International Statistics:
Who, What, When, Where, Why
and How?
AMANDA WAKARUK, MLIS, MES
OLA SUPERCONFERENCE
FEBRUARY 5, 2011
The 5 Ws & 1 H
I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
Rudyard Kipling. The Elephant’s Child. Just So Stories.
Reordering the The 5Ws & 1H
of International Statistics
WHY ARE INTERNATIONAL STATISTICS
IMPORTANT?
WHAT ARE THEY MADE OF?
WHO COMPILES THEM?
WHEN DID THIS ALL START?
WHERE DO I GO TO FIND THEM?
HOW DO I WORK WITH THEM?
WHY are
international
statistics
important?
Statistics help us make
sense of our world.
“the share of democracies
increased from less than a third
of countries in the early 1970s to
more than half in 1996 and to
three-fifths in 2008”
Human Development Report 2010. United Nations
Development Programme.. 2010, pg. 68.
WHY are
international
statistics
important?
Statistics help us make
sense of our world.
“Since the 1980s AIDS has slashed life
expectancy in Southern Africa… in the
most affected countries life
expectancy is now below 51 years; in
Lesotho it stands at 46—similar to
that in England before the Industrial
Revolution.”
Human Development Report 2010. United Nations
Development Programme.. 2010, pg. 32.
WHY are
international
statistics
important?
Ideally, policy decisions
are informed by
reliable, timely
statistics.
“$19 billion in new federal stimulus
under Canada's Economic Action Plan
to create and maintain jobs.”
Introduction. Federal Budget 2010.
WHY are
international
statistics
important?
Ideally, policy decisions
are informed by
reliable, timely
statistics.
“Unemployment has risen in most
countries. The increase is 116
percent in Chile, 77 percent in
Estonia and Sweden…”
“Increase in World Unemployment.” The Times. April 1,
1933., pg. 9.
WHY are
international
statistics
important?
Statistics help us make
sense of our world…
critical thinking
informs understanding.
“Canada’s overall crime rate is now 50
percent higher than the crime rate in
the United States. Read that again
slowly – it seems incredible, but it’s
true.”
David Frum. “Reaping what we sow.” National Post. Jan 3,
2006. pg. A14.
Gardner, D. “Crime story depends on the teller.” The Ottawa Citizen, Feb 15,
2006. p. A13.
Selley, Chris. “Crime and Embellishment.” TartCider Blog. Jan 6, 2006.
http://www.tartcider.com/blog/archives/2006/01/crime_and_embel.html
WHY are
international
statistics
important?
Statistics help us make
sense of our world…
critical thinking
informs understanding.
“Each year since 1988, Chinese officials have
reported a steady rise in the number of fish
caught off China’s shores, even as fish stocks
almost everywhere else have declined...
according to the Food and Agriculture
Organization... local officials passed inflated
numbers to Beijing officials, who simply
added them up without validating them, and
sent them along to the United Nations.”
Piore, A. & Mooney, P. (2002, January 21). “China’s statistics are
fishier than its oceans; why the PRC overcounts its annual catch.”
Newsweek, 46.
 data/statistics collected/compiled by
national statistical agencies/offices:

WHAT are
international
statistics made
of?




Statistics Canada
US Bureaus (e.g., Census, Economic Analysis, Labor
Stats, Justice Stats)
Institut Haïtien de Statistique et d’Informatique
National Bureau of Statistics of China
NSAs are listed on the United Nations Statistics
Division web site
 data sources


administrative
survey-based
WHAT are
international
statistics made
of?
 Statistical Capacity (World Bank): the
ability of countries to meet user needs for
good quality statistics – usually those
statistics that are consider to be “official” (i.e.
those statistics produced by governments as a
public good).
 National Statistical Offices are
informed by IGO policies and
assistance.



Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics
(United Nations Statistical Commission)
Handbook of Statistical Organization
(United Nations Statistics Division)
Technical assistance, training, financial
support.
 International Governmental
Organizations

WHO compiles
international
statistics?
United Nations

UN Statistical Commission, UN
Statistical Division (UNData, Comtrade)
 International Labour Organization
 World Health Organization
 World Bank (dataBank)
 International Monetary Fund (IFS)
 Human Development Programme
(Human Development Report)


OECD
European Union
(Eurostat, Bookshop)
 1853-1918: various statistical
congress/society meetings
 pre-1900: piecemeal at best; few censuses
 1919-1946 : League of Nations (1926-1944
Statistical Yearbook via Northwestern University)
WHEN did this
all start?
WHO, ILO established
1946: United Nations Statistical Office
 1953: System of National Accounts
1965: UNDP (HDR 1990)
2002: Inter‐Agency Committee for the
Coordination of Statistical Activities
2007: “We have a system of global statistics
but not a global statistical system.” (UNSD
Seminar on the Evolution of National
Statistical Systems)





“I had to become the Robin Hood for free data,” Dr. Hans Rosling.
“Making Data Dance.” The Economist, Dec 10, 2010.
Reference interview: time
period, geography, indicator.
2. If it’s unfamiliar territory, start
with a web/literature search.
3. Find the *source* of statistics
noted in the literature. Follow
that lead!
4. Check UNData: read the
footnotes and fine print; mine
the meta-data for context and
other publications/sources.
1.
WHERE do I
go to find
international
statistics?
Depends
on where
you start!
UNdata
http://data.un.org/
UNdata
sources
UNdata
topics
UNdata
WDI
UNdata
WDI
HOW do I
work with
international
statistics?
 Literature Search
 FOR CONTEXT AND LEADS ONLY
 add “statistics” as a search term
 learn the language
 identify important publications from
authoritative compilers (i.e., UN
agencies)… follow those leads
 UNData
http://data.un.org/



manipulate, download statistical series
mine meta-data for context/definitions
investigate references for fuller series
Pulling it Together
 What percentage of people “go hungry” in Canada,
the United States, Haiti, and the Dominican
Republic?
World News: U.N. says world hunger is declining
Scott Kilman, 15 September 2010, The Wall Street Journal Europe
“The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome estimated that the number of
hungry people in the world will drop 9.6% this year to 925 million, the first decline in 15 years.”
UN urges long-term solutions to help countries with protracted food crises
recover
7 October 2010 WebNewsWire
“Chronic hunger and food insecurity is the most common characteristic of a protracted crisis,
according to the report, the State of Food Insecurity in the World 2010, published jointly by Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP).”
Pulling it Together
Pulling it Together
Pulling it Together
Pulling it Together
 How many people are undernourished in the world?
Pulling it Together
Pulling it Together
Pulling it Together
Pulling it Together
Pulling it Together
Pulling it Together
Pulling it Together
Pulling it Together
The 5Ws & 1H of International
Statistics
WHY ARE INTERNATIONAL STATISTICS
IMPORTANT?
WHAT ARE THEY MADE OF?
WHO COMPILES THEM?
WHEN DID THIS ALL START?
WHERE DO I GO TO FIND THEM?
HOW DO I WORK WITH THEM?
The 5Ws & 1H of This
Presentation
WHY ISN’T EVERYONE EXCITED ABOUT
INTERNATIONAL STATISTICS?
WHAT DID I DO WITHOUT THEM?
WHO CAN I TRUST TO PRODUCE THEM?
WHEN CAN I START USING THEM?
WHERE CAN I INTEGRATE THEM INTO
CLASSROOM/DESK WORK?
HOW DO I SHARE THIS WITH MY
COLLEAGUES?
Questions?
AMANDA WAKARUK, MLIS, MES
GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS LIBRARIAN
UNIVERSITY OF ALEBRTA
AMANDA.WAKARUK@UALBERTA.CA