Transcript State Statistical Office -story behind the numbers

REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
STATE STATISTICAL OFFICE
The 57th Seminar of the International
Statistical Institute
How to give value added to official
statistics – specific experiences of a
developing country
Blagica Novkovska. MSc
Director General. State Statistical Office
16-22 August 2009. Durban,South Africa

REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
STATE STATISTICAL OFFICE
Basic results
Value added in official statistics (VAS) can be quantified by use of the following
expression:
VAS = N*QS
(1)
Where N is the size of the audience (number of who know official statistics) and
QS is the quantity of official statistics relevant for the users [1].
The quantity of official statistics (QS) produced by the SSO
increased substantially by introducing many new surveys
essential for balanced policy making.
Simultaneously with the increase of QS, the size of the
audience (N) markedly increased.
1. Enricco Giovaninni, Measuring Society’s Progress: A key issue for policy making and democratic governance,
Statistics User Forum: Transforming Official Statistics to Serve Society, 12 November 2008 at The Royal Society,
http://www.rss.org.uk/docs/Giovannini%20paper.doc
REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
STATE STATISTICAL OFFICE

Quantity of official statistics: Number of statistical
surveys for three consecutive periods
Period
New surveys


1998-2002
2003-2007
2008-2012
416
353
476
Number of statistical surveys is increasing
As a result much more various data are produced
nowadays compared to the period before transition
REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
STATE STATISTICAL OFFICE

Size of the audience: Number of requests for specific
data by year for the last 6 years
Year
Number of
requests for data

2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
738
777
848
824
788
927
It is seen that this increases substantially with small
oscillations
Size of the audience: Number of visitors to the website of the
Statistical Office for the last 6 years
900000
800000
Number of visitors
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REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
STATE STATISTICAL OFFICE
700000
600000
500000
400000
300000
200000
100000
0
2003
2004
2005
2006
Year
2007
2008

REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
STATE STATISTICAL OFFICE
Factors influencing QS
Following expression for VAS can be used in this case [1]:
VAS = N*[(QSA*MF)*RS*TS*NL] (2)
The total amount of official statistics that reaches the generic user is
QSR = QSA*MF, where QSA represents the total statistical information
produced by the official source and MF the role played by the media. RS is
the relevance of the official statistics communicated to the user, TS is the
trust that individuals have in official statistics and NL is the individuals
“numeracy”, i.e. the ability to reason with the numbers and other
mathematical concepts.
Users Satisfaction Survey shows that they perceive the
statistics produced by the SSO as highly relevant (RS).
1. Enricco Giovaninni, Measuring Society’s Progress: A key issue for policy making and democratic governance,
Statistics User Forum: Transforming Official Statistics to Serve Society, 12 November 2008 at The Royal Society,
http://www.rss.org.uk/docs/Giovannini%20paper.doc
REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
STATE STATISTICAL OFFICE

The role played by the media: Satisfaction with the quality of
the website of the State Statistical Office
Excellent
Good
Fair
Fail
Don’t know
Non
response
Access
34.4
31.2
17.6
5.0
1.6
11.2
Content
17.6
28.8
27.2
15.2
1.6
9.6
Presentation
19.2
26.4
29.6
12.0
2.4
10.4
Structure
18.4
28.0
22.4
16.0
2.4
12.8
Navigation
18.4
24.0
18.4
23.2
2.4
13.6
Source of data: Users Satisfaction Survey, May 2009



Very big increase is observed in the number of visitors to the website
of the Statistical Office
Website of the Statistical Office becomes the most important medium
for data users
Users are highly satisfied with the quality of the website
REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
STATE STATISTICAL OFFICE

Relevance of the official statistics communicated to the user:
Opinion on the quality of statistics by occupation (in %)
Entirely
agree
Relevance
Agree
Nor agree
neither
disagree
Disagree
Strongly
disagree
Without
response
Total
22.1
49.7
16.0
6.1
3.1
3.1
100.0
Employed in
public
administration
21.9
51.4
15.2
5.7
1.0
4.8
100.0
Employed in
education and
research
22.2
66.7
2.6
5.6
9.0
0.0
100.0
Employed in
private sector
18.2
31.8
27.3
13.6
1.1
0.0
100.0
Employed in
international
organization
60.0
40.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
100.0
0
100.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
100.0
18.2
36.4
27.3
0.0
18.2
0.0
100.0
Journalist
Other
Source of data: Users satisfaction survey, May 2009

REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
STATE STATISTICAL OFFICE
The trust that individuals have in official statistics slowly
progresses.
The individuals “numeracy”, i.e. the ability to reason with the
numbers and other mathematical concepts
-Users Satisfaction Survey shows that 50.3 % of the users with high
education or higher were very satisfied, giving notes from 8 to 10. The
percentage of those with secondary education that expressed the same level
of satisfaction was rather low.
REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
STATE STATISTICAL OFFICE
Conclusions



The value added of official statistics substantially increased during
the transition period. Both the quantity of official statistics (QS)
and the size of the audience (N) markedly increased
The main limiting factor for the increase of the value added of
statistics is the individuals’ “numeracy”. Namely, the portion of
those who correctly interpret data and use them in their practical
activities seems to be rather limited.
This is a factor that cannot be directly improved by the statistical
system and requires contribution of other actors like the education
system or specific government activities, such as publicity
campaigns, aiming at improving the awareness of the use of
statistical data.
REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
STATE STATISTICAL OFFICE
Thank you for your attention
Vision without a
task
is a dream
A task without a
vision
is only a hard work
A task with a vision
is a success