Inventory on
International
Statistical
Standards, ISS
INEGI-Mexico
15th Meeting of the CCSA
February 22, 2010
The Inventory
Objectives:
•
To compile a Database of International Statistics Standards organized by type of
standard:
a) Concepts and Definitions
d) Data Sources
b) Classifications
e) Indicators
c) Methods and Procedures
•
To use a metadata model to organize the ISS and present the information in a
unified way.
•
To build a web-portal to facilitate the access to the different sources of information
that contains ISS.
The Inventory
Considerations:
•
Compilation of ISS is still in progress.
•
ISS are continuously developed and updated by international organizations.
•
The Database does not contain all the ISS, nor always have the latest version.
•
ISS imbedded in the Inventory´s Database should not be taken as official neither by the
international organizations nor by INEGI.
•
The internet links to the information source or documents, included in the Database, could
not be working correctly due to changes in the web sites.
•
ISS were originally translated into Spanish and updated continuously as possible.
•
The English version corresponds to the 2008 inventory. For this reason, the information
available in Spanish and English might be slightly different.
International Statistical Standards and the
Harmonization of National Statistics
•
Compliance with international standards is an important tool to harmonize and
strengthen the National Statistical System in Mexico.
•
Statistical harmonization presents a number of challenges, including how to
conceptualize, measure and analyze reality.
Conceptual:
- Which definitions are applied.
- Which conceptual frames are used.
- Which classifications are used for aggregating
data.
Analytical:
- Which statistical methods are used.
- Which indicators are derived.
Methodological:
Legal Framework:
- The way in which variables are measured.
- The intervals over which they are collected.
- The populations they cover.
- The treatment accorded to missing data.
- The Mexican law considers the use
of standards and international
recommendations.
The Legal Framework
•
The National System of Statistical and Geographical Information Law (SNIEG, 2008) is
an instrument that organizes the “National System” to ensure that:
• The “Information of National Interest” satisfies the policy needs of the economic
and social development of the country;
• The information is comparable over time and space;
• The statistical and geographic information processes are in line with international
standards, so as to allow for international comparability.
•
Under this new legal framework, international standards and recommendations have
taken on special significance for national statistics.
•
International standards need to be analyzed and adapted to the national context, in
such a way that regional and international data comparability becomes possible.
Statistical Standards
Statistical standards are at the core of the harmonization processes
Köhl, M. et al. 2000. Harmonisation and Standardisation in Multi-national Environmental Statistics – Mission
Impossible?
International organizations recommend the use of international norms and common
practices to foster coherence among national statistical systems. The development of the
family of international standards amounts to the development of a “common language”
which allows for meaningful international comparisons.
Communicating Statistical Standards
Due to the large number of statistical subject matter areas, there are a number of different
international actors involved in developing standards and recommendations. Consequently,
they are highly disperse in a great variety of sources:
•
•
•
•
•
Methodological publications;
Legal documents;
Glossaries (in documents, and on-line glossaries);
On-line databases;
Internet sites: text information in web-pages.
INEGI’s Statistical Standards Inventory:
http://mapserver.inegi.org.mx/estandares/
The International Statistical Standards Inventory is a system that compiles the
international statistical standards, on the themes and subthemes, which constitute the
Information of National Interest, under a metadata model. Its objectives are:
•
compile standards recommended by the main international organizations in one
database, systematized by types of standard and by statistical or geographical
themes and subthemes of national interest;
•
provide basic information about each standard: objective, the international
organization that recommends it, its version, the description of the standard, and to
facilitate its consultation and access to the original information sources or
documents.
•
making clear the network of international organizations involved in the development
and dissemination of international statistical standards.
Metadata model
Element
Description
Name of the standard
Original name of the dealing reference or standard. Acronym of the standard (when applicable).
Acronym of the International Organization that publishes the standard and year of publication.
Themes & subthemes
Statistical topics. Classification of themes and subthemes according to the Law on the National
System of Statistical and Geographical Information of Mexico.
International Organization International Organization or National Offices, principal responsible of publishing the standard.
Source
Information source from which the standard is obtained. Name of the international organization
that publishes the standard, the name of the document and the Internet link (URL).
Contributor(s)
International Organizations, National Offices, Working Groups, etc. which participated in the
development of the standard.
Type of standard
Categories:
(a) Concepts and definitions.
(c) Methodologies and procedures.
(e) Indicators.
