Resource Library

The Navajo Nation Research Brief of the Black Lung Incidence Study identifies the current state of knowledge on black lung disease as it relates to coal mining and residential coal use in the Navajo Nation. It identifies prevalence rates in the U.S. counties that overlap with the Navajo Nation borders, estimates prevalence rates in those counties, and discusses data limitations specific to the Navajo Nation.

One component of the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA’s) mission to “prevent death, illness, and injury from mining and promote safe and healthful workplaces for U.S. miners” is protecting coal miners and coal mining communities from black lung disease (“Mission”). In support of that mission, the literature review expands the U.S.

The report presents the findings of a literature review ad quantitative analysis conducted under the Black Lung Incidence Study. The study was designed to examine black lung incidence in the United States, exploring both cases and deaths. Within this scope, the study examined whether black lung incidence is higher among specific subpopulations of interest, including miners, mining communities, the Navajo Nation, and residents of Appalachia.

In 2022, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and commissioned contractor Summit Consulting, LLC (Summit) to conduct the Black Lung Incidence Study under the Administrative Data Research and Analysis portfolio of studies.

In 2020, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and funded contractor Mathematica Policy Research to conduct the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Research Portfolio Project.

In 2017, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and funded contractor Summit Consulting to conduct An Analysis of Benefit Plans Auditors under the Administrative Data Research and Analysis portfolio of studies. The statistical analysis aims to analyze trends in employee benefit plan audit quality, particularly when plan administrators change certified public accountant (CPA) firms.

The report presents findings from a trend analysis of benefit plan auditors using 5500 filing data and audit reviews conducted by Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) between plan years 2011 and 2015. EBSA administers and enforces the reporting, disclosure, and fiduciary requirements of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). EBSA’s Office of the Chief Accountant, Division of Accounting Services enforces annual audit requirements of employee benefit plans.

The report presents findings on plan filings of Form 5500 using data from 2000 to 2016. The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) administers and enforces the reporting, disclosure, and fiduciary requirements of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Each year, employee benefit plans are required to submit Form 5500 to EBSA to report information about the plan. Form 5500 captures important employee benefit plan information on plan type, plan administration, and plan benefits.

The report documents and explores the strengths and drawbacks of data sources commonly used to produce impact estimates for evaluations of workforce development programs. Specifically, researchers use information from the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Adult and Dislocated Worker Programs Gold Standard Evaluation to examine three data sources used to evaluate the impacts of access to services provided by the public workforce system’s Adult and Dislocated Worker programs, two of the largest, publicly-funded workforce development programs in the nation.

In 2018, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) funded Mathematica Policy Research to conduct Data on Earnings: A Review of Resources for Research under the Administrative Data Research and Analysis portfolio of studies. This secondary data review describes data sources on wages and earnings that may be used by researchers who wish to incorporate reports of earned income in their analyses but original data collection is not feasible.