Abstract
Introduction
Official statistics are a public good, which has become even more valuable in the data revolution and “post-truth” era. Developing Statistical Literacy aiming to promote the relevance of official statistics and their applications in the everyday life/professional activities of citizens needs to be a strategic choice and priority of National Statistical Institutes (NSIs).
In particular, the objective of Hellenic Statistical Authority’s (ELSTAT) strategy in fostering Statistical Literacy is the establishment of a long-standing relationship with the members of the educational community of all levels, as well as with significant institutional stakeholders, such as journalists and public communication specialists, civil servants and decision makers in the political sphere. ELSTAT’s strategy aims at strengthening the ties with citizens in their dual capacity first as providers of primary data and ultimately as users of the final statistical product, and thus, operate as crucial enablers of a smoothly functioning, uninterrupted “virtuous circle of official statistics” (VCOS). Through this relationship the principles that rule official statistics are made visible and known, while the importance and relevance of official statistics become clear and justifiable. At the same time, this relationship serves as the basis for creating durable trust bonds between official statistics and stakeholders that can constantly feed the interaction of the NSIs with citizens in all possible roles they can have in the official statistics production chain (respondents to surveys, users, public administrators, policy makers, employees in the field of official statistics, etc) and thus sustain the VCOS, i.e., the continuous virtuous feedback loop between producers of official statistics on the one hand, and citizens on the other, the latter assuming both the role of the respondent and the role of the user: to the extent that citizens in their capacity as respondents are ready to entrust their true data to producers of official statistics (and that fact becomes a collective belief), the latter can produce statistical information that will be compiled according to the highest quality standards and desired properties. By the same token, citizens, now assuming the role of a user, will know that the above statistical information has been compiled in an impartial, objective and relevant manner, and therefore it can serve the purpose for which it was originally designed. This, in turn, would secure the flow of true raw data from citizens to statistics producers, as citizens would find positive value in continuing to do so (Fig. 1).
Virtuous circle of official statistics (VCOS).
Directing efforts in developing statistical consciousness of both users (use of data) and respondents (supply of data) is crucial for the unhindered reproduction of the VCOS and therefore lies at the core of ELSTAT’s strategy. Today’s student communities comprise tomorrow’s power users, decision makers and leaders in businesses in the public sector and in politics, as well as communication experts and opinion leaders. So, it has been considered as absolutely necessary to initially approach the school and university community in a comprehensive and inclusive manner. Citizens/professionals related to the use/demand of statistics (journalists, decision makers in politics, civil servants) or to the supply of primary/administrative data for the production of official statistics (such as high-ranking civil servants) that had not been exposed to the subject during their student years, turned out to be the natural target in the sequel of the process. This ensures that ELSTAT’s strategy on statistical literacy covers the entire age spectrum both in a static manner (current-data related-professional roles of the targeted citizens) but also in a dynamic manner (current but also anticipated roles) as it is the case for students. During the last five years, ELSTAT has acknowledged the mutually beneficial results that the process of fostering Statistical Literacy in Greece may bring and has invested considerable resources and efforts in designing and implementing actions for the achievement of this objective.
This paper is organized as follows:
Section 1 provides a motivation for the approach followed in the development of a specific strategy on statistical literacy in Greece, outlines its philosophy and main objectives and features a roadmap to the rest of the paper. Section 2 elaborates on the specific interventions that took place in the sphere of formal education, including various forms of interaction with students and teachers of all grades, student competitions, key partnerships with institutional stakeholders and communication campaigns. Sections 3–5 discuss interventions involving journalists, decision makers in the political sphere and civil servants respectively, along similar dimensions to those of Section 2. Section 6 provides a brief overall assessment of the progress made so far and concludes.
Objective
Establishing long-term relationships with students through coaching practices contributes to building and maintaining a broad and in-depth field of interaction while it also reinforces long-standing “trust bonds” of ELSTAT with future users and decision makers.
At the same time, the continuous monitoring of the effectiveness and appeal that coaching activities have on students throughout time, helps ELSTAT to regularly assess and recalibrate its communication strategy vis-à-vis users’ needs.
Overview of actions undertaken
Establishing the framework of cooperation with the Ministry of Education Organizing educational visits and presentations addressed to students Establishing the role of ELSTAT as key partner in the educational process Communicating and promoting the strategy “ Launching competitions Granting educational material
An overview of the completed actions
Establishing the framework of Cooperation with the Ministry of Education
Organizing educational visits and presentations addressed to students
The President,1 but also other officials, of ELSTAT were invited on several occasions by Universities, Professional and Scientific societies to deliver lectures related to the current and future uses of scientific tools stemming from various disciplines in modern official statistics and the importance of official statistics for decision making in everyday life.
