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Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology

*New* Friends of NCHS: FYI’s and Opportunities

  1. Please consider responding to the call for comments on NCHS collections to explain how you use the data and why they are important. With the current scrutiny, it’s important to take advantage of opportunities like these:
  2. If you have been affected by disappeared or altered federal data, please see this note from a reporter:
    • Hello – I’m Laura Santhanam, a reporter with PBS News who is working on a digital print article to help our audience understand the parameters of the crater made in the federal workforce, but especially as it has affected the collection and use of data, both in this present moment and how those changes are expected to radiate going forward. I am particularly interested in learning about specific examples of disappeared data or data that have been altered since late January. If you would like to share your story, I am here to listen. Please message me over Signal at 1-662-801-0334. Since things are moving so quickly, we are trying to gather these stories sooner rather than later. Any help is much appreciated.
  3.  The FY26 budget request for NCHS if for a $175 million, which is a reduction from the current level of $187 million. The proposal also calls for NCHS to be moved to the to-be-created HHS Office of Strategy. Please continue to push for NCHS to be well funded.

CSDE Research Scientist Hana Sevcikova Supports Efforts of the United Nations to Produce Demographic Projections for all Countries of the World

For over a decade, the United Nations (UN) Population Division has been publishing demographic projections that are based on methodologies developed at the University of Washington. CSDE Senior Research Scientist Hana Sevcikova, PhD, is the lead collaborator in these efforts, along with CSDE Affiliate Adrian Raftery, Blumstein-Jordan Professor Emeritus of Statistics and Sociology (PI) and Patrick Gerland (United Nations). This work includes methods for probabilistic projections of fertility, mortality and population. In the most recent revision of the World Population Prospects (WPP), the WPP 2024 revision, probabilistic projections of migration have also been included for the first time.

The research is ongoing – not all challenges in this aim of producing fully probabilistic population projections have been solved. For example, Sevcikova, along with Raftery, Sara Curran, CSDE Director, and Crystal Yu, PhD candidate in Sociology and CSDE trainee, are working on expanding the framework from the national to the subnational level, while collaborating with CSDE External Affiliates Mike Morhman and Rob Kemp from the State of Washington’s Office of Financial Management (OFM) on its application to county-level projections.

If you’re interested in population projections, you can arrange a consultation appointment with Hana Sevcikova or any of CSDE’s scientific support staff, please use the CSDE Science Core Consultation Request form.

Another challenging task is to predict migration age profile into the future and Sevcikova, along with James Raymer (Australian National University) and Raftery, have developed a promising methodology (currently under peer-review).

Many of the methods that the UN has been using have been implemented in open-source software that Dr. Sevcikova developed and has been maintaining. It includes implementation of the statistical methodology as well as tools for data analysis and visualization. These efforts allow for any demographers, planners, researchers etc. to easily reproduce and analyze the UN work, as well as to apply it to their own circumstances. In addition to providing direct user support, Sevcikova and colleagues have been teaching the methodology and software in workshops throughout the world.

*New* CSSCR Workshop: Introduction to R (7/9/25)

Description: This workshop aims to introduce basic tools and functions of R for reading, management and examining datasets. Attendees are assumed to have little to no experience with R.

  • Instructor: Alireza Aminkhaki, CSSCR Consultant
  • Date:  Wednesday, July 9, 2025
  • Time: 11:00am – 12:20pm
  • Location: Savery 121 (Small Lab)
  • Register here.

*New* CSSCR Workshop: Basics of STATA (7/15/25)

Description: This workshop will teach you how to get started using the statistical package Stata. The workshop will cover a) reading in data files from different sources, b) basic data manipulation, and c) some basic common statistical procedures. No previous Stata experience required.

  • Instructor: Biying Zheng, CSSCR Consultant
  • Date: Tuesday, July 15, 2025
  • Time: 10:00am – 11:20am
  • Location: Savery 121 (Small Lab)
  • Register here.

Share Your Story: Federal Grant Terminations and Data Restrictions

The Population Association of America (PAA) has updated the form used to collect details, on an ongoing basis, from members who have been adversely affected by actions taken by the Administration, including federal grant terminations and data restrictions. The revised form provides guidance and encourages individuals to share their stories, which will be featured in a regular newsletter designed to educate policymakers and the public about the consequences of these federal actions.

Please feel free to share this form with your colleagues. If you have questions, please contact Mary Jo Mitchell, PAA/APC Government Affairs Director.