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Statistical Dissemination
Jeremy Barton
Corporate Performance DivisionPerformance and Places Directorate
25 November 2013
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Statistical Dissemination
• Access• Developments in presentation• Maximising audience reach• Using new technology
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GSS Presentation and Dissemination Strategy
The Vision
“Professionally presented, meaningful, easily understood statistics delivered in ways users find easy to access, use, understand and re-use.”
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Excellently presented statistics….
Easily located Are well-written Mix of commentary, data and visualisations Link to other related information Maximise audience reach Use platforms which best fit users needs
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Easily Located?
GOV.UK – the route to easy access?
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?publication_filter_option=statistics
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…or room for improvement?
“Our initial analysis … suggested that users tend to come for a specific statistical release or table, with relatively few people accessing statistics via a statistics landing page” Neil Williams, Inside Government
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The alternatives – what do you use?
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The alternatives – DATA.GOV.UK – access to DCLG data second only to ONS
0 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 300,000 350,000
Office for National Statistics
Department for Communitiesand Local Government
NHS Information Centre forHealth and Social Care
Department for Transport
Department for Business,Innovation and Skills
Department for Environment,Food and Rural Affairs
Land Registry
Home Office
Department of Health
Visits
Views
Visits and views to data.gov.uk since June 2012 to present
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The world is changing and we need to change with it…
Source: Office for National Statistics
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How we used to present DCLG’s lead indicators…
Limited time series presented in Excel spreadsheet, quarterly updates
A separated Excel spreadsheet contained the associated metadata – no linkages between the two
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How we now present DCLG’s lead indicators
http://dclgapps.communities.gov.uk/indicators/
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The indicator dashboard
Key figures with indication of change
What the latest figures show
Explanation of calculation of indicator
Link to data
Chart of time series
Table showing components of
indicator
Metadata and link to further information
Data updated soon after first release of
statistics
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Maximising audience reach
Main cause of accidental home fires is misuse of equipment/appliances:
nearly 11,000 in 2012-13At last count private rent
amounted to 41% of gross income, social rent 30% and mortgage owner
payments 19%
Between 2011 & 2012 the number of long-term empty homes fell by
19,000 (7%)
@CommunitiesUK
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Maximising audience reach
40 tweets 429 retweets
1039 clicks on the links
64,000 followers
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..with added visualisations
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2010 2011 2012 2013
Per
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tag
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25-34
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Increasing use of mobile
Internet use on a mobile phone, 2010 to 2013
Source: Office for National Statistics
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0
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16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+
Pe
rce
nta
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Mobile phone or smartphone
Portable computer (laptop, tablet)
Other handheld device (eg PDA, MP3, e-bookreader, games console)
Increasing use of mobile
Accessing the Internet 'on the go' , 2013
Source: Office for National Statistics
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Gov.uk is mobile enabled, but stats content often is not…
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…however our non-GDS platforms are mobile-enabled…
Indicators Dashboardhttp://dclgapps.communities.gov.uk/indicators/
ODC – Local Authority Dashboardhttp://opendatacommunities.org/dashboard
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The future…
Statistics and Open Data at DCLGThe story so far…
Steve Peters
Strategic Statistics DivisionAnalysis and Innovation Directorate
25 November 2013
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Statistics and open data
http://data.gov.uk/library/national-information-infrastructure-narrative
“The NII will contain the data held by government which is likely to have the broadest and most significant economic and social impact if made available and accessible outside of government, where possible”
Official Statistics are a key element, e.g..
Policy context
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The prize: a web of data
Data and information that is:
• Open, re-usable, accessible and meaningful
• Integrated:
• Data that can be quickly and easily blended and combined from multiple related sources (national and local-level)
• Useful to (and used by) citizens and communities:
• The fuel to power engagement with local decision making and holding decision makers to account.
