Guidelines for Ensuring the Quality of Information Disseminated to
the Public
K. Office of the Secretary
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Office Mission
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Scope and Applicability of Guidelines for
Agency
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Types of Information Disseminated by the Agency
to the Public
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Types of Dissemination Methods
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Quality Assurance Policies, Standards and Processes
for Ensuring the Quality of Information Disseminated to the
Public
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Administrative Complaint Procedures
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Influential Scientific, Financial and Statistical
Information
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Office Mission
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Scope and Applicability of
Guidelines
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Types of Information Disseminated
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Types of Dissemination Methods
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Quality Assurance Policies, Standards
and Processes for Ensuring the Quality of Information
Disseminated to the Public
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Administrative Complaint
Procedures
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Influential Scientific, Financial and
Statistical Information
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Special Considerations for
Dissemination
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Other Agency Specific Policy and
Procedures
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Office Mission
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Scope and Applicability of
Guidelines
-
Types of Information
Disseminated
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Types of Dissemination Methods
-
Quality Assurance Policies, Standards
and Processes for Ensuring the Quality of Information
Disseminated to the Public
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Administrative Complaint
Procedures
-
Influential Scientific, Financial
and Statistical Information
Office of the Assistant Secretary
for Planning and Evaluation
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Office Mission
The Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) advises
the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services on
policy development in health, disability, human services, and
science, and provides advice and analysis on economic policy. ASPE
leads special initiatives, coordinates the Department's
evaluation, research and demonstration activities, and manages
cross-Department activities such as strategic planning, legislative
planning and review of regulations. Integral to this role, ASPE
conducts research and evaluation studies, develops policy analyses
and estimates the cost and benefits of policy alternatives under
consideration by the Department or Congress.
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Scope and Applicability of Guidelines
ASPE will ensure that disseminated information
meets the standards of quality set forth in the OMB, HHS and ASPE
guidelines. It is ASPE�s goal to ensure and maximize the quality,
objectivity, utility, and integrity of information that it disseminates to the
public. We strive to provide information that is accurate, reliable,
clear, complete, unbiased, and useful. We are committed to integrating the
principle of information quality into every phase of information development,
including creation, collection, maintenance, and dissemination. The
pre-dissemination review described in the guidelines only applies to
information disseminated on or after October 1, 2002. The administrative
mechanism for correction applies to information that the agency disseminates on
or after October 1, 2002, regardless of when the agency first disseminated the
information. The guidelines apply to the following kinds of information that
the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE)
disseminates: (1) the reports of research and evaluation projects that ASPE
sponsors. These reports are usually the results of research that has been
conducted for ASPE by contractors under our direction. (2) The final reports of
projects supported by grants from ASPE may also be disseminated by ASPE. (3)
ASPE staff occasionally write papers for publication and distribution. These
reports are formal documents which have gone through several reviews within
both within the author's organization and within ASPE. The Office also
produces materials that are not distributed externally. These materials are
intended to inform the policy-making process. These materials consist of
briefing papers and technical analyses concerning proposed legislative changes,
the requirements of new legislation or descriptions of programs or initiatives.
While these papers may eventually be distributed externally after the
policy-making process is concluded, as required by the Freedom of Information
Act, they are not intended to be disseminated widely and consequently are not
covered under these guidelines. Further, the guidelines do not apply to
press releases that support the announcement or give public notice of
information that ASPE has disseminated elsewhere.
- Types
of Information Disseminated
- Research
and evaluation reports
- Annual plans
- Lists of projects in progress or completed
- Project summaries
- Annotated bibliographies
- Lists
of sources of data
- Reports
to Congress
- Data
files for public use
- Tabulations
and charts of data relevant to particular topics, such as welfare
dependence and child well-being
- Types
of Dissemination Methods
The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning
and Evaluation provides both printed copies and electronic copies of the
reports it selects for dissemination. The individual components of ASPE have
responsibility for the dissemination of the products of their research and
evaluation efforts. Each component maintains mailing lists and conducts direct
mailings that are limited to the intended audience of the publication. In
addition, some components have developed extensive electronic mailing lists
that notify subscribers of the availability of new reports on the ASPE website.
In some circumstances, a plan for the dissemination of a specific product may
be developed to ensure widespread dissemination to a particular audience. Such
a plan might include notices to appropriate media outlets, interviews, and
presentations at conferences and other meetings.
