Loren Data's SAM Daily™

FBO DAILY ISSUE OF AUGUST 09, 2003 FBO #0618
SOLICITATION NOTICE

A -- RESEARCH SERVICES TO EVALUATE SMALL AREA ESTIMATION

Notice Date

8/7/2003
 

Notice Type

Solicitation Notice
 

Contracting Office

Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Procurement and Property Management, 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Room 1830, Washington, DC, 20212
 

ZIP Code

20212
 

Solicitation Number

BLS-03-26
 

Response Due

8/22/2003
 

Archive Date

9/6/2003
 

Point of Contact

Etihun Hailemichael, Purchasing Agent, Phone 202-691-6044, Fax 202-691-6026, - Kevin Brown, Purchasing Agent, Phone 202-691-6048, Fax 202-691-6026,
 

E-Mail Address

Hailemichael_E@bls.gov, Brown_Kevin@bls.govgov
 

Description

This initial finding needs to be evaluated more fully, and the underlying methodology needs more development before it could be used for assessing ``official'' BLS small area estimates. The goal of the current PSC is to further development of the nonparametric small area estimation methodology and collaborate with BLS staff in evaluating its usefulness in the CES context. Objective: 1. Continue development of nonparametric small area estimator 2. Develop guidelines for model selection for small area estimation 3. Test alternative small area models Tasks: 1. Develop nonparametric small area estimation methodology 2. Construct tests for the significance of the random effects 3. Develop SAS-based ``pseudo-code'' for fitting and testing small area estimation models 4. Identify initial set of promising small area estimators for evaluation 5. Conduct in-depth comparison of alternative small area estimators on CES data, including study of their behavior over time 6. Identify time persistent ``outliers'' among small areas 7. Evaluate approaches for improving prediction for persistent outliers. Deliverables: 1. A formal summary of the methodological findings and general recommendations 2. A scientific paper on the methodological development and the application to BLS data 3. Two visits to the BLS for staff consultations 4. A seminar on the methodological findings shall be presented to BLS staff Inspection and Acceptance: Final inspection and acceptance of all deliverables will be made by the COTR associated with this project. Period of Performance: September 1, 2003 to August 31, 2004. References: Breidt, F.J. and J.D. Opsomer (2000). Local polynomial regression estimators in survey sampling. Annals of Statistics, 1026-1053. Butani, S., R. Harter and K. Wolter (1997). Estimation procedures for the Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment Statistics Program. In ASA Proceedings of the Section on Survey Research methods, p. 523-528. American Statistical Association (Alexandria, VA). Butani, S., G. Stamas and M. Brick (1997). Sample Redesign for the Current Employment Statistics Survey. In ASA Proceedings of the Section on Survey Research methods, p. 517-522. American Statistical Association (Alexandria, VA). Rao, J.N.K. (2003). Small Area Estimation. Wiley-Interscience. Confidentiality and Security Requirements: a. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data being provided under this contract were collected by the BLS under a pledge of confidentiality for exclusively statistical purposes. Therefore, the Contractor and its employees must handle the BLS data in accordance with Section 512 of the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 (CIPSEA) (Title 5 of Public Law 107-347) and other applicable Federal laws. As designated agents of the BLS, all Contractor employees are subject to the fines and penalties under Section 513 of CIPSEA and any other fines and penalties that apply to the willful mishandling of confidential information. The ?Confidential Information Protection? provisions of CIPSEA appear as Exhibit A of this contract. b. The BLS policy on confidentiality is stated in Commissioner's Order No. 3-93, dated August 18, 1993, entitled "Confidential Nature of BLS Records." This document appears as Exhibit B, and is incorporated into this contract. It is applicable to the Contractor and the Contractor's employees. The majority of data collected by BLS are provided on a voluntary basis by respondents who have agreed to provide the information for the statistical purpose(s) specified by the BLS. A violation of the confidence that respondents place in the BLS would endanger the BLS' ability to carry out its duties. c. For the purposes of this contract, "confidential information" includes: (1) Individually identifiable data. Any representation of information that permits the identity of participants in BLS statistical programs to be reasonably inferred by either direct or indirect means. (2) Pre-release economic data. Statistics and analyses that have not yet been cleared for release (that is, have not yet been officially released to the public), including but not limited to those that have a set date and time of release before which they must not be divulged. (3) Embargoed data. Pre-release economic series data for the Principal Federal Economic Indicators produced by the BLS. Currently, the following BLS data series have been designated by the Office of Management and Budget as Principal Federal Economic Indicators: the Consumer Price Index, Employment Situation, Employment Cost Index, Producer Price Indexes, Productivity and Costs, Real Earnings, and U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes. d. In performing work under this contract, the Contractor agrees that access to the confidential information will be restricted to authorized persons. For the purposes of this contract, "authorized persons" is defined as: individuals designated as agents of the BLS who are authorized access to the confidential information for the statistical purposes set out under this contract and have signed a BLS Agent Agreement (Exhibit C) swearing to comply with CIPSEA and other applicable Federal laws in the handling of confidential BLS information. The Contractor will forward all signed Agent Agreements to the Contracting Officer?s Technical Representative (COTR) prior to receiving access to the confidential information. e. All agents will perform activities subject to this contract under the control