Statistics New Zealand

Statistics New Zealand

Te Tari Tatau
File:Statisticsnewzealand.png Statistics New Zealand logo
Agency overview
Jurisdiction	New Zealand
Headquarters	Statistics House, The Boulevard, Harbour Quays, Wellington 41.277742°S 174.784327°E / -41.277742; 174.784327
Agency executive	Geoff Bascand, Government Statistician
Website	http://www.stats.govt.nz/

Statistics New Zealand (In Māori, Te Tari Tatau) is the official statistical agency of the government of New Zealand.

Organization

New Zealand's Minister of Statistics is Maurice Williamson who serves as a member of the House of Representatives and holds several other posts within government. The chief executive officer of the agency has the formal title of Government Statistician and this position is currently held by Geoff Bascand. The department employs people with a variety of skills, including statisticians, mathematicians, computer science specialists, accountants, economists, demographers, sociologists, geographers, social psychologists, and marketers. One estimate is that the agency has 850 full time employees. A second estimate is that there were over 900 staff in 2000.

There are seven organizational subgroups each managed by a Deputy Government Statistician:

• Macro-Economic and Environment studies prices, national accounts, develops macro-economic statistics, does government and international accounts, and ANZSIC 06 implementation (facilitating changeover to new classification code developed jointly with Australian statistics officials.)
• Social and Population Statistics studies population, social conditions, standard of living, census, and has a 2011 census planning manager as well as statisticians helping to develop new social statistics measures.
• Standards and Measures studies statistical methods, statistical education and research, solutions and capabilities, information management, and develops new methodologies.
• Collections and Dissemination services clients. There is one general manager in Christchurch and one in Auckland. It develops products and manages publishing as well.
• Organization Direction maintains contacts with key government officials, does internal audits, manages international relation, and has an advisor about Maori affairs.
• Industry and Labor studies business indicators and finance and performance, agriculture, work knowledge and skills.
• Organisation Development focuses on services for the agency itself, including information technology management, quality assurance, application development and support, finances, corporate support, and human resources.

Many of the agencies powers, duties, and responsibilities are governed by acts of the New Zealand Parliament. The agency is a officially a state sector organisation of New Zealand operating under the authority of the 1975 Statistics Act.

Responsibilities

Census. The department publishes the census every five years. The first full census of population and dwellings began in 1976 (one year after the Statistics Act 1975) and happens every five years (on the 1s or 6s). This is a main source of information, and data collected from this census is often used for further purposes within the department as well as serving as benchmark information for numerous reports and surveys. For example, the census asks about the main means of travel to work, but by combining this with data from transport surveys, the department can issue detailed reports such as "Commuting Patterns in New Zealand: 1996-2006", with specific inferences such as "Over half of people who walked or jogged to work lived within 2km of their workplace." This information is helpful for business purposes, government decision making, media purposes, foreign policy, journalism, public information, planning, and for many other uses. For example, the Federal Reserve Bank of New Zealand uses statistics from this agency about prices and wages to help develop economic indicators, exchange rate information, and so forth.

Reports offered by Statistics New Zealand

While Statistics New Zealand has branch offices around the country, the main headquarters is in Wellington

The department supplies a wide variety of information. It reports on labour costs, incomes, civil unions and marriages, employment, electronic card transactions, food prices, retail trade, births and deaths, prices of capital goods, overseas trade, screen industry, international visitor arrivals, overseas merchandise, agriculture and fish stocks, water resources, building consents, electronic card transactions, English language providers, wholesale trade, local authority information, balance of payments data, manufacturing surveys, commuting patterns, mapping trends, culture and identity statistics, housing trends, work stoppages, gross domestic product, industrial energy use, and the list goes on and on. (see sidebar for an ordered list.) In addition, it analyzes trends and publishes forecasts. The agency does not involve itself with political polling generally.

The agency provides information to the public. Many surveys and reports are available free of charge on its website; users can download spreadsheets electronically. In addition, some private market research firms use the agency's vast database information as source material, combining it with value-added presentational software (such as sophisticated mapping programs), and then sell the re-packaged information.

Information from demographers is used by journalists as source material for articles and, as a result, statistics can influence public policy. For example, Statistics New Zealand demographers in 2008 spotted a trend of fewer women having children and wrote: "Deciding not to have children happens as a consequence of other life events ... Education, career, mortgages, changes in family and partners for many couples, childlessness is what happens while they are making other plans." Their report was picked up by journalists at the Sunday Star-Times to form the basis of an article with the headline "New Zealand women stop having babies". The article discussed ramifications, such as possible workforce shortages and increased cost of elderly care, as well as possible policy actions such as a "Working For Families" program. The agency encourages wide use of statistics in the media by offering awards to journalists who use its data intelligently. Each year, two awards for "best use of statistics in a story" are presented with cash prizes of $1,500 and $750.

