This glossary provides definitions for terms found in the Code of Practice for Statistics edition 3.0.
Key terms
Trustworthiness – Building confidence in the people and organisations that produce statistics and data
Trustworthiness means that the public can have confidence in the people and organisations that produce statistics. It reflects the integrity, professionalism and impartiality of the producers and the statistical system. Trustworthiness signals that statistics are not subject to manipulation or undue influence.
Quality – Data and methods that produce assured statistics
Quality is about using suitable data and appropriate methods to produce reliable statistics that meet the needs of the people who use them. Statistics should inform rather than mislead, and producers must uphold high standards of transparency and quality assurance.
Value – Statistics that support society’s needs for information
Value means that statistics benefit the public by informing and supporting decision making, action and debate. It also means that statistics can be accessed, understood and used by a wide range of people. Providing value is the ultimate goal of statistics, as it reflects their contribution to society and the public good.
Code Principles
The ten underpinning principles that unpack the framework of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value.
Intelligent transparency
A concept that involves proactively taking an open, clear and accessible approach to releasing and communicating statistics, data and wider analysis so that they can be easily accessed, scrutinised and used appropriately. By ensuring that statistics, data and other analyses help people reach informed decisions, answer important questions and provide a way to hold governments to account, intelligent transparency ensures public understanding of, and confidence in, numbers used by public bodies.
Serving the public good
The principle that statistics should serve everyone by enhancing knowledge about society and the economy, aiding understanding and shaping actions.
Standards for Official Statistics
The standards and practices related to each Code principle that producers of official statistics must follow to ensure statistics serve the public good and support public confidence.
Standards for the Public Use of Statistics, Data and Wider Analysis
The three standards and related practices that all public bodies should meet when publicly communicating statistics, data and wider analysis.
Below you will discover more terms found across the Code of Practice for Statistics and associated guidance and information. Expand the boxes to see the A-Z glossary for each category:
Chief Statistician
The accountable officer in an organisation producing official statistics that is given executive responsibility for decision making on statistical matters. In some organisations, this officer will also be the Head of Profession for Statistics; in others, the Chief Statistician will assign responsibility for professional matters to the Head of Profession for Statistics.
Chief Statisticians for the devolved governments
The principal advisers on official statistics in their own governments, with overall responsibility for implementing and co-ordinating professional statistical standards and for ensuring adherence with the Code.
- In Northern Ireland, the Chief Statistician is the Registrar General and Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.
- The Chief Statistician in the Scottish Government oversees the Head of Profession in Scottish Government/agencies, and works with the Registrar General for Scotland and Head of Profession for Public Health Scotland.
- The Chief Statistician in Wales is responsible for the leadership of the statistical system in Wales, including setting and maintaining professional statistical standards. This covers both crown and non-crown producers of official statistics.
Devolved governments
The delegation of powers from a central authority to regional or local bodies, granting them a degree of autonomy while remaining under the central government’s overall control.
Director General for Regulation
Leads the Office for Statistics Regulation and has a statutory role as the UK Statistics Authority’s Head of Assessment. The Director General is also the principal adviser on the assessment and reassessment of official statistics and their compliance with the Code of Practice. The Director General for Regulation is a member of the Board of the UK Statistics Authority, reports directly to the Chair of the Authority and operates independently from the National Statistician and all statistical producers.
Government Statistical Service (GSS)
The community of all UK civil servants that collect, analyse, produce and communicate statistics.
Head of Profession for Statistics
Heads of Profession for Statistics oversee their organisations’ statistical functions and needs. They are also responsible for applying the provisions set out in statistical legislation and the Code of Practice, both within their own organisation and more generally across the UK statistical system. Heads of Profession play a key role in building public trust in official statistics.
Lead official in an arm’s length body
The senior statistician or analyst in an arm’s length body (executive agency, non-departmental public body or non-ministerial department) that has been given the responsibility to lead on professional matters by the organisation and works with the Head of Profession for Statistics in a sponsoring department.
Lead statistician or analyst
The person who is professionally accountable for the production of statistical outputs.
National Statistician
Head of the Government Statistical Service (GSS) and the government’s principal adviser on official statistics. The National Statistician is an executive member of the UK Statistics Authority Board.
Permanent secretaries
Officials who head government departments; the most senior civil servant in a department.
Senior Statistician
In Northern Ireland, Senior Statisticians are the equivalent of Heads of Profession for Statistics. They are responsible for overseeing their own organisation’s statistical functions, meeting their organisation’s statistical needs, and implementing the provisions set out in statistical legislation and the Code of Practice within their organisation.
Special Advisers
Temporary civil servants appointed to support ministers.
UK Statistics Authority
A non-ministerial department with the statutory objective of promoting and safeguarding the production and publication of official statistics under the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.
Accredited official statistics
The status given to official statistics that the Office for Statistics Regulation has confirmed comply with the standards of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value in the Code of Practice for Statistics. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.
Official statistics
Statistics produced by the UK Statistics Authority, government departments, the devolved governments, other crown bodies and organisations listed within an Official Statistics Order, as defined within section 6 of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. Accredited official statistics and official statistics in development are sub-sets of official statistics.
