A survey carried out among National Statistic Office users revealed that 91.7 per cent trust the results produced by the Office, it said today.

In the first quarter, a satisfaction survey was carried out by the National Statistics Office to measure the degree to which it meets its obligations towards its users. The first survey of this kind was held in 2002/3. Additionally, in 2007, the Office carried out a satisfaction survey among registered users of the NSO website.

In general, the main reason for using NSO data was for academic or research purposes (40.0 per cent), followed by market research analysis or decision making in business (29.1 per cent).

Level of trust and comparability with other sources

The survey showed that 91.7 per cent of respondents trusted the results published by the NSO. Moreover, 61.1 per cent rate NSO’s data as being of a better quality or similar to that of other countries and/or international organisations.

Quality, usefulness and timeliness of news releases and tailored requests

More than a third of respondents (34.7 per cent) read news releases published by the NSO. Of these, 67.5 per cent rate them as being of good or high quality, 17.5 per cent consider them to be average, while 4.2 per cent rate them as low or very low.

Similar results emerged on the usefulness of data provided in news releases, where 79.5 per cent considered the data to be useful, as opposed to 3.6 per cent who did not. With regard to timeliness, 82.6 per cent of respondents considered the news releases to be published in a timely manner, while another 13.9 per cent did not provide any feedback.

The majority of users (78.1 per cent) submitted specific requests for data to the NSO through the official website. Around 77 per cent said that they submitted requests every three months or less frequently, while 3.8 per cent did so on a weekly basis.

The most popular domains are Population and Tourism statistics (63.9 per cent) and Labour Market statistics (54.4 per cent). The quality of the data provided was normally considered as high or good (55.8 per cent), 14.5 per cent rated it as average, while a further 26.9 per cent did not provide any feedback. Additionally, 69.5 per cent of users considered the requested data to be released in a timely manner.

NSO website

Overall 44.4 per cent of users accessed the NSO website every quarter or less frequently and 14.0 per cent on a daily or weekly basis. Another 21.2 per cent did not access it. The general feedback on the NSO website was quite positive, particularly on the quality of information provided, the ease of downloading data and the website content in relation to user needs.

More than three quarters of users (76.9 per cent) are not aware of the NSO’s news release calendar, found on the official website, although those who are aware said that it offers sufficient and relevant information (80.0 per cent).

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