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High tempo harmonisation: How the GSS Harmonisation Team are responding to the pandemic

I drink a lot of Pepsi. I really do mean A LOT. As I am writing this it is only 1pm and I am already on my eighth can, but to be honest I don’t think I could have done the work I’ve been doing recently without it. Among other things, I am half of […]

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An analyst’s job is never done

“Don’t trust the data. If you’ve found something interesting, something has probably gone wrong!” Maybe you’ve been there too? It was a key lesson I learnt as a junior researcher. It partly reflected my skills as an analyst at the time – the mistakes could well have been mine! But, not entirely. You see I […]

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The GSS user engagement strategy – let’s talk (new) tactics!

It’s been six months since we started work to develop a GSS user engagement strategy. How time flies! As you can imagine things have been a bit up and down since our last blog post at the end of February. However, I’m pleased to say that by the end of March we had: spoken to […]

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Breach all about it!

All official statistics need to be produced and published in line with the standards outlined in the Code of Practice for Statistics. A breach occurs when one of these standards is not kept to. If a breach or a suspected breach occurs, the first thing you should do is raise it with your Head of Profession. […]

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Do you understand your survey non-response rates?

Response rates to traditional social surveys have been steadily dropping over the last few decades. This can pose a serious issue for those of us responsible for producing estimates of population level characteristics such as household income. What’s the threat? Falling response rates increase the risk of non-response bias, if there are fundamental differences between […]

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Improving statistics on rough sleeping: how BPI helped MHCLG

The Best Practice and Impact (BPI) division, based at the Office for National Statistics (ONS), provides a range of services for the whole Government Statistical Service (GSS) to help improve government statistics. One service we offer is free consultancy. This can be tailored to any challenges or obstacles that your department faces. Recently, the Quality […]

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Working together to make statistical data fit for the web

The Connected Open Government Statistics (COGS) project is a huge data transformation effort. Sure, we could throw a load of people at the task and get it sorted. Yes, that could happen, but it definitely should not happen. Turning this effort into a sustainable practice for all departments is the real goal. That requires cooperation. […]

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How to have an effective online meeting

Online meetings have become the norm for most of us over the last two weeks. So here are some tips for getting the most out of these virtual discussions. Chairing a meeting Basic tips Set an agenda and be clear about the purpose of the meeting. If you use Microsoft Outlook you can take notes […]

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Setting up a smart speaker for my grandmother

My grandmother (granma) is currently resident in a renablement home. On Friday 13 March we were told because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, all visitors were banned until further notice. My mother had mentioned my granma was loving the Alexa speakers in the social areas of the home so I rang them to ask if […]

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School’s out for now – but don’t panic!

Sometime at the end of January 2019 I was on a train travelling home from London when I tried to call my husband. I was 20 weeks pregnant with my second child, on my way back from a meeting. He didn’t answer. I didn’t think anything of it as he often doesn’t answer. But then […]

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