| Overview : There has been considerable discussion in recent years of the notion that administrative records can and should be utilized more intensively to generate improved statistical data series. Implicit in these references is the notion that administrative records constitute a new and largely untapped statistical resource.
The increased demand on statistics by the researchers, planners and decision makers enforces statistical agencies to improve their vision and enhance their statistical work to produce more accurate and precise statistics in a sustainable manner. This should happen by taking into consideration the need to produce more statistical indicators and figures in an organized and more frequent manner, with preserving high statistical data quality, and low cost, which emphasizes the significance of statistical administrative records as an important source of data.
As indicated in the “Implementation of the Fundamental Principles of the Official Statistics” report by the United Nations; principle 5 “Sources of official statistics” summarizes the importance of administrative records as follows:
“Data for statistical purposes may be drawn from all types of sources, be they statistical surveys or administrative records. Statistical agencies are to choose the source with regard to quality, timeliness, costs and the burden on respondents.”
To this end, the Government of Jordan (GoJ) through the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MoPIC) and the Department of Statistics (DoS) have agreed that the statistical office should be cost-effective, making the best choice of concepts, sources (including administrative records) and methods by balancing quality, timeliness, costs and the reporting load of respondents. DoS should, therefore, needs to have in place policies to minimize the reporting burden and should implement quality management programmes to achieve the quality and timeliness required by users of their statistics through using statistical administrative records in addition to surveys and censuses.
Recently, an international consultant was hired to map the existing social administrative databases within the government entities, a final assessment report about these databases, potential indicators from key surveys done by DOS, and recommendations for the next steps were developed.
As a follow up of that assessment, government stakeholders and UNDP have agreed on the importance of developing project document to enhance and enable the government stakeholders to improve the social databases they have and to link them together and have fully comprehensive database that could be used gradually as a replacement of usual costly surveys conducted by DOS. This advanced transformational process needs a development of a project document explains the activities that need to be implemented in details, responsible parties, monitoring and evaluation plan, rational of the project, and outputs, etc. |
