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The South African Statistical Quality Assessment Framework (SASQAF)

The South African Statistical Quality Assessment Framework (SASQAF) Presentation made at the Conference on Data Quality for International Organisations Helsinki, Finland, 6–7 May 2010 Seble Worku National Statistics System Division Statistics South Africa.

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The South African Statistical Quality Assessment Framework (SASQAF)

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  1. TheSouth African Statistical Quality Assessment Framework (SASQAF) Presentation made at the Conference on Data Quality for International Organisations Helsinki, Finland, 6–7 May 2010 Seble Worku National Statistics System Division Statistics South Africa

  2. The broader National Statistics System (NSS) is characterized by three gaps Capacity gap - Insufficient statistical skills - Inappropriate placement of skilled personnel Quality gap - Preponderant usage of data of uncertain or unknown quality Information gap - Insufficient supply of statistical information - Insufficient supply of data on second economy To address the Quality Gap the Statistician General has gazetted through parliament the South African Statistical Quality Assessment Framework(SASQAF) on the 23rd September 2009 SASQAF quality requirements must be met by all statistics producers in the NSS to qualify as “Official Statistics”. Background

  3. Stats SA is governed by the Statistics Act (No. 6 of 1999) The Stats Act covers “Official” Statistics and “Other” statistics Implies, Stats Act covers all statistics produced that informs policy, planning and monitoring of government performance. Section 14(7) of the Act, empowers the Statistician-General to “designate as official statistics any statistics or class of statistics” produced by Stats SA or any organ of state Required that a rational, sustainable and transparent framework for assessing the quality of those statistics being developed South African Statistical Quality Assessment Framework(SASQAF) has been developed for this purpose The Statistics Act No. 6 of 1999

  4. Official statistics’ definition is statutory – see Statistics Act [No. 6 of 1999] Practical criteria of official statistics Must be used in the public domain Are from organs of state and other agencies that are partners in the National Statistics System [NSS] Are sustainable Have met quality criteria as defined by the Statistician-General [SASQAF] National statistics’ definition is implicitly statutory Definition Official statistics are statistics designated as official statistics by the Statistician-General within the provisions of the Statistics Act National statistics are statistics not designated as official Statistics by the Statistician-General

  5. Structure of the framework • Provides a structure for the assessment of statistical products based on • Dimensions of quality, • Indicators, • Standards, • Benchmarks • Each of the 8 quality dimensions consists of number of indicators • Within the indicators a number of benchmarks are identified relating to a 4-point scale; • 1. Quality statistics (4) • 2. Acceptable statistics (3) • 3. Questionable statistics (2) • 4. Poor statistics (1)

  6. The Dimensions of Quality Meeting real needs of clients Relevance Integrity Methodological soundness Free from political interference: Adherence to objectivity, professionalism, transparency, ethical standards SASQAF • Sound methodologies: • International standards and • guidelines - good practice • Agreed practices • Dataset-specific Coherence Accuracy Harmonisation of different info within broad analytical and temporal framework Interpretability Timeliness Accessibility Correctly describes phenomena it is designed to measure Availability of supplementary info and metadata Ease of obtaining info from agency Info available at desired reference point

  7. Indicators and Standards

  8. Layout of the framework

  9. Quality Standards • Indicator: • The responsibility of producing statistics is clearly specified. • Standard: • A legal arrangement exists that explicitly mandates the production of statistics. • Benchmarks: • Quality statistics: A law or legal arrangement exists that explicitly provides the mandate for the production of statistics; • Poor statistics: No arrangement exists.

  10. Purpose of the framework • SASQAF provides an universal framework for assessing the quality of statistics within Stats SA and the NSS • Reviews within the NSS: certification of data • Self-assessment by data-producing agencies: rate own performance • Assessment by data users based on quality declaration: brings trust in data • Assessment by international agencies: ease international comparison

  11. Purpose of the framework • SASQAF provides an universal framework for assessing the quality of statistics within Stats SA and the NSS • Reviews within the NSS: certification of data • Self-assessment by data-producing agencies: rate own performance • Assessment by data users based on quality declaration: brings trust in data • Assessment by international agencies: ease international comparison

  12. Adherence to SASQAF will encourage compliance to the agreed standards, procedures and guidelines resulting in improvement of quality, closing the quality gap ensure that more statistics are certified as official closing the supply gap assist the users in assessing the quality of data and products promoting transparency ensure that all published products include statements about data quality (quality declaration) informing users about the quality of data and products ensure that more statistical products produced in the NSS are declared as “fit for use” Conclusion

  13. Thank you

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