Decennial Census: Promising Proposals, Some Progress, But Challenges
Remain (Testimony, 01/26/94, GAO/T-GGD-94-80).

Over the last year, GAO has chronicled the fundamental changes that the
Census Bureau has been making in its census methodology to contain costs
and improve accuracy.  GAO remains concerned about the long-term
prospects for reform, given the Bureau's slow progress to date and the
significant challenges that still confront the agency.  Although GAO is
encouraged by the recent testing of proposals to modify the census
methodology, it believes that the Bureau must aggressively plan for and
carefully implement its research, testing, and evaluation programs.
Results of these efforts must be made available to ensure fully informed
and timely decisions and to build needed consensus among key
stakeholders and customers for changes in the 2000 census.  Continuing
top-level leadership at the Census Bureau, the Commerce Department, and
the Office of Management and Budget is critical to generating consensus
on the direction of change and the implications of census reform for
federal and other data needs.  As long as the position of Bureau
Director remains vacant, however, the Census Bureau will lack a fully
vested and authoritative voice.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  T-GGD-94-80
     TITLE:  Decennial Census: Promising Proposals, Some Progress, But 
             Challenges Remain
      DATE:  01/26/94
   SUBJECT:  Population statistics
             Census
             Information gathering operations
             Statistical methods
             Data collection operations
             Mailing lists
             Planning
             Interagency relations
             Demographic data
             Cost control

             
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