Information about these notices was provided by IPUMS at the U of Minnesota

[See a related news item: "Data Checkup framework for assessing the health of federal data collections"]

Federal Register Notice: American Community Survey (ACS) and Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS)

The Department of Commerce is gathering comments on proposed changes to the ACS and PRCS through next Tuesday, February 17. The changes include the introduction of an internet self-response option for the PRCS (as is already used in the ACS) and the implementation of modernized race and ethnicity standards. The updated race and ethnicity standards are set under Statistical Policy Directive 15. The Census Bureau provides a page outlining its extensive research on race and ethnicity and its testing to develop the updated standards.

[See also, "Take Action: American Community Survey" from dataindex.us]

Federal Register Notice: MEPS-Household Component (MEPS-HC)

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is accepting comments via the Federal Register through March 2 about changes to the MEPS-HC. The notice references minor changes to question phrasing, a change to the respondent sex question, and the removal of questions about counseling and treatment, birth control, aspirin use, and gender. The notice also reports the discontinuation of two supplements: (1) the Diabetes Care Supplement (DCS), which was fielded annually for 2000-2025 (we do not expect the 2023-2025 data to be released) and (2) the Medical Care Self-Administered Questionnaire (ESAQ), which was slated for a single year of data collection in 2024, with no data yet released. Those interested in these components of the MEPS-HC data for their research may want to respond. If your work is not affected by these changes, you may also use this opportunity to describe the general importance of MEPS-HC data for your research agenda.

Federal Register Notice: Contingent Worker Supplement

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is accepting comments through April 13 via the Federal Register about proposed changes to the Contingent Worker Supplement of the Current Population Survey. The proposed changes will update the collection of digital platform work in the supplement scheduled for July 2026.

From the American Statistical Association (ASA)

Update 2/12/26: The ASA Reimagining-NCES project team is assembling this list of papers, reports, and projects about the value of NCES products and about supporting, restoring, or envisioning NCES and its products or functions to inform our project. Please help us make this list as comprehensive and current as possible.

Original announcement:

"With the support of Lumina Foundation and William T. Grant Foundation, the ASA is launching a project to define a revitalized National Center for Education Statistics that is more efficient and agile. While our primary audience is policymakers in the administration and Congress, we want broad input and discussion for what could be a once-in-a-lifetime discussion. Our goal is to publish recommendations in spring 2026 for discussion and consideration. To inform those recommendations, we are hosting small roundtables with key audiences this fall and winter."

Read "NCES: Perspectives, Insights, and Recommendations from Former Leaders" on the ASA website.

Read the complete announcement and sign up for updates on the ASA website.

"Last week, the dataindex.us team launched the Data Checkup, a comprehensive framework for assessing the health of federal data collections.

"Going beyond simple availability checks, the Data Checkup evaluates datasets across six dimensions of risk, from data quality and statutory context to staffing, funding, and policy pressures. Each dataset is assigned a clear status so users can quickly understand where risks exist, and why.

"Built with input from 30+ data experts, the Data Checkup is designed for researchers, journalists, advocates, litigators, and policymakers who rely on federal data.

"By surfacing risks before data disappears or degrades, the Data Checkup helps protect the data we all depend on."

Explore the framework: dataindex.us/collections

[Ed. note: users of federal data will likely be concerned to see so many key data collections flagged as "high risk."]

Call for a special issue of The British Journal of Sociology
“The New Sociology of Propaganda”

Guest Editors: 
Freeden Blume Oeur (Tufts University, USA)
Fiona Greenland (University of Virginia, USA)

"Propaganda is among the most pervasive and vexing social problems today. In the age of big data and given the tight grip that traditional, social, and new media have on our lives, a crowded field — states, governments, news outlets, civil institutions, and experts — has fought to control, filter, and censor information and its ideological messaging. ... The time is right for social scientific research that updates and advances understanding of propaganda. ... This special issue welcomes sociological research from all subfields and all methodologies, covering any corner of the globe, which bears on questions of modern propaganda. Our hope is that such a special issue will help set the social scientific agenda on propaganda as we enter the second quarter of the 21st century. We encourage empirical articles as well as those more historical in focus and those dedicated to building more theoretical understandings of propaganda."

