Can't see the wood for the trees? Using statistical frameworks to draw the bigger picture

Abstract

This paper argues that in many areas of official statistics, the accessibility ('understandability') of the results can be improved substantially by the presentation of the statistics according to an appropriate presentational/analytical framework which is itself part of a wider suite of frameworks (conceptual, statistical, quality etc.). This approach can help to align sources and results; to clarify underlying processes and interrelationships; and to demonstrate how particular statistical series or indicators relate to the 'bigger picture'. The paper outlines some examples of different types of presentational frameworks – supply/demand, process; and cause and effect – including the labour market, migration, and criminal justice. It highlights some of the benefits of this approach in relation to making the underlying information in the statistics more valuable– for example, more accessible (and hence more trustworthy) to users. It concludes that international experience in the development and use of statistical frameworks might usefully be reviewed as an aid to international statistical comparability.