One way the agency makes data available to the public is by offering a Table Builder tool. It lets users access specific information from past surveys. For example, it's possible to "build" a table about population changes in the Wellington region of married persons using Table Builder -- married Wellingtonians (not separated) increased in number from 148,014 (in 2001) to 151,884 (2006). Further, of the 151,884 in the year 2006, 648 lived in the Lambton section. Essentially it allows users to efficiently retrieve specific information from past surveys and censuses. It's a quick way to retrieve counts and permits what some market researchers call "breakdowns". Columns can be chosen; rows can be chosen; and a table can be pulled together filtered by different variables. The agency does not yet offer end-users the capability to directly mine raw data to generate new statistics. Perhaps in the future users will have the power to access a virtual database of updated census counts, that is, to access a virtual database created as if the census was taken when the table was being pulled together -- and by using filters, weighting, projections, and easy-to-use software tools, create data which describes what's happening now. In the example, with such capabilities, one could say how many married (never-separated) Wellingtonians living in Lambton there were right now. Further, projections could be made. But there is no evidence in the Statistics New Zealand website that such a capability is yet offered, but it is possible this may happen in the future.

The following counts were derived by using Statistics New Zealand's Table Builder tool:

New Zealand Population by Sex

Census year	Men	Women
1996	1,809,309	1,872,237
2001	1,863,306	1,957,443
2006	2,021,277	2,122,005

Statistics New Zealand develops statistical classifications and standards, and works with the corresponding government statistical bureaus with such nations as Australia, the United States, and Canada. It conducts ongoing research regarding the viability of these standards. Since the early 2000s, it has begun using the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupation to describe a wide variety of jobs; for example, the code 111111 describes a chief executive or managing director, while the code 531111 describes a general clerk. By using standardized codes, high speed computers can sift and sort through large databases to produce summary reports.

It also provides technical assistance to developing countries in the Pacific rim, with a special focus on Pacific Island nations.

Statistics New Zealand is acknowledged as the statistical authority within government. While other branches of government generate statistics, Statistics New Zealand works with them to expedite the information as well as provide consulting services when appropriate. It is responsible for the first integrated programme of Official Social Statistics. It provides assistance, guidance and oversight to other government agencies regarding statistics when appropriate. For example, it works with the New Zealand Health Information Service regarding their management of statistical information - a downloaded spreadsheet showed there were 65,120 live births registered in 2007 in the nation, and the table listed Statistics New Zealand as a source of this information.

Mission

The department sees its mission as "driving New Zealand's economy" as well as "informing key social decisions", hoping to be "your first source of information for making key decisions" and says on its website that it "leads the collection and publicizing of key information on nearly everything."

Commuting patterns in the Wellington region are shown; darker red lines indicate greater traffic. Source: Commuterview New Zealand, 2006 Census of Population and Dwellings.

In its statement of values, it listed statistical excellence, integrity, confidentiality and data security, effective communication, cooperation, and leadership. It says on its website: "Our highest priority is to produce relevant, accurate, and timely data with useful in-depth analysis. We aim to continually improve our technical and quality standards to foster a professional organisation and provide leadership for the Official Statistics System."

Confidentiality isn't only a policy chosen by the department, but required by law. A section of the Statistics Act 1975 reads "No information from an individual schedule is to be separately published or disclosed [Section 37(3)], except as authorised by the Statistics Act (the Act permits others to see information from an individual schedule, but only when it is in a form that prevents identification of the respondent concerned, and then only under strict security conditions). This means government can't abuse personal information from a census by revealing (or threating to reveal it) for dubious purposes. A particular person's income responses can't be handed over to a tax collection agency, for example.

The agency maintains an open copyright policy stating that "information obtained from Statistics New Zealand may be freely used, reproduced, or quoted unless otherwise specified" with the caveat that "in all cases Statistics New Zealand must be acknowledged as the source."

A training program was established to encourage college graduates to consider a career at the agency. This program is called the Graduate Leadership Development Program, or gDLP. It features social and technical support networks, monthly workshops, peer-mentoring, action learning groups, team corporate projects, and rotations through different departments. It seeks graduates skilled at communicating and analyzing and working with people, and hires approximately ten to fifteen graduates each year.

