2.15 Disseminating and communicating the statistics#
In the last few decades, the digital revolution has allowed NSOs and other producers of official statistics to transform their dissemination of official statistics. Nowadays, most NSOs release their statistics by digital means, in particular on their websites. There are several reasons for this:
The dissemination cost is low, only a fraction of publishing on paper which was the primary dissemination mode prior to the digital age.
Digital dissemination is technically easy and ensures a higher quality of the statistics than paper releases.
Dissemination by digital means is rapid; hence statistical findings can be accessed by users very soon after they have been compiled.
Publishing on the web ensures that all users with internet access and digital tools can access the statistics simultaneously.
Official statistics are mostly released in the form of tables or through access to databases. Many NSOs provide interactive databases on the web that allow users to specify their own tables. NSOs and other producers publish their releases of new statistical findings on their websites as well as their larger and more detailed reports of statistics on various subject matters. They also use the websites for publishing reports on statistical production processes and products, such as reports on content, quality and applicability of the different statistics, as well as their statistical policies, rules of procedure and other documents describing the basis for the statistical activities and processes. This has the added advantage of allowing easy and quick updating of documents.
Many NSOs use their websites or data portals as the main release mode and only print tables, reports, and other releases on special demand. NSOs and other producers in countries with low digitisation rates and undeveloped digital networks continue to provide printed publications, seeking to ensure that the statistics are accessible to most segments of the population. Some NSOs are increasingly using social media to disseminate “headline” figures, with links to their websites for more detailed information.
In the international arena, several rules and guidelines on disseminating official statistics have been advanced, based on the UNFPOS (see here UNSD guidelines for improving data dissemination in the digital age). These aim to encourage producers of official statistics to fulfil specific minimum criteria regarding the public release of their statistics, the quality of the release, regularity, and periodicity, and the access by users of the statistics.
The IMF has issued three dissemination standards to which the member countries subscribe. They describe specific requirements that the countries commit themselves to fulfil. These concern the coverage of the statistics produced and periodicity of their provision, requirements that statistics are published at pre-determined times according to a statistical release calendar, and requirements for metadata, i.e. information about the methods and classifications followed in the statistical production. Release calendars should be published in advance so that all users of statistics are given equal opportunity to receive statistical information and access the statistics simultaneously.
The three IMF dissemination standards (🔗) vary in their number and severity of requirements. The lightest is the General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) which many developing countries subscribe to (the latest version is the enhanced GDDS (e-GDDS)). The Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) makes considerably heavier statistical provision requirements than the GDDS while the so-called SDDS+ contains additional requirements for the provision of monetary and finance statistics. Member countries with more advanced statistical systems subscribe either to the SDDS or the SDDS+.
The European Statistics Code of Practice (ESS CoP) contains, among other things, specific principles and guidance relevant to the dissemination of the statistics. The ESS CoP lays down specific requirements for clarifying the statistical outputs, their regularity, timeliness, and how they are released. All NSOs and other producers of official statistics within the European Statistical System follow and respect these requirements.
Recommended international practice reinforced by ESS CoP and dissemination standards discussed above, require NSOs and other producers of official statistics to publish metadata on their statistics along with the statistics themselves. Most NSOs strive to compile product metadata, at least that pertaining to the statistics most used, and publish them on the web.
NSOs publish their statistics in aggregate form, thereby seeking to ensure the confidentiality of the data providers and the subjects they refer to. There is, however, substantial demand for microdata for research purposes. Several NSOs have in recent years started to release or grant access to microdata to researchers. For some years, some NSOs have been preparing a specific set of microdata for research, initially to be handed over to recognised researchers, more recently for release on the web. The data set has then been prepared specifically for such use by anonymisation, i.e., removing identifiers of individuals, households, and businesses, and removing variables that would have allowed indirect identification. Some NSOs have also granted on-line access to such microdata for research. Granting access to microdata is usually also accompanied by documentation signed by the researcher specifying the datasets that are made available, the purpose of use of the data, the safeguarding of the data as well as a pledge to respect rules of statistical confidentiality and the privacy of respondents. Granting access to microdata for research purposes entails a significant addition to the utilisation of the data and the value of the statistical production.