A system for managing the quality of official statistics

Abstract

This article describes a general framework for improving the quality of statistical programs in organizations that provide a continual flow of statistical products to users and stakeholders. The work stems from a 2011 mandate to Statistics Sweden issued by the Swedish Ministry of Finance to develop a system of quality indicators for tracking developments and changes in product quality and for achieving continual improvements in survey quality across a diverse set of key statistical products. We describe this system, apply it to a number of products at Statistics Sweden, and summarize key results and lessons learned. The implications of this work for monitoring and evaluating product quality in other statistical organizations are also discussed