Methods

Statistics New Zealand uses many methods to collect, process, analyze, and publish data. Statistics can get complex. The agency has statisticians and mathematicians and survey experts whose chief duty is to examine how the agency approaches various projects and to suggest ways to improve efficiency, speed, and accuracy.

Some projects require advanced statistical tools to make sense of misleading data. For example, sometimes seasonality distorts data. "For example, in retail trade, December is a very high month due to Christmas sales. If we compare November sales with December sales, we would report an increase in sales. But this increase is largely due to seasonal fluctuations and is not an informative measure" according to a description from their website. To prevent seasonal variables from distorting data, statisticians sometimes use complex programs, including X-12-ARIMA (derived from census bureaus from the US and Canada), to remove seasonal distortions. So, with the December sales bump removed, the seasonally-adjusted retail sales data can reveal the true underlying trend -- are sales going up, holding steady, or declining? This is important information for retailers.

While the census counts every person, the department also conducts surveys based on only a small sample of people. These samples are scientifically selected to represent the larger group. For example, the General Social Survey chooses a select number of households, approximately 8,000, which represent the nation as a whole, and will survey them every two years; the first results of this survey will be available in October 2009. Interviewers with laptops conduct face-to-face interviews, and the result is information about "social wellbeing" including "housing, health, paid work, social connectedness, and human rights". It sometimes conducts specialty surveys about a specific industry or topic. For example, it published a biotechnology survey, based on a 10-page questionnaire developed by the agency, using scientific samples to choose respondents; the 2007 results can be downloaded to computers via the Internet. This particular report uses a long list of variables, such as "total exports" and "biotechnology exports to Asia" and "stage of development of biotechnology processes".

Statistical techniques such as sampling and weighting can reduce data gathering expenses while surveying, although it requires careful attention by statisticians. For example, census counts are rather straightforward in a statistical sense since it's a straight count of bodies, purchases, opinions, actions. But it is expensive to interview everybody. And there are many non-census topics requiring further study which the agency is asked to do. One way to reduce costs is by selecting smaller samples which hopefully represent the population being studied. This is a highly cost-effective way to get accurate information. Choosing a good sample sometimes requires complex statistical work to make sure the sample is, indeed, truly representative of the population under study. If conditions do not permit representative sampling but known benchmark statistics are known (possibly from earlier census data), it's still possible to generate accurate information by weighting the data to distort it back, so to speak, to compensate for the distortion caused by the unrepresentative sample. For example, suppose an area of Wellington has a known percentage of women -- say 53% -- which is believed to be accurate from a previous census count; a study is done a few years later; a sample is chosen; questionnaires are processed; but of the returning questionnaires, 57% are women. It's possible statistically to give men slightly greater weight to account for the discrepancy, and the result is more accurate data. The agency discusses different methodologies on its website. A statement explains why weighting is sometimes necessary: "Statistics New Zealand is improving the methodology used for the 2001 Household Economic Survey through the use of integrated weighting. This is a relatively recently developed method of adjusting the statistical output of a survey to match population benchmarks. In particular, it takes account of undercoverage in the survey of specified population groups. Integrated weighting improves the robustness and accuracy of survey estimates. It also reduces the effect of bias in estimates resulting from undercoverage, as well as reducing the level of sampling error for benchmark variables."

Statistics New Zealand publishes data in a wide variety of formats, including tables, charts, graphs, and maps like this one, which details religious affiliations (2001)

All statistical work presents opportunities for error, but it's possible to reduce error to manageable amounts. A statement reads: "An important aim of our ongoing work is to understand, manage, control and report on all known sources of error ... which simply reflect the inherent variability that exists among the units we are seeking to measure ... This variability manifests itself in sampling error when we use samples for cost-effectiveness reasons to estimate characteristics about a population. Sampling errors are relatively easy to measure ... Other sources reflect process, measurement and inference errors, and are referred to as non-sampling error. It is not possible to eliminate all sources of error. However, our continued efforts at understanding and managing variability and error ensure we are exercising a high level of control on all known sources of error." (italics added)