In quite a few of these visits at ELSTAT’s headquarters in Athens and in others at ELSTAT’s premises in Thessaloniki, the President of ELSTAT welcomes the students and gives them a brief introduction to the mission and tasks of ELSTAT.
During the period 2016–2019 a sharp increase was recorded in the number of schools, universities, students and professors having attended these educational visits (Fig. 2).
Educational units and students, visiting ELSTAT Headquarters.
Due to the confinement measures in the Covid-19 pandemic period, these visits were temporarily halted in March 2020. In 2021, selected educational visits of schools of Thessaloniki and Athens took place via videoconferences.
In parallel, visits of ELSTAT instructors to schools in remote regions have been organized and the first visits of this kind took place in schools of Rodopi and Rethymno regions.
Traineeships of students from the Vocational Institute for Graphic Design have been inaugurated at ELSTAT’s premises.
In 2018, the participation of ELSTAT in the summer program on vocational guidance started. This program is addressed to students of the first and second grade of the High School of the Athens College.
In March 2021, a Memorandum2 of Cooperation was signed between ELSTAT and the Athens University of Economics and Business, with subject matter the development of a series of research and educational initiatives in areas of common interest. Moreover, the Athens University of Economics and Business has initiated the process of adapting one of its postgraduate programs on the basis of the requirements of EMOS label under the guidance and advice of ELSTAT. The cooperation of ELSTAT by virtue of a Memorandum3 of Cooperation with the department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki has been established, aiming to jointly develop sampling methodologies for “smart statistics”, benefiting from data produced by sensors and individual “smart” devices.
Communicating and promoting the project “Fostering Statistical Literacy in Greece”
Participations per Greek Nationwide Statistics Competition, in terms of educational units (schools), teams and students.
For the two first Competitions, the award ceremony of the first 10 ranked teams (5 teams from Junior High Schools and 5 teams from High Schools) that stood out was held at ELSTAT premises in Athens, while for the third Competition, the awards were sent to the winners due to the confinement restrictions. The process for awarding the winners of the fourth Competition is not yet completed.
Granting educational material
ELSTAT has established the practice of granting basic writing supplies and electronic equipment to selected schools, for educational purposes, when this equipment/material is about to be replaced by new equipment. In this way, the useful lifecycle of the equipment is extended in a constructive way. Educational printed material (e.g. from the Thessaloniki International Fair, Eurostat, etc.) gets forwarded to school libraries, along with infographics posters in order for them to be displayed in school rooms.
Actions planned by ELSTAT for the coming period
Organizing educational visits and presentations addressed to students
Thematic one-day conferences addressed to teachers and professors are organized.
Establishing the role of ELSTAT as key partner in the educational process
The project “ The elaboration of postgraduate dissertations on official statistics topics is established. These topics would be selected after the cooperation of ELSTAT with the corresponding degree granting Universities. Webinars for students of primary and secondary educational levels are created. ELSTAT participates in the program “Filoxenia”, funded by the Hellenic Parliament Foundation. This program is granting short-term accommodation in Athens to students of remote secondary schools from all over Greece in order for them to participate in various cultural and educational activities.
Evaluation of the project so far
The response to the project “
The response is positive both from the side of the participants and interacting stakeholders coming from the educational institutions (students, professors, etc.), (Figs 2 and 3) but also from the side of the management of education at the political level (Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs). Both parties embraced the actions of ELSTAT with their continuously increasing participation. An important factor that contributed significantly to the positive outcomes that have been recorded so far has to do with the enthusiasm and engagement exhibited by ELSTAT’s staff.
Enthusiasm and cooperation among all involved parties is an essential ingredient for the establishment and evolution of the project that would enhance Statistical Literacy in Greece in a sustained way.
Second pillar: Journalists
Objective
Reasons for the misuse of official statistics by journalists typically include lacking an adequate knowledge and understanding of official statistics, notably of their compilation methods and underlying principles, actively pursuing a partisan agenda or reproducing established (personal or collective) convictions.
A typical example is the manner in which revisions of key provisional statistics are communicated, motivated by a predetermined political, economic or social stand, instead of being acknowledged as a regular (in most cases) process for the maintenance and assurance of quality standards of official statistics. Scheduled revisions of GDP statistics often suffer from such treatment by journalists.
