Statistics in government
Successful program implementation through statistics
Source: www.spss.com
Copyright SPSS, Inc. 2004


Today more than ever, we are confronted with increasingly large volumes of data. Statistics play a critical role in capitalizing on these data, enabling governments to understand if the programs they have in place are meeting their public's needs. Government agencies that use statistical analysis can:
· Plan programs and services more efficiently
· Assess program's impact on target population
· Assess program cost and benefits
· Ensure programs are running as effectively as possible
· Improve client satisfaction

Governments don't take full advantage of their large volumes of data
Statistics help users take advantage of the data they have collected through the years. In the '70s, businesses began using computers to automate tasks previously done by hand. They employed computers for many back-office processes, including accounting, customer service and billing.

In the '80s, government agencies started building databases of information. In the '90s, government agencies have large volumes of data, usually stored in data warehouses, but do not take full advantage of it. Many agencies still distribute voluminous reports and spreadsheets based primarily on averages. These basic reports limit the amount of information and understanding available with specific programs.

Today, powerful statistical packages and data mining software offer government agencies tools that enable them to leverage stored information and raw data. Statistics empower agencies to dig deeper into their data and discover information to help them implement their programs more effectively. It also play an important role in reengineering client and employee satisfaction and quality improvement programs. In order for those programs to succeed, executives need to use statistics to develop an ongoing evaluation system.

Today, statistical analysis is the secret weapon of many successful programs. It enables users to analyze data and draw conclusions. Instead of relying on hunches, government professionals quantify relationships using statistics and develop better decision making strategies. Statistical analysis has helped users find solutions to problems in their programs in a variety of fields, including:


Public safety
· Crime incident analysis - understand which type of crimes are committed and where they occur
· Court sentencing analysis - ensure all cases are processed efficiently through the court system
· Probation analysis - track the effectiveness of probation programs
· Tracking recidivism rates - discover what causes offenders to re-commit crimes

Education
· School district planning - plan districts that ensure fair and efficient education
· Student tracking - discover which factors contribute to student success
· Administration - meet mandated program and testing standards

Revenue
· Property taxation assessment - ensure assessments are accurate and equitable
· Fraud analysis - profile those who have the greater propensity to commit fraud

Health and social sciences
· Disease tracking - track and report the occurrences of diseases
· Epidemiology - identify the causes, the distribution and control of diseases
· Medicaid service utilization - develop detailed profiles of those who most frequently need Medicaid services
· Prevention - identify populations at risk and in need of intervention

Labor
· Labor force analysis - understand the structure of your labor force
· Insurance claims - develop profiles of your claimants

Environment
· Eco-system analysis - understand which factors contribute to a healthy eco-system
· Water/Air quality testing - ensure water or air quality meet EPA standards

Transportation
· Route planning - plan the most effective routes for better traffic flow
· Accident reporting - understand which factors contribute to accidents
· Road maintenance modeling - predict when roads will need repair Statistics are also a crucial part of program evaluation and strategic planning, both of which apply to several of the categories above. For example, case management is used in public safety as well as health and social sciences.

Program evaluation
· Client satisfaction analysis - meet public needs
· Program evaluation - understand factors that make a successful program
· Client profiling - target programs effectively
· Cost benefit analysis - understand which programs are the most cost effective
· Outcome analysis - assess client improvement

Strategic planning
· Econometric forecasting and analysis - understand how economic patterns affect your agency
· Employee satisfaction - discover employee attitudes
· Resource planning - ensure you have estimated the resources necessary to successfully run your agency
· Case management - ensure cases are equitably distributed among your staff
· Total quality management/Business process reengineering - ensure agency efficiency


Why statistics beat spreadsheets
Statistical software is better than spreadsheets, databases and standard multi-dimensional tools because it enables you to dig deeper into your data. Even if government professionals turn spreadsheets inside out and upside down to subset and analyze data, they still will not achieve results that are as effective as when they apply statistics.

Statistics empower users to go beyond simple summaries and basic row-and-column math to get more insight into their data. Spreadsheets are good at telling users "what" is occurring, but they do not tell "why" it is happening. Statistics, on the other hand, are effective for looking at patterns and associations, enabling the end user to draw conclusions and make predictions. They reveal hidden patterns when users group data and compare the different groups to each other. Furthermore, statistics, relative to simpler data analysis, allow users to be more productive by quickly and easily running reports and graphs for different groups.

React faster to public service needs
The longer policy makers must wait for a special report, the slower their response to make changes necessary for better government and program and policy implementation. Today, government executives can have fast, easy access to data and statistical tools on the desktop. These tools help government executives react quickly to changes in client satisfaction, product quality and other key issues. And, because they have the ability to create ad-hoc analyses and customized reports at their fingertips, executives can quickly and confidently make decisions based on fact.

Empower knowledge workers
Executives can empower their employees to perform more extensive data analysis with statistical tools. Unlike a decade ago when statistics required a broad statistical or programming background, using statistics is much easier today. Now, employees can use sophisticated data analysis to uncover problems and opportunities that can make their department more profitable and competitive.

Employees can explore, refine, understand and draw conclusions from their own data using statistical analysis. Who better to explore client characteristics necessary for eligibility for a particular program than the program implementers themselves? Who better to spot trends appearing in employee satisfaction levels, than the human resources professional? Who better to investigate quality improvement opportunities than those working with public programs everyday? When people have the tools they need, they can easily measure if a relationship exists or if the relationship is changing due to other factors.

For example, a large metropolitan department of welfare needed to assess whether people become homeless as a result of being denied or dropped from public assistance. Statistical analysis enabled the department to see if this proposed relationship was real or occurring by chance. They also analyzed how long a person remained homeless and what other public assistance services the tended to use during their homeless status.

Find secrets in your data warehouse
Statistics play an important role in data warehousing and data mining because they enable users to use massive amounts of data to explore, discover interesting relationships and formulate hypotheses to test further. Most importantly, good statistical tools make it easy to further manipulate your data beyond the facilities contained in most data warehouses. For example, statistical analysis allows users to merge data which is external to the data in your warehouse, such as client satisfaction survey results and program evaluation studies.

Meet your public needs as efficiently and effectively as possible
It's a constant challenge for every agency to meet the dynamic needs of their public, to forecast future resources based on unknown program outcomes. To increase the quality of their programs and operate more efficiently, government agencies need sophisticated data analysis techniques. Successful agencies use statistics to their advantage. Governments that effectively employ statistical analysis will be able to develop profiles of their clients and their needs. This knowledge will empower the development of targeted programs where they are really required. They will also be able to cut unnecessary costs, improve agency efficiency and most importantly, improve overall client satisfaction.