GoKawiilFace-to-face surveys still have an important role in official statistics.Credit: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group/Getty
The term ‘official statistics’ is not usually a headline-grabber. But, around a year ago, when Nature’s news team began exploring reports of problems with the data that governments routinely collect, another word started to crop up in connection with it: crisis.
Statistics reach a ‘crisis point’: nations struggle with a critical lack of data
Our reporters spoke to more than 20 researchers and staff members at national statistics agencies around the world. The team built up a picture of a crisis affecting official statistics that has been triggered by three main factors: inadequate funding, political overreach and plummeting response rates to household and business surveys.
Official statistics are collected, managed and published by governments. They need to be reliable and robust to guide decisions such as how to reduce school drop-out rates or when to reduce interest rates. They are also used to assess progress towards policy outcomes such as meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The consensus among the people we spoke to was that many statistics agencies are facing challenges that have rarely been as bad as they are now. The good news is that the problems can be fixed — if there is a will to do so.
Fix surveys
First, take the growing practical problems around gathering reliable data. Surveys — which collect information by asking a group of people questions in a standardized way — are the foundation of official statistics. Digital technologies are becoming better at recording and analysing information such as household spending through credit and debit card data. But, in some cases, they can also pose a threat to the accuracy of the data, for example if people use artificial-intelligence tools to answer questions in online settings. It means there is still an important role for surveys. To find out the nutritional content of the food that young children are eating or determine the specific needs of under-represented communities, you still need enumerators to knock on people’s doors and conduct interviews by phone or video calls.
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In high-income countries especially, people are declining requests to participate in surveys. There are overlapping reasons for this: in some cases, it’s because of mistrust of government and concern about how the data will be used. Those who collect data in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), however, say that people are more likely to take part in surveys if they can be shown the benefits of participation — to themselves, their families or to society.
Researchers have been tracking these trends for some time and are studying ways to address the issues. In the United Kingdom, the Survey Futures programme, a research consortium including UK universities and the country’s Office for National Statistics, is testing various approaches to building trust with survey respondents and also experimenting with different data-collection methods.
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