Editorials

Data integrity

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-06-04 07:54

The crusade against the use of incorrect statistics, or false data, to prop key government reports is gathering pace with three departments rolling up their sleeves for the fight.

This time round, the National Bureau of Statistics and the ministries of supervision and justice, have embarked upon a high-profile campaign to clean up the mess.

The joint effort to restore credibility is in many ways an urgent response to stem the loss of public trust in government data collection.

Public skepticism has been directed chiefly at the statistical arm of the government, which has been ridiculed for releasing data contradicting basic commonsense assumptions. Local officials too have been castigated for concocting statistics that win approbation from superiors bent upon boosting GDP numbers.

The recent campaign has set an ambitious goal; to deal "severely" with violators, discipline a number of those found liable, and "resolutely" rein in fraudulent statistical reports.

And, like most campaigns of a similar nature, this one has enumerated specific target areas for inspection - industrial and grain outputs, investments in fixed assets, residents' incomes, energy consumption and GDP-related data to name but a few.

The intense scrutiny will reportedly cover data collection, compilation, reportage, and publication.

As with earlier attempts to stanch statistical malpractices, this one too adopts a stage-by-stage approach.

Inspectors have been tasked with completing a four-stage process that aspires to clear up major problems between May and September. But, what will it be like afterward? Can we count on the five-month campaign to solve statistical problems once and for all?

(China Daily 06/04/2010 page8)