High-stakes Numbers:
Quality and Official Statistics
James King
Project Manager
Managing Statistical Data Quality Project
14 Feb 2013
james.king@stats.govt.nz
james.king@stats.govt.nz
Introductions
Why does Quality mean to you
personally?
• Quality
spearfishing
gear
james.king@stats.govt.nz
Statistics about Statistics NZ
~1075 FTE staff
222 statistical outputs (2012/13 year)
In the last 3 months of 2012, in the print
version of the Dominion Post
• Directly referenced 43 times
• 128 articles directly relevant (i.e. quote
Statistics NZ data)
james.king@stats.govt.nz
Statistics NZ Quality Model
james.king@stats.govt.nz
Quality and Strategy
The organisation’s four strategic priorities
http://www.stats.govt.nz/about_us/our-publications/statement-of-intent/statement-of-intent-2012-2017.aspx
james.king@stats.govt.nz
5
Fit for Purpose?
james.king@stats.govt.nz
Tier 1 Statistics
• The most important statistics
Principles and protocols for producers of Tier 1
statistics (Statistics NZ, 2007)
• Protocol 1 – Quality
Official statistics are produced using sound
statistical methodology, relevant and reliable data
sources, and are appropriate for the purpose.
Is your agency a producer of statistics?
www.statisphere.govt.nz
james.king@stats.govt.nz
What we do to ensure quality
On a journey…
• ‘Total Quality Management’ Policy Development
– Overarching policy across the business
Frameworks and Tools
•
•
•
•
•
Quality Model
Quality Management Network
Output Quality Reviews
Error reporting
Quality Assurance Framework
8
james.king@stats.govt.nz
Quality Reviews
A programme for reviewing the processes
involved in producing statistical outputs.
The purpose of an output review is to:
•
•
•
•
reduce errors (both near misses and errata)
identify efficiency and quality improvements
spread good practice
increase understanding of the drivers of
quality within outputs.
james.king@stats.govt.nz
Error Reporting
Under the Statistics NZ Policy for Handling
Errors in Published Statistics, any error
discovered in information published by Statistics
NZ must be notified to the Business Area
Manager who must then log the error and
complete a full error report.
james.king@stats.govt.nz
UN Quality Assurance Framework
Managing the Statistical System
1 Coordinating the National Statistical System
2 Managing Relationships with Data Users and Data Providers
3 Managing Statistical Standards
Managing the Institutional Environment
4 Assuring Professional Independence
5 Assuring Impartiality and Objectivity
6 Assuring Transparency
7 Assuring Statistical Confidentiality and Security
8 Assuring the Quality Commitment
9 Assuring Adequacy of Resources
Managing Statistical Processes
10 Assuring Methodological Soundness
11 Assuring Cost-Effectiveness
12 Assuring Soundness of Implementation
13 Managing the Respondent Burden
Managing Statistical Outputs
14 Assuring Relevance
15 Assuring Accuracy and Reliability
16 Assuring Timeliness and Punctuality
17 Assuring Accessibility and Clarity
18 Assuring Coherence and Comparability
19 Managing Metadata
james.king@stats.govt.nz
Continuous Improvement
Statistics 2020 Te Kāpehu Whetū
Customer Focus
Links with Business Efficiency
• Kaizen trained Business Analysts
james.king@stats.govt.nz
Culture Change
All the frameworks, documents and policies in
the world won’t increase quality
Key area of focus – organisational/team culture
• Research is showing that team culture the most
important lever in quality management
– Senior managers just need to make the right noises,
consistently.
13
james.king@stats.govt.nz
Stated
Expectations
(Explicit)
Behaviours
(What actually happens)
‘Tangible’
‘Intangible’
Culture
(Implicit)
14
james.king@stats.govt.nz
Quality Bake-off and Debate
Competitive Advantage
• Keeping respondent trust in a challenging
environment
Lose trust, lose our lifeblood
• Willing respondents vital
james.king@stats.govt.nz
What we’re looking for:
james.king@stats.govt.nz
Further Questions?
james.king@stats.govt.nz
Thanks for your time!
James.king@stats.govt.nz
04 931 4057
18
james.king@stats.govt.nz