Statistical data ethics is an applied ethics, of what ought and ought not to be done, and as such eventualities as ought not to be done potentially transpire. While some cases have suitable oversight and therefore only needs support in terms of insisting ethical requirements are acted on appropriately, others lack such oversight for several… Continue reading Raising Concerns

Data scientists, like many others across the UK, will have been shocked by revelations of what happened at the Post Office, as a flawed 1990s IT project led to prosecutions, convictions, and fines for more than 900 subpostmasters on the basis of faulty accounting data. The system that caused this “widespread miscarriage of justice” itself,… Continue reading Learning from a Post Office Disaster

In anticipation of the Lievesley review recommendations, the post on independent statistics set out some of the issues with current structures in the UK. So it was encouraging to see many of the points there, like the proposal for a deputy national statistician for methodology specifically, very much like a chief scientist. But with all… Continue reading Governance of UK Official Statistics

Research is an organised and situated human activity. But that organisation is not directly entailed on past success, not an aim. In the 1940s, Robert Merton set out four principles which encapsulate the scientific endeavour. Yet he clearly did not include any public goal-orientation beyond universalism, and the others emphasise working together without an agenda… Continue reading People, Culture and Environment for Research

In the widely adopted ‘five safes’ model for responsible data governance approvals for projects, accreditation for researchers, security standards and even output reviews are straightforward. This has meant complaints about bureaucracy, and limitations on what is permitted or specifically how research is done, but the public recognise the assurance and express confidence in it. But… Continue reading Safe Data

Public officials are explicitly intended to be ethical role models. The Nolan Principles of integrity, leadership, selflessness, honesty, openness and accountability also include objectivity, noting: Holders of public office must act and take decisions impartially, fairly and on merit,using the best evidence and without discrimination or bias Nolan Principle 3 – Objectivity (as revised in… Continue reading Objectivity in Public Life

Trustworthiness is defined as a duty to be honest, competent and reliable when applied to the corporate values of an institution. Honesty and competence are attributes that are straightforward especially as institutional duties envisioned by Onora O’Neill, even as they can be hard to pin down. But the “ethical commitment” to trustworthiness is really where… Continue reading Reliability as Ethical Commitment

The metaphor of homo economicus, the reduction of people to rational actors suitable to behave as described by economic theories is well worn, a caricature of economic assumptions with many important lessons. It reminds us that theory frames humans as continually making choices and doing so in a theoretically rationalised manner, captured by specific assumptions… Continue reading Homo Statisticus

The idea of a red team as an antidote to any shortcomings of institutional planning, to challenge groupthink and unwarranted assumptions, is widely heard when outcomes are disappointing. But how this works in practice is so rarely described that the red team proposal may really about deflecting responsibility for stress testing plans to someone else.… Continue reading Red Teaming

In 2007, a Bill was passed to make official statistics in the UK independent of Government. The Statistics and Registration Services Act followed a long period of arms length oversight from a Statistics Commission, and a formal consultation on the proposals. Many bodies had campaigned for this change to prevent direct interference in statistical production,… Continue reading Independent Statistics