By Larry Jones
April 6, 2009

To the delight of many census stakeholder organizations, President Barack Obama nominated Dr. Robert M. Groves on April 2 as Director of the U.S. Census Bureau. The nomination comes almost one year before the Bureau is scheduled to start the 2010 census count. Groves currently serves as director of the University of Michigan’s Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, and as research professor at the University of Maryland. He also served as associate director of statistical design for the U.S. Census Bureau from 1990 to 1992.

Groves is widely published as an author and co'author of many books, journal articles and monographs on survey methodology and design. He has also received numerous awards and honors for his work as a researcher and is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association. He is a recipient of the National Association for Business Economics 2008 Julius Shiskin Memorial Award for Economic Statistics, in recognition of his innovative statistical research. This award is given for unusually original and important contributions in the development of economic statistics.

Reacting to the nomination, Rep. William Lacy Clay (MO), chair of the House Subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Census Bureau, called Groves “a nationally recognized expert in statistical research and survey methodology” and pledged to work with him “to reduce the undercount of minorities and increase the national mail'back response rate.” Senator Tom Carper (DE), chair of the Senate panel that oversees the Census Bureau, said Groves “is just the person the Census Bureau needs now to stay on track and ensure a smooth, successful 2010 Census.”

While at the Census Bureau in the 1990s, Groves clashed with Republican members of Congress when he recommended adjusting the 1990 census data, based on statistical sampling, to correct an estimated undercount of five million Americans. Groves served on a nine'member expert panel of senior Census Bureau staff who reviewed the results of the post'census survey that measured the accuracy of the 1990 census. After carefully reviewing the results he was one of seven members who recommended the adjustment in the census data.

Rep. Patrick McHenry (NC), the ranking Republican member on the House Subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Census Bureau, said the nomination signaled that President Obama “intends to employ the political manipulation of census data for partisan gain.” But former census director Louis Kincannon, who served under President George W. Bush, called the debate over statistical sampling “a non'issue” and said that Groves is an “eminent scholar” who should be swiftly confirmed. Groves nomination must be confirmed by a majority vote of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the full Senate.