Overview
Welcome to Census of Surveys!
Census of Surveys is an online resource/library that hosts visualizations, downloadable data sets, and information on statistical surveys that the Federal Government of the United States conducts. The statistical surveys you see here are currently being administered by the Federal Government. Enjoy learning and exploring these valuable documents that impact the public, businesses, and Federal, State, and local governments.
Background
Data in society has grown in volume and importance. This growth in data has required a better understanding of how that data is created. Statistical surveys are an important primary source for constructing data. The US Government uses many surveys to construct their data. Census of Surveys is an online resource that will help you understand what surveys the US Government uses during this process.
The United States national statistical system is a decentralized system. Unlike other countries there is no national statistical office,[1] but instead statistical agencies are placed within their respective subject matter agencies. For example, Energy Information Administration is a statistical agency within the Department of Energy. This setup presents both challenges and benefits.
One of the challenges to having a decentralized system is the effort in coordinating between statistical agencies. The Chief Statistician,[2] located in the Statistical and Science Policy office (which is part of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) under the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)), is responsible for this coordination. Her office establishes standards for all statistical agencies through policy guidance and directives.
Another responsibility of the Statistical and Science Policy office is the yearly publication Statistical Programs of the United States Government. [3] In here you can find statistical agencies' funding details, as well as any major changes that may be happening to the agencies themselves. However, budgetary information is only half the picture. This publication does not talk about how surveys are being conducted and why.
Census of Surveys' purpose is to fill in this gap and provide a complete picture of all the statistical surveys currently being conducted. When the Federal Government wishes to collect, use, and disseminate information about the public it must follow the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.[4] This law requires subagencies to allow the public to comment on the proposed Information Collection and then submit the proposed collection to OIRA for review.
As part of its review process, OIRA requires all agencies to fill out form OMB 83-I. OIRA then posts information from this form online at Reginfo.gov. [5] Census of Surveys filters this collected data to include only those records that employ statistical methods and that are active. This outputs all Federal Government statistical surveys currently being administered.
As a result, the data on this website fills in this gap. You can now understand how and why a survey is conducted in addition to knowing about a statistical agency’s funding details. Census of Surveys helps provide a more complete understanding of the US national statistical system in one location.
Guide to the Website
The website has four main sections: Home, About, Data, and Latest Content.
The Home page currently displays the downloadable data that resulted from scraping Reginfo.gov.
The About section contains three webpages. The About page features an Overview of the website and Background information explaining its purpose. The second page, RegInfo Tutorial, presents a guide to navigating Reginfo.gov. The third page, Contact, provides the email address that you can use to send any questions that you have and/or request more information related to this website.
The Data section contains four webpages. The main Data page has the downloadable data and a summary table of the Survey Program data. The Downloads page has the downloadable data and archived downloadable data. The By Agency subsection organizes the data by the different Agencies and Subagencies. The surveys are presented in alphabetical order by Survey Title. The By Subject subsection organizes the data by different Subject and Detailed Subject. The surveys are presented in alphabetical order by Agency, Subagency, and Survey Title.
The Latest Content section contains four webpages. The Latest Content page highlights new data, visualizations, and writings. The Updates page has a list of recent changes to the website. The Survey of the Week page highlights a survey and provides additional information about the survey beyond that available through the downloadable data sets. The Feature Story has an in-depth discussion of a topic related to the surveys.