OSR’s vision is that statistics serve the public good, and we propose that an in-depth understanding of what that means will allow us to develop our regulatory work and support the wider statistical and analytical systems. Even though we work with a range of data that is used as evidence, our statutory objective concerns official statistics and so we are interested in learning more about how they specifically serve the public good. We have delved into what the ‘statistics serving the public good’ means through several research projects; our most recent being a public dialogue in collaboration with Administrative Data Research UK, and based on this successful partnership we are optimistic about the benefits of continuing to work with others in this area.
To understand this notion of ‘statistics serving the public good’, it is necessary to understand the public these statistics are endeavouring to serve, and what they value. This is touched upon in the ARI on ‘produced’, where we explore Value in the Code, and the ARI on ‘used’ where we are interested in who is using statistics.
If you would like to share evidence or collaborate with us on any of these areas, please contact us at research.function@statistics.gov.uk.
This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:
Valued Office for Statistics Regulations Areas of Research Interest Office for Statistics Regulation
There is great potential for understanding more about our society through better use of data that already exists and by linking different datasets together. Using existing data is not only efficient and cheaper than coll...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: Queen's University Belfast
The project partially answers the question by discussing the benefits of using existing data for research and policy-making, but does not specifically address the concept of 'statistics serving the public good'.
National Statistical Institutes (NSIs) are directing resources into advancing the use of administrative data in official statistics systems. This is a top priority for the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) as they ...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: University of Manchester
The project partially answers the question by discussing the use of administrative data in official statistics systems, but does not specifically address the concept of 'statistics serving the public good'.
The Administrative Data Research Centre for Northern Ireland (ADRC NI) comprises Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University, and, along with the National Statistical Agency (NISRA), forms ADR Northern Ireland (ADR ...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: Queen's University Belfast
The project partially answers the question by discussing the use of administrative data for research and policy-making, but does not specifically address the concept of 'statistics serving the public good'.