National Records of Scotland

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Quality of National Records of Scotland (NRS) Data on Vital Events

Quality of National Records of Scotland (NRS) Data on Vital Events

Introduction

National Records of Scotland's (NRS's) approach to ensuring the quality of its statistics covers the kinds of issues that are identified in the Guide to Basic Quality Assurance in Statistics which was produced and published by the Scottish Government (SG). That document starts by stating that:

  • The production of high quality statistics is a fundamental priority for all members of the statistician group. There are frequent and important statements about quality in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics and these are picked up in the National Statistician’s guidance on Quality on the UK Statistics Authority’s website. These are clear about the requirement on those producing official statistics to ensure that quality is monitored and assured.
  • The definition of Quality as relevant to Official Statistics is necessarily broad and covers relevance, accuracy, timeliness and punctuality, accessibility and clarity, comparability, and coherence.

The body of the SG Guide consists of five sections, providing guidance on a number of aspects of the quality assurance of statistics.

The following are examples of how NRS's arrangements for the quality assurance of its statistics of Vital Events deal with the kinds of points covered by the SG Guide:

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More detailed information about the 'Quality of NRS Data on Deaths' is available from our website.

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