PROJECTS

Since 2001: US Census Bureau

For all custom application development we follow our defined methodology that brings discipline, and accountability for projects, both large and small, to the development program. Our process and practices are tailored to meet the specifics requirements of each task order.

Our consultants have worked on several complex and visible projects at the US Census Bureau, like, CPS (Census Population Survey), CE (Consumer Expenditure Survey, sponsored by BLS), ATUS (American Time Use Survey, sponsored by BLS) and other complex surveys.

Each project begins with a plan that outlines our approach, resources needed, processes to be used, project schedule, identifies risks, establishes Quality Assurance, configuration management. Then, working with the customers and stakeholders, we identify the functional and technical requirements of a survey. We use preliminary and critical design and flow-chart reviews to present our design and obtain feedback from the sponsors. As mentioned above, we use Blaise, software development to develop the different phases of an instrument. This process involves close collaboration with subject matter experts (DSD-Demographic Surveys Department), BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistic) and produces useable and testable applications within development cycles of only a few weeks duration.

Techtrac consultants have designed and assisted in the development of utility tools to augment the capability of Blaise software and to support the interface with SAS, Delphi, and other programs. Because of their usefulness, some of these tools have been adapted by TMO as standard operating tools. With the experience and expertise we have acquired with Blaise software, we have been able to develop proprietary macro routines in conjunction with Blaise. These developments are possible owing to our expertise in configuration control and the special rights assigned to us to access and modify the software.

We have received commendations from the Census client (Certificate) and appreciation notes from Census staff. Our team's personnel have been key members of the team to maintain and support the software programs. On several occasions our staff has been the final technical deciding authority in discussions with TMO's internal and external clients.

Gallup Project

In 2008, Techtrac was approached by Gallup corporation to develop a survey system using Blaise for a research study for conducted by Princeton University.

Gallup worked with Princeton University to develop a questionnaire to collect information from people on how they felt during the several activities they did during a 24 hour period. Some of the questions were based on the original American Time Use Survey conducted by Bureau of Labor Statistics. The study consisted of 4000 on the basic ATUS survey and then they planned to have the special "retired sample frame" which asked questions about retired people and their activities.

This was a full life cycle development project including data extraction and post data collection.

Consultants at Techtrac, completed this project successfully and on time.

Mathematica Project

Successful collaboration with Mathametica Policy Research (MPR) to program the body of the WIA - Adult and Dislocated Worker Programs Evaluation instrument so that the senior programmer could integrate our work with the MPR. CATI control systems efficiently and quickly. The specification provided question text and skip patterns to be programmed using Blaise 4.8 remotely. The six sections (blocks) accounted for 171 initial questions. The work was completed on schedule requiring 104 hours of labor in less than 30 days, which included account management, initial meetings and minimal training for the developer. The programming included question fills in English, applying programming standards for CATI applications at MPR, testing and a quick series of change requests to meet the sponsor's acceptance criteria.

Work sharing and resource management (senior programmers, analysts and technical staff) reduced the cost estimate for this work from 160 hours allocated to 104 hours worked. Tectrac worked diligently with the sponsor to get the work complete under budget and on schedule. Communication via e-mail, progress reporting, payroll, managing change requests and specification modifications was essential. Occasional telephone conversations with the project manager and senior programmer were effective in resolving questions rapidly to meet our delivery schedule.

Research

We have successfully completed and continue to work on a number of projects at the U.S. Census Bureau. In addition there are other projects and skills like the SAS processing or writing scripts in Manipula that should be recognized as achievements. We did the early work and evaluation of using Blaise to XML and XML to Blaise as a tool for communicating with Blaise databases and the control systems. Latha and Ed have collaborated on some very difficult assignments with great success. We did the lead research on the OLEDB database connectivity in Blaise, .boi files for those who know. As well as some really interesting and challenging work with the Blaise IS, for the Internet. Research into the capabilities of Blaise 5 and ways to implement systems using Blaise or Blaise tools is a priority for us.

Publications/Presentations

IBUC 2001 7th International Blaise Users Conference, 'Standardizing and Automating Blaise Output Test Data Delivery (TransSAS).'