Executive summary

Background and aims

Official statistics play a vital role in informing decision-making across society, shaping government policy and guiding business strategies. But how often do official statistics influence the personal decisions of individuals in their everyday lives? Understanding this is central to the vision of the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) and the wider legislative basis for the UK Statistics Authority – to ensure that statistics serve the public good, by making them relevant, accessible and impactful for everyone, not just institutions.

The Policy Institute at King’s College London and the Behavioural Insights Team were commissioned by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) to conduct research exploring whether, and how, people in the UK use official statistics for personal decision-making. Through 42 semi-structured interviews with members of the UK public and a nationally representative survey of 2,118 people, this research explored a range of real-world situations and hypothetical scenarios encouraging participants to reflect on their personal decision-making processes and whether these involved official statistics. Participants were also shown relevant examples of official statistics to explore their awareness, perceptions and potential use of these statistics in informing their decisions.

Findings

Participants used official statistics for personal decision-making

This study found many examples of the interview participants using official statistics to inform personal decisions, particularly statistics about crime and housing (when choosing where to live), baby names (when choosing a baby name) and schools (when choosing a primary school). The survey results confirmed this finding, with 50% of the respondents reporting that they had used official statistics to help them make a personal decision. This result aligns with existing evidence from the 2023 Public Confidence in Official Statistics survey, which also suggested that a substantial proportion of the population has used statistics to help inform their decisions.

Participants sometimes used official statistics without realising it

When participants sought relevant information to inform their personal decisions, they reported primarily using Google searches. Through these searches, they encountered a range of sources, including official statistics, though they did not always recognise them as such. Official statistics were also found through intermediaries, including social media, and similarly government data (albeit not official statistics themselves) were found through property websites (such as Zoopla and Rightmove).

Participants reported rarely relying exclusively on official statistics

Rather than using official statistics on their own, participants said that they used them in combination with other sources of information, such as personal experiences and advice from family and friends. Instead of being the sole basis for decisions, official statistics were valued by participants for several other reasons, such as verification, to confirm what they had heard or experienced; idea generation, to use as a starting point for considering options; comparison of alternatives, to determine objective benchmarks; supporting evidence, to strengthen an argument or decision; and reassurance, to validate their choice.

Participants reported using official statistics for important decisions

Participants reported being more likely examine a wide range of information, including official statistics, when making decisions that they perceived as important, high-stakes, personal or consequential.

Participants reported using official statistics more often when they lacked other evidence

When participants lacked personal experiences, connections or alternative sources of information, they relied more on official statistics as a starting point. Similarly, when other evidence left gaps or unanswered questions or concerns, official statistics could be used to verify or supplement existing information.

Lack of awareness of official statistics was a major barrier to participants using them

A lack of awareness that official statistics exist – and that they could be helpful for decision-making – was a key barrier to their use for personal decision-making. However, when presented with official statistics during interviews, participants often realised that they had encountered them through Google searches and intermediaries, or said they would have used them had they known they were available.

Participants reported that official statistics were most useful when they were relevant to their personal and local context

The value of official statistics for decision-making seemed to be undermined when the data were too broad, or were not presented in a way that could feed directly into personal decisions, for instance, if official statistics were national, aggregate statistics. Participants reported that they found them more useful when they were specific and tailored to their personal circumstances or local area; were timely and frequently updated; and included meaningful comparisons to other figures that made sense to them.

When participants were presented with data from official statistics using survey evidence on patient satisfaction with GP services, they welcomed them as an ‘objective version of online reviews’. While participants often used online reviews on Google and other websites, they recognised their limitations and bias, making official statistics a valuable alternative or supplement.

Participants reported being more likely to use information sources for personal decision-making when they trusted them

Interview participants and survey respondents both raised trust as an important factor in their use of evidence. This indicates that one way to encourage the use of official statistics in personal decision-making is to improve public trust in them. Participants highlighted several factors that could enhance their trust in official statistics, including transparency in data collection, independent oversight, third-party fact-checking and relevance to their personal circumstances.

Participants reported being more likely to use official statistics when they were easily understood and clearly explained

In the survey, the most commonly cited barrier to using official statistics when making a decision was the perception or expectation that official statistics may be difficult to understand. Interview participants also reported that it was important to them that key messages are clear and easy to interpret. Simple tables and charts were highlighted as easy to understand, while participants were often confused by statistical jargon.

More broadly, preferences for the presentation of statistics to enhance comprehension varied among participants, demonstrating that no single approach is likely to work for everyone. For instance, some participants wanted more-detailed information, while others reported feeling overwhelmed, such as when navigating interactive visualisations.

Recommendations

These findings have enabled the authors of this report to make a number of recommendations that producers of statistics could consider, to enhance the opportunity for and ability of members of the public to use official statistics in decision-making. The recommendations fall under the themes of:

1. increasing public awareness of official statistics
2. improving the relevance of official statistics
3. improving trust in official statistics
4. improving the clarity of official statistics
5. balancing detail with simplicity
6. making the case for official statistics in personal decision-making

In addition, we explore implications for future research.