Getting the foundations right

Abstract

There has been increasing interest in recent years in training in official statistics with reference to the 2030 Agenda, big data, diversification of data types and sources, and data science. Backgrounds for work in official statistics are becoming more varied than ever. The official statistics community has also become progressively more aware of the importance of statistical literacy in education and trust in official statistics. Hence foundation and introductory are of as much interest to official statistics as more specialised training. At the same time, greater access to data and vast technological capabilities have seen much emphasis and discussion of the statistical and data sciences and education therein, including development of educational resources in contexts such as civic data and statistics. Data science provides opportunities to renew the decades-long push for authentic learning that reflects the practice of ‘greater statistics’ and ‘greater data science’, and to examine progress to date in implementing and sustaining the extensive work and advocacy of many. This article discusses what is needed at the foundation and introductory levels to realize this advocacy, with commentary relevant to official statistics.