Statistical Terms Glossary

Practices for creating interoperable elements in the SDMX model using the SDMX Technical Specifications.

Cost associated with the collection and production of a statistical product, as well as the burden imposed on respondents.

Cost-benefit analysis, effectiveness of execution of medium term statistical programmes, and ensuring efficient use of resources.

Metadata element providing assurances that staff, facilities, computing resources, and financing to undertake statistical production are commensurate with statistical programs.

Secondary area, as opposed to reference area, to which the measured data are in relation.

Definition of the scope of the data compiled.

Error caused by a failure to cover adequately all components of the population being studied, which results in differences between the target population and the sampling frame.

SDMX Codelist meeting at least one of the criteria below:
    1)    Potential application across all statistical domains;
    2)    Codelist maintained by the SDMX Statistical Working Group (SWG) on its initiative;
    3)    Codelist recommended as CDCL by the SDMX SWG although they are in principle maintained by third organisations.

Standard Concept, covering structural and reference metadata, which should be used in several statistical domains wherever possible to enhance possibilities of the exchange of data and metadata between organisations.

Monetary denomination of the object being measured.

Method applied for gathering data for official statistics.

Operations performed on data to derive new information according to a given set of rules.

Entity that uses data.

Maintained collection of Data Consumers.

Metadata element describing the main characteristics of the Data Set in an easily understandable manner, referring to the main data and indicators disseminated.

Process of sending and receiving data.

Date and time that the data are gathered from a Data Source.

A process focused on:
1. Clearly and unambiguously identifying things that a dataset aims to capture
2. Selecting the key properties that should be captured to describe those things in a meaningful way
3. Deciding how things relate to each other 
4. Deciding how this information should be formally codified

Organisation or individual that reports or disseminates data or reference metadata.

Change in a value of a statistic released to the public.

Change in a value of a statistic released to the public.

Policy aimed at ensuring the transparency of disseminated data, whereby preliminary data are compiled that are later revised.

Information on the data revision practice.

Information about data revision studies and analyses.

Organised collection of data defined by a Data Structure Definition (DSD).

Exchange of data and/or metadata in a situation involving the use of open, freely available data formats and where process patterns are known and standard.

Location or service from where data or metadata can be obtained.

DSD agreed by a number of international organisations for use within their respective constituencies.

Set of structural metadata associated to a Data Set, which includes information about how Concepts are associated with the Measures, Dimensions, and Attributes of a data cube, along with information about the Representation of data and related descriptive metadata.

Date of the latest certification to confirm that the data posted are still up-to-date.