1. U of Szeged & ProCivicStat Conference - September 2017
Challenges and Innovations in Statistics Education
Developing Official Statistics Literacy: A Proposed Model and Implications
Iddo Gal
Dept. of Human Services
U. of Haifa, Israel
Irena Ograjenšek
Faculty of Economics
U. of Ljubljana, Slovenia

2. U of Szeged & ProCivicStat Conference - September 2017
Challenges and Innovations in Statistics Education
Developing Official Statistics Literacy: A Proposed Model and Implications
Iddo Gal
Dept. of Human Services
U. of Haifa, Israel
Irena Ograjenšek
Faculty of Economics
U. of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Gal, I. & Ograjensek, I. (2017). Official statistics and statistics education: Bridging the gap.
Journal of Official Statistics, 33(1),

3. ProCivicStat Conceptual model - 11 facets

4. Background & Motivation
Statistics providers are interested in disseminating data products & increase usage of their data products, to inform policy makers, inform the public, help good decisions, etc
Increased attention to training in official statistics:
- Academic degree programs
(e.g., European Master in Official Statistics, EMOS)
- Postgraduate programs (e.g., NZ Certificate of Official Statistics)
- Programs for public workers, business users, other groups,
(e.g., Central Statistics Office-Ireland, Stat Finland).
Limited investment by statistics providers in statistics education activities related to official statistics

5. Gaps - Current situation (our literature review):
Little attention to official statistics in BA/MA statistics majors (Murphy 2002; Nathan 2007; Pfeffermann 2015)

6. What we teach: “Intro. to the practice of statistics”
Moore & McCabe, 5th edition (2005).
1: Looking at Data Distributions
2: Looking at Data Relationships
3: Producing Data
4: Probability/Randomness
5: Sampling Distributions
6: Introduction to Inference
7: Inference for Distributions
8: Inference for Proportions
9: Analysis of Two-Way Tables
10: Inference for Regression
11: Multiple Regression
12: One-Way Analysis of Variance
13: Two-Way Analysis of Variance

7. Gaps - Current situation: (literature review + emails)
Little attention to official statistics in BA/MA statistics majors (Murphy 2002; Nathan 2007; Pfeffermann 2015)
No comprehensive conceptual framework about needed knowledge bases
No agreed-upon resources. No textbook that describes key knowledge bases for educating statistics majors about official statistics. (and nothing for the general public)
Only book: Citro & Straf ( ): Principles & Practices for a Federal Statistical Agency (6th Ed), also used by EMOS.
US-based, on key expectations from official statistics provider (relevance to policy issues, credibility, independence, trust, etc), and organizational practices (mission clarity, confidentiality, continuous development of useful data, openness, etc).

8. Our goals (Details: Gal & Ograjensek JOS 2017)
1. Conceptualize “Official Statistics Literacy” (OSL) as a competency. Extend the conceptualization of statistical literacy (Gal 2002) in order to encompass knowledge of, and engagement with, official statistics.
2. Implications for future educational developments for official statistics providers.
3. Link with ideas and resources from ProCivicStat

9. Sources we consulted:
Review of academic/research literature: characteristics & demands of products of official statistics providers, statistical/media/science/math literacy, etc.
Syllabi of established programs (graduate degrees, or diplomas) focused on official statistics;
Publications by official statistics providers who are/ were active in statistics education (e.g., ABS, Stat NZ, UK);
Texts from Eurostat’s Statistics Explained website.
Insights from ProCivicStat: e.g., cognitive demands of texts and displays in publications of official statistics providers, news media, and other stakeholders.
Our own prior work

10. OFFICIAL STATISTICS LITERACY
1. The system of official statistics & its work principles
2. The nature of statistics about society
3. Indicators
OFFICIAL STATISTICS LITERACY
(4) Statistical techniques and big ideas
5. Research methods and data sources
6. Awareness & skills for citizens’ access to statistical reports
Source: Gal, I. & Ograjensek, I. (2017). Official statistics and statistics education: Bridging the gap. Journal of Official Statistics, 33(1),

11. OFFICIAL STATISTICS LITERACY
1. The system of official statistics & its work principles
2. The nature of statistics about society
3. Indicators
OFFICIAL STATISTICS LITERACY
(4) Statistical techniques and big ideas
5. Research methods and data sources
6. Awareness & skills for citizens’ access to statistical reports
Source: Gal, I. & Ograjensek, I. (2017). Official statistics and statistics education: Bridging the gap. Journal of Official Statistics, 33(1),

12. OFFICIAL STATISTICS LITERACY
1. The system of official statistics & its work principles
2. The nature of statistics about society
3. Indicators
OFFICIAL STATISTICS LITERACY
(4) Statistical techniques and big ideas
5. Research methods and data sources
6. Awareness & skills for citizens’ access to statistical reports
Source: Gal, I. & Ograjensek, I. (2017). Official statistics and statistics education: Bridging the gap. Journal of Official Statistics, 33(1),

13. What are the characteristics of Civic Statistics?
(i.e., statistical information about societal & economic issues (e.g., population, crime, migration, employment, health, etc…)
Based on ProCivicStat literature reviews, task analysis, etc…)
- Multivariate (correlated, interactions, non-linear, …)
- Aggregated data (indicators, risk factors, …)
- Dynamic (trends over time, projections, ….)
- Diverse/rich texts (embedded in / communicated via)
- Diverse visualizations (embedded in / communicated via)
- Open sources (often)
- Official producers (expanding to other producers)

