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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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Hidden in plain sight

Two years ago I was nearly killed in a car crash. It was through no fault of my own – a bus decided to pick a fight with my car. This left me with a spine broken in several places and severe spinal damage which will stay with me for life. Along with the health […]

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My journey as an immigrant

Since starting in Migration and Borders Analysis (MBA), I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on my own status as an immigrant. At the MBA awayday at the Migration Museum in Lambeth, we were urged to think about migration stories. It surprised me that I’ve never even considered mine! So, as any good social […]

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The Civil Service Hearing and Visual Disability Networks

Hi, my name is Simon Skerritt. I work in the Analysis Function in the Civil Service and I am proud to be part of the Analysis Function Data and Insight (D&I) Group. In 2017, I founded the Civil Service Hearing and Visual Disability Networks, which have become sub networks of the Civil Service Disability Network […]

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The GSS User Engagement Strategy – a lot can happen in three weeks!

Since our last blog, we’ve been busy speaking with statistical producers, promoting the strategy at the Presentation and Dissemination symposium, initiating a user engagement champions network and starting discussions on Slack. We’ve also got a very long list of users to speak to from a wide range of backgrounds, including the media, charities, parliamentary teams and […]

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