Challenging Research Issues in Statistics and Survey Methodology at BLS

As part of its outreach to the broader survey research community, the BLS Office of Survey Methods Research has established this web page to highlight some important and challenging research issues that arise in BLS work with statistics and survey methodology.

Current Research Areas

• How do Respondent Cognitive Processes and Respondent Interviewer Interaction Affect Data Quality in the American Time Use Survey (ATUS)? (PDF 23K)
• Mixed-Mode Survey Design. What Are the Effects on Data Quality? (PDF 57K)
• Stability of Linearization-Based Variance Estimators Computed from Potentially Unstable Estimators of First Derivatives. (PDF 120K)
• Modeling, Estimation and Inference Issues that Arise from the Use of Response-Rate Goals in Survey Operations. (PDF 19K)
• Application of Sequential Design and Testing Methods and Adaptive Sampling Methods to the Design and Evaluation of Usability Tests. (PDF 11K)
• The Pros and Cons of Questions Containing Cue Lists. (PDF 116K)

Background, Purpose, and Scope

Many issues in statistics and survey methodology are fairly well-known within the survey research community (defined broadly to include mathematical statisticians, behavioral scientists, computer scientists and operations personnel in government, academia and the private sector). Research on these issues often has progressed through extensive interaction among many parts of the survey community.

However, many other important and challenging research issues that arise within federal statistical agencies have received relatively little attention from some relevant segments of the survey research community or the broader scientific community.

In some other cases, relatively little applicable research appears to have been done, and the statistical agency's practical needs have the potential to lead to important research in the underlying areas of mathematical statistics, behavioral science, computer science and related applications.

Follow-Up Discussions

Each posting contains contact information for the primary author(s). Researchers interested in learning more about a given posting are welcome to contact the author(s).

Disclaimer

As with essentially all research publications of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the postings in the "Challenging Research Issues" series reflect the scientific opinions of the authors and do not necessarily represent the policies of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Last Modified Date: July 30, 2008