An Official Statistics Reading List (2023)

Introduction

There is a lot going on in and around the world of Official Statistics. The sector (both nationally and internationally) continues to change - responding to, amongst other things, increasing demand, changes in the data landscape (and the communications landscape) and to changes in user needs and behaviour. This specific part of the public sector is also connected to, and influenced by, wider issues - for example the changing use of data in society (and by governments) and the evolving relationship between governments and citizens.

Over this year, I have been seeking to better understand the challenges and choices facing Official Statistics in order to get a sense of the potential evolution of what might be seen as different 'business models' in different countries. My exploration of this topic has led to consideration of a large number of relevant references - many of which (given the currency of most of the themes) are from the current year, 2023. I have reviewed sources focused on Official Statistics and those with a related but broader scope. The 'final' list is not designed to be representative of the wider research landscape or of the current year, it simply presents a slightly random collection of some of the material that I found helpful (and thought-provoking) and that I thought might be of interest to others.

This 2023 reading (and listening) list is grouped into four main chunks (technical statistical term):

• a) Production – references of potential relevance to the strategic challenges and choices that Official Statistics producers face in making decisions about what to measure and how
• b) Marketing and Distribution – references of potential relevance to the challenges and choices faced about how to connect the produced information with those who might get value from it
• c) Use – references of potential relevance to the different ways that Official Statistics systems seek to engage with use (and mis-use) and with users of their products
• d) Governance – the choices made about the overall design of Official Statistics systems (institutions, roles, regulatory guardrails etc).

a) Production

• Stats NZ Statement of Strategic Intentions (2023 - 2028) All National Statistical Offices (NSOs) are developing their strategies for responding to the emerging data landscape - needing to balance and integrate data from different sources (surveys, public sector administrative systems, commercial data etc). I found this strategic plan of interest and value in the clarity of the organisational commitment to move to the default use of administrative sources and in the consequent implementation plan.
• Changing Data Sources in the Age of Machine Learning for Official Statistics Operating within this more complex environment, Official Statistics producers need to take a strategic view of the risks associated with the portfolio of data sources that they use - often in a context where they are 'data takers' rather than 'data makers'. I found this paper really helpful in exploring one specific topic - of the implications of (uncontrollable) changes to some of the new data sources being utilised.
• Driving Excellence in Official Statistics: Unleashing the Potential of Comprehensive Digital Data Governance This paper clearly sets out the importance, within this new data landscape, of statistics producers adopting robust data governance processes - and provides a helpful overview both of different implementations of data governance frameworks and of current trends (including the growing impacts of AI technologies).
• The statistical trilemma: built-in limitations of international economic statistics The underlying social, economic and environmental conditions that Official Statistics seek to measure are, of course, not static and producers need to continually review what they seek to analyse and how. In that context, I found this paper interesting and challenging in the way that it highlights the potential tensions involved in balancing national and international needs in developing and producing Official Statistics.?

?b) Marketing and Distribution

• History of Ideas: Umberto Eco?This podcast offers some really interesting ideas and themes some of which are relevant to the question of how information reaches potential decision-makers. One comment that stayed with me noted the necessity of understanding “how information moves in a world with too much information”
• Journalism, Media, and Technology Trends and Predictions 2023 This report describes the changing landscape within the news production and dissemination sector. From an Official Statistics perspective it is useful in highlighting a range of relevant issues and trends - from changes in the prominence of different social media platforms to the (related) growth of the use of video to the ongoing challenge of 'news avoidance'.
• The Leaders’ Report: the evolving future of government communication This report provides a useful companion piece to the preceding item - coming as it does from the public sector communications community. It highlights relevant challenges such as the decline of trust (amongst citizens) and the ongoing atomisation of audiences.
• How central banks communicate on official statistics This report gives a sense of current and emerging communications approaches from one specific Official Statistics producer segment. It mirrors a number of wider themes including the move to more differentiated products (targeted at the needs of different user groups) and the adoption of multi-channel strategies (again to reach different groups of users).

c) Use (and mis-use)

• ?Full Fact Report 2023 This report - from the UK's primary fact checking organisation - gives a sense of current concerns about the standards of public debate and about nature and extent of the the mis-use of information (including Official Statistics).?
• Psychological inoculation protects against the social media infodemic On the same topic area, this academic paper does offer some helpful evidence on the potential benefits of 'innoculation' approaches (ie preparing people in advance about the possibility of misinformation).
• Statistical Literacy The term 'statistical literacy' is often cited as something that we need to improve to secure maximum value from Official Statistics. This paper highlights the differing interpretations of this concept and notes the challenges in establishing any ongoing measurement frameworks.
• Measuring the Value of Official Statistics: testing and developing a measurement framework Finally, on the user side of the sector, this (summary) report captures the progress of what I think is a really important cross-national initiative (under the auspices of UNECE) to shift the dial to a more user / customer focused way of understanding the value of the work done within the sector.

d) Governance

• Trust in institutions, democracy, and official statistics One ambition of governance and institutional arrangements for Official Statistics is for the system as a whole to be seen as trustworthy. This research paper presents a range of analyses on the topic of trust - offering both an international perspective (for example on the relationship between trust and GDP) and a specific national perspective (exploring questions such as whether reliance on different sources for information is linked to levels of trust in institutions).?
• An ethical approach to the development of social acceptance strategies for national statistical offices This paper, produced for the Conference of European Statisticians, sets out the current challenges for Official Statistics systems in maintaining trust and support for their work - and highlights the importance of working in ethical ways and of retaining a clear sense of the distinctiveness of the role of Official Statistics (ie differentiating that role from other data providers).
• Is Autonomy Possible and Is It a Good Thing? This paper, focused on the Official Statistics system in the USA, explores some of the issues that need to be addressed in most countries - about the details of what autonomy / independence (for Official Statistics producers) might and might not mean.
• Assuring quality in the new data ecosystem: Mind the gap between data and statistics! One topic covered by this paper is a key current institutional choice facing a number of National Statistical Offices (NSOs) - which relates to how they position themselves within their evolving (public sector) data ecosystems. This paper touches on some of the issues (and tensions) for NSOs to consider in looking at whether they take on potential leadership / data steward roles within that wider landscape. To conclude where we started, the Stats NZ Statement of Strategic Intentions (2023 - 2028) does give a helpful example of what the consequent programme of work might look like when an NSO takes on that sort of broader role.

As noted above, this does not seek to be a comprehensive list of the key things written in 2023 about Official Statistics (or about the future of Official Statistics). Apart from anything else the sources explored are limited to those available in (or translated to) the English language and to those available on an open access basis.

For those whose appetites are still un-sated there is always of course the lovely 2023 update of the Handbook on Management and Organization of National Statistical Systems. This is a comprehensive and genuinely useful text - but probably not one that counts as printer friendly.

I would delighted to receive any suggestions for pointers to further recent references on these broad topics - or indeed to see any alternative year-end lists that anyone might be inspired to collate.

Best wishes,

Ken