"If you are interested in submitting a manuscript for this special issue, please send initial information to the Guest Editor, Dr. Freeden Blume Oeur (freeden.blumeoeur@tufts.edu), by Monday, March 16, 2026. By Monday, March 30, 2026 the Guest Editor will let all prospective authors know if they are invited to submit a manuscript for consideration in the special issue."

Read the complete call on the journal website.

"If you rely on federal statistical data in your work--from Census data to BLS employment figures to NCHS health statistics--SSRS wants to hear from you. SSRS is a survey research firm and part of a consortium of partners to create the Emergency Mobilization for Essential Research and Government-Data Equivalents (EMERGE) Initiative. Through a grant from the Knight Foundation and with advisory support from the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) and the Association of Public Data Users (APDU), SSRS is conducting a brief survey (less than 5 minutes) to understand how recent changes to federal statistical agencies have impacted professionals across sectors.

"Why this matters: Recent disruptions at the 13 federal statistical agencies--including staff reductions and budget cuts--are creating potential gaps in the data infrastructure that researchers, policymakers, journalists, state administrators, and business leaders depend on daily.

"Your responses will directly inform the development of the EMERGE Initiative to explore independent solutions for maintaining access to reliable, publicly accessible statistical data."

Take the survey: ssrspanel.com/wix/4/p868434879294.aspx?ORG=1

in a post on the Federal Data Users forum, Mark Mather of the Population Reference Bureau noted:

The Census Bureau is requesting public comment on its 2026 Operational Test in support of the 2030 Census. Three elements of the proposed test seem particularly relevant for federal data users:

• The Operational Test described in the notice is limited to two sites: Spartanburg, SC and Huntsville, AL. This is a narrower scope than earlier Census Bureau planning materials. In July 2024, the Bureau announced six planned 2026 test sites, selected to reflect a wide range of enumeration environments, including Tribal lands and rural areas.
• The notice also proposes testing the use of USPS employees as census enumerators. Under the proposal, U.S. Postal Service staff would conduct in-person census interviews in the same manner as Census Bureau field staff. This represents a notable operational change and raises questions about training, respondent interaction, and whether results from a limited test environment can be generalized nationally.
• The notice specifies that Internet Self-Response (ISR) for the test will be available only in English.

The Federal Register announcement of the comment request is available at this link. The comment period ends March 5, 2026.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has archived the program page for  the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants, apparently marking an end to this funding, at least for the foreseeable future. (Although the directorate page for the dissertation grants still lists several funding opportunities for specific disciplines, these appear to have been archived.)

The American Anthropological Association sent a letter to Congress on January 21, 2026, urging a restoration of these programs. The Society for Applied Anthropology has also apparently written Congress. The Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) has created an action item to enable social scientists to contact Congress directly, as well. 

This change may be related to NSF's recently announced reorganization and changes to the merit review process for proposals. For more context, see the NSF section of our 2025 resources page and scroll to the bottom of the NSF section. (The 2025 resources page has been archived.)

“Education Secretary Linda McMahon and her legal team have dropped their appeal of a federal court ruling that blocked the department from requiring colleges to eradicate all race-based curriculum, financial aid and student services or lose federal funding.” Inside Higher Ed 1/22/26

A coalition of advocacy groups, including the American Sociological Association, had filed suit against the Department of Education’s February 2025 guidance. On behalf of the coalition, Democracy Forward announced, “Major Victory for Public Education Comes As Trump-Vance Administration Abandons Appeal on ‘Dear Colleague Letter’” (1/21/26) “Today marks a final defeat in the Trump-Vance administration’s attempt to require school districts throughout the nation to censor lessons, abandon student support programs, and certify their compliance with the administration’s unlawful interpretation of civil rights. In 2025, the U.S. District Court for Maryland ruled in favor of a coalition of nationwide associations of educators and a public school district, represented by Democracy Forward, that had challenged the administration actions in American Federation of Teachers et al v. U.S. Department of Education et al. The government filed a notice today withdrawing its appeal of the district court’s final judgment, finalizing the invalidation of the government’s actions.”

