Statistics in Government

Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Explain the role that collaboration, peer review, openness and the development and application of international standards and classifications play in enhancing the value of official statistics.
• Apply procedures for measuring and understanding data quality in official statistics and use these processes for monitoring and improvement.
• Describe the fundamental issues underlying the organisation of Official Statistics and be able to apply this knowledge in discussing the relative merits of alternative approaches.

• Overview of the importance of statistics, policy and administrative uses.
• History of the development of official statistics in the UK.
• UK Fundamental Principles: EU Law for Statistics; UK Framework for National Statistics: roles and responsibilities; Nature of National Statistics Acts; The UK Statistics and Registration

Service Act; The benefits / dis-benefits of a UK Statistics Act.

• Code of Practice: Contents and intentions; Key issues.
• Models for quality, quality framework and public trust in Official Statistics.
• Scientific Principles for Official Statistics - brief overview of the role of conceptual frameworks (eg sampling, national accounts, etc.); Role of international organisations (UN, OECD, EU, IMF,

etc) and standards (SNA, BoP5, classification system - ISIC, CPA, IDC, etc); Role of city groups in development; Role of international peer review.

• Organisational issues: Centralisation, decentralisation, devolution ; Management of National Statistical Offices: Key issues; Professional Issues, ethics, professional bodies.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.