why should dissemination of population and housing census results be proactive? presentation at the...
TRANSCRIPT
Why Should Dissemination of Population and Housing Census Results
Be Proactive?Presentation at the
UNECE / UNFPA Seminar on Census Dissemination and Communication
Geneva 27 – 28 June 2011
Petteri Baer, Marketing Manager, Statistics Finland
27 -28 June 2011
Themes to be discussed in this presentation
The magnitude of any Census effort in any countryDifferent target groups will need different kinds of ready made information
Some target groups will need mainly customized information
Analytic materials! Good visual presentations!The Census – A great possibility of Contact Building for the National Statistical Office!
The need of a Broad Dissemination Strategy & The need for Good Communications
Separate presentation tomorrow
2Petteri Baer
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Frequent comment on the style of statisticians “Statisticians like to talk to
one another in mysterious ways and with a time clock which runs 10 times slower than everyone else's”
Statisticians need to communicate better!
Statisticians need to better imagine themselves into the position of the potential users of their information!
The need of cooperation between media and statistics
Separate presentation
27 -28 June 2011
Almost all Censuses are preceded by lengthy preparations, e.g. The 2010 Round
United Nations ECOSOC Resolution on Censuses, Resolution 2005/13, See
http://www.un.org/en/ecosoc/docs/2005/resolution%202005-13.pdf
Conference of European Statisticians (CES) Census Recommendations, See
http://live.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/stats/publications/CES_2010_Census_Recommendations_English.pdf
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Public Perceptions and expectations
Health careSchoolsMedicinesRoadsWaterCrime preventionCensus????
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Censuses pretty often tend to have low political popularity
Censuses often attract hostile media coverage…
“You missed me out!” “Why does it take so long?” “What happened to the
money?” “My group is undercounted!”
OR A good understanding for
the need of material for evidence based decision making?
Any votes for the Census?Any votes for the Census?
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And often we encounter sceptical ministries of Finance...
There’s just not enough money for everything
“Can it be that expensive?”
Once in 10 years budget shock
“Sorry, but we have other priorities”
How much did you say?
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Sometimes even Donor organizations not have an insight in the importance of Censuses…
Certainly there is need for the information
…but there may be a reluctance to fund a census – complex?
Hard to attribute development success “only” through having good Census results
Shared funding may be hard to manage financially
The decision maker may not always understand the magnitude or the process
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The importance of good Census information (1)
How can resources be allocated if basic information on population is based on guesses or (too) old information?
Attracting investments, doing good business, developing economic activities needs good infrastructure about the business environment – reliable official statistics is basic!
Also monitoring donor activities needs good basic background information about the situation and the development trends
If the denominators of the population, the Gross Domestic Product and other basic statistical indicators are wrong, consequently no information is reliable
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The importance of good Census information (2)
Think of the cost of NOT having needed data and statistical information based on the Census results
Wrong analysis of the situationOf the Country as a whole; International comparisonsOf the Regions and the local administrative units
Economic decisions made and economic resources provided based on incorrect information
Wrong allocation of resourcesWrong investments of scarce resourcesMonitoring processes “hanging in the air”
Allocation of social resources on wrong or misleading basis
10Petteri Baer
In reality, different user groups have a great need of ready made Census information
• Ministries and central administrative bodies
• Regional authorities• Local authorities• Research institutions• Non-governmental
organizations• Libraries• Educational institutions
• Businesses and economic actors– Directors, “Big bosses”– Market researchers– Investment calculators– Note: Differences according
to sectors & industries
• Media– Different scopes: national,
regional, local, scandal, with a special target
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What is “ready made” information in the case of the Census?
• Easy to find• Easy to use• Focusing on relevant
phenomena on which information is needed
• More demands for visual presentations, good graphs
• More demand for presentations using GIS
• Census web site• Web site of the NSO• Good navigation structures• Good search function• Census needs are often
more specific– Need for user friendly
databases– User training
• Researchers’ need for microdata
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Example of PX-Web based statistical services (1)
Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases Statistics database > Subject areas
Tables on the subject area of: Population Structure Nationality according to age and gender by region 1990 -
2010 Select part of table / Download entire table in PC-Axis fileformat
- Size: 9630 Kb -Modified: 2011-03-18 09:00 Region: WHOLE COUNTRY, MAINLAND FINLAND, Uusimaa, Varsinais-
Suomi, ... (22) Nationality: NATIONALITIES TOTAL, …Finland, FOREIGN NATIONALITY
TOTAL, ... (197) Age: Age groups total, 0 - 4, 5 - 9, 10 - 14, 15 - 19, 70 - 74, ... (17) Gender: Genders total, Males, Females (3) Year: 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, ... (21)
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Example of PX-Web based statistical services (2)
Statistics Finland - http://tilastokeskus.fi/index_en.htmlPopulation Census -
http://tilastokeskus.fi/tup/vl2010/index_en.htmlPopulation Census Statistics -
http://tilastokeskus.fi/tup/vl2010/tilastotietoa_en.html Population Structure [one out of 7 themes]
Tables [one out of 8 + 19 different tables]Nationality according to age and gender by
region 1990 – 2010http://pxweb2.stat.fi/database/StatFin/vrm/vaera
k/vaerak_en.asp
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Some target groups will need customized information – and are willingly paying for the work
• Businesses and economic actors– Market researchers– Note: Differences according
to sectors & industries
• Media – deeper insight• Different administrations
and planning institutions• NGOs, Advocacy
organizations, lobbyists...
