{"id":1621,"date":"2024-05-20T15:55:41","date_gmt":"2024-05-20T14:55:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/statistics\/?p=1621"},"modified":"2024-05-20T16:25:17","modified_gmt":"2024-05-20T15:25:17","slug":"resetting-the-focus-how-were-making-statistics-in-scotland-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/statistics\/2024\/05\/20\/resetting-the-focus-how-were-making-statistics-in-scotland-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Resetting the focus: how we\u2019re making statistics in Scotland better"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Paul Matthews, Senior Statistician in the Office of the Chief Statistician.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I used to play tennis a bit when I was younger. Definitely not at a Murray level (!), but I found it fun. I wasn\u2019t the sporty type, so it was rare for me to find something I enjoyed. Back then it was a lot of effort to play tennis; I had to walk across the town I lived in to get to the courts. I stopped playing a long time ago because life got in the way. Fast forward to the present, and I now live a stones throw away from a tennis club. I had no excuse not to join. But after almost three years living here, I eventually joined the club last week! Why did I not do it sooner? I don\u2019t have a good reason; I knew it would be good for me, and others said I should join, but I never got round to it until now.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Everyone has that \u2018thing\u2019 they want to get to that would be a clear benefit, but they never seem to get round to it. Sometimes that\u2019s because there isn\u2019t enough time, or that we don\u2019t prioritise it. Sometimes it can be fear of change. Sometimes we can be comfortable with the status quo, even if it isn\u2019t ideal.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Improving statistics<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been working in the Office of the Chief Statistician in Scottish Government for three and a half years now, heading up the recently renamed Statistics Improvement, Policy and People Unit. Over the years it\u2019s been interesting to observe how our very talented statisticians have an interest in making their statistics and how they produce them better, but have found it difficult to do so. We can all understand it; days fill up with emails, meetings and requests. Greater demands pile up which makes it hard to find the time and energy for improvement work.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We spoke to our statisticians a few years ago and I was really struck by how passionate those who joined us more recently were keen to use the skills they acquired at university to get us out of the traditional ways of doing things. It made me think that we needed a greater focus on improvement to make what was on people\u2019s backburners a greater priority. And to shine a light on other things we can do to improve the value of statistics in Scotland that our statisticians may not have considered.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Statistics strategic priorities<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently we launched our strategic priorities for statistics in Scottish Government<\/a>. We have four overarching priorities relating to how we can improve our statistics in Scotland:<\/span><\/p>\n