of the COTR or any other BLS official that the BLS designates. The BLS will notify the Contractor of any such designations. f. All agents must agree, in writing, to comply with all provisions of law that affect information acquired by the BLS including, among other laws, the Trade Secrets Act and the Privacy Act. They must specifically swear to comply with the provisions of Section 512 of CIPSEA. Agents who improperly disclose confidential information may be subject to criminal sanctions. g. Contractor personnel who have access to embargoed data are prohibited from releasing the data to unauthorized persons or gaining financially from knowledge of the data. It would be a violation of this contract for contractor personnel to: (1) use knowledge of embargoed data to buy or sell stocks, mutual funds, bonds, or futures, or to make other similar investments; or (2) disclose embargoed data to other persons, or advise or make recommendations to other persons based on knowledge of embargoed data. h. The Contractor must provide the COTR a list of all work site(s) at the start of work provided for in this contract and subsequent task orders, and must notify the COTR of any changes (additions or deletions) to the list of work site(s). All work provided for under this contract will be performed at those locations only. The Contractor agrees not to remove any tape, compact disk, diskette, or other media containing the confidential information from the listed work sites(s). i. The Contractor agrees not to divulge, publish, reproduce, or otherwise disclose, orally or in writing, the confidential information, in whole or in part, to any individual other than authorized persons. j. The Contractor agrees not to attempt to link the confidential information with individually identifiable records from any BLS or non-BLS data set. k. The Contractor agrees to notify the COTR immediately upon discovering: (1) any breach or suspected breach of security, or (2) any disclosure of the confidential information. l. The Contractor agrees to notify the COTR immediately upon receipt of any legal, investigatory, or other demand for access to the confidential information in any form. m. The Contractor agrees not to subcontract or transfer any work in the performance of the contract unless specified in this contract or upon prior written approval of the COTR. n. The Contractor agrees to include these provisions in all subcontracts awarded, pursuant to this contract, that involve the disclosure of any confidential BLS information orally, in writing, or in any other form, in whole or in part, to the subcontractor. o. The Contractor agrees to obtain the written authorization of the COTR to use any courier service(s) not expressly provided for in this contract. p. Upon termination or completion of the contract, or at an earlier time if required by the COTR, all source documents or other media provided to the Contractor by BLS and any documents or other media created by the Contractor that contain confidential information must be returned to the COTR, or with the COTR?s permission, be destroyed. The Contractor's failure to surrender or destroy such materials promptly or the Contractor's conversion of such materials to a use not authorized by the contract may be a violation of 18 U.S.C. Section 641. q. The Contractor agrees to implement safeguards to prevent unauthorized access, by electronic or physical means, to the confidential information. The confidential information may be copied to and stored on a network server, a mainframe computer, or the storage device of a personal computer or other device, and may be accessed by modem or other electronic communication device provided that they can be password protected to prevent unauthorized access. The confidential information may not be accessed by an electronic communication service, such as the Internet. The confidential information may not be accessed by modem or other electronic communication device from a location other than the work site(s) specified in accordance with paragraph h of this section. r. The Contractor agrees to maintain secure work sites within the approved facilities for performance of work under this contract. The confidential information shall be secured in a manner so that it cannot be viewed by, and it is not accessible to, persons who have not been designated as agents of the BLS and who have not signed a BLS Agent Agreement. s. BLS reserves the right to review and approve or disapprove all the security safeguards instituted to comply with the requirements of this contract. BLS also reserves the right to make unannounced inspections of the Contractor's facilities to determine compliance with the requirements. t. The Contractor agrees to assign overall responsibility for the security of all source documents and other media used in performing the work provided for in this contract to a specific officer or employee. The Contractor shall provide the COTR with the name, address, and phone number of this person and any changes thereto. u. The Contractor agrees, in the performance of this contract, to screen employees and to use only those employees who have a demonstrated record of honesty, trustworthiness, integrity, and reliability as ascertained by the Contractor. v. All Contractor personnel selected to work under this contract shall be subject to any United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) background investigation(s) deemed appropriate by BLS, including a National Agency Check and Inquiry (NACI) or higher level of investigation. BLS will pay all costs directly related to the background investigation(s), and will arrange for the conduct of, and payment for, the investigation(s). Contractor personnel may be required to complete forms and be fingerprinted for the OPM investigations. Such investigation(s) may be conducted at any time during the existence of the contract. If there are questions concerning the suitability (as defined in the Office of Personnel Management, Federal Personnel Manual Chapter 731, Subchapter 3) of an individual following such background investigation(s), notification and an opportunity to respond will be provided to the individual. If the individual is found to be unsuitable, BLS reserves the right