Another example is the “a la carte” selection of the quantitative information source that best suits the journalist’s intended narrative, often coupled with a total disregard of the differences in the methodological underpinnings, standards and definitions characterizing each source. A celebrated example – often observed in many countries – of such an “a la carte” selection is the measurement of the unemployment rate. The latter can either be measured following standards based on a solid and wellknown statistical methodology used by Statistical Offices, or according to arbitrary (from a statistical standpoint) and time-varying criteria used by unemployment registry offices. Naturally, oftentimes data stemming from these sources exhibit conflicting patterns, thus offering ample grounds for misuse and controversy.
Actions already implemented and actions planned for the coming period
The two first thematic Press Conferences already organized by ELSTAT concerned Government Finance Statistics and National Accounting (in particular, GDP accounting). During the events, official experts of ELSTAT presented the main sources and compilation methods of these statistics, their revision policy and other important features. At the same time, the most recent results of these statistical domains were presented, followed by conversation and submission of questions and comments from the audience.
The Press Conferences addressed to journalists active in the economic and financial reporting, met wide response and lively participation. The coverage and reproduction of the Press Conferences by the media after their completion was extensive.
For the coming period, ELSTAT plans to organize new Press Conferences for selected statistics, such as labor force and unemployment statistics, statistics on the conditions of living, poverty risk and social exclusion.
By the present time, two such speeches of the President of ELSTAT have taken place addressed to the members of the biggest news agency of Athens. The speeches highlighted the framework of operation of ELSTAT with emphasis to the Authority’s professional independence, presented the key official statistics and their basic features and underlined the importance of their objective use by journalists as an evidence-based source.
For the coming period, a new speech of the President of ELSTAT is planned addressed to the members of the biggest professional union of journalists in Athens.
Third pillar: Decision makers in the political sphere
Objective
Official statistics, covering a wide range of the economy and of social activities, among which the most important economic figures, such as GDP, unemployment rate, Government Finance figures, etc., are the focal point of politicians’ analyses and public statements.
In parallel, the planned actions of ELSTAT could be beneficial for the public perception of official statistics and their relevance through promoting their proper and systematic use by politicians. The advantages of this use can be multifaceted, ranging from the design and implementation of adequate policy measures for society and economy on the basis of reliable and factual data to the identification of needs for new statistics or the improvement of existing statistics, for example through the access to new data sources or through the increase of resources (human, financial, etc.) that are available for the compilation of official statistics.
It is important for the planned actions to encompass not only politicians (parliamentarians, Government members, elected members of local administration, etc.) but also the wider circle of advisors and other executives who support politicians in their work.
Actions planned for the coming period
Moreover, the newsletters will include summary information as regards the principles of operation of ELSTAT and the European Statistics Code of Practice, by putting emphasis on the principles of professional independence, the mandate of collecting data and impartiality (mainly the provision of equal access to the users of official statistics).
Based on the newsletters, politicians and their associates will be informed in a concise and comprehensive manner on the most important and widely used official statistics and their features. These newsletters could serve as reference points for the reproduction of official statistics by politicians during the performance of their duties and in their public statements, as well as a guide for the proper appraisal of official statistics.
Fourth pillar: Civil servants
Objective – Motivation
Administrative data are mainly maintained by governmental agencies for the purpose of meeting their specific competences as stipulated in the law, and certainly not catered to meet society’s needs for statistical information. Consequently, the type, features and structure of administrative data are entirely determined by the needs of the hosting agencies.
Viewed from the standpoint of a NSI, administrative data constitute a valuable source of primary information as they are characterized, in many cases, by completeness, accuracy, periodicity and in parallel, they do not impose any burden to physical persons or enterprises for their collection. However, the access of NSIs to administrative data (at an adequate for producing statistics degree), their participation in the design, definition of the type, features and structure of administrative data, even when those are explicitly stipulated in the underlying legal texts is rarely a seamless exercise in practice.
Civil servants’ statistical consciousness will guide them in the performance of their duties and contribute in a beneficial way in the compilation of official statistics. Statistically conscious public servants could act, in a broader context, as effective ambassadors of official statistics in their professional and personal life, while they can communicate more effectively with the NSI for the identification or development of new administrative data that could be used in the deployment of new statistics or in the improvement of existing ones.