What greatly facilitates statistical accuracy by reducing non-response bias is that answering questions is sometimes required by law. Some surveys must be answered. This requirement lessens agency expense, practically eliminates non-response bias (a perennial headache for most private market researchers), and improves accuracy. For example, for the General Social Survey, people are selected randomly for 10-minute phone interviews which sometimes ask personal questions such as wage and salary information. But people must answer these questions and won't be paid for their time. It's required by the Statistics Act 1975. This policy is substantially different from countries such as the United States, where answering official surveys is rarely compulsory, including responding to its census which is done every ten years. Further, if a person doesn't get a census survey for any reasons, he or she is still obligated to visit a local census bureau, get one, fill it out, and return it; the government can't be held accountable for mixing up an address. Questionnaires can be downloaded from the Internet via the Statistics New Zealand website. Legislation states census forms must be "filled in and signed within a stated time" and returned "within a stated time to the Department". Mutilation or defacement of schedules can be punished. But fines for non-compliance rarely exceed $500.

Extensive use is made of the Internet to publish key information. Users can sift through vast databases to learn about a wide variety of topics. A user can learn that "89% of businesses use broadband to connect to the Internet" or that "145 babies were born on Mother's Day in 2008. Entire reports can be downloaded as .pdf files and printed on one's computer.

History

In colonial times, there was a "Blue Book" of official statistics, compiled by various magistrates. Here's a photo of the table of contents dated 1851 for the southern island, then called "New Munster". Source = Statistics New Zealand (National Archives).

In the nation's early days, with a small population and before the advent of powered transportation and modern telecommunications, there was little need for statistics nor ability to create them. In the colonial years, sometimes magistrates and police officials collected data as part of their work. After about the 1890s, the official information source presented to the public was called the New Zealand Official Yearbook compiled from various departments. Sometimes data about animals were collected (a census of poultry ceased in 1971); one census taker on horseback drowned while crossing a river. In 1956, the newly-created Department of Statistics had 164 employees. Tabulating techniques improved. One source writes: "As both New Zealand's population and the complexity of the information sought grew, so did the size of the army of temporary clerks that was employed every five years by the Census and Statistics Office to process it. Sitting at long tables in large draughty or cramped rooms, they laboriously added, subtracted and calculated percentages. From the 1890s census data was written on cards which were sorted by hand. The drudgery of statistical work was gradually eased as adding and calculating machines and typewriters came into use, operated mostly by women. Tabulating machines were imported from the United States in the 1920s to process punched cards; this too was women's work," according to a book written by David Green in 2002. The agency grew in size. Tabulating machines were replaced by mainframe computers, then microcomputers, then the Internet. "Since the early 1980s computing has been done in-house, and in the 1990s personal computers and the Internet revolutionised the day-to-day experience of work at Statistics New Zealand".

Management positions have changed over time as well. The post of Government Statistician was created in 1910 within the Registrar-General's Office, before a separate Census and Statistics Office was set up in 1913. Before 1910 most statistics for the colony or dominion as a whole were the responsibility of the Registrar-General himself.

The well-regarded economist J.B. Condliffe worked at the agency after First World War, but no fully qualified mathematicians until after the Second, when in-house training in statistical methods also began. Since 1910, the post of Government Statistician has been held by different persons. From 1955 until 1994 the agency was known as the Department of Statistics until the name was changed to the current one.

Statistics New Zealand publishes trade information, export and import data, tourism, and so forth. This information assists government planners as well as business activity.

Government Statisticians

• 1910– 1911: W.M. Wright
• 1911– 1932: Malcolm Fraser
• 1932– 1946: James Butcher
• 1946– 1958: George Wood
• 1958– 1969: John V.T. Baker
• 1969– 1973: John P. Lewin
• 1973– 1980: E.A. Harris
• 1980– 1984: John Darwin
• 1984– 1992: Steve Kuzmicich
• 1992– 1999: Len Cook
• 1999– 2007: Brian Pink
• 2007–  : Geoff Bascand

The agency has grown in size and sophistication from its early beginnings. As times change, information needs change accordingly. For example, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, politicians became interested in the concept of sustainable development. The agency found ways to measure these trends to provide helpful information for planners. In August 2002, it published its first report on Sustainable Development Indicators, which measured variables such as water quality, energy usage, sustainability of cities, and youth development. Environment Minister Marian Hobbs said in 2003 "...the growth we have must be sustained over a number of generations. Therefore, we need to plan for that growth so that we don't add to our problems." As the department moves into the future, and if the past is an indication of the future, it is likely to continue its trajectory of larger size, more responsibility, increased technical sophistication via Internet and broadband tools.

External links

• Statistics New Zealand
• Statisphere - Portal to New Zealand Official Statistics
• A brief illustrated history of Statistics New Zealand