to require the Contractor to remove and/or replace said individual from his/her duties under the contract. Such removal and/or replacement shall not alter or affect the responsibility of the Contractor to meet the performance standards prescribed in this contract. In the absence of a written waiver by contract personnel, the provisions of the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a) may preclude discussion with the Contractor of the details of the background investigation(s) and/or BLS? action. w. If the Contractor fails to comply with the requirements contained in these clauses, the Contractor shall be deemed to have failed to perform the provision of this contract within the meaning of the default clauses and the contract shall be subject to termination for default. x. In accordance with contract provisions, this contract may be formally modified by BLS if a requirement of the courts (e.g., grand jury investigations), a statutory requirement (e.g., civil investigative demands), or other circumstances dictate such a modification. BLS AGENT AGREEMENT PURPOSE. The purpose of this Agreement is to inform persons who may have access to confidential Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) records of their responsibility for complying with the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act and other applicable Federal laws and with the confidentiality policies of the BLS. BACKGROUND. The BLS of the Department of Labor is the Government's principal fact-finding agency in the field of labor economics. The majority of the data collected by the BLS are provided on a voluntary basis by respondents who have agreed to provide the information for the purpose(s) specified by the BLS. A violation of the confidence that respondents place in the BLS would endanger the ability of the BLS to carry out its duties. Confidential information includes all names, addresses, and other information for units in BLS samples, all identifiable respondent submissions, and any other information in any medium and format that would reasonably disclose the identity by either direct or indirect means of any participant in a statistical program conducted under the auspices of the BLS. The Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA) of 2002 (Title V of Public Law 107-347) requires that information acquired by the BLS under a pledge of confidentiality for exclusively statistical purposes shall be used by BLS officers, employees, and agents for statistical purposes only. CIPSEA further authorizes the BLS to designate individuals who are self-employed researchers, consultants, contractors, and the employees of contractors, with whom contracts or other appropriate agreements are executed, as agents to perform exclusively statistical activities under the control of the BLS. All designated agents are subject to the fines and penalties under Section 513 of CIPSEA for any willful and knowing disclosure of confidential information. Further, the BLS confidentiality policy is stated in Commissioner's Order 3-93, dated August 18, 1993, entitled, "Confidential Nature of BLS Records." This document states that, in conformance with existing law and Departmental policies, data collected or maintained by, or under the auspices of, BLS under a pledge of confidentiality shall be treated in a manner that will assure that individually-identifiable data will be used only for statistical purposes and will be accessible only to authorized persons. Further, pre-release economic series data prepared for release to the public shall not be disclosed or used in an unauthorized manner before their official date and time of release, and shall be accessible only to authorized persons. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF UNDERSTANDING OF RESPONSIBILITY AND AGREEMENT TO COMPLY WITH FEDERAL LAW AND OBSERVE BLS CONFIDENTIALITY POLICY I have read the statement above, the ?Confidential Information Protection? provisions of CIPSEA, and Commissioner's Order 3-93, and I agree to comply with Federal law and BLS confidentiality policy. I agree not to disclose any BLS confidential respondent identifying information to any unauthorized person. Further, I understand that it is my responsibility not to disclose BLS confidential pre-release information to any unauthorized person prior to its official publication, issuance, or release. I fully understand that the unauthorized use or disclosure of such information may result in disciplinary or other legal actions. Interested persons may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement by submitting quotations. All quotes received within fifteen (15) days after the publication of this synopsis will be considered by the Government. The purchasing activity is not responsible for locating or securing any information which is not identified in the quotation and reasonably available to the purchasing activity. All Quotes shall be submitted to Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 1830, 2 Massachusetts Ave., NE, Washington, DC 20212 no later 3:00 p.m. EDT, August 21, 2003, and be clearly marked with RFQ # BLS-03-26. If your response is not received by the date/time and at the location specified in the announcement, it will not be considered. No hand carried quotes will be accepted. Offerors may download the RFQ by accessing the FedBizopps (FBO) website at http://www.fedbizopps.gov. All future information about this acquisition, including solicitation amendments, will also be distributed through the FBO site. Interested parties are responsible for monitoring the FBO site to ensure that they have the most up-to-date information about this acquisition. Fax proposals are encouraged and must state name, address and solicitation number. An original copy of the proposal shall follow by mail. Quotations may also be submitted electronically provided that all the necessary documentation requested in this RFQ is included.
 

Place of Performance

Address: DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, 2 MASSACHUSETTS AVE. NE ROOM 1830, WASHINTON, DC

Zip Code: 20212

Country: US
 

Record

SN00394771-W 20030809/030807213341 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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