There are two critical aspects for recognizing good methodology. The first is to have individuals who understand agency practices and can look for and understand new ideas. The second is to have individuals who translate them into a set of specifications on how the new ideas might be incorporated into practice. The best specification would consist of a prototype system that demonstrates the feasibility of many of the concepts. Implementation requires that individuals have a variety of both analytic and programming skills and the capability of rapidly learning new skills. Some individuals might be hybrids having several skills to recognize, develop, and implement new ideas on the computer.
Analytic-programming can empower a statistical organization. At one level, creating individuals who can undertake the most difficult project is useful. At another level, having systematic ways to improve the analytic and computer skills of individuals at a statistical agency is advantageous. In all situations, the ideal is to have individuals learn many ideas predominantly on their own and to have analyst-programmers who acquire new skills and pass them onto others.
