Independent Evaluation of the 2020 Decennial Census Evaluations and Experiments (EAE) Operation

We contracted with the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), an independent firm, to evaluate the U.S. Census Bureau's EAE operation. The original objective was to determine whether the bureau prepared adequate and timely operational assessments that included the appropriate metrics to support planning for the 2030 decennial’s research and testing. The scope of the objective was later expanded to include the other major EAE components, namely evaluations and experiments. IDA found that (1) 2020 operational assessments, evaluations, and experiments were not completed in time to formally inform the development of the Census Bureau’s 2030 research and testing agenda; (2) the 2020 census EAE research program failed to prioritize the evaluation of two of the four key 2020 innovation areas and the investigation of a potentially significant 2030 innovation; (3) the Census Bureau has put management processes and tools in place but does not always use them to their potential; (4) the Census Bureau should standardize the reporting of cost data across EAE products; (5) the Census Bureau should examine delays with respect to the originally planned schedule and not just the latest re-baselined schedule; and (6) the Census Bureau should resource-load the activities in the decennial census integrated master schedule.