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Future potential: the bigger picture
Joining-up national and local sources on planning, housing, and the economy
Moving away from the web of documents, towards the web of data
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Open data star rating
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http://5stardata.info
make your stuff available on the Web (whatever format) under an open license
make it available as structured data (e.g., Excel instead of image scan of a table)
use non-proprietary formats (e.g., CSV instead of Excel)
use URIs to denote things, so that people can point at your stuff
link your data to other data to provide context
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5 Stars of open data engagement
Government information and data are common resources, managed in trust by government.A commitment to open data involves making information and data resources accessible to all without discrimination; and actively engaging to ensure that information and data can be used in a wide range of ways.
http://www.opendataimpacts.net/engagement/
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DCLG’s journey to open, re-usable dataMoving progressively to 5-star outputs
http://opendatacommunities.org/data
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Open Data CommunitiesDataset example
So. How is this different to publishing spreadsheets?
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Open Data CommunitiesHelping you get the data you need
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New insights. New audiences
http://dclgapps.communities.gov.uk/indicators
DCLG Business Plan Indicators
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The neighbourhood-level wellbeing map
http://opendatacommunities.org/wellbeing/map
Demonstrating future potential
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Enhancing our standard outputsExploiting new (free) tools
34http://public.tableausoftware.com/views/Householdcompositionbytypeofletting/Dashboard#1
http://geocommons.com/maps/303187
Enhancing our standard outputsExploiting new (free) tools
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Enhancing our standard outputsEnabling rapid development of low-cost apps
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http://dclgapps.communities.gov.uk/localities/hhprojdemo_v6.html
Enhancing our standard outputsEnabling rapid development of low-cost apps
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Building the web of dataThe “lambeth-in-numbers” demonstrator
http://lambeth-in-numbers.co.uk
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Land supply for Housing in Hampshire
http://linkeddata.hants.gov.uk/land-supply-mapper/map.html
Building the web of data
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Enabling innovation
From this…. To this…Some examples
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Enabling innovationSome examples
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Enabling innovationSome examples
http://opencorporates.com
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Enabling innovationSome examples
http://illustreets.co.uk
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Enabling innovationSome examples
http://illustreets.co.uk
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Your exam questions for today…
1. Which DCLG datasets do you use (top 5), and how do you use them?
2. How can we help you to find and re-use our data more quickly/easily/efficiently?
3. What opportunities can you see to improve linking of DCLG datasets with related 3rd party sources?
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Thank you
Steve PetersStrategic Statistics DivisionAnalysis and Information Directorate
0303 444 42333 / 07899 060 776
Towards open, re-usable data: http://opendatacommunities.org
Twitter: @Open_Data
Wordpress: http://wordpress.com/openviz
Demo apps: http://dclgexamples.mywebcommunity.org
STATISTICAL COMMENTARY
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IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATING STATISTICS
“I keep saying the sexy job in the next ten years will be statisticians…
The ability to take data - to be able to understand it, to process it, to extract value from it, to visualize it, to communicate it, is going to be a hugely important skill in the next decades”
(Hal Varian, 2009)
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GSS STRATEGY / VISION
REBALANCING OUR ACTIVITIESFrom collection to more analysis, dissemination and user support
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“Official Statistics should contain full and frank commentary and analysis that aid interpretation”
WHY COMMENTARY MATTERS
• Having the ‘right numbers’ is not enough
• More informative, well-rounded products
• Aiding the user’s interpretation of the statistics
• Increasing the IMPACT
“If you choose not to communicate what you do, your work will become increasingly irrelevant. Even worse, you will condemn the rest of us to receive information from sources that may be ignorant or those who would seek to distort or misinform for their own gain.” (Carl Safina)
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COMMENTARY IS A BALANCING ACT
• Providing information without bias
• Explaining without over-attributing
• Highlighting relevant facts and context
TELL THE STORY
A statistical story doesn’t just recite data in words. It tells a story about the data
A story tells the reader what you found and why it is important
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UKSA GUIDANCE / GSS BEST PRACICE
• Focus on the key messages?
• Add interpretation – describe trends / key events or changes that have led to observable patterns in data.
• What is the context? (policy environment)
• Commentary framed in a language of uncertainty
• What are the limitations?
• What can the figures be used for?
