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National Resources Committee 



Bureau of the Census, when financially possible — not 

 only research on the accuracy of the basic data, but 

 also research with a more general aim of making addi- 

 tions to knowledge. The broad question of whether 

 the Government has or has not an obligation to do the 

 latter type of research seems irrelevant to the writer. 

 Certainly, the obligation to collect and tabulate basic 

 data is recognized. And, just as certainly, this great 

 obligation cannot be discharged effectively unless men 

 trained in research and alive to current research prob- 

 lems are making the crucial recommendations and deci- 

 sions. The best way for a man to keep "alive to cur- 

 rent research problems" is to conduct some research, 

 and opportunities for recognition as a social scientist 

 are necessary if a career in the Bureau is to be attrac- 

 tive. And the expense would be slight, considering the 

 added value which such research might give to basic 

 data which already has cost millions of dollars. 



Moreover, the writer feels that development of more 

 research in the Bureau of the Census and other statis- 

 tical agencies collecting data need not conflict with the 

 development of research in a central planning or m-- 

 search agency. The arguments in favor of research in 

 a planning and research agency close to the center of 

 the Government, with easy access to statistical data 

 wherever originally collected, and with a staff of social 

 scientists possessing high scientific esprit de corps, are 

 convincing enough. But this need not preclude a liai- 

 son between such an organization and the Bureau of 

 the Census, whereby the latter actually conducts some 

 of the research stimulated fay the former. Possibly, the 

 most useful work of a planning and research agency 

 would be that of exercising a freshening influence 

 throughout the Government rather than by conducting 

 much research of its own. The experience of the Cen- 

 tral Statistical Board, which, of course, has been con- 

 cerned rather more with the improvement of basic re- 

 porting thnn with the type of analytical research under 

 discussion here, suggests that such a plan is workable, 

 though full of difficulties. At any event, the writer 

 believes that the effectiveness of the primary collection 

 and tabulation job of the Bureau of the Census would 

 be imjjeriled if its responsibility for research other 

 than that on the accuracy of census data were to be 

 eliminated. 



A list of the research monographs published by the 

 Bureau since its establishment as a permanent agency, 

 prepared by Dr. Joseph A. Hill, appears as Appendix 

 B of this Section. 



We shall now review the present situation in the 

 Bureau with respect to the first of the three types of 

 analytical research, namely, research primarily for the 

 purpose of uncovering inadequacies in the data and of 

 fJeyising ways to make improvements. 



The Bureau's Investigations for the 

 Improvement of Its Own Data 



The routineer and social scientist in a Government 

 statistical agency can be distinguished by their atti- 

 tudes toward the data which thej' collect. The routi- 

 neer is likely to be defensive and suspicious of any 

 questionings about inaccuracy or incompleteness of the 

 data. Confronted with internal evidence, he usually 

 can be depended on to counter bj' expounding the in- 

 superable difficulties under which he works and by 

 blaming an inadequate budget. The social scientist is 

 likely to be much more frank about the shortcomings 

 of his data and to have given the problems careful 

 study. He is on the lookout for opportunities to do 

 research which will enable him to test his theories as to 

 where the troubles lie and as to how they can be rem- 

 edied. In some statistical agencies he may not get suf- 

 ficient support from his superiors to carry out such 

 explorations and he, too, is likely to complain of an 

 inadequate budget. But the difference in attitude can 

 only be appreciated by one who has seen quite inti- 

 mately the two types of men in action. 



The Bureau of the Census has had both types of men. 

 The influence of the present administration, unlike that 

 of some previous administrations, has been to encour- 

 age the latter. Most of the older social scientists in the 

 Bureau, who were critical about their data, have found 

 at the top new encoui'agemeut for attacking their prob- 

 lems. New leaders also have brought with them a 

 critical, inquiring, experimental point of view, and 

 sometimes have shocked routineers by upsetting past 

 complacencies. 



While the present Director is sympathetic to the 

 needs of critical analysis, he faces a great handicap. 



The handicaps to systematic investigation in the past 

 on the validity of the basic data were: (a) Lack of 

 interest on the part of the Bureau's administration, 

 (b) lack of qualified personnel, and (c) lack of funds. 

 Today, the interest is present. As we saw in part III 

 of this Section the personnel situation is gradually im- 

 proving. 



The handicap of lack of funds remains. Here the 

 Bureau, like all agencies, meets obstacles in its own 

 Department and in the Bureau of the Budget, as well 

 as Congress. It is naturally easier to get approval for 

 an item which has been carried in the Budget for years 

 than it is for a new item. Hence the Bureau is pen- 

 alized for its past neglect. It spent little money, under 

 past administrations, on research for improvement of 

 its data. Wliat little was spent was not usually ear- 

 marked for that purpose. With greater economies be- 

 ing required of the permanent Government agencies, 

 the Bureau of the Census, like other bureaus, has had 

 a hard struggle to keep up its necessary routine oper- 



