United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
Statistical Division
Using the GSBPM in Practice
Steven Vale
UNECE
steven.vale@un.org
Introduction
❖ The original aim of the GSBPM was to
standardise terminology for discussions
on statistical metadata systems and
processes
❖ But now it has many other uses:
(Quotes from GSBPM 5.1)
Documentation
❖ “The GSBPM can provide a structure for
organising and storing documentation
within an organisation, promoting
standardisation and the identification of
good practices”
Process quality management
❖ “If a benchmarking approach to process
quality assessment is to be successful, it
is necessary to standardise processes
as much as possible. The GSBPM
provides a mechanism to facilitate this”
Integrating metadata and quality
❖ “The common framework provided by the
GSBPM can help to integrate
international work on statistical metadata
with that on data quality by providing a
common framework and common to
describe the statistical business process”
Mapping Statistical Production
Processes to GSBPM
❖ All processes that result in data outputs
can be mapped to the GSBPM
Example 1
❖ Australian project to improve production
of prices data
❖ Identified activities within GSBPM sub-
processes
❖ Some phases “out of scope”
Example 2
❖ Denmark – quarterly survey on
employment in construction
❖ Established, regular survey
• Just phases 4 to 7
Example 3
❖ Mapping register processes to GSBPM
❖ Register maintenance is a continuous
activity, not a single process
❖ But statistical registers have:
• Inputs “collected” from different sources
• A sequence of processing and analysis
• Outputs – statistics and sampling frames
❖ Therefore, register maintenance is similar
to other statistical production
Why do this?
There are practical benefits:
• Standardisation of terminology
• Standard framework for benchmarking
• Facilitates use of common tools / methods
• Efficiency savings
• Tool for managing process quality
Documentation
Example: Armenia - 2011 Population Census
Similar approaches are
now widely used in
many other countries
Belarus: Using GSBPM 5.0 to describe
the existing statistical production processes
Pilot surveys description
Labour statistics Industry Statistics
Results:
Identification of gaps in the
existing processes
Lack of necessary documentation
Existence of unsettled processes
Purpose of documentation
❖ Needs to be agreed before work starts!
❖ Examples:
• Knowledge management
• Succession planning
• Standardisation – understanding the starting
point
• Metadata / quality management
• International reporting
What to document?
❖ For the whole process:
• Summary of purpose
• Sources, outputs and users
• Links to other processes
• Costs?
What to document?
❖ For GSBPM sub-processes:
• Purpose
• Inputs and outputs (use GSIM?)
• Tools and methods
• Quality criteria
When to move on to next sub-process
• Costs?
Comparison
Documentation
Efficiency!
How to begin?
• Read the GSBPM sub process descriptions:
2.3. Design collection
This sub-process determines the most appropriate collection method(s) and
instrument(s). The actual activities in this sub-process will vary according to the
type of collection instruments required, which can include computer assisted
interviewing, paper questionnaires, administrative data interfaces and data
integration techniques. This sub-process includes the design of collection
instruments, questions and response templates (in conjunction with the
variables and statistical classifications designed in sub-process 2.2 (Design
variable descriptions)). It also includes the design of any formal agreements
relating to data supply, such as memoranda of understanding, and confirmation
of the legal basis for the data collection. This sub-process is enabled by tools
such as question libraries (to facilitate the reuse of questions and related
attributes), questionnaire tools (to enable the quick and easy compilation of
questions into formats suitable for cognitive testing) and agreement templates
(to help standardise terms and conditions). This sub-process also includes the
design of process-specific provider management systems.
How to begin?
• Bring together all colleagues who are
involved in the process
• Agree and describe the steps needed to
complete the process
• Document them!
• Benefits include increased transparency
and identifying areas for improvement
• Discussions often bring new ideas
Resource planning
GSBPM quality indicators
❖ Developed by task team
• Canada, Hungary, Italy, Turkey, Eurostat, UNECE
❖ Generic quality indicators for each GSBPM
sub-process
• Processes based on surveys: 2016
• Expanded to include administrative data: 2017
❖ Consistent with existing frameworks:
• UN NQAF, ESS Code of Practice / QAF
https://statswiki.unece.org/display/GSBPM/Quality+Indicators
Uses of the Quality Indicators
• To provide a standard framework / common
terminology to support a process-oriented
approach to Quality Management
• To rationalise quality work within an NSO
• To define a mid-term quality policy
• Set quality targets for a 3-5 year period
Example: 4.4 Finalise Collection
Quality and Metadata Management
❖ Needed at many different levels:
• Process / sub-process level – GSBPM
• Organisation level – GAMSO
GSBPM implementation
information
GSBPM Wiki https://statswiki.unece.org/display/GSBPM
Implementations and case studies
Discussion forum
Other papers on the web