• International comparison where applicable
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STATISTICIANS NEED TO THINK ABOUT THE USER…
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COMPONENTS OF COMMENTARY
1. Title
2. Headline Messages
3. Context
4. Interpretation
5. Language
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1. TITLE
• Should immediately allow the reader to identify what’s in the release
• It should stand alone as a description of the publication and identify:- Statistics being published- Time period - Geographical coverage- Frequency of the release
e.g.
• Affordable Housing Supply, England, 2012-13
• Fire Statistics, Great Britain 2012 to 2013
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2. HEADLINE MESSAGES
• Ensuring that the main messages of the publication reach the user
• Should be interesting
• Be easy to understand
• Place the findings in context
• No need to summarise all the results in the publication
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2. HEADLINE MESSAGES MATTER:
CRUCIAL Information
HELPFUL Information
NICE to
know
Introduction
Details
Conclusion
Academia Journalist
The inverted pyramid…
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2. HEADLINE MESSAGES
e.g.
• Actual numbers of cases of cancer have risen over the last decade, likely to be largely due to an ageing population.
• Based on current trends, more than one in three people in Scotland will develop cancer in their lifetime.
And from DCLG
• In 2011-12 fire and rescue authorities attended 585,000 fires or false alarms in Britain, 7% fewer than in 2010-11
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3. CONTEXT
• Why are the statistics collected and what are they used for?
• Why is the user interested?
• Relevant policies and targets
• Long-term trends
• Geographical comparisons
• Limitations and strengths of use/interpretation
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3. CONTEXT
• The number of children involved in public law applications made by local authorities jumped in 2009 from around 5,000 per quarter to 6,500 per quarter following the publicity surrounding the Baby P case.
• Since then, this number has increased even further to nearly 7,500 per quarter.
e.g. Court Statistics Quarterly - MoJ
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4. INTERPRETATION
• Explores the relationships, causes and effects, to the extent that they can be supported by evidence
• Where is the line between interpretation and speculation?
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4. INTERPRETATION
e.g.
• Cereal areas were at their lowest in 2006 and 2007, but increased by 52,888 hectares (13.1%) in 2008 in response to tight EU and world supply, and high market prices following the 2007 harvest and a reduction in compulsory set-aside rates to 0%.
• There was a small decrease in cereal areas in 2009 (1.8%) followed by a further decrease of 5.0% in 2010, as market prices dropped and the supply situation eased
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5. LANGUAGE
Write simply and concisely:
• Use simple sentence structure• Use everyday language• Avoid jargon. If it’s necessary, define it in the text• Leave white space• Short sentences• Short paragraphs
• Over half of the UK working population have a reading age of 11 years old or younger
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5. LANGUAGE
e.g.
• Gross weekly pay in the bottom income decile was below £276
• One in ten people earn £276 or less per week before tax and national insurance are taken out
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DCLG STATISTICAL COMMENTARY WORKING GROUP
• Designed a DCLG Statistical Release Template – now being used for all quarterly releases and shorter annual releases
• Currently carrying out a Review of DCLG National and Official Statistics Commentary
• To date 18 reviews completed with 20+ further reviews due in 2014…
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NEW DCLG STATISTICAL RELEASE TEMPLATE
• National Statistics badge top right corner
• Topic, Release and Date Underneath
• Separate Bullet Points for Key Commentary Messages
• Introduction: Details regarding special events that may have affected the data in the release
• Technical Notes: Symbols, Data Collection, Data Quality, Revisions Policy, Uses of Data, User Engagement, Notes
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DCLG STATISTICAL COMMENTARY REVIEW FINDINGS
• Add more context to aid interpretation
• Provide information on key events that have led to trends / observable patterns e.g. economic downturn
• Use less technical language where we can
• Add more information on potential uses of the data
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USER FEEDBACK / CONTACT US
We value your feedback…
• Users are encouraged to provide feedback on how these statistics are used and how well they meet user needs
• Comments on any issues relating to statistical releases are welcomed and encouraged
• Responses should be addressed to the "Public enquiries" contact given in the "Enquiries" section of the publication
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PRACTICAL SESSION
In small groups, please briefly review the statistical commentary in this homelessness publication…
Questions:
1. What do you like about the statistical commentary?
2. What don’t you like? How can we improve?
