The National Data Center proposals between macro modelling and micro targeting

As computer technology got more advanced during the 1960s, scientists used it to build economic models, run simulations and make predictions. But the gist of any method was a solid data base. Therefore, a committee of the Social Science Research Council developed a proposal for a Federal Data Center within the United States government. The Bureau of the Budget developed the idea further into a National Data Center proposal provoking a well-known debate on privacy. Less is known about how the proposals originally emerged. One goal was the access to microdata on individual units which were necessary for statistical operations such as correlation or matching of data sets. The article argues that the data center demonstrates the shift towards statistics based on micro units to build macro models. Scientists, however, faced obstacles such as rules concerning confidentiality and disclosure of data as well as a decentral structure of federal statistics, and their interests differed from the interests of politics.

20世纪60年代，随着计算机技术愈发先进，科学家们开始借助其构建经济模型、开展模拟实验并进行预测。但任何研究方法的核心都离不开坚实的数据库支撑。为此，社会科学研究理事会（Social Science Research Council）下设的一个委员会提出了在美国联邦政府内部设立联邦数据中心（Federal Data Center）的提案。预算局（Bureau of the Budget）将该构想进一步完善为国家数据中心（National Data Center）提案，此举引发了一场关于隐私保护的知名争议。目前学界对该提案的最初缘起却知之甚少。该提案的核心目标之一，是获取用于开展相关性分析（correlation）、数据集匹配（data sets）等统计运算（statistical operations）所需的个体单位微观数据（microdata）。本文指出，该数据中心提案体现了统计学研究的范式转向——从过往路径转向以微观单位为基础构建宏观模型（macro models）的研究方向。但科学家们却面临诸多阻碍：诸如数据机密性（confidentiality）与数据披露（data disclosure）相关的规则、联邦统计体系的分散化结构，同时他们的学术诉求与政治利益存在分歧。