In Greece, in the recent period, only a few years following the kick-off of what is now a close cooperation of the Tax Collection Authority (AADE) with ELSTAT (originally intended to provide individual tax data to ELSTAT), AADE proceeded to a major restructure of one of its flagship tax return forms, filled in each year by citizens and enterprises. The restructure was the fruit of the processing of the administrative data coming from these forms by ELSTAT and of the detection of internal inconsistencies that could automatically be avoided, should a different structure and flow of the form be designed. The work of ELSTAT in this field inspired and convinced AADE about the necessity and the usefulness of the restructure, while ELSTAT could henceforth rely on more consistent primary administrative data.
ELSTAT looks forward to expanding this type of synergies with other public agencies as well.
In this framework, ELSTAT has designed and developed an array of dedicated rolling actions aiming at developing the statistical consciousness of high and mid-level ranking civil servants, with a view to creating and maintaining a mutually beneficial relationship in the medium term. These actions are planned to be fully implemented during the period 2021–2025.
Actions planned for the coming period
The National School of Public Administration admits, following national examinations, graduates from various fields who, after completing their studies in the School, will be recruited in the public administration in a fast-track civil servant career. The graduates of the National School of Public Administration are usually expected to assume managerial roles in the public administration.
The aim of the course will be, on the one hand, to inform the future leaders of the civil service hierarchy on the practical applications of the use of official statistics in the performance of their duties in the narrow sense and, on the other hand, to highlight the importance of the close cooperation of ELSTAT with other public agencies for the development and use of administrative data in the production line of official statistics.
The newsletters will highlight in a direct and “hands-on” manner the relevant, for each public agency, statistics and will create stimuli for the development of the use of administrative data in the compilation of official statistics, wherever this is possible.
Overall assessment of the strategy
ELSTAT is regularly assessing the results and the impact of its strategy for fostering Statistical Literacy in Greece. Up to the present moment, the four pillars of the strategy have been developed relatively asymmetrically, giving priority, in terms of number of actions and efforts/resources invested to the students of all educational units. In parallel, ELSTAT is dedicated to further develop the actions entailed in the other three pillars as well.
The main criterion for this assessment is the participation and responsiveness of stakeholders in the actions of the strategy. In this respect, ELSTAT records the continuously increasing interest and engagement of students/schools/universities and of the state in the actions undertaken, on the basis of the number of participants and of the wider response rates.
Even under the adverse circumstances in the period of the Covid-19 pandemic and given the limitations imposed by the special conditions, ELSTAT managed to adapt successfully and tailor its statistical literacy operations to the exceptional circumstances. Participation rates, although inevitably lost the sharply increasing trend of the previous years, notably maintained a rather satisfactory level.
Finally, a coherent and systematic benchmarking framework for measuring the (relative) efficiency of each action is under development, that will allow for performing meaningful comparisons among diverse and competing courses of action across time periods and geographical regions, and therefore, more efficient streamlining and prioritizing of operations and pertinent resources in the future.
This framework is built upon the four pillars of the strategy: students, journalists, decision makers in the political sphere and civil servants, while it includes each individual action either planned or implemented. It is designed to be updated both on monthly and annual basis.
For each action, the initial target population is matched both descriptively and in quantitative terms (e.g. number of schools in a specific educational level to which actions are addressed, etc). Moreover, for each action, the resources (human, financial) attributed for its implementation are recorded.
For each combination of pillar and implemented action, an adequate quantitative metric of response is introduced and recorded (e.g. number of school visits at ELSTAT’s headquarters, number of students participating in the Greek Nationwide Statistics Competition, number of issued newsletters, etc). The scheme also incorporates, when applicable, information at regional level.
This outline offers a quick, summary and informative overview of the planned and implemented actions, the required resources and the response they acquire at detailed levels of time and regions.
In this way, the actions of the four pillars of the strategy can be compared in terms of inputs and outputs and ELSTAT can identify which actions are successful and for which actions more efforts are needed.
In conclusion, it is worth noting that ELSTAT’s model of fostering statistical literacy in Greece is not dependent on idiosyncratic characteristics that might hinder its successful operation should it be implemented in other countries. Its main building blocks are common everywhere and the main driving factors involve a concurrent targeting of both the “demand side” for official statistics (individual users and opinion makers) and the “supply side” of primary data (individual respondents and handlers of administrative data) used for the production of statistics, both considered at a static (current roles of the targeted parties) and at a dynamic (with a view to future roles of the targeted parties) level.
The ultimate goal is to reinforce and sustain the VCOS, i.e., the dynamic circular relation of trust between citizens assuming interchangeably both the role of the supplier of data and the role of the user of statistics.