Advanced course on quality reporting - 2025

 Advanced Course on Quality Reporting

Course Leader

Giorgia Simeoni 

Staff involved in preparing quality reports; a good knowledge of quality management is a prerequisite for attending the course.

• Sound command of English. Participants should be able to make short interventions and to actively participate in discussions

• Basic knowledge of statistics and quality in official statistics.

• The course will enhance participants' methodological and technical knowledge of Quality reporting in the European Statistical System (ESS). Participants will understand and have practical experience on how to prepare detailed quality reports for the different types of statistical processes according to the Single Integrated Metadata Structure (SIMS) V.2.0 and its derived structures ESMS (Euro-SDMX Metadata Structure) and ESQRS (ESS Standard for Quality Report Structure), including how to calculate ESS Quality and Performance indicators. The ESS Metadata Handler, the web application used by Eurostat to collect metadata and quality report from National Statistical Institutes and Other National Authorities producing European statistics, will be presented.

The course should cover the following:

• Quality in the ESS, the European Statistics Code of Practice and the Quality Assurance Framework of the ESS;

• Introduction to reference metadata and quality reporting;

• Overview of ESS conceptual standards for quality reporting (SIMS, ESMS, ESQRS, ESS Handbook for Quality Reports, ESS Quality and Performance Indicators);

• Methodological focus on quality reports contents:

1. Conceptual and methodological metadata (e.g.: statistical presentation, statistical processing, etc.)

2. Quality dimensions (Relevance, Accuracy and reliability, Timeliness and punctuality, Coherence and comparability, Accessibility and clarity)

3. Quality indicators;

• ESS technical standards and tools for quality reporting (ESS metadata handler, hints on the use of SDMX for metadata exchange, the issue of interoperability between ESS-MH with national metadata system);

• The process of implementation of national quality reporting following ESS standards across statistical domains (timetable, strengths and achieved results, weaknesses and possible improvements).

• Participants will be aware of ESS standards for quality reporting and will have some experience in drafting quality reports compliant with such standards.

• Presentations and lectures;

• Case studies and examples;

• Exchange of views and experiences on national practices;

• Practical exercises on quality reporting.

Required Reading 

None

• ESS Handbook for Quality and metadata reports - 2021 RE-Edition  

• https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-manuals-and-guidelines/-/ks-gq-21-021

Participants could be asked to prepare a short presentation on their experience on quality reporting

Giorgia Simeoni

Andrea Bruni

Gabriele Ascari