Presenter(s):Walter J. Radermacher, University La Sapienza, Rome
e-mail(s):wjr@outlook.de
Date:6 June 2018
EMOS learning outcome addressedThe system of official statistics
Webinar aimsTo provide participants with a comprehensive description of official statistics in general and European Statistics in particular. Building upon earlier webinars it will go beyond statistical methodology and introduce viewpoints from social sciences (interaction between statistics and society), managerial aspects (statistical production as a factory) and legal considerations (informational governance), which altogether have to be taken into account, when trying to position official statistics successfully in the digital age and globalised world. Understanding the DNA of official statistics and the core values is a precondition for a successful strategy for the future.
Webinar learning
outcomes		To be aware of the role of official statistics as a trusted infrastructure of statistical information for (modern) societies.
To be familiar with the main processes of statistical production, the concept of quality, the portfolio of statistical products and services, the methods of standard setting, the learning cycle (integrating deductive and inductive approaches), the quality profiles / cultures for different products.
To understand the challenges of today’s official statistics, which are faced with the paradox that societies are ‘data-hungry’ and ‘post-fact’-oriented at the same time, that the willingness to pay for quality information is (too) limited, that the public sector (including official statistics) is under continuous financial stress and that competition arises from private data providers (however not delivering the same level of quality).

Webinar content		– Statistical information as a product and product portfolio. Official Statistics as a system, an infrastructure of information.
– Official statistics as a brand. Who, What, How?
– Official statistics and scientific frameworks.
– Mutual co-construction of statistics and society.
– DNA of official statistics, values and governance.
– Official statistics in the digital age: learning from historical episodes for the challenges of today and tomorrow.
Difficulty levelIntermediate
Prerequisites for the
webinar		Participants should make themselves familiar with the basic documents describing the European Statistics System, as provided in Webinar “The European Statistical System (ESS)” or on Eurostat’s website http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Eurostat_and_the_European_Statistical_System.
In particular, the scope and structure of the multiannual work programme of European Statistics should be known (see http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/7330775/7339482/AWP2017-3A-Overall-Priorities.pdf/c2a86b81-91d9-470f-a5ae-27bc256eb528)
Further readings
and resources		Benessia, A., S. Funtowicz, M. Giampietro, A. Guimaraes Pereira, J. Ravetz, A. Strand Saltelli, R., and J.P. van der Sluijs. 2016. The rightful place of science: science on the verge (Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes: Tempe, AZ).
Cherrier, Beatrice. 2017. “The making of economic facts: a reading list.” In The Undercover Historian – Beatrice Cherrier’s blog.
Davies, W.: 2017. How statistics lost their power – and why we should fear what comes next. The Guardian.
Diaz-Bone, R., Didier, E.H. 2016. Conventions and Quantification – Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Statistics and Classifications. Historical Social Research (HSR) HSR (Special Issue) Vol. 41(2)
Hand, D.J. 2004. Measurement theory and practice: the world through quantification (Arnold: London). Lupton, D. 2013. Risk 2nd edition 2013 (Routledge: London).
Maggino, F. 2017. Complexity in Society: From Indicators Construction to their Synthesis (Springer International Publishing).
Porter, T.M. 1995. Trust in numbers : the pursuit of objectivity in science and public life (Princeton University Press: Princeton, N.J. ; Chichester).
Radermacher, W.J. 2017. “Official Statistics 4.0 – learning from history for the challenges of the future.” In STATISTICS AND DATA SCIENCE: NEW CHALLENGES, NEW GENERATIONS, edited by Alessandra Petrucci and Rosanna Verde, 800-20. Florence: Firenze University Press.
Radermacher, W.J. 2017.THE FUTURE ROLE OF OFFICIAL STATISTICS. Paper presented at the Power from Statistics: Data, Information and Knowledge, Brussels, 18.-19.10.2017
Radermacher, W.J. 2017. Official Statistics 4.0, Conference: Swiss Statistical Days 2017. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321462506_Official_Statistics_40
Radermacher, W.J. 2017 (forthcoming). Official Statistics in the Era of Big Data – Opportunities and Threats. International Journal of Data Science and Analytics
Saetnan, A.R., Lomell, H.M., Hammer, S. 2011. The mutual construction of statistics and society. Routledge, New York
Sangolt, L. 2010. Between Enlightenment and Disaster: Dimensions of the Political Use of Knowledge. P.I.E. Peter Lang, Brussels
Silver, N. 2012. The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail-but Some Don’t (Penguin Publishing Group).
Soma, K., MacDonald, B.H., Termeer, C.J., Opdam, P. 2016. Introduction article: informational governance and environmental sustainability. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 2016(18), 131–139 (2016).
Stapleford, T.A. 2015. “Price Indexes, Political Judgments, and the Challenge of Democratic Control.” In Ottawa Group – International Working Group on Price Indices – Fourteenth Meeting. Tokyo, Japan: Statistics Japan.
Presentation materialOfficial Statistics 4.0 WJR EMOS Webinar June 18
Recording of the webinarEMOSWebinar12-Recording