Review on Culture and Leisure Statistics Liu Wei, Xin Jia

1. ESA/STAT/AC.161/Cl.1 Review on Culture and Leisure Statistics Liu Wei, Xin Jia National Bureau of Statistics of China

2. I. Comparison between Norway and Israel on Culture and Leisure Statistics • Norway • Two definitions of culture: • The sector concept, where culture is understood as the production and distribution of certain products, particularly those made by professional artists, for consumption as a leisure time activity. • The holistic concept, where culture is understood as a population’s ways of thinking, doing, and being, “the particular set of rule, beliefs, priorities and expectations” that mould “our world into a meaningful whole” . A. Concept and definition of “culture” Israel Summarizing the 2009 framework of UNSECO (draft), there is no consensus on a single agree-on definition of culture. However, identifying which sectors should be fully included and which should only be partially included is essential to assessing and measuring the cultural sector.

3. I. Comparison between Norway and Israel on Culture and Leisure Statistics (continued) B. Classification of “culture” Norway Two main subdivisions of culture: • Culture Offerings, including radio and television, film and video, news agencies, newspapers, periodicals, libraries, museums and archives and also public spending on culture; • Cultural Activities, including membership in organizations and religious communities, media use, library visits, sports and outdoor recreation. Israel The classification of culture consists of cultural heritage, literature and other printed matter, the performing arts, plastic and visual arts, cultural goods and services, cultural industries, intangible heritage and traditional knowledge etc.

4. I. Comparison between Norway and Israel on Culture and Leisure Statistics (continued) C. Data sources of culture statistics Norway • Survey is an important data source in “cultural activities” statistics in Norway, such as time use study, the media barometer etc. • Public spending on culture is from registers based in information supplied by producers as well as public budget and figures. Israel • Direct data collection from cultural organizations and cultural business • Household Expenditure Survey • Business Survey • Survey of all non-profit organizations • Administrative sources, etc.

5. II. Culture and Leisure Statistics in China A. Scope of culture and leisure statistics Performances, libraries, museums, newspaper, periodicals, books, television, film and radio, audio/video products etc. B. The data sources of culture and leisure statistics • Administrative records • Household surveys • Economic census • Time-use survey C. The research and achievement of the statistics on Culture and Related Industry ( CRI ) • Identifying the definition of CRI in China. • Clarifying CRI’s components • Identifying value added accounts of CRI in China.

6. III. General Comment and Opinion on Culture and Leisure Statistics: Practice, Problem and Perspective A. Definition of Culture and its Statistical Scope • There is no consensus on a single agreed definition of culture among researchers, experts and policy makers from all countries of the world. —— The 2009 UNESCO Framework on Cultural Statistics (Draft) • Statistical authorities select domains or sectors of activities which they understand as central to their culture. —— Suggested by the Framework (Draft) above This suggestion provide a way to • assist countries to carry out culture statistics to meet their own needs; • make international comparison on culture and leisure statistics.

7. III. General Comment and Opinion on Culture and Leisure Statistics: Practice, Problem and Perspective (continued) B. Data Source of Culture and Leisure Statistics • Statistical data can be collected from: • administrative sources, • household surveys, • special surveys related to the culture and leisure, and • general surveys with culture and leisure components, etc. • Existing data are the most important sources of culture and leisure statistics. • It is difficult to get some data because of the widespread scope of culture. Collection of cultural statistics generally lags behind the development of frameworks (Paper of Israel) . C. Overlaps of Culture Statistics and Other Statistics Should the overlaps be thought reasonable under certain circumstance?

8. III. General Comment and Opinion on Culture and Leisure Statistics: Practice, Problem and Perspective (continued) D. Efforts of International and Regional Organizations International and regional organizations make great efforts in the development of cultural statistics • Proposing principles and core domains on culture statistics • Promoting the improvement of culture statistics in countries and the comparison among countries From the perspective of improving comparability, national statistical offices should be encouraged to apply principles and methods, suggested by international and regional organizations, to national practice.

9. Thank you!