At the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR), we assert that official statistics serve the public good as public assets that provide insight, which allows them to be used widely for informing understanding and shaping action. Their ability to do this relies on trust, as without trust, the insights they convey are unlikely to be used.

However, evidence around levels and drivers of trust in official statistics is disjointed, making it difficult to identify tangible ways to make improvements in this space. Therefore, we are pleased to be publishing a report on trust in official statistics that we commissioned from Holly Rodgers at the University of Warwick.

Drawing on cross-disciplinary literature, the report provides a conceptual analysis of trust, examines levels of trust in various actors and objects (government, civil servants, scientists, journalists, media and evidence) and uses this information to draw conclusions and recommendations about trust in official statistics, and actions that can help to build this trust. In addition to summarising existing literature, the report also includes original research, involving thematic analysis of open-text survey responses asking members of the public what might increase their trust in official statistics.

While this webpage summarises the findings and sets out OSR’s response to the research, we encourage you to read the full literature report.

Trust is an elusive, multifaceted concept, and levels vary by individual and by subject

The report highlights that trust can be defined through multiple lenses, including as a personality trait, reciprocal process, rational choice and state of vulnerability. Related concepts to trust tell us more about it, for example:

• distrust, which can be seen as either the same as low trust or a separate concept in itself
• mistrust, which can be valuable in avoiding blind trust in undeserving actors or objects
• trustworthiness, which can encompass behaviours and attributes that may help to earn trust.

Evidence demonstrates that reported levels of trust vary significantly depending on the actor or object in question. Areas relevant to official statistics include actors involved in their production (civil servants, statistics producers) and communication (government ministers, politicians, journalists), as well as the statistics themselves.

Given the varied levels of trust depending on the source and subject, existing evidence does not provide a definitive answer regarding levels of trust in official statistics. However, it does raise the importance of preventing spillover effects from less-trusted actors in the network that could otherwise impact trust in official statistics.

There is evidence around factors which may feed into trust in official statistics

From reviewing evidence, the report identifies several factors related to trust in official statistics. While full details are set out in the report itself, a subset of these factors includes:

• Trust in statistics producers: A positive public profile and wide promotion (to support familiarity) may improve trust in statistics producers, which appears to be necessary for trust in statistics.
• Effective communication: In addition to effectively communicating statistics themselves, personalising statistics and clearly explaining their methodology and relevance may also support trust.
• Quality products: Members of the public expressed (among other things) the importance of improving quality when asked how their trust in statistics could be increased.
• Spillover effects: Evidence suggests that trust in official statistics spills out into trust in other related parties; however, to date, no evidence has been identified as to whether this spillover effect can be used to borrow trust from others to support trust in official statistics.
• Transparency and review: Trust should only be placed in trustworthy sources; therefore, it is important to demonstrate that official statistics are robust and have been reviewed if they are to be trusted.
• Reflecting personal experiences: As many statistics are at a population level, by nature they flatten individual experiences; this may mean that people do not see themselves represented in the data and therefore do not trust it.

People producing, communicating and regulating statistics can all play a role in building trust

Based on the research findings, the report proposes recommendations for producers, communicators and regulators of official statistics:

Producers are encouraged to make public commitments to trustworthy behaviour, embrace meaningful public engagement, and look for opportunities to address concerns and exemplify trustworthiness.

Communicators should explain their decisions, publish statistical products that can be tailored to users, and use a variety of channels to increase public awareness of official statistics.

As the regulator of official statistics, OSR is urged to visibly hold poor behaviour to account, while being mindful of how individuals’ experiences may be reflected in statistics and clearly explaining reasoning around judgements.

OSR will continue to create conditions that support trust in official statistics

These findings and recommendations align with existing OSR activities and help us identify new strands of work to pursue. Relevant commitments and activities include:

• Championing transparency and accountability: OSR will continue to actively promote intelligent transparency, both to those within the statistical system and beyond (such as the Government Communications Service). We will use our recently refreshed Code of Practice for Statistics, which includes Standards for the Public Use of Statistics, Data and Wider Analysis for the first time, to support and guide our work.
• Fostering meaningful public engagement and dialogue: OSR will provide recommendations and guidance through our Public Involvement and Engagement (PIE) Toolkit to support meaningful PIE that builds trusting relationships with members of the public.
• Promoting quality: Through core regulatory practices and our updated Code of Practice for Statistics, OSR will highlight the importance of quality in official statistics and communicate this quality with an accredited official statistics badge.
• Enhancing communication and accessibility: OSR will place greater emphasis on communication for the statistical community through our updated Code of Practice for Statistics, and will continue to undertake a dedicated programme of work on statistical communication.
• Visibly and transparently regulating: OSR will continue to investigate misuses of statistics through our casework function, and we will explain our judgements through our updated reporting templates that aim to improve the clarity of our findings.
• Conducting further activities to understand public views: OSR will build on early attempts at engaging the public on our work when appropriate, and we will use our research programme to explore and promote public attitudes towards statistics.

The report, “Trust and official statistics”, marks an important milestone in understanding and advancing public trust in official statistics. OSR welcomes the findings and recommendations, which align strongly with our Code of Practice and current strategic priorities. Working collaboratively with producers, communicators and the public, we will take steps to disseminate and embed these recommendations across the statistical system. Through delivering on our commitments, OSR will continue to create an environment where individuals are able to trust official statistics, and in doing so, we will serve the public good.