The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report on a problematic exclusion of U.S. territories from data collection. Without reliable data, it’s difficult to make informed decisions about the needs and capacities of the territories. It’s challenging to determine whether programs are meeting their goals, and to track the results of initiatives or events.
The report concludes with a note referencing the three U.S. Freely Associated States, making it clear that “[t]he Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau are independent countries and so are excluded from our scope.” The following information applies only to the U.S. territories.
Data not collected
“Federal statistical products often contain gaps in data for the U.S. territories of American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI),” the report explains. “For example, of the 52 statistical products reported to GAO by the National Agricultural Statistical Service, only one—the Census of Agriculture—includes the territories. Of the 21 products reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, none include American Samoa or CNMI, while Puerto Rico was included in the most—four. GAO also found that even when territories are included in federal statistical products, there may be disparities in the timeliness and in the measurement of quality of territorial data relative to the rest of the U.S.”
The territories are routinely excluded, not only in decisions made about specific studies and reports, but even when it comes to laws requiring data collection. For example, when Congress mandated statistics on maternal health, the law included this section:
APPLICATION TO TERRITORIES.—
“(A) IN GENERAL.—To the extent that the Secretary determines that it is not practicable for a State specified in subparagraph (B) to report information in accordance with the method made available under paragraph (1), this subsection shall not apply with respect to such State.
“(B) TERRITORIES SPECIFIED.—The States specified in this subparagraph are Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
In general, no explanation is given for leaving out the territories.
Other reasons for gaps in data
However, the GAO report listed some of the issues that lead to overlooking the territories. One is the small population size. In Guam, for example, the population is just over 150,000 people. The GAO calculates that in order to reach a 1% margin of error, fully one quarter of the island’s population would have to be included in a survey. Including such a large percentage of the population would not only be more expensive, it would also bring up questions about privacy and anonymity of data.
This issue has no bearing on Puerto Rico, which has a population larger than 21 states.
Sheer geographic distance is also mentioned as a reason for failure to collect data. Guam, for example, is further from Washington, D.C., than Tokyo. Modern communication technologies offer solutions to the problem of distance. However, agencies report problems such as incompatibility between the technologies available in the territories and those on the mainland. Different systems for addresses, language barriers, and lack of awareness of territories were also given by various agencies as reasons for the failure to collect data.
Cost concerns are often cited as the reasons nationwide studies do not include the territories. However, the GAP found that most agencies had never looked into the cost of extending their programs. They also report that federal funds have been allocated to help improve data collection.
Consequences
In addition to the problem of lacking information to use in decision making, the gaps in data also hinder territories from receiving appropriate federal funds. Sometimes territories cannot apply for grants or benefits because they do not have the data required to complete applications. In other cases, needs and numbers of eligible residents are underestimated through inaccurate data.
While roughly $60 million dollars in federal funding has been provided in the form of technical assistance to the territories for data collection and analysis, Puerto Rico is not eligible for this funding.