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The Census process assists the NSO ...in building Statistical Capacity
It is worth while to plan the Census process as part of general building of Statistical Capacity
Make as many parts as possible sustainableIntroduce Census materials making use of
Geographic Information Systems - GISMake and promote good visual presentationsDevelop a consequent style in all publication activitiesDevelop analytic abilities and capacitiesBuild relations with potential user groups of official
statistics in a more systematic way
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The Census process assists the NSO...in building good relations with the media
Publicity must be taken seriously!Enlarge the PR or publicity staff during the “hot” years or
Census activities; Recruit a Census Press OfficerMake a good plan of what will be published
Advocacy materials Census result materials
Target different audiences in relation to their interests Choice of correct media
Make a sufficient cost plan and budget for publicity activities
Generate expressed support from key users of the Census information materials
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The Census process also assists media...in building good relations with the NSOA huge amount of factual information available!
The Census data and information covers hot themesInteresting comparisons can be made
Over time to analyse the development Over regions and administrative areas to make analytic
comparisons Problematic areas Successful areas Development trends and needs for support or improved
infrastructures Successful development attracting investments
Different media target different audiences Need for a multitude of Census information materials
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The Census process assists media...in learning more about the services of the NSONot only Census information available!
Many of the hot themes, reported through the Census are reported on a regular basis also during intermediate years, between the 10-year span of Censuses
Countries where Census data is collected from high quality registers
The Nordic countries + now numerous others in Europe See!Statistics Canada: “Your Guide to Data Sources on
Census-Related Topics” See!Structured information on the web sites of the National
Statistical Agencies See! For some media people the Census may be a good
introduction to statistical services in general19Petteri Baer
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Useful information sources on Advocacy for Censuses
UNECE Training Workshop on Management of Population and Housing Censuses for SPECA countries
30 Oct – 3 Nov 2006, Baku - AZERBAIJAN
http://www.unece.org/stats/documents/2006.10.census.htm
UNECE material “Making Data Meaningful 1”
Storytelling
UNECE material “Making Data Meaningful 2”
How to present statistical information visually
UNECE material “Making Data Meaningful 3”
Communicating with Media UNECE – UNFPA Seminar
on Census Dissemination and Communication
27 – 28 June 2011,Geneva, Switzerland
20Petteri Baer
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Making Data Meaningful, Part 1 – Main content
What is a statistical story? Why tell a story? Things to take into
consideration when writing a story on statistics
How to write a story Writing about data: Make numbers
“stick” Evaluating the impact Applying good writing techniques Examples of well written statistical
stories Further reading recommendations
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Making Data Meaningful, Part 2 Available at
http://www.unece.org/stats/documents/writing/
A guide on visual presentations of statistical information
How to Make good andavoid making bad graphics
How to make use of GIS, present statistics in map forms
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Making Data Meaningful, Part 3
Principles, objectives and management issues in data dissemination
Organisational aspects Media services Release calendars Dissemination strategy Measuring the impact
Emerging technologies Using the web Dealing with Social media Dealing with negative press
coverage
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Making Data Meaningful, Part 3– Main content
Writing for and releasing information to the media
Who is the customer? What is the product? Making a good website Measuring web performance &
collecting customer feedback Organisational issues
Monitoring and measuring media activities
What statisticians should learn Responding to a media errror Monitoring media – practical examples
Media training How to organize media training?
Handling media crises
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Additional materials attached to this Seminar’s web site
Building Relations with the Media Complementary material, making
use of examples from Statistics Finland Statistics Slovenia
Interesting web sites and sources on the themes of the UNECE / UNFPA Seminar on Census Dissemination and Communication (Examples)
Statistics Finland Statistics Canada Statistics Slovenia Statistical Committee of Belarus More materials from the UNECE
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The efforts made on a broad and differentiated promotion and dissemination of Census materials will be rewarded because...
Statistical information is useful information!
Fact based reporting & analysis
Evidence based decision making
Understanding ongoing phenomena and trends
Prerequisite for democracy
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The efforts made on a broad and differentiated promotion and dissemination of Census materials will be rewarded because…
Only used statistical information is useful statistical information!
Thank you for your attention!