The Joint Program in Survey Methodology and its Impact on the Federal Statistical Agency Workforce

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The Joint Program in Survey Methodology and its
Impact on the Federal Statistical Agency Workforce

• Cynthia Z.F. Clark and Gia. F. Donnalley
• U.S. Census Bureau
• Roger Tourangeau
• Joint Program in Survey Methodology, University
  of Maryland

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Joint Program in Survey MethodologyBackground

• Funded by NSF supported by 15 federal
  statistical agencies
• Joint Program in Survey Methodology (JPSM)
• University of Maryland
• University of Michigan
• Westat
• Began in Fall of 1993

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Joint Program in Survey MethodologyAcademic
Program

• Citation in Introductory Survey Methodology
• Citation in Economic Measurement
• Graduate Certificate in Intermediate Survey
  Methodology
• Graduate Certificate in Survey Statistics
• Masters of Science in Survey Methodology
• Ph.D. in Survey Methodology

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JPSM Short Courses

• 10-12 short courses (1-2 days) offered each year
• Examples
• Telephone Survey Methodology
• Computer Assisted Methods in Surveys
• Small Area Estimation
• Self Administered/Mail Surveys
• Statistical Disclosure and Disclosure Limitation
• An Intro to Pre-testing Techniques

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JPSM Citation in Introductory Survey Methodology

• One semester length academic course
• Fundamentals of Survey Methodology
• Four core short courses
• Questionnaire Design
• Survey Management
• An Introduction to Survey Sampling
• Introduction to Survey Estimation
• Four elective short courses

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JPSM Citation in Economic Measurement

• One semester length academic course
• Introduction to Economic Measurement
• Four core short courses
• An Introduction to Survey Sampling
• Introduction to Survey Estimation
• Introduction to Survey Methods for Businesses and
  Organizations
• Analysis and Presentation of Economic Data
• Four elective short courses

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JPSM Graduate Certificate in Intermediate
Survey Methodology

• Six semester length academic courses
• Five required courses
• One JPSM elective course
• Required Courses
• Fundamentals of Survey Methodology
• Intro to Statistical Methods using Computers
• Data Collection Methods
• Applied Sampling
• Questionnaire Design

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JPSM Graduate Certificate in Survey Statistics

• Six semester length academic courses
• Four required courses
• Two JPSM elective courses
• Required Courses
• Sampling Theory
• Applied Sampling
• Inference from Complex Surveys
• Topics in Sampling

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JPSM Masters Degree Program
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JPSM Ph.D. Program in Survey Methodology

• Qualifying exam before matriculation
• Advisory committee
• A set of doctoral courses and two required
• core Ph.D. seminars
• Comprehensive Exam
• Dissertation

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Interagency Collaboration with JPSM

• JPSM now contractually funded by 12 agencies
• Facilitated by the U.S. Census Bureau
• Established protocol for agency sharing of
  benefits

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Shared Agency Benefits from JPSM

• Practicum Survey
• Survey Design Seminar
• Summer Intern Program
• Recruiting of Graduates
• Customizing of the Program
• Annual Sponsor Meeting

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JPSM Masters Degree Graduates
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JPSM Junior Fellows Program
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Survey of Masters Graduates

• March 2002
• Email survey
• 55 of 70 alumni responded (80)

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Survey of Masters GraduatesQuality of JPSM
Academic Experience
All Graduates n Excellent Good
55 56 44
Employer Type
Government 38 53 47
Other 17 65 35
Concentration
Social Science 37 54 46
Statistical Science 18 61 39
Year Graduated
1995-1998 31 65 36
1999-2001 24 46 54
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Development of new programs to meet Census Bureau
Needs

• Fundamentals of Survey Methodology
• Introduction to Economic Measurement

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U.S. Census Bureau Participation in JPSM

• Competitive participation in masters degree
  program since 1993 providing financial support
  and half-time work
• Financial support for academic semester length
  courses
• Financial support and work-time for short courses

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JPSM Impact on Census Bureau Workforce
(1996-2004)

• Masters Degree
• 40 Census Bureau graduates(23 statistics, 17
  social)
• 14 employees enrolled
• Citation in Introductory Survey Methodology
• 5 Census Bureau graduates
• 5 employees enrolled

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JPSM Impact on Census Bureau Workforce
(1996-2004)

• Certificate in Intermediate Survey Methodology
• 5 Census Bureau graduates
• 7 employees enrolled
• Certificate in Survey Statistics
• 2 Census Bureau graduates
• 6 employees enrolled

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JPSM Graduate Assistantships at the Census Bureau

• Contract with University of Maryland
• Work half-time while in classes

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Impact of the Census Bureaus Participation in
the JPSM

• Three focus groups- May 2004
• - Two of masters degree graduates
• - One of supervisors of graduates

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Composition of Focus Groups with Graduates
Sex
Male 7
Female 12
Year Graduated
1996-2001 9
2002-2004 10
Masters Track
Statistics 15
Social Science 4
Census Bureau Directorates
Economic 7
Demographic 5
Decennial 3
Methodology Standards 4
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Composition of Focus Groups with Supervisors of
Graduates
Sex
Male 3
Female 6
Census Bureau Directorates
Economic 5
Demographic 3
Decennial 1
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Focus Group Findings

• Positive effects of the JPSM program on work at
  Census Bureau
• More knowledgeable about survey methodology
• Motivated to question methods and techniques used
  for years
• Improved writing and documentation skills
• Gained better understanding of research process
  and survey design
• Understood implications of methodological changes
  on the data

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Focus Group Findings

• Positive effects of the JPSM program on careers
  at Census Bureau
• Promotions
• Networking
• Increased confidence in skill
• JPSM credentials backed up work experience
• JPSM background enabled total career change

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Future Direction for Use of the JPSM by the
Census Bureau

• Identify other employees in office participating
• in JPSM
• Continue efforts to incorporate economic survey
  methods into the JPSM
• Incorporate more examples from establishment
  surveys
• New JPSM Citation in Economic Measurement

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Future Direction for Use of the JPSM by the
Census Bureau

• Participate in Development of courses in
• Small Area Estimation
• Statistical Editing and Imputation
• Statistical Disclosure Techniques
• Record Linkage