UNECE Statistical Division Dissemination and Communication Standards and Issues: State of the Art in the UNECE Region UNECE Statistical Division

Contents Existing standards Main issues Current activities 17 January 2019 2

Making Data Meaningful Series of guides prepared by experts in statistical communication Endorsed by the Bureau of the Conference of European Statisticians 2 volumes available, 2 in preparation Free downloads from UNECE web site www.unece.org/stats/documents/writing/ Paper copies on request

Part 1 – A Guide to Writing Stories about Numbers Released in 2006 Published in English and Russian Spanish and Croatian translations available

Why should I read this? The first point is make sure there is a story to tell. The idea is to think in terms of issues or themes. A technical report is not a story. Conducting a survey is not a story. The release of a publication on women and men is not a story. The results and findings are the story. Focus on how what the information means to people. If readers are able to relate the information to important events in their life, the article becomes a lot more interesting. 5

Part 2 – A Guide to Presenting Statistics Published in 2009 Available in English and Russian Examples of good and bad practice for presenting data

Good Good table that follows all the guidelines. But not the best way of presenting these data – not easy to identify the patterns.

Better Much easier to see and register the patterns. The users shouldn’t have to find the patterns in the data – it’s our job to display them in a way that is easy to grasp. As this example shows, a chart is a very powerful to communicate a key finding or a message.

Keep it Simple! 3D charts = bad practice!

Part 3 – A guide to Communicating with the Media To be published in English at the end of November 2010 Paper copies and Russian version by early 2011

Allies or enemies?

Key points Many journalists are uncomfortable with numbers – they find data boring ... but data contain stories Statisticians need to help journalists to extract those stories to communicate more effectively with the public and inform society

Part 4 – A Guide to Improving Statistical Literacy In preparation Expected release date – end 2011 / early 2012

Main Issues (1) How to manage communication activities? Good communication is essential, particularly during financial crises Are statisticians the best communicators? Ethics and independence Different practices on pre-release of data

Main Issues (2) New communication approaches Pricing and licenses Data visualisation tools Social networks – blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube - Which are the most cost-effective? Google – partner or competitor? Pricing and licenses Data free of charge? Data re-use by 3rd parties?

Current Activities (1) UNECE Work Sessions on Statistical Communication Annual meetings, open to all UN countries Next meeting: Geneva, 29 June – 1 July 2011 www.unece.org/stats/archive/04.05.e.htm International Marketing and Output Database Conference Annual conferences Next one: Lisbon, 19-23 September 2011

Current Activities (2) Eurostat groups OECD Sponsorship on Communication Dissemination Working Group OECD Seminars on “Turning Statistics into Knowledge” Cape Town 8 - 10 December 2010  www.oecd.org/progress/ict/statknowledge

Summary Many different activities in this area Very dynamic, fast-moving Importance of coordination and standardisation – but also flexibility Value of sharing experience and good practices

Questions?