Better Statistics CIC (BSC) is a social enterprise founded by the three directors Tony Dent, Phyllis Macfarlane and Iain MacKay. As its name implies, the purpose of Better Statistics CIC is to campaign for more reliable statistics, whether produced by private companies or by public bodies. By ‘better statistics’ we mean more trustworthy, useful to more people, of good quality and readily accessibl
e. BSC also benefits from occasional advice from members of the Business Statistics Advisory Group as described below. To achieve our aims we promote public awareness of, and interest in, the production of accurate and relevant statistics and we believe we contribute best through:
1. Educating people as to the value of reliable statistics, via discussion, debate and engagement
2. Encouraging people to participate in appropriate surveys, which of itself can improve the potential reliability of the data.
3. Challenging poorly prepared or presented published statistics. Additionally, we conduct independent research to support the following specific objectives:
to identify quality issues such as sample or definitional gaps in published data
to monitor public engagement and understanding
to promote/demonstrate the value of alternative approaches to sampling and data collection
to identify trends which indicate how statistics will need to evolve to meet future needs
It is this final ambition that we believe to be unique to BSC, primarily because the founder members all come from the commercial market research sector. Specifically, Better Statistics is the only organisation that, in addition to evaluating current data and statistics, conducts its own research and therefore contributes to an improved environment where data are not just reliable, but also intelligible and accessible.
