Abstract

The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) is the independent regulator for official statistics in the United Kingdom (UK), and has the vision that statistics will serve the public good. We work towards this with all of our regulatory activities; for example, we set standards for the UK in our Code of Practice for Statistics where we state ‘Statistics will serve the public good if producers follow the principles and practices set out in the Code.’

In OSR, we assert that serving the public good requires putting the public at the heart of official statistics production and dissemination. This includes ensuring official statistics are available and accessible to members of the public, rather than being seen as a tool for policy makers alone. Achieving such a goal is difficult, as statistics producers can only meet needs that they know about; while it is relatively easy to speak to policy makers and find out what they want from statistics, use by the public is far more hidden.

To shine a light on this relatively hidden user group, OSR has embarked on a pioneering research project exploring how individuals utilise statistics in their personal lives, including when they experience value from this and what might support them in using official statistics. This research employs a mixed-method approach, combining interview and survey data to explore the UK public’s use of official statistics, painting a rich picture of their experience as users and non-users. From this, the research identifies recommendations about what statistics producers can do to empower members of the public to use their statistics, and in doing so how they can better serve the public good.

The project described in this presentation contributes to the broader discourse on the democratisation of data and the role of statistics in everyday life. It underscores the need for everyone involved in the production and dissemination of statistics to engage with the public in meaningful ways and to promote statistics as a public asset for each and every person. While policy makers will always be important users of statistics, attendees of this presentation will come away with a new appreciation about how their work directly impacts individuals as well.