Purpose: The purpose of this standard is to ensure that information products meet statistical reporting requirements; that they provide understandable, objective presentations of results and conclusions; and that conclusions are supported by the data.
Notes:
Scope: The Census Bureau's statistical quality standards apply to all information products released by the Census Bureau and the activities that generate those products, including products released to the public, sponsors, joint partners, or other customers. All Census Bureau employees and Special Sworn Status individuals must comply with these standards; this includes contractors and other individuals who receive Census Bureau funding to develop and release Census Bureau information products.
In particular, this standard applies to the reporting of results in information products such as:
Exclusions:
In addition to the global exclusions listed in the Preface, this standard does not apply to:
Key Terms: Census Bureau publications, coefficient of variation (CV), confidence interval, custom tabulations, derived statistics, design effect, direct comparison, estimate, implied comparison, information products, margin of error (MOE), metadata, nonsampling error, policy view, sampling error, significance level, standard error, statistical inference, statistical significance, synthetic data, transparency, and working papers.
Requirement E2–1: Throughout all processes associated with reporting results, unauthorized release of protected information or administratively restricted information must be prevented by following federal laws (e.g., Title 13, Title 15, and Title 26), Census Bureau policies (e.g., Data Stewardship Policies), and additional provisions governing the use of the data (e.g., as may be specified in a memorandum of understanding or data–use agreement). (See Statistical Quality Standard S1, Protecting Confidentiality.)
Requirement E2–2: All information products must provide accurate and reliable information that promotes transparency and must present that information in an unbiased manner.
Table A. Significance and Confidence Levels by Information Product
Information Product | Significance Level | Confidence Level |
---|---|---|
Census Bureau publications | 0.10 | 0.90 |
News releases | 0.10 | 0.90 |
All other information products (e.g., working papers, professional papers, and presentations) | 0.10 or less | 0.90 or more |
It is acceptable to say that the estimates are "not statistically different" or (for comparisons over time) "statistically unchanged," if the difference in the estimates is not statistically significant. For example, the following statements are acceptable, since they refer to the estimates of population quantities:
Table B. Confidence Intervals or MOEs for Key Estimates by Information Product
Information Product | Confidence intervals or MOEs |
---|---|
Census Bureau publications | Required |
News releases for the economic data items listed in Appendix E2 | Required |
News releases for all other data (e.g., economic data items not in Appendix E2, household–level data, and person–level data) | Not required |
Abstracts and presentations slides | Not required |
All other information products (e.g., working papers and professional papers) | Required |
Sub–Requirement E2–2.1: In addition to the requirements for all information products, the requirements for working papers, professional papers, research reports, presentation slides, handouts for distribution at presentations, and similar products include the following:
Note: The disclaimer is not needed for:
Note: Although not a requirement of the statistical quality standards, the Census Bureau requires presentation slides to use the PowerPoint templates featuring the Census Bureau wordmark provided at the Customer Liaison and Marketing Services Office Intranet Web site.
Sub–Requirement E2–2.2: In addition to the requirements for all information products, the requirements for tabulations include the following:
Note: Although not a requirement of the statistical quality standards, program managers who produce custom tabulations must refer to and follow the requirements of Data Stewardship Policy DS021, Custom Tabulations.
Examples of formatting practices that promote clarity and comprehension include:
Sub–Requirement E2–2.3: In addition to the requirements for all information products, the requirements for statistical graphs, figures, and maps include the following:
Examples of formatting practices that promote clarity and comprehension include:
Note: The Census Bureau Guideline on the Presentation of Statistical Graphics and the Administrative Customer Service Division (ACSD) Chart Publishing Guidelines provide additional guidance on presenting graphics.