2018 Clogg Lecture with Robert M. Groves

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Public Lecture

102 Thomas Building

Monday, March 26 at 4:00 PM

"Promoting Evidence-Based Policymaking at the National Level"

In September 2017, the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking delivered its final report to the US Congress. It was received with deep appreciation from Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator Patty Murray, the prime movers behind the law that created the Commission. We will review the causes and consequences of the creation of the Commission. The key recommendations of the Commission will be discussed.

At nearly the same time as the Commission report was delivered to Congress, an independent group, a panel of the National Academies of Sciences, issued its second report with recommendations on how the US Federal Statistical System could adapt to important data changes. The report discusses a response to the falling participation rates in surveys, the inflation of their costs of data collection, the rise of new internet-based data sources, and the policy and technical problems of blending data together to produce statistics for the common good. Key recommendations of this panel will be discussed.

In combination, the two reports offer a vision of important potential new developments in social science data derived from Federal government activities.

Robert M. Groves is the Gerard J. Campbell, S.J. Professor in the Math and Statistics Department as well as the Sociology Department at Georgetown University where he has served as the Executive Vice President and Provost since 2012.

Groves is a Social Statistician, who studies the Impact of Social Cognitive and Behavioral Influences on the quality of Statistical Information. His research has focused on the impact of mode of data collection on responses in sample surveys, the social and political influences on survey participation, the use of adaptive research designs to improve the cost and error properties of statistics, and public concerns about privacy affecting attitudes toward statistical agencies. He has authored or co-authored seven books and scores of peer-reviewed articles. His 1989 book, Survey Errors and Survey Costs, was named one of the 50 most influential books in survey research by the American Association of Public Opinion Research. His book, Nonresponse in Household Interview Surveys, with Mick Couper, received the 2008 AAPOR Book Award. His co-authored book, Survey Nonresponse, received the 2011 AAPOR Book Award.

Groves served as the Director of the US Census Bureau between 2009-2012. He serves on several boards and advisory committees including the National Research Council Board of the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Pew Research Center Board, the Population Reference Bureau, the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, and the Statistics Canada Advisory Committee. He is an elected member of the US National Academy of Sciences, of the Institute of Medicine of the US National Academies, of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and of the International Statistical Institute.