Official statistics in development
A temporary label to indicate official statistics that are undergoing development and evaluation under the guidance of the Head of Profession for Statistics. They may be new or existing statistics and will be tested with users in line with the standards of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value.
Data
Characteristics of facts or information, usually numerical, such as observations, opinions, events or transactions, from which conclusions may be drawn. Data are the product of collecting information (source data). They can also be the subject of statistical processing (processed data).
Data sources
The origin or location from which data are generated, accessed or collected. Data may be collected in different ways, including through censuses, surveys (such as sample surveys of households or businesses), returns from administrative systems, as open data from the large-scale release of operational data from government departments, and privately held data from individual private-sector organisations (such as business operational data, and data available through web scraping).
Data subject
An individual whose personal data are collected, processed and stored. Under relevant legislation, data subjects do not include the deceased or those who cannot be identified or distinguished from others.
Metadata
Information or data that defines and describes other data. Metadata can help people find and identify data, for example through naming and labelling; describe different data types, relationships with other data and their characteristics; and help with data management, by indicating when and how the data were created, different file types or any other technical information.
Related information
Information that supports people’s use and understanding of the statistics and data, made available alongside the statistics. This information might describe, for example, the sources or methods used, quality aspects and analysis, or provide a narrative about the main findings, context and use. It may explain any revisions or corrections.
Statistics
A collection of measures about a particular attribute compiled from a set of data. Statistics can help us understand overall patterns and draw general conclusions about these attributes for specific parts of the population.
Wider analysis
Analysis that takes place within public bodies, including management information, research and economic modelling.
Accessibility legislation
The requirement to make a website or mobile application accessible by making it perceivable, operable, understandable and robust.
Common data standards, classifications and protocols
Agreed definitions, procedures and ways of working with statistics and data that support their consistency, comparability, coherence and reuse.
Official Statistics Orders
Orders made under the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 that specify which non-Crown bodies, in addition to government departments and agencies, are authorised to produce official statistics.
Quality standards and guidance
Documentation produced to ensure that statistics and data are produced to consistent and appropriate levels of quality and are suitable for their intended uses.
Relevant legislation
Laws passed by the UK Government or devolved legislatures that directly impact the design, collection, processing, storage, publication or use of statistics and data, for example laws related to data protection.
Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007
The legal basis for the UK statistical system that established the UK Statistics Authority.
Accountable
Being responsible to the public and demonstrating how the standards of the Code of Practice are achieved, based on evidence of practice and an openness to listen and respond to feedback. Further guidance on accountability can be found in the Ensuring Public Accountability guidance.
Ad hoc statistical outputs
Statistical analyses produced and released outside of the scheduled release calendar, for example where there is a pressing need for additional statistics to meet the public interest.
Coding
The act of using computer languages such as R or Python. Coding can be used when producing statistics to automate data manipulation, do statistical analysis and create visualisations for more efficient and reproducible production.
Coherence
How well data and statistics can be combined in different ways and for different uses.
Comparability
The extent to which statistics from different sources or time periods can be reliably compared.
Competency framework
An outline of the skills and behaviours expected of staff.
Correction of errors
An update to a published output to address mistakes made while producing, publicly sharing and communicating statistics.
Ethical
In accordance with the rules or standards for right conduct or practice, especially in terms of the standards of a profession.
Limitations
Inherent weaknesses in the quality of statistics, data or statistical methods that should be clear to ensure the statistics can be used and interpreted appropriately.
Misleading
When statistics are used to communicate a descriptive statement that the wider relevant statistical evidence would not support, despite otherwise being an accurate statement.
Misuse
The wrong or improper use of statistics so that the audience is led to conclusions that are unjustified or incorrect.
Quality culture
The environment within an organisation which determines how quality is thought about and handled within its production of statistics. This may include organisational or team values, beliefs and behaviours.
Reproducible
Using the same data and methods as the original study to obtain the same results. Analysis can be made more efficient and reproducible using a methodology called Reproducible Analytical Pipelines (RAPs) – which involves writing analysis as code and using open-source tools. An RAP is designed to be run and re-run numerous times and produce a consistent output.
Scheduled revisions
Planned changes to published statistics to improve quality by incorporating additional data that were unavailable at the point of initial publication.
Sensitive topics
Subjects that can evoke strong emotional reactions, potentially causing discomfort, offense or distress.
Sound methods
An appropriate and robust approach for analysing data to produce accurate and reliable findings.
Statistical independence
Means that decision making about statistical methods and dissemination is free from conflicts of interest, including political and commercial pressures that may influence the production, release and sharing of the statistics and data.
Supplementary statistical services
Providing information, advice and technical help in relation to statistics; conducting assessments of statistics’ quality; conducting statistical surveys and analysis; and collecting, adapting and developing data.
Uncertainty
The extent to which an estimate addresses the relevant user questions. The extent of uncertainty is influenced by randomness and inherent variability, as well as the context in which the statistics are used.
Voluntary application
When organisations producing non-official statistics voluntarily apply the Code of Practice. OSR encourages both government and non-government organisations to consider the framework of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value when publishing statistics or data that might inform public debate. This approach is flexible and entirely optional. Those committing to applying the Code and publishing a statement of compliance can join the voluntary application scheme and be added to the Register of TQV Voluntary Application.
