Methodology Symposium 2022

The Methodology Symposium is an annual event to celebrate innovation in statistical methods and research for official statistics. It is hosted by the Methodology and Quality Directorate of the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This event was previously known as the GSS Methodology Symposium. We have changed the name this year to be more inclusive and open to a wider analytical community.

Now in its 27^th year, this event aims to:

• promote innovation in methods to produce official statistics and statistical research
• help with knowledge sharing and encourage collaborations by bringing together analysts from across the Analysis Function, academia, and the private sector
• stimulate debate around topics of statistical importance, including quality

Dates and locations

The event will take place across two morning sessions. The first session will be on the morning of Tuesday 8 November 2022 and the second session will be on the morning of Wednesday 9 November 2022.

The Symposium will be an online event and will take place on Microsoft Teams. Links to join the Symposium will be sent to attendees before the event.

Theme

This year the theme is ‘Sustainable statistics: preparing for the unknown’.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Brexit, and current economic instability highlighted a range of statistical challenges, including disrupted workforces and sudden changes in data and data collection methods. As professionals and people, we are all more aware of the effect of future events, and how they might affect existing projects. This Symposium aims to build on the lessons of previous symposia and other external events to explore how analysts can respond more effectively to future disruption.

The 2022 Symposium will also mark 30 years since the UNECE Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics were developed. The theme for the Symposium will apply principles of:

• inclusivity
• reproducibility
• transformation
• maintaining public trust
• supporting development through national and international collaboration

In particular, the recent 2021 Census, Brexit and COVID-19 have made it necessary for us to rethink our approaches to traditional data collection and analysis. We need faster indicators and innovation to manage health, demographics, economic and social analyses. Many organisations are facing the same statistical and funding needs, and often use the same data. The Symposium aims to strengthen networks and collaborations so that we can share resources to address important quality issues and rapidly respond to new situations.

Who the Symposium is for

The Methodology Symposium 2022 is open to:

• analysts belonging to the broader Analysis Function
• anyone with an interest in the methods used to produce official statistics – for example, other civil servants, academics, or analysts in non-government organisations

Event format

As in previous years, we will include parallel sessions on each day. The parallel sessions will last for one hour and contain three presentations. Each presentation will be 15 minutes long and there will be up to 10 minutes for discussion and questions.

For the first time, we are looking for submissions for rapid-fire talks. Each talk should last up to 5 minutes.

Call for abstracts

We are now calling for abstracts to present innovative methodological work in official statistics and statistical research from the past year. Abstract submissions might fall into one or more topic areas within the context of public trust, collaboration, and innovative methods. Topics could include, but are not limited to:

• data collection
• estimation and optimisation
• indexes, classification and frameworks
• data linkage
• statistical methods using administrative data
• statistical modelling and prediction
• Data Science
• quality in statistics

Please use the Methodology Symposium 2022 template to create an abstract for your presentation or rapid-fire talk. You can send your abstract to Methodology.Symposium@ons.gov.uk.

Closing date for abstracts

The call for abstracts and rapid-fire talks is now closed.

If you would like to talk through an idea for presentation or rapid-fire talk, please email us at Methodology.Symposium@ons.gov.uk.

Agenda

This year’s event will include a combination of live presentations, parallel sessions and rapid-fire talks. You can now view the provisional agenda for the Methodology Symposium 2022, but please be aware that the agenda may change.

Registration

The online registration for the Methodology Symposium 2022  is now open. You can register to attend the event on Eventbrite.

Please register soon as there are a limited number of spaces available. Registration will close on Friday 14 October 2022.     

Contact

For any enquiries, or if you would like further information about the event please email us at Methodology.Symposium@ons.gov.uk.