Making statistics friendly to users.

Abstract

Statistics have great potential to generate knowledge and serve as basis for decisions taken by policy makers and the public; however, the understanding of the facts and figures behind policies and political processes is confronted with growing difficulties. This is because many people do not know about statistics or do not care about them as they do not understand them. This paper explored innovative tools for exploring statistics and ways of disseminating them in such a way that it would be understood by the common man. The main focus of the paper is on methods to enhance the understanding and presentation of statistical data. This would be done to increase transparency regarding the National Statistical Systems, to foster the ability of critical data interpretation through the public, to prevent misuse of data, and to improve confidence in policies based on statistical data.