16. OFFICIAL STATISTICS LITERACY
1. The system of official statistics & its work principles
2. The nature of statistics about society
3. Indicators
OFFICIAL STATISTICS LITERACY
(4) Statistical techniques and big ideas
5. Research methods and data sources
6. Awareness & skills for citizens’ access to statistical reports
Source: Gal, I. & Ograjensek, I. (2017). Official statistics and statistics education: Bridging the gap. Journal of Official Statistics, 33(1),

17. Indicator (metric, indice, index, measure…)
What: A quantitative representation (number) that reflects the level or status of a phenomena or topic of interest to decision-makers and stakeholders.
How: Usually produced as a combination of data from multiple sources. Often computed as a (weighted) proportion or ratio between two or more elements. (e.g., infant mortality, consumer satisfaction, Gross National Product, Consumer Price Index).
How & Why: The study of multiple values of indicators (in different time-points, aggregations, places etc) enables important comparisons, detection of trends and changes, and insights about correlates, causes, outcomes, actions.
(e.g., economic & social development, efficiency, equality, etc).

18. Indicator (metric, indice, index, measure…)
What: A quantitative representation (number) that reflects the level or status of a phenomena or topic of interest to decision-makers and stakeholders.
How: Usually produced as a combination of data from multiple sources. Often computed as a (weighted) proportion or ratio between two or more elements. (e.g., infant mortality, consumer satisfaction, Gross National Product, Consumer Price Index).
How & Why: The study of multiple values of indicators (in different time-points, aggregations, places etc) enables important comparisons, detection of trends and changes, and insights about correlates, causes, outcomes, actions.
(e.g., economic & social development, efficiency, equality, etc).
BUT - usually, none of this is taught in regular
statistics classes (even for statistics majors)

19. Press release, Statistics Portugal
At risk of poverty rate, in
The 2015 EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions survey provisional data on previous year incomes indicates that 19.5% of people were at risk of poverty in 2014, keeping the value of the previous year.
The risk of poverty for the elderly population has increased for the second consecutive year.
The presence of children in a household is associated to a higher risk of poverty, reaching 22.2% for households with dependent children vis-à-vis 16.7% for households without dependent children.

20. Not moving: Israel at the bottom in reading and arithmetic skills
Israel’s average grades in reading literacy, numeracy, and problem solving in a computer environment, are lower than the average for OECD countries, so found a survey of the Central Bureau of Statistics published yesterday.

22. Gráfico 3: Distribución de resultados en el área de Matemática por nivel para la Ciudad, el total país y el promedio de la OCDE (2012)
Fuente: Elaboración propia en base a datos - Resultados en Matemática, Lectura y Ciencias.

27. OFFICIAL STATISTICS LITERACY
1. The system of official statistics & its work principles
2. The nature of statistics about society
3. Indicators
OFFICIAL STATISTICS LITERACY
(4) Statistical techniques and big ideas
5. Research methods and data sources
6. Awareness & skills for citizens’ access to statistical reports
Source: Gal, I. & Ograjensek, I. (2017). Official statistics and statistics education: Bridging the gap. Journal of Official Statistics, 33(1),

28. ProCivicStat Conceptual model - 11 facets

29. Conclusions & Implications
Conceptual: Understanding official statistics about society = much more than reading tables & graphs with ‘social’ data
Six knowledge bases: many not taught at all, or in detail
Statistics producers:
♦ Develop a textbook on official statistics, both for statistics majors - and for non-majors (many more of them!)
♦ Develop a collection of digital (video & audio) teaching modules (MOOC?): for majors, non-majors, other groups…
Educational implications / ProCivicStat ideas & products
Resources: Different data-analysis, more texts & contexts
Teaching methods: Text-rich, contextualized activities, …
Professional development: In-service, pre-service

30. Developing Official Statistics Literacy: A Proposed Model and Implications
Gal, I. & Ograjensek, I. (2017).
Official statistics and statistics education: Bridging the gap.
Journal of Official Statistics, 33(1),

32. ProCivicStat Conceptual model - 11 facets

33. ProCivicStat Conceptual model - 11 facets
Engagement & Action
1: Meaning for social policy
2: Critical evaluation & reflection 
3: Dispositions 
Knowledge
4: Statistics & Risk 
5: Models, patterns, and representations
6: Methodology & enquiry processes 
7: Extensions in official statistics 
8: Contextual civic knowledge 
Enabling Processes
9: ICT & search 
10: Quantitative core 
11: Literacy and communication 

35. ProCivicStat Conceptual model - 11 facets
Engagement & Action
1: Meaning for social policy
2: Critical evaluation & reflection 
3: Dispositions 
Knowledge
4: Statistics & Risk 
5: Models, patterns, and representations
6: Methodology & enquiry processes 
7: Extensions in official statistics 
8: Contextual civic knowledge 
Enabling Processes
9: ICT & search 
10: Quantitative core 
11: Literacy and communication 

37. ProCivicStat Conceptual model - 11 facets

38. Engagement & Action Knowledge Enabling Processes
1: Meaning for social policy
2: Critical evaluation & reflection 
3: Dispositions 
Knowledge
4: Statistics & Risk 
5: Models, patterns, and representations
6: Methodology & enquiry processes 
7: Extensions in official statistics 
8: Contextual civic knowledge 
Enabling Processes
9: ICT & search 
10: Quantitative core 
11: Literacy and communication 

39. ProCivicStat Conceptual model - 11 facets