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The use of secondary and mixed sources for official statistics

Review paper by UNECE

In-depth review on the use of secondary and mixed sources for official statistics
The Bureau reviewed the use of secondary and mixed sources for official statistics in June and November 2010, and concluded that it would be useful to share information and develop guidelines in this area. The ability to use various data sources effectively is increasingly important for the efficiency of statistical production.
Outcome of the review
UNECE created and maintains a knowledge base called the ASSIST (Administrative and Secondary Sources in Statistics) wiki that contains links to relevant training materials, papers, conferences and publications, and had released a handbook on Using administrative and secondary sources for official statistics.

A seminar on New frontiers for statistical data collection, held in 2012, discussed the topic. UNECE carried out a survey of organization of data collection in statistical offices for the seminar, and after the meeting a wiki for sharing resources and experiences in statistical data collection was set up. The second seminar on statistical data collection, in 2013, focused on mixed mode data collection, and the use of Big Data for official statistics.
Related initiatives
The UNSC Friends of the Chair group on integrated economic statistics used the in-depth review paper in their work, see their website.

The topic of Big Data has been the subject of many meetings since 2013. The topic of Big Data was reviewed by the CES Bureau in October 2013, and one of the priorities for the modernisation of statistical production and services in 2013.
Related work is carried out by the UNECE High-Level Group for the Modernisation of Official Statistics.
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This page was last updated on: 8 December 2015