In a message to members, ASA Executive Director Heather Washington said, “This victory reaffirms the essential work sociologists and educators do every day—building classrooms and communities where every student feels supported, motivated to learn, and encouraged to explore complex social realities with honesty, curiosity, and intellectual rigor. The ruling enables educators in our discipline and beyond to continue providing accurate instruction that fosters students’ academic and personal growth, helping them become thoughtful, informed community members.”

For context on actions affecting ED during 2025, see our 2025 resources page, which has now been archived.

Several news items released this week signal potentially significant changes at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities:

“Limit on multiyear funding of NIH grants is a sticking point in Senate budget talks” STAT News 1/16/26 (subscription) In 2025, NIH “funded fewer research projects than in years past because of a budgeting strategy mandated by the White House Office of Management and Budget. Called multiyear funding, it allocates funds for a grant in full during the year the grant is awarded, rather than on a yearly basis.” Shifting to this funding model means that fewer projects are funded, even while spending remains stable or even increases. This could be especially challenging for early-career researchers.

“Exclusive: key NIH review panels due to lose all members by the end of 2026” Nature 1/22/26 (subscription) “Crucial grant-review panels for more than half of the institutes that make up the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) are on track to lose all their voting members within the year. Federal law requires these panels to review applications for all but the smallest grants before funding can be awarded, meaning that the ability of those institutes to issue new grants could soon be frozen. … At the advisory council for the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the final voting members’ terms end next month. Without extraordinary action, the council will have no members by its May meeting, when it is scheduled to review grant applications submitted as early as last September — meaning those applications would be effectively frozen.” (Also covered in STAT News)

Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO, who is the Ranking Member of the US House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, “introduced the Follow the Science Act to shield the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from political interference and protect the integrity of America's biomedical research.” (“DeGette Introduces Bill to Protect NIH From Political Interference” 1/21/26)

“Again Defying Trump, Congress Proposes Increasing NIH Budget, Maintaining ED” Inside Higher Ed 1/20/26 “The House and Senate appropriations committees have jointly proposed legislation that would generally maintain the Education Department’s funding levels, plus increase the National Institutes of Health’s budget by more than $400 million this fiscal year. It’s the latest in a trend of bipartisan congressional rebukes of President Trump’s call to slash agencies that support higher ed.”

For context on actions affecting NIH during 2025, see our 2025 resources page, which has now been archived.

Please consider nominating a colleague or yourself for one of the following DCSS 2026 awards. Nominations will close on March 2. Complete descriptions and nominating information are on the Awards page of the website, where you will also find links to lists of previous winners.

Graduate Student Paper Awards: Separate awards are made for one M.A. student paper and one Ph.D. student paper; each winning author will receive a $200 cash award and will be recognized at the annual DCSS awards event. Graduate students enrolled in colleges and universities in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia are encouraged to submit; you need not be a member of DCSS to submit a paper for consideration. See complete details on the Awards page.

The Stuart A. Rice Merit Award for Career Achievement is presented to a distinguished senior member of the Society who has made a significant contribution to the discipline. Nominees will be judged on their collective accomplishments over a professional career of at least 25 years.

The Morris Rosenberg Award is presented for outstanding sociological achievement during the past three years by any member of DCSS. Achievements may include—but are not limited to—scholarship, teaching and mentoring, use of sociology in public policy analysis, contributions to professional organizations, advancement of public awareness of sociological practice, or leadership in the use of sociological knowledge in non-traditional settings.

The Anna Julia Cooper Award for Public Sociology by a Community Organization is given to a community group using the methods and insights of sociology in its work to improve life in the DCSS service area.

The Executive Committee is currently making plans for an awards event to be held in late spring. Watch this space for more information coming soon!