UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 

Work Procedures and Methods

Once the decision to begin work on a technology assessment is made, the director of the assessment (the Chief Scientist or Chief Technologist) assembles a multi-disciplinary team appropriate for the topic. At this time, a production schedule is developed by the team that includes estimates for job design, data collection, message development, report drafting, report reviews, and report issuance. This schedule reflects GAO's responsiveness to legislative timelines; our report production is designed to enable issuance within 12 months of job initiation, allowing the reports to be timely and useful to the Congress to support legislative issues, congressional hearings, or testimonies.

GAO technology assessments conducted by CSTE use methodology and data collection techniques that can consist of literature reviews; interviews and document requests from federal agencies, academia, industry, and other stakeholders; the use of groups of experts assembled for GAO through a contract with the U.S. National Academies; workshops, surveys, and focus groups; and analysis of the collected data. Process controls include extensive indexing and referencing of collected information that provide assurance that GAO findings, conclusions, and recommendations are supported. Draft reports undergo extensive review, both internal and external to GAO; internal stakeholders throughout GAO provide input for technology assessments through all phases of work and review the final product. GAO can use external experts, such as groups of experts assembled by the National Academies, to review the technology assessment draft report. Furthermore, federal agencies that GAO gathered information from have the opportunity to review the draft report and provide comments that are incorporated in the final report.

© EPTA, version 20 Oct 2012; provided by ITA