Measuring trust in official statistics Findings from BSA 2016 Ian Simpson September 2017

Who are NatCen Founded in 1969, Britain’s largest independent social research agency Not-for-profit Variety of clients and funders Range of types of research – we do qual and quant, evaluations, secondary analysis etc. One particular strength is our attitudinal research.

Overview of BSA Measures social, political and moral values Annual cross-sectional survey Random probability sample CAPI interview and self-completion Range of funding sources Varied topics

Measuring trust in statistics - surveys United Kingdom Statistical Authority commissioned NatCen to run OECD Model questionnaire for measuring public trust in official statistics on BSA 2014 Survey was repeated on BSA 2016

Survey covered Awareness of official statistics Trust in official statistics Use of official statistics

Findings: awareness of ONS 71% of the public are aware of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Remains at the level recorded in 2014

Findings: trust in ONS (1)

Findings: trust in ONS (2)

Findings: accuracy of official figures There has been a modest increase in agreement that official figures are generally accurate Of those able to give an opinion, 78% agree that official figures are accurate, compared with 73% in 2014

Findings: presentation of official figures by government & media No improvement to the low numbers of people who think that Government and newspapers present official figures honestly Of those able to give an opinion, 26% agree that Government presents official figures honestly Of those able to give an opinion, 18% agree that newspapers present official figures honestly

Findings: variation in views of different types of statistics In 2016, of those able to give an opinion, 87% agree that the Census accurately reflects changes in the UK, while 71% think this is the case for crime statistics

Findings: Trust in ONS by level of education In terms of variations in general attitudes to ONS statistics by socio-economic class and education, in general those with higher levels of qualifications and in managerial and professional occupations are more positive than those with lower qualifications or in routine and semi-routine occupations

Conclusions Relatively high level of awareness of ONS and official statistics High and stable level of public trust in how official statistics in UK are produced (some statistics more trusted than others) Low level of public trust in how statistics are used by the government and media

Contact Ian Simpson Senior Researcher T. 020 7549 7036 E. ian.simpso@natcen.ac.uk Visit us online: BSA.natcen.ac.uk