The Office for Statistics Regulation has today published a report commissioned from the Policy Institute at King’s College London and Behavioural Insights Team, to explore the role official statistics play in informing decision-making by individuals across society. You can read the full report here.
At the Office for Statistics Regulation, we care about statistics and how they are used across society. Understanding how statistics are used for personal decision making is central to the vision of the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR), to ensure that statistics serve the public good, by making them relevant, accessible and impactful for everyone, not just institutions.
Our video explains the findings from our research, offering insights into how official statistics can influence the personal decisions of individuals in their everyday lives here. This research has led to practical recommendations for statistics producers.
You can also read our latest OSR blog post here.
Sofi Nickson, OSR’s Research Lead said:
“We are delighted to have sought the views of so many members of the UK public through interviews and a nationally representative survey.
“This research explored a range of real-world situations and hypothetical scenarios, encouraging participants to reflect on their personal decision-making processes and how this involved official statistics.”
Note to Editors
- The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) provides independent regulation of all official statistics produced in the UK, and aims to enhance public confidence in the trustworthiness, quality and value of statistics produced by government. OSR regulates statistics by setting the standards official statistics must meet in the Code of Practice for Statistics. We ensure that producers of official statistics uphold these standards by conducting assessments against the Code. Those which meet the standards are given accredited official statistics status, indicating that they meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and value. We also report publicly on systemwide issues and on the way that statistics are being used, celebrating when the standards are upheld and challenging publicly when they are not.
- OSR is independent from government ministers, and separate from producers of statistics, including the Office for National Statistics (ONS). OSR’s Director General, Ed Humpherson, reports directly to the Chair of the UK Statistics Authority Board, Sir Robert Chote. The Director General, and OSR, have wide discretion in highlighting good practice and reporting concerns with the production and use of statistics publicly.
- OSR’s work is overseen by the Board’s regulation committee (made up of non-executive directors, and with no statistical producer in attendance). OSR’s budget is proposed by the Board’s regulation committee and endorsed by the Board.
For media enquiries please email regulation@statistics.gov.uk