On 3 October 2022, the RSS
Official Statistics Section and
Health Statistics User Group (HSUG) have been holding a series of webinars since 2020, initially focussing on Statistical Methods for COVID-19. This webinar was the first of two with a focus on user engagement. This webinar focussed on what difference has user engagement made both to the people doing the engagement and the people being engaged.
Alison Macfarlane, chair of the RSS Official Statistics Section, welcomed everyone and thanked the speakers and organisers before handing over to Deana Leadbeter, chair of HSUG, who outlined the plan for the webinar. Deana also defined the aim of these webinars is to learn and work together for collaborative improvement.
Speakers and summary of presentations
Kate Charles: Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Focussed on the ONS work on the COVID Infection Survey and the approach to user engagement with the Devolved Administrations (DAs).
Natalie Cantillon: Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID)
Focussed on and demonstrated that existing forms of user engagement gave a wealth of information to take key initiatives and development forward.
Joe Lakey: Public Health Scotland (PHS)
Focussed on key initial aspect of engagement and raising the profile was getting the word out before the experimental publication to those who had previously expressed an interest in the area. Announcements and social media tweets were made, and presentations given once it had been released.
Rachel Plachcinski: City University of London
Focussed on work on public engagement and involvement in population data research. The objectives were (amongst others) to raise awareness in people of participation in research, bridging gaps between people, the data about them and the analysts, and to help people understand how government and policy works.
Rationale for this webinar
This event was looking at examples of user engagement and the aim was to encourage exchanges between speakers and participants. Essentially the aim was to provide an opportunity for people involved in user engagement to share their experiences, explain current developments, and exchange ideas, and for participants to pose questions and make comments. The next event on the 15th November would look at how to move forward.
The intended audience were people whose work involves producing and/or using data/statistics/information. The webinars are not usually intended for the general public. However, many of the people in the audience will be involved in making information available to the public and so the webinars will indirectly help in this respect. It should be noted that, as this area develops, the information presented here may not present the latest position
Further information
Author: Hira Naveed (vice chair, Official Statistics Section)