Comment: The Democracy of Facts

As the availability and quality of our national data-gathering systems have increasingly been taken for granted, concern and protection for these resources have been relaxed. This has resulted in the loss of a focus for statistical policy and coordination, a diminution in the size of samples taken, a retrogression in the amount of data collected, and the neglect of social and economic research. It is the responsibility of government, labor, business, and users of data to demand a national statistical coordination that maintains quality, integrity, and independence.

Author(s): Elliot L. Richardson

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Volume 62, Issue 1 (pages 42–47)
Published in 1984