Introducing the Administrative Data Quality Question Bank
Policy details
| Metadata item | Details |
|---|---|
| Publication date: | 20 November 2024 |
| Owner: | Methodological Research Hub |
| Approver: | Deputy Director of Quality and Improvement Division in MQD |
| Who this is for: | Members of the Analysis Function, Government Statisticians, Government Social Researchers |
| Type: | Guidance |
| Contact: | Methods.Research@ons.gov.uk |
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The Administrative Data Quality Question Bank (ADQQB) was developed by the Methodological Research Hub in the Methodology and Quality directorate at the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
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About the question bank
The aim of this question bank is to help analysts in understanding administrative data quality. It achieves this by providing a set of questions for analysts to consider when producing statistics and conducting research using administrative data. This can be used by the analyst as a quality assessment tool, or the questions can be asked to data suppliers to gain greater understanding of the quality of the admin data supplied. The question bank has also been designed to be consistent with, and is encouraged to be used alongside the ONS’ Administrative Data Quality Framework (ADQF).
The question bank consists of:
- an explanation of what the question bank is and how it can be used
- examples of questions, organised by quality dimensions and processes
- description of the sections that the questions are organised into, including definitions where appropriate
We have focused on the quality of the administrative data which has been supplied to your organisation (input data) before any processing has taken place from your own organisation. The questions will help to determine how well the supplied data fits the purposes for analysts’ work.
The questions have been designed to guide the analyst to do the following:
- understand the quality of the administrative data which has been supplied
- make the right decisions on how to treat, process and analyse the data
- determine whether the data are fit for purpose
- transparently communicate the quality of the administrative data.
As such, this question bank is designed to support analysts to meet the three Quality principles from the Code of Practice for Statistics:
- suitable data sources
- sound methods
- assured quality
There are legal gateways which can allow accredited and approved researchers to access administrative data for research and statistical purposes. There are certain criteria to meet to ensure this can happen, including the assurance that a person’s identity cannot be identified in the information disclosed for research and statistics.
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Contact us
Please contact the Methodological research hub at ONS at Methods.Research@ons.gov.uk
You may like to contact us:
- if you have any feedback, suggestions, questions, or you just want to discuss the work on the Administrative Data Quality Question Bank
- if you would like more information on our administrative data quality research methods
- for a chance to collaborate with us on administrative data quality research methods
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Accessibility
We welcome any feedback on accessibility. If you find any problems, please contact us by emailing Methods.Research@ons.gov.uk.
Please also contact us if you are unable to access any part of this question bank or need a copy of the content in a different format. We will consider your request and aim to get back to you within five working days.