Learning lessons from statistics: My experience as an intern at OSR

When I was placed in OSR for an eight-week internship, as part of the Civil Service summer internship scheme, I didn’t know what to expect. I study English literature at Oxford University, so statistics are not a part of my day-to-day life – or so I thought. OSR has shown me that statistics are the ‘lifeblood of democracy’, informing the decisions we make every day.

OSR casework and election lessons learned

OSR’s vision is simple – statistics should serve the public good. I quickly learned that for statistics to serve the public good, they must be communicated to that end. OSR’s work is rooted in communication. The pillars of the Code of Practice – Trustworthiness, Quality and Value – ensure the statistical story is told to users transparently.

While working with the casework team, I saw the importance of communication at ground level from the user complaints and queries that OSR receives. I shadowed some cases with different subject domains to better understand how and when they intervene when statistical claims are made.

The ‘lessons learned’ work I did, which looked at how OSR’s casework and impact during the pre-election period might inform future interventions, was a highlight of my placement. I posed questions to the election response team and led the discussion on the pre-election casework. I also reviewed web analytics and compared user view and engagement spikes on our ‘what to look out for’ webpages, which addressed common statistical claims on education or the health service, with media articles that came out on those days, highlighting the alignment of our explainers with public interest. The project recommended improvements to the casework process, such as creating a list of useful data sources and using explainer statements to address commonly contested claims beyond the election period.

In summary

Across all my projects, which also included contributing to the blog-writing process with the communications team and working on a post-election survey for Heads of Professions with the research function, I’ve encountered the core spirit of collaboration that underpins OSR. No more than 50 people work here, but our outputs convey the strength of this team. Here, everyone is trustworthy, valued and working to the highest quality; OSR embodies the very code it regulates.