User engagement and official statistics: action guidance

Overarching guidance on user engagement and official statistics

Producers should engage users and other interested stakeholders to understand the value, relevance and potential impact of their statistics – we call this user engagement in this guide set.

A user is anyone who uses, may use or relies on official statistics directly or indirectly. Users can include policymakers, public bodies, researchers, businesses, journalists, community organisations and members of the public. Other interested stakeholders are people or organisations who may not use the statistics directly, but have an interest in how they are collected, produced, presented or used.

In some circumstances, producers should also consider whether to involve people or communities represented in the data. This may be particularly important where statistics are collected or produced about specific communities, sensitive topics, or issues that could affect public trust, understanding or interpretation. In this guide set, we call this public involvement and engagement.

This guide set has been informed by the OSR’s user engagement framework and public involvement and engagement toolkit. It offers practical suggestions on the principles to consider, who to engage, when engagement may be needed, how to be proportionate and what to record. It should help official statistics producers choose engagement that gives the evidence needed and is meaningful, inclusive and proportionate to the decision, sensitivity, risk, likely impact and public interest.

User engagement means being open, listening and responding

User engagement means understanding the needs, uses and views of people and organisations who use, may use or rely on official statistics directly or indirectly. It is more than telling people what has already been decided. It means listening to what users need, hearing concerns and using that insight where there is scope to influence decisions. Listening and responding does not mean doing everything users or stakeholders ask for; it means considering engagement evidence carefully and explaining how it has informed decisions. Producers may need to balance different user needs, methodological considerations, quality, coherence, feasibility, burden, legal requirements, resources and the wider public interest.

Use proportionate engagement

The toolkit emphasises that producers do not need to involve or engage the public in every decision. Decisions about the level and type of involvement or engagement should be guided by the evidence needed, the scale of the statistical work, the use of the statistics, the level of sensitivity, public interest and likely burden on participants and producers.

User engagement requirements in the Code of Practice

The Standards for Official Statistics in the Code explicitly require producers to understand and respond to user needs and inform their statistical planning. This is set out in Value – Standard 8: Be relevant.

The Code also requires transparency and behaviours that support public confidence. This is set out in Trustworthiness – Standard 1: Show integrity.

In specific circumstances, such as sensitive topics, new data collection or significant changes, producers must consider evidence on how the use of data is viewed by society and explain their decisions. This is set out in Trustworthiness – Standard 4: Manage data responsibly, practice 4.2.

The Code requires producers to be transparent about statistical developments and provide opportunities for users to be involved in evaluating the statistics. This is set out in Quality – Standard 7: Be open about quality, practice 7.6.

Putting the Code into practice

Engagement should be ongoing, systematic, proportionate and transparent, and embedded throughout the statistical lifecycle. Not every piece of statistical work needs a separate engagement exercise, but producers should be able to show how users and, where appropriate, people or communities represented in the data have been considered.

Good engagement gives people time and space to share views and be heard. It should help producers understand what matters to users and the public, not just explain decisions already made. The insights should support producers to make decisions about what statistics are needed or are no longer required.

The sections below set out practical guidance on the principles to consider, who to engage, when engagement may be needed, how to choose a proportionate approach, and what to record.

Strategic principles for effective user engagement

Apply these principles when deciding who to engage, what approach is proportionate, and how engagement insight should be used and explained.

• Plan and be proportionate: build engagement into statistical planning and choose methods that give the evidence needed
• Listen and understand: give users and the public time and space to share needs, concerns, experiences and challenge
• Be inclusive and accessible: engage a range of users and user groups, including under-represented groups where appropriate
• Use insight and act: use engagement insight as evidence to inform professional judgement about priorities, methods, outputs, communication and decisions where there is scope to do so
• Be open and explain: show what was heard, how different views were weighed, what changed, what did not change and why. Be clear about constraints, trade-offs and decisions that are out of scope
• Collaborate and share learning: work across teams, use partners where they can broaden reach, and share or reuse existing evidence

Who to engage

Think broadly about who to engage so you hear a range of perspectives and have enough evidence to support decision making.

• Institutional users such as policymakers, public bodies, researchers, businesses and community organisations
• Intermediary users, meaning people or organisations that help others find, understand or use statistics, such as journalists, fact-checkers, advocacy organisations and representative bodies
• Members of the public including those represented in the data, those affected by decisions informed by statistics and under-represented groups

After identifying who may need to be engaged, consider where engagement can inform decisions across the statistical lifecycle.

When to engage

Engage users and the public when decisions may have a material impact, when there is a clear evidence gap, or when user needs may have changed:

1. What statistics to produce or prioritise: explore benefits, public acceptability, data needs, risks and value for money
2. What methodology to use: test fitness for purpose, improve explainability, and protect trust, continuity and correct use of statistics
3. How people are represented: engage groups on categories, terminology and framing to support fair and accurate representation, taking account of evidence, feasibility and relevant legal requirements
4. Data trust and acceptability: understand attitudes towards data collection, sharing, security and governance
5. Usability and accessibility: test comprehension, navigation and preferred formats with a range of users

Once you have identified where engagement can inform a decision, choose the method or mix of methods that will give the evidence you need.

Proportionate engagement methods

Be clear about the purpose of engagement, what users or members of the public can influence, and what is outside scope. Proportionate engagement is not only about matching the scale of activity to the level of risk or impact. It is also about choosing the right mix of methods for the evidence you need.

• Lightweight methods: feedback inboxes, short surveys and usage analytics can help monitor emerging trends, validate whether issues are widespread, and gather quick feedback with low burden
• Targeted methods: workshops, focus groups, cognitive testing and advisory panels can provide deeper insight into specific user needs, barriers, concerns or possible solutions
• Using methods together: combine approaches where this gives better evidence, such as using a survey to identify a pattern and interviews or workshops to understand it
• In-depth methods for high-stakes issues: use public dialogues, citizens’ juries or panels where decisions are sensitive, new, high profile or likely to affect public trust

Recording and using insight

Engagement should lead to clear evidence and action. Record what you heard, how it informed decisions and what changed as a result.

• Maintain an engagement log to record needs, insights, decisions, constraints and actions. Use other simple tools, such as needs statements or journey maps, to organise, understand and share engagement insight
• Use insight to inform statistical development, prioritisation, methods, outputs and communication decisions
• Publish summaries of engagement outcomes where this supports transparency and feedback about the impact of the engagement

Questions to reflect on

Use these questions to check whether your approach is clear, proportionate and sufficiently evidenced.

• Have we identified the main users, potential users, intermediary users and people or communities represented in the data?
• Have we explained what users or members of the public can influence, and what is outside scope?
• Have we explained how engagement evidence was weighed alongside methodological, practical and public interest considerations?
• Have we chosen a method, or mix of methods, that gives the evidence needed and is proportionate to the decision, sensitivity, risk, likely impact and public interest?
• Have we recorded what we heard, what we changed, what we could not change and why?
• Can we show how engagement evidence has informed planning, prioritisation, methods, outputs or communication?