Diverse ideas about the value of Official Statistics systems

Abstract

This paper offers an initial overview of different ideas about the value of Official Statistics systems. For the purposes of this paper, an Official Statistics ‘system’ is taken to cover the set of organisations (within a country) that are involved in the production, communication, use and governance of Official Statistics. The paper seeks to analyse the stated ambitions for, or the claims about, these systems that are contained within a sample of formal corporate documents mainly produced by different national statistical organisations. These sources offer a range of diverse ideas about different types of value that societies may secure from having well-functioning Official Statistics systems. There are some foundational ideas of value that are often referenced – including the ambition that good Official Statistics will enable good (or better) decision-making by governments and others, which in turn will generate positive outcomes for society. The analysis also flags a range of ambitions for wider outcomes that might be secured by well-functioning Official Statistics systems – for example, outcomes for citizens (enabling them to be better informed, represented and empowered), outcomes for governments (contributing to a better more effective governmental process) or outcomes in terms of having better informed public debate. Collectively these concepts could inform any wider framework developed to communicate the potential value of Official Statistics systems, complementing the more specific expressions of value that might emerge directly from the views and judgements of users.