- Agency Quality Assurance Policies, Standards and Processes for Ensuring the
Quality of Information Disseminated to the Public
From their inception, research and evaluation
projects and any other information developmental efforts that are
undertaken by ASPE are subjected to a quality assurance process. Further, ASPE
reviews the quality (including the objectivity, utility, and integrity) of
information before it�s disseminated and treats information quality as integral
to every step of the development of information, including its creation,
collection, maintenance and dissemination. Each project is developed with the
knowledge that the purpose, proposed methodology and work plan will have to be
defended before a peer review panel. The members of the panel are appointed for
at least a year at a time and are technically qualified by their professional
training and experience. The process for conducting this peer review has been
established for many years and refined as circumstances have changed. Requests
for changes in the design of proposed projects are not infrequent. Projects are
not approved for funding until the peer review panel is satisfied that the
project design and work plan have a reasonable expectation of providing a
useful product. All projects involving original large scale data collected from
the public undergo an exacting, rigorous multi-level review process in
connection with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). Further, ASPE is
committed to demonstrating in its PRA clearance packages that each draft
information collection will result in information that will be collected,
maintained, and used in a way that is consistent with OMB, HHS and ASPE
information quality guidelines.
Reports that are selected for dissemination to the
public undergo the following processes: Every report that is received as the
result of a grant or contract is reviewed by the project officer and that
person�s supervisor. If necessary, a technical expert may be asked to review
the report and offer an opinion. A decision is made whether the report may be
distributed or not. A further decision is made whether to seek support for a
more extensive dissemination effort.
If a more extensive dissemination effort is
recommended, a more thorough review process involving other organizations is
initiated. This will usually follow formal clearance procedures controlled by
the Executive Secretariat in the Office of the Secretary. Offices outside of
ASPE, including the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs and
one or more operating divisions with an interest in the report�s contents are
asked to concur in the release of the report and provide comments. Editorial
changes may be made as a result of this review.
- Agency Administrative Complaint Procedures
ASPE has developed administrative mechanisms to
allow affected persons to seek and obtain correction of disseminated
information that does not comply with OMB, HHS and ASPE guidelines. Complaints
about the quality or accuracy of the information being disseminated in a report
or other document should be addressed in writing, by mail to:
Coordinator of Information Dissemination
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
200 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201 or
e-mail your complaint to: Infoquality.aspe@hhs.gov
A. Responsibility
of the Complainant
To seek correction of information disseminated by
the agency, individuals should follow the procedures described below.
1.
A complaint or request for review and correction of
information shall be in written hard copy or electronic form;
2.
it shall be sent to the agency by mail or
electronic-mail(e-mail); and
3.
it shall state that an information quality request for
correction is being submitted.
4.
a detailed description of the specific material that needs to
be corrected including where the material is located, i.e. the publication title,
date, and publication number, if any, or the Web site and Web page address
(url), or the speech title, presenter, date and place of delivery; and
5.
the specific reasons for believing the information does not
comply with OMB, HHS or ASPE guidelines and is in error and supporting
documentation, if any;
6.
the specific recommendations for correcting the information;
7.
a description of how the person submitting the complaint is
affected by the information error; and
8.
the name, mailing address, telephone number, e-mail address,
and organizational affiliation, if any, of the individual making the complaint.
9.
Complainants should be aware that they bear the �burden of
proof� with respect to the necessity for correction as well as with respect to
the type of correction they seek.
B. Responsibility
of the Agency
Based on a review of the information provided, the
agency will determine whether a correction is warranted and, if so, what action
to take. The agency will respond to the requestor by letter or e-mail. The agency�s
response will explain the findings of the review and the actions that the
agency will take, if any. The response will consider the nature and timeliness
of the information involved and such factors as the significance of the
correction on the use of the information and the magnitude of the correction.
The response will describe how the complainant may request reconsideration. The
agency will respond to all requests for correction within 60 calendar days of
receipt. If the request requires more than 60 calendar days to resolve, the
agency will inform the complainant that more time is required and indicate the
reason why and an estimated decision date.
C. Appeals
If the individual submitting the complaint does
not agree with the agency's decision (including the corrective action, if any),
the complainant may send a written hard copy or electronic request for
reconsideration within 30 days of receipt of the agency's decision. The appeal
shall state the reasons why the agency response is insufficient or inadequate.
Complainants shall attach a copy of their original request and the agency
response to it, clearly mark the appeal with the words, Information Quality
Appeal and send the appeal to the specific agency appeals address. The agency
official who resolved the original complaint will not have responsibility for
the appeal. The agency will respond to all requests for appeals within 60 calendar
days of receipt. If the request requires more than 60 calendar days to
resolve, the agency will inform the complainant that more time is required and
indicate the reason why and an estimated decision date.
- Influential
Scientific, Financial and Statistical Information
ASPE prepares revisions to the poverty guidelines
that are published each year by the Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS). The guidelines are a simplification of the poverty thresholds (published
by the Census Bureau) and are used for a variety of administrative purposes for
instance, determining financial eligibility for certain federal programs. The
methodology for calculating these amounts is well-established and documented.
The accuracy can be independently verified. At times individual reports of the
kind described above may contribute to decisions having major national impacts.
In all such instances, the methods, measures, procedures, data sources,
limitations and assumptions are described in the report itself to assure that
the findings are substantially reproducible. In some instances, the data itself
is available to researchers as public use data file. In addition, these reports
contain the name of an ASPE contact person.
Last revised: November 12, 2003
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