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Lessons from Social Anthropology. Tacey Laurie, HMRC. March 2016: HMRC Digital Centre. Aims: Identify and document digital data Enable analyst access to digital data Influence outputs to enable easier analysis …sounds simple enough. 1 year, 4 months later:.
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Lessons from Social Anthropology Tacey Laurie, HMRC
March 2016: HMRC Digital Centre Aims: • Identify and document digital data • Enable analyst access to digital data • Influence outputs to enable easier analysis …sounds simple enough
1 year, 4 months later: • Identify and document digital data • Data identifiable but documentation for statisticians starting from scratch. • Website teams’ drive for continuous improvement means data changes over time.
and also… • Enable analyst access to digital data • Data hard to understand. • Data dictionaries created are out of date as soon as I write them. • Influence outputs to enable easier analysis • Products too diverse to allow consistent output format.
Questions:- • Why is there no product specification to hand? • Why does the data keep changing? • Why is this data so hard to understand? • Why aren’t products built by consulting analysts first? Write data dictionaries (lots of them) faster(as fast as the products are built).
Conclusion:- Even the best data dictionary in the world can’t replace a real conversation.
Artifacts • Digital: • Product • Service • Platform
Artifacts • Digital: • Product • Service • Platform • Statisticians: • Publications • PQs/FOIs • Policy analysis
Identity • Digital: • Product • Software • Agency
Identity • Digital: • Product • Software • Agency • Statisticians: • Team • Department • Profession
Communication • Digital: • Scrum • Slack • Tickets
Communication • Digital: • Scrum • Slack • Tickets • Statisticians: • Email • Project mgmt docs • Meetings
Artifacts • Digital: • Product • Service • Platform • Statisticians: • Publications • PQs/FOIs • Policy analysis • product-focussed • pragmatic • output-oriented
Artifacts • Digital: • Product • Service • Platform • Statisticians: • Publications • PQs/FOIs • Policy analysis • product-focussed • pragmatic • output-oriented • analysis of existing data
Identity • Digital: • Product • Software • Agency • Statisticians: • Team • Department • Profession • individualistic, flat structure • uni, self study • pragmatic
Identity • Digital: • Product • Software • Agency • Statisticians: • Team • Department • Profession • individualistic, flat structure • uni, self study • pragmatic • corporate, hierarchical • uni, CPD • badging, promotion
Communication • Digital: • Scrum • Slack • Tickets • Statisticians: • Email • Project mgmt doc • Meetings • output-oriented • pragmatic
Communication • Digital: • Scrum • Slack • Tickets • Statisticians: • Email • Project mgmt docs • Meetings • output-oriented • pragmatic • confirmation • validation
Digital: Statisticians:
Digital: Statisticians:
Digital: Statisticians:
What can we learn from this? • Work with what you have.
What can we learn from this? • Work with what you have. • Use meetings for work. • Time spent chatting is not time wasted.
What can we learn from this? • Work with what you have. • Use meetings for work. • Time spent chatting is not time wasted. • Be responsible for your career.
Links: Who Moved My Cheese, Spencer Johnson (1998), Ebury Publishing Steal Like an Artist, Austin Kleon (2012), Workman Publishing Coursera Open Learn
Contact details: Tacey Laurie KAI Data Science and Technology, HMRC tel: 03000 543 852 email: tacey.laurie@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk
Photos from Royal Ontario Museum: • Slides 2, 3: Earthenware, 7th century BC Cypriot horse figure • Slides 4, 5: Oil on canvas, James Earl (American, 1761 – 1796) • Slides 6, 7: Thamudic script, Basalt, c. 100 AD Saudi Arabia • Slides 10-13: Tea canister, lead glazed earthenware, c. 1765-1770, Staffordshire; HaëlWerkstättenfürKünstlerischeKeramik, 1930 – 1932, Marwitz, Germany • Slide 15: Earthenware, 1st-2nd century AD, excavated at Nippur (Iraq)