation

The Secretary of Commerce provided us with written comments on a draft of
this report on September 27, 2004, which are reprinted in appendix I.
Commerce agreed with one of our two recommendations-namely, to establish
data quality review standards as part of its plans for the 2010 Census,
and as indicated in the Secretary's letter, the Bureau is taking steps to
implement it. However, Commerce disagreed with our first recommendation
that the Bureau accelerate its effort to establish comprehensive data
quality standards. Commerce also identified some specific issues and
suggested changes to provide additional context and clarification and in
some cases technical corrections. We made these changes and corrections to
the text as appropriate, but believe our first recommendation still
applies.

Commerce took exception to our characterization of the amount of work that
the Bureau has completed in developing comprehensive data quality review
standards and in developing a specific standard for decisions on data
release. However, the activities and documents Commerce cited to
demonstrate the Bureau's progress were mentioned in our draft report. For
example, Commerce noted that the Bureau had developed a quality framework
for Bureau documents, inventoried quality guidance used in specific
program areas, and created an in-house repository of such documents.
Commerce also pointed to the quality principles the Bureau developed and
included as a part of its Information Quality Guidelines issued in
response to OMB requirements. Our draft report credited the Bureau with
all of these activities, although not always at the same level of detail
as Commerce described in its comments.

Moreover, while these are important steps, most of this work is not
available to the public. As we observed in our draft report, the only
documents that have been made public on the agency's Internet site are the
documents required by the Information Quality Act and the related OMB
guidelines: (1) the Bureau's Information Quality Guidelines and (2) the
standard allowing individuals to seek correction of certain errors in data
disseminated by the Bureau.

Indeed, our primary concern is not with how much work has been done but
whether the Bureau has well-documented, transparent, clearly defined
quality review guidelines and standards, and whether the pace of its
efforts is sufficient. As yet, the Bureau has not produced such guidelines
nor has it documented plans for completing this work. Bureau officials
said they will make existing standards available to the public on the
agency's Internet site by the end of 2004, but have not indicated which
standards will be included.

Therefore, we reaffirm our recommendation that the Bureau should
accelerate its efforts to establish such data quality review standards by
making public a detailed plan, including interim milestones, for
developing such standards and procedures. Such a plan can assist the
Bureau in prioritizing its work and addressing the resource constraints
that will inevitably be present. If, as Commerce maintained, much of the
work has already been completed, implementing the recommendation should
not be unduly burdensome or time consuming. While we commend the Bureau
for agreeing with our recommendation to implement data review guidelines
and standards for the 2010 Census and the ACS, we believe it needs to
accelerate its efforts to complete, make public, and fully implement these
data review standards. The more time that elapses, the greater the risk of
releasing data with quality problems.

As agreed with your offices, unless you release its contents earlier, we
plan no further distribution of this report until 30 days from its issue
date. At that time, we will send copies of this report to the Chairman of
the House Committee on Government Reform, the Secretary of Commerce, and
the Director of the U.S. Census Bureau. Copies will be made available to
others on request. This report will also be available at no charge on
GAO's home page at http://www.gao.gov.

Please contact me on (202) 512-6806 or by e-mail at [email protected] if you
have any questions. Other key contributors to this report were Robert
Goldenkoff, Elizabeth Powell, Robert Parker, Michael Volpe, and Andrea
Levine.

Patricia A. Dalton Director Strategic Issues Appendix I

Comments from the Department of Commerce

Appendix I Comments from the Department of Commerce Appendix I Comments
from the Department of Commerce Appendix I Comments from the Department of
Commerce Appendix I Comments from the Department of Commerce Appendix I
Comments from the Department of Commerce Appendix I Comments from the
Department of Commerce

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