Independence and ethical issues for modern use of administrative data in official statistics

Abstract

The independence of a national statistical system from improper political influence is an important aspect of data quality. Independence is not easy to define precisely and has several components. For example, although official statistics is dependent on government budgets, it should be fully independent from political interference as to when statistical outputs are published. Moreover, official statistics are often used by the government in making and justifying political decisions. Complicating the matter further, elected officials or political appointees are also sometimes both users of data and have important responsibilities in decisions related to the production of primary data generated by administrative agencies. Data that will, in many cases, be a crucial source for the national statistical office. In a somewhat different context, there are various models for incorporating political decision-making into governance. One traditional model is the Scandinavian Welfare State. Also in Scandinavia new ideas for government have increasing influence sometimes put under the umbrella "New Public Management". This approach introduces methods of governance based on the use of statistics and data. Involvement by national statistical offices in building multi-purpose data systems needed to serve both politically-based decision-making administration and the wider non-political uses of official statistics may create potential role conflicts for the national statistical office, thereby jeopardizing that latter's independent position. Finding measures to maintain the independent role and transparency of the national statistical office in these circumstances is critical. It is also important to evaluate the accuracy of data collected for administrative purposes to determine if the quality of such data is being negatively influenced by the interest of program administrators in achieving particular outcomes.