Version
Year of publication of the source that contains the standard.
Previous version
Year of publication of the previous version of the standard.
Objective
Describes the most general objective of the standard.
Description
Brief description of the main statement about the standard.
Date of technical card.
Date when the technical card was created.
(b) Classifications.
(d) Data Sources
Technical card (example)
Name of
Standard
Themes & subthemes
International
Organization
Source
Contributor(s)
DEFINITION OF PLACE OF USUAL RESIDENCE -CORE TOPIC(UNSD-2008)
Socio-Demography - Population and Demographic Dynamics
United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD )
UNSD, Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses, Revision 2,
Economic and Social Affairs, New York, 2008.
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/publication/SeriesM/SeriesM_67rev1S.pdf
Expert Group on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses who
participated in the development and review of the draft Principles and Recommendations for
Population and Housing Censuses, Revision 2. Special thanks go to the members as well as to the
Chair of the Drafting Group for the final review of the draft recommendations.
Type of standard
Concepts and Definitions.
Version
2008
Previous version
1998
Objective
Description
To present the definition of place of usual residence, according with United Nations Statistics
Division
In general, “usual residence” is defined for census purposes as the place at which the person lives
at the time of the census, and has been there for some time or intends to stay there for some time.
Generally, most individuals enumerated have not moved for some time and thus defining their
place of usual residence is clear. For others, the application of the definition can lead to many
interpretations, particularly if the person has moved often.
Date of technical card 03-April-2008
Technical card (example)
Name of Standard
MEASUREMENT OF MIGRATION FLOWS (OECD-2002)
Themes &subthemes Socio-Demography - Population and Demographic Dynamic - Migration
International
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD
Organization
Source
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development,(OECD). (2002). Trends in International Migration SOPEMI,
Washington, OECD. 2002. http://213.253.134.43/oecd/pdfs/browseit/8103061E.PDF
Contributor(s)
Type of Standard
Version
Previous version
Methodologies and procedures
2002
Objective
Description
2000
To detail each of the methods recommended by the OECD, with the intention of identifying the processes
behind obtaining the migratory flows, among the different countries, thus establishing the most suitable
according to their characteristics.
Characteristics of the Migratory Flows from Residence licenses
When the countries do not possess reliable or updated records of population, they obtain the information
through residence licenses and /or through work references this it is the case of The United States, Australia,
Canada and France. In the case of the United Kingdom the information is obtained from the disembarkation
permits. The data established from the permissions does not necessarily reflect the real flows or the effective
duration of the stay, since: 1) The permissions can be delivered abroad but the candidates for the migration
did not use them or delayed their arrival, 2) the permissions could be delivered to persons that had already
lived in the country and it can correspond to a change of status or are issuing of the permit.
The Estimation of the Net Migration
It is evident that due to the lack of an updated record of population, some countries have serious problems
for estimating the migratory flux into their country. To face such problems, many countries have decided to use,
as an indicator to measure the estimation of net migration, the register of foreigners arrivals and departures.
Such records are counted and compiled during a certain period (annually), with the purpose of obtaining an
effective and verifiable count of the foreign population.
Refugees and Asylum Solicitors
The applicants for asylum are generally authorized in the recipient country during the revision of their file.
This step can take a reasonable time being this the reason it is difficult to know if the asylum applicants
must be assessed or not as migrants; in practice, the applicants for asylum are not assessed in the flows
of migration and they appear in the statistics, not at the moment of their arrival to the territory, but at the
moment where they obtain refugee's status.
Date of technical card 15-July-2008
Benefits of the Statistical Standards Inventory
(a) It makes compliance with the Law easier;
(b) It facilitates documenting the references on International Statistical Standards used
in the national statistical projects (Census, Surveys, Monitoring programs, etc.), and;
(c) It can help the dissemination of information, on the degree of compliance between
the national statistics and the international standards to support future national
statistical development
National
Statistics
International
Statistical
Standards
Compliance
Conclusions
• Harmonization is needed to support the integration and comparability of information;
• INEGI offers its Statistical Standards Inventory to the international community;
• International cooperation is required to compile, communicate, use and document
statistical standards;
• The Committee on Coordination of Statistical Activities could review the database and
make proposals for its further development and maintenance in the future.
Thank you
INEGI, México
rodriguez.ricardo@inegi.org.mx
http://mapserver.